No one felt refreshed after the last hunt.
Resting did not reset their bodies the way a game should. Lying down only made the soreness clearer. Arms felt stiff even when still. Legs buzzed faintly with fatigue, like they had been overused and never properly cooled down.
Someone muttered, "My stamina bar is a lie."
Another replied, "Yeah, this patch is unbalanced."
No one laughed very hard.
STRWH4T sat off to the side with his right arm wrapped tightly. He flexed his fingers slowly, testing movement. It worked, but the pain lingered deeper than muscle soreness. Every time he thought about forcing Armament Haki again, his body reacted first, not his mind.
He didn't try.
Unbroken stood nearby, silent. He had been watching the hunts without commenting, eyes following the movement of Warhogs in the distance rather than the people around him.
After a while, he walked toward Lin Yuan and Warbound.
"I want to try something," Unbroken said.
Warbound looked up immediately. "What kind of something."
"One Warhog," Unbroken said. "Alone."
Several people nearby stopped what they were doing.
"That's unnecessary," someone said.
"You don't need to prove anything," another added.
Unbroken shook his head once. "This isn't about proving it. I need to know what it feels like without interference. Timing. Impact. If I can't read it one-on-one, formations won't save me later."
Warbound didn't answer right away.
Lin Yuan did.
"If it turns bad," Lin Yuan said calmly, "you retreat."
Unbroken nodded. "That's fine."
Someone muttered under their breath, "That's the most final-boss NPC answer ever."
Lin Yuan didn't react. He clearly didn't understand what that meant.
They isolated a single Rank 1 Warhog from the edge of the herd. It wasn't elegant. It wasn't fast. But it worked.
The Warhog was still massive up close.
Someone whispered, "That thing is bigger than it looks."
Unbroken stepped forward.
The Warhog charged immediately.
The first clash was ugly.
Unbroken misjudged the weight. He was hit squarely and thrown backward, skidding across stone before barely stopping himself.
"Okay yeah," someone said. "Not free."
The Warhog pressed, hooves cracking rock, tusks swinging wide.
Unbroken rolled, forced himself upright, breathing hard.
Then he stopped attacking.
He adjusted his stance instead. Shortened his steps. Changed his breathing rhythm. Let the Warhog move first.
STRWH4T noticed before most others.
"He's syncing his breath," STRWH4T said quietly.
The next impact still hurt—but Unbroken didn't lose balance.
Something changed.
Not visibly. Not dramatically.
He took another hit, then another, each one slightly cleaner than the last.
Then it happened.
There was no flash. No sound cue.
Just a subtle shift, like weight settling properly into the body.
Unbroken felt it before he understood it.
His muscles responded faster. His bones felt denser. The strain didn't vanish—but it distributed more evenly.
The system logged it silently.
Body Tempering Realm.
The Warhog charged again.
Unbroken remembered STRWH4T's posture. The breath lock. The timing.
He didn't force it.
He braced.
His forearms turned black.
Not shiny. Not exaggerated.
Just solid.
The tusks slammed into his arms.
The sound was wrong.
Heavy. Dull.
People froze.
"No shot."
"Wait—he actually—"
"Is that Armament Haki?"
STRWH4T stood up too fast, immediately winced, but didn't sit back down. His eyes were fixed on Unbroken's arms.
"That's… my timing," he said quietly.
The black faded after seconds.
Unbroken didn't wait.
He stepped in while it held, shifted position, and drove his weapon where the Warhog couldn't defend.
The beast collapsed.
No cheering followed.
Just silence.
Then someone said, "Okay… that was real."
Before anyone could process it further, movement came from the side.
GACHAGAMI stepped forward, scratching his head.
"Okay but hear me out."
Immediate reactions:
"No."
"Stop."
"Please don't."
"This feels like a bad clip waiting to happen."
GACHAGAMI laughed awkwardly. "Relax. Worst case I respawn, right?"
That line landed badly.
STRWH4T turned sharply. Unbroken's expression hardened.
Lin Yuan looked at GACHAGAMI for the first time.
But GACHAGAMI was already walking.
He didn't prepare. He didn't isolate properly. He approached a Warhog that was still agitated.
It turned.
Charged.
Someone shouted, "MOVE—"
Impact.
There was no technique. No resistance.
GACHAGAMI's body shattered into Qi mid-air.
Gone.
For half a second, someone laughed.
Then stopped.
"…That was instant," someone said quietly.
"That wasn't even a fight."
The system updated without ceremony.
Connected Disciples: 148
Someone muttered, "So yeah… respawn is real."
Then, softer, "But dying still sucks."
Lin Yuan spoke once.
"You were not ready."
He looked at the group.
"And now you know what that costs."
No punishment followed.
None was needed.
STRWH4T sat back down slowly, arm still wrapped, understanding something he hadn't before.
Unbroken looked at his own hands, the memory of blackened skin still vivid.
The mountain remained silent.
The number ticked up by one.
And no one felt stronger for it—only more careful.