The stench of iron and ash thickened with every step Aron took.
He moved through the warped, blackened forest in silence, his daggers loose at his sides. Each tree he passed looked less like wood and more like a twisted nightmare given form — gnarled limbs stretching upward like clawed hands, bark slick with something that wasn't sap. A sickly red mist hung low to the ground, swirling around his boots as if the forest itself wanted to drag him under.
Aron's violet eyes swept across the darkness, unblinking.
Every breath he drew in burned like smoke in his lungs.
Every heartbeat felt like a war drum pounding in his ears.
There was no wind here, no birdsong, no signs of life other than the malicious energy radiating from unseen predators. It was not mere silence — it was suffocating stillness, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Then, a sound.
A faint scrape of claw against stone.
Aron stopped instantly.
His daggers tilted slightly, his stance lowering.
From somewhere deep within the shadows, a guttural growl rippled through the air. It was followed by another. And another. Until the growls layered atop each other like a chorus of hunger.
Aron smirked, a flash of teeth in the dim red light.
"They've been watching me for a while now," he muttered under his breath, voice calm, almost amused. "Guess they've decided to finally make a move."
The mist shifted.
Dark shapes emerged between the twisted trees, glowing yellow eyes piercing through the fog.
Akrolens.
The first of them crept into view — towering humanoid beasts standing on two muscular, digitigrade legs. Their wolf-like faces were drawn into permanent snarls, saliva dripping from elongated fangs. Their long arms ended in hooked claws, each sharp enough to tear through steel. Their fur was ragged, matted with old blood, and their movements were deliberate, predatory, intelligent.
Then more appeared.
Dozens.
Scores.
Hundreds.
The forest itself seemed to be alive with their forms, every shadow revealing another waiting hunter. A low, collective growl rose from them, vibrating in Aron's chest like a living storm.
Aron rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension drain into readiness.
His pulse quickened, not with fear — but anticipation.
"System," he said evenly, "show me their stats."
The familiar chime rang out in his ears.
[ Monsters Detected around Host ]
[ Species Name: Akrolens ]
[ LVL: 30 → 35 ]
Stats:
STR: 254
AGL: 231
STM: 297
VIT: 670
INT: 176
LCK: 150
Aron's gaze sharpened as he studied the readout.
"High vitality and stamina. They won't go down easily… unless."
His lips curved into a dangerous grin.
"Unless I don't give them the chance."
He lifted his head and barked a command.
"Purchase Titanium Scolkars. Ninety SP. Now."
The system responded immediately.
[ Titanium Scolkars purchased from system store ]
[ Item delivered to inventory ]
[ Remaining SP: 72 ]
Two flashes of white light flared before him, solidifying into a pair of sleek twin daggers. The metal gleamed dark silver, runes etched along the blades like veins of frozen lightning. They radiated lethal precision, perfectly balanced, perfectly deadly.
A final message appeared as he caught them midair.
[ Titanium Scolkars {Lvl.16} ]
Twin daggers forged from Titanium, among the hardest metals.
No active effects.
Passive Skill: Double Damage Enhancement
Every kill doubles total damage, stacking infinitely.
Example: 1st kill → 2× damage, 2nd kill → 4×, 3rd kill → 8×…
Aron twirled them experimentally, the motion smooth, fluid, almost casual.
"Perfect."
The Akrolens surged forward with a collective roar, their hunger unleashed.
Aron moved first.
He blurred into motion, a streak of silver slicing through the crimson mist. The first Akrolen lunged at him, claws outstretched, only to have its throat opened in a single, clean cut. Before its body hit the ground, Aron pivoted and plunged his second dagger into another creature's heart.
[ 1st Kill – Damage Multiplier: 2× ]
[ 2nd Kill – Damage Multiplier: 4× ]
Aron barely glanced at the notification. His focus was absolute.
He kicked the dying monster off his blade, spinning low to avoid a swipe from behind, then drove both daggers upward in a brutal X-slash that bisected a third Akrolen from groin to skull.
[ 3rd Kill – Damage Multiplier: 8× ]
A surge of raw power rippled through his veins. His lips twitched upward.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
The pack howled and charged en masse, claws tearing up the earth. Aron met them head-on. His movements grew sharper, faster with each kill — a dance of death in which every strike flowed seamlessly into the next.
A head severed here.
A heart pierced there.
Blood painted the forest floor in crimson arcs.
[ 10th Kill – Damage Multiplier: 1,024× ]
[ 30th Kill – Damage Multiplier: 16,777,216x {This is the dagger's Limit, Please upgrade the weapon to maximize further} ]
Aron exhaled through his nose, eyes blazing violet.
"Too slow."
The creatures could no longer track him. His daggers cut through them like fire through paper, each blow more devastating than the last. By the time he had felled ninety monsters, the forest clearing was an abattoir.
The system chimed.
[ You have Leveled UP! ]
[ Level: 16 → 17 ]
[ All stats +3 ]
[ Title effect: +10 Undisturbed stats ]
Aron smirked but didn't pause.
"That's one."
Thirty more corpses fell.
[ Level: 17 → 18 ]
[ All stats +3 ]
The pace slowed. His leveling curve was steepening — exactly as expected. Still, with every wave, he became faster, stronger, more efficient.
By the time he hit Level 25, the monsters were barely worth his effort.
"Pathetic," he hissed, carving through a cluster with a single spinning strike. "You call yourselves predators?"
Their answer was a chorus of enraged howls.
Thousands of eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Good.
He wanted more.
The battlefield stretched for miles now, corpses carpeting the blackened earth. The trees were shattered from the force of the combat, their broken limbs jutting like splintered spears. Rivers of molten rock hissed as blood poured into them, turning the air into a choking miasma.
Aron was a blur amid the carnage, a storm given human form. His daggers no longer looked like weapons — they were streaks of light, too fast for the eye to follow.
Every kill fed the passive skill, the doubling effect escalating to absurdity.
Two thousand times.
One million times.
Ten million times.
His levelling speed got slowed down but he....he didn't stop, instead his hunt continued.
By the time the count passed seven hundred kills, Aron's attacks weren't merely cutting — they were obliterating. Entire groups of Akrolens were reduced to ribbons of flesh in single sweeping arcs.
He didn't even slow when the system chimed again.
[ Level: 35 → 36 ]
[ All stats +3 ]
[ Title effect: +10 Undisturbed stats ]
Aron didn't look at the message.
He was beyond it now.
The hunt consumed him.
His breathing was heavy but controlled, each inhale measured, each exhale sharp. Blood drenched his clothes, plastered his hair to his skull, ran in rivulets down his arms. His violet eyes glowed like twin stars in the darkness, unblinking, unrelenting.
When the last massive pack surged forward — hundreds of beasts moving as one — Aron simply stopped moving.
For an instant, silence.
Then he struck.
The world blurred.
One moment, the monsters were alive.
The next, they were nothing but falling pieces.
He moved faster than thought, faster than sight, his blades carving an intricate pattern of death through the horde. Heads toppled. Limbs spiraled through the air. Blood exploded upward like geysers.
Five seconds.
That's all it took to erase them.
The final Akrolen fell, its body split neatly in two.
Aron stood alone among 1,356 corpses.
The system chimed in a tone he had never heard before — sharp, urgent.
[ Total Kills: 1,356 ]
[ Level: 45 ]
[ All stats +3 ]
[ Title effect: +10 Undisturbed stats ]
Another message followed immediately.
[ Titanium Scolkars has reached the maximum doubling effect ]
[ Current Damage Multiplier: 16,777,216× ]
[ Host must upgrade the weapon to continue stacking ]
Aron stared at the glowing screen, breathing hard.
Then he laughed — low, dark, dangerous.
"This much doubling effect…" His smile widened, showing teeth. "More than enough."
He turned one dagger in his hand, admiring the blood-slicked blade.
"These daggers… are really something."
For a moment, he simply stood there, soaking in the silence, the raw aftermath of the slaughter. Then, slowly, his expression shifted — from wild joy to cold, focused determination.
He remembered a battle long ago.
A towering figure cloaked in shadows.
Karlath.
The first time they fought, Aron had barely survived.
The second time, he had won — but only just.
Now, he was stronger than ever.
And Karlath… was waiting.
Aron's lips curled into a predatory grin.
"I'm coming to you, Karlath… hehehe."
He glanced back at the system screen, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. The unread messages reflected in his violet gaze like omens of what was to come.
His grin widened further.
"Wait for me."
And with that, he stepped forward, vanishing into the blood-soaked darkness, the forest trembling in his wake.
_ _ _
To be continued....