Lifespan Burning System: Master Everything by Burning Lifespan!
Chapter 37: Feral Monster

Chapter 37: Feral Monster

Aiden Thorne brought his heavy sword down. The blade crunched through the amber crystal body of an ant.

The creature shattered into a hundred sharp pieces. He felt a sense of satisfaction. This was much better.

His group, a combined team of Thorne and Sterling disciples, moved carefully through the hexagonal tunnels of the Crystalline Hive.

They were hunting the crystal ants. Everyone was happy. The rewards were good. The crystal shards could be sold for a high price.

The glowing gems on the ants’ backs were pure elemental cores. They were very valuable for a Body Tempering cultivator to sense an element and bond with.

If the labyrinth did not have a level cap, he would have already broken through to Tier 2. They were also very valuable for weapon smithing.

With the profession core their team had found, his uncle could become a true weapon smith. Aiden could hardly control his grin.

But the best part was that these monsters were easy. They were weak, and they attacked in predictable lines.

Most importantly, they did not revive. When they were killed, they stayed dead. Aiden felt a wave of relief.

This was a welcome change from the last area.

He cursed as he thought about the bat caverns. The Shriek Bats had been a disaster. They were not strong, but they revived again and again.

A single bat could come back to life more than two times. It was a battle of attrition, and they had lost a lot of good disciples.

He looked down at the simple, black band on his wrist. It was a device given to them by their families. It showed the total number of survivors in the Labyrinth.

The glowing numbers read 900/1002.

One hundred and two disciples were already dead. He felt a small pang of loss, but it was quickly replaced by a cold, practical thought.

’At least everyone else is losing members too,’ he reassured himself. This was a competition. Every family that lost a disciple was a family that was falling behind.

"It’s lucky there aren’t many of those ants," a voice whined from behind him. Aiden turned. His older brother, Tiberius, was wiping sweat from his face.

He was hiding behind three other Thorne disciples. Those three disciples were trying their best to fight off a small swarm of ants.

Tiberius was just watching. Aiden looked at him with disgust.

What a coward.

His brother was supposed to be a leader, a proud warrior of the Thorne family. Instead, he was a useless piece of trash who hid behind others.

’If not for our shared blood, I would have abandoned him in those bat caves,’ Aiden thought.

He felt a flash of cold anger. He knew Tiberius was only here because of his name.

He turned away from his brother. He did not want to look at him anymore. His gaze fell on Anya Sterling.

She was at the front of the group, leading them through the winding tunnels. For some unknown reason, she had become very silent after they had entered the ash plains.

She had not said a word for hours. Aiden frowned.

Her silence was strange, but he said nothing. He did not care if she was speaking or not, as long as she was leading them correctly.

Her ’Pathseeker’s’ ability was too useful to question. She was the reason they were finding the richest tunnels full of ants.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of hunting, they saw it: a bright light at the end of the tunnel. It was the exit.

A feeling of excitement spread through the group. They were finally leaving this strange, golden place. They started to walk faster, their steps echoing in the crystal tunnel.

They were excited to see what the next area of the Labyrinth looked like. That was when they heard it.

A horrifying shriek.

It was a sound of pure rage and pain. It was loud and piercing. It echoed through the tunnels and made the crystal walls vibrate.

Everyone froze. The excitement and relief on their faces were replaced with fear.

The disciples looked around nervously, their hands tightening on their weapons.

Anya stopped walking. She was staring at the exit of the tunnel.

"A Feral," she muttered. Her voice was low and tense.

Aiden felt his heart beat faster. A Feral. They had not faced a single Feral monster since entering the Labyrinth.

He had heard stories from the decoy team about how difficult they were.

"Someone is fighting it," Anya continued. Her eyes had changed.

A faint, green light was glowing in them. She was using her Trait.

"Is it another team?" Aiden asked immediately. He glanced down at his wristband and breathed a sigh of relief.

The device showed that no other family group was nearby.

"There is no one near us."

"No," Anya said. Her voice was a strange whisper. "Not a team."

She was staring into the distance, her eyes focused on something only she could see. The green light in her eyes grew brighter.

She looked confused, and then shocked.

"It’s a single person," she said.

Aiden felt a sense of disbelief. A single person was fighting a Feral? That was impossible. It was suicide.

Anya continued to stare, her expression becoming more and more strange. She looked as if she was seeing a ghost.

"And a corpse," she muttered, her voice barely audible.

*

* *

[Feral-Grade Crystal Lancer detected.]

Rhys licked his lips, his body trembling with excitement as he stared at the monster emerging from the distance.

[Crystal Lancer]

[Bloodline: Feral-Grade]

[Cultivation: Stage 1 (Peak)]

[Description: An elite soldier of the crystal hive. Its body is composed of a more durable, blood-red crystal. It possesses rudimentary intelligence and can channel focused energy attacks through its core.]

It was much bigger than the others. It was easily the size of a horse. Its crystal body was not amber; it was a deep, blood-red colour.

The gem on its back was bigger than Rhys’s head. It glowed with a fierce, pulsating red light. Its mandibles were larger and sharper than the others.

The Feral ant demonstrated its power immediately as it let out a loud shriek. His eardrums shattered instantly as dark blood flowed out of his ears.

The world went silent, replaced by a painful, high-pitched ringing in his head. The shriek was not just a sound; it was a physical force, a wave of pure vibration that slammed into him.

He felt his bones rattle and his organs shake. The pain was immense, and he fell to one knee, feeling dizzy and sick.

Yuki was by his side in an instant. She shook him, probably trying to see if he was okay. Rhys merely smiled.

’I am not okay, really,’ his gaze turned sharp, looking at the ant. It would die horribly.

But then, something inside him changed. His Void-Tempered Immortal Body, in its constant effort to survive, reacted to the new threat.

The intense vibration was a unique and dangerous environmental pressure. His body began to adapt. The overwhelming pain started to lessen.

Instead of just feeling a destructive force, Rhys began to feel the frequency of the sound wave. His bones began to hum in a specific rhythm, matching the shriek.

His muscles tensed and relaxed, creating a counter-vibration that neutralised the attack.

His body was learning the "song" of the shriek and learning how to sing along in a way that protected him.

[Host has sustained critical damage from a high-frequency sonic attack.]

[The Void-Tempered Immortal Body is adapting to the vibrational frequency to prevent further structural damage.]

[A new lifeskill is being formed...]

[Lifeskill [Internal Resonance] has been acquired.]