The charge of the Ironstriders unfolded like a nightmare given form. Four sets of powerful, stone-shattering legs churned the earth, sending plumes of rust-colored dust into the parched air. Adam's knuckles whitened around his sword's hilt, the surreal nature of the moment striking him. Just a few months ago, the most dangerous thing I'd faced was an angry boar. Now I stand against creatures from frontier tales. The ever-present system interface hovered in his peripheral vision, a stark reminder of the new reality governing his existence.
"Brace!" Raven's command sliced through the thunder of approaching footsteps, calm yet absolute.
They settled into their stances, boots digging into the gravelly soil. The line they formed was fragile, held together by trust and desperation. Before impact, Wren's magic flared. "Bolster!" Warm, orange energy washed over Raven and Adam, muscles tightening with enhanced strength. Beside Wren, Kael stood poised, a faint golden aura—a perfect replica of Wren's buff—already enveloping him. His daggers gleamed with a familiar, pale heat. He absorbed our abilities before the fight even began, Adam realized. He's always several steps ahead.
The lead beast, larger and more aggressive, targeted Raven. It dipped its head, aiming to impale him with its spear-like beak. Raven was fluidity itself, pivoting to guide the creature's momentum downward. As the ostrich's head slammed into the ground, Raven reversed his grip and drove his spearpoint home with brutal finality. The beast shuddered and fell still.
His moment came instantly. A second ostrich, seeing Raven occupied, darted toward his flank. Adam's world narrowed to the blade in his hands. He focused his will, channeling heat not into a wild inferno, but into a razor-thin, white-hot edge. The air around the steel shimmered. He swung, a precise, calculated arc. The superheated blade met the creature's neck. For a heartbeat, the metallic feathers held, then yielded with a sizzling tear. The head thudded to the ground.
[Experience gained: 45 EXP]
[170/600 EXP to Next Level]
The notification was a cold, clinical counterpoint to the hot blood spraying from the stump. One. My kill. The headless body stumbled, colliding with a third packmate and throwing it into disarray.
This third beast found itself facing Wren. Kael moved in silent tandem with his partner. The ostrich spread its wings and slammed its metallic feathers forward. Wren, empowered by his own magic, held firm against the impact. "Weaken!" A pulse of grey energy washed over the creature, instantly slowing its movements. Kael became a blur, his flaming daggers finding seams in the feather armor, striking deep into muscle. The beast fell.
To his left, Lira's fight was a symphony of pure, concussive force. The fourth ostrich had adopted a defensive ball, presenting a near-impenetrable wall of iron-like feathers. Lira's answer was a relentless, pounding rhythm. Her gauntlets glowed crimson, each punch landing with a sharp clang, followed by the crunch of breaking structure and the tear of ripped plumage. Blood soon slicked her fists. The beast, pushed beyond endurance, unleashed a devastating kick. Lira crossed her scaled arms, bracing against the impact that sent her skidding backward. She rose with a bestial roar, her gauntlets blazing like miniature suns, and charged back. She drove the creature against the canyon wall, the rock cracking behind it from the force of her blows, until it slid limp to the ground.
The last ostrich, having untangled itself, stood isolated. Adam and Raven closed the pincer. Adam's blade erupted into a roaring pillar of flame, the heat so intense the beast recoiled, its feathers wilting. It tried a desperate lunge. Adam's flaming sword sheared through its beak, searing the wound shut. As it screeched in agony, Raven's spear flashed, precisely severing the tendons in its legs. Hobbled and burning, it collapsed. Adam stepped forward, the fire in his blade reflecting in his eyes, and ended its suffering.
[Experience gained: 45 EXP]
[215/600 EXP to Next Level]
Two. The tally was unambiguous. In this harsh system, cooperation ensured survival, but progression was personal, earned one kill at a time.
Silence descended, heavy and profound, broken only by their ragged breaths and the dying crackle of Adam's sword.
"Loot quickly," Raven instructed, his voice cutting through the fatigue. "Cores and talons. We're still in the open."
They moved with the grim efficiency of veterans. Four pulsating beast cores were retrieved. Wren expertly harvested the twelve scythe-like talons. "Alchemists pay a fortune for these," he noted, the practical hunter overriding the weary student. "Key for sharpness potions and blade-enhancing powders."
Lira scrubbed the worst of the gore from her gauntlets with handfuls of dust. Kael completed his silent perimeter check, the borrowed abilities faded, leaving him once more an observant shadow.
Raven consulted the map, his gaze shifting to the darker, narrowing path ahead. "It gets harder from here. Deeper canyon, tougher terrain. Rumors of a D-rank in the deepest crevices. Stay sharp. Let's move."
Shouldering their heavier packs, Team Adam left the carnage behind. The relentless sun of the Cinder Wastes beat down as they pressed forward. In Adam's mind, the EXP counter glowed: 215/600. A personal measure of progress on a path paved with blood and iron, a journey he had to walk himself.