Lifespan Burning System: Master Everything by Burning Lifespan!
Chapter 38: Feral Monster -2

Chapter 38: Feral Monster -2

Rhys was on one knee.

His ears were bleeding from the Feral ant’s sonic shriek. The world was silent except for a painful ringing in his head.

He felt the new lifeskill, Internal Resonance, take hold inside him. It was a strange feeling. The painful, destructive vibration that had shaken his bones became a manageable hum.

It was as if his body had learned the frequency of the sound and was now vibrating along with it, cancelling out the damage.

His body’s flawless regeneration kicked in immediately. He could feel the torn tissues of his eardrums knitting themselves back together.

Within seconds, the painful ringing faded. His hearing returned, though everything sounded muffled, as if he were underwater.

’System, what does this skill do?’ he asked in his mind. A blue screen appeared with a clear explanation.

[Internal Resonance (Uninitiated): Allows the user’s body to subconsciously match and neutralise harmful sonic frequencies, greatly reducing damage from sound-based attacks.]

[Burning lifespan to increase mastery...]

[Internal Resonance -> Perfection]

Yuki raised her hand, preparing to end the fight with one of her powerful ice attacks.

"Yuki, wait!" Rhys shouted, holding her hand.

Supported by her, he stood up. He felt a grim satisfaction. The monster’s greatest weapon was now useless against him.

He looked at the giant, red Feral ant. It was still shrieking, but the sound no longer hurt him.

Yuki was watching him with a neutral expression on her face, but he could see the trembles in her hands as she held back from ending the monster in one strike.

Rhys took her hand in his.

"Mine," he murmured in her ear in a flirty tone. Ignoring the red on her face, he walked into the battlefield.

The fight began.

The Feral Lancer shrieked again. This time, Rhys felt the vibration wash over him, but it did not hurt.

He used Low-distance Jump, pulling himself towards a worker ant and activating Shadowed Dive to kill it before it could even see him.

Boom.

The place where he landed exploded as dust burst into the surroundings. The Feral Lancer thrashed around, its big head turning left and right, trying to find him.

’It seems it only detects with sound-based skills,’ Rhys muttered to himself.

[Yes.]

’Then it’s simple...’

Rhys continued moving, killing worker ants as he moved closer to the Lancer. When he saw an opening, he struck.

His dagger scraped against the hard red armour, making a loud, grating sound. Apart from a thin scratch, it did no real damage.

’Its defence is too strong...’

The Feral became frustrated. Its movements kicked up a lot of fine, golden crystal dust from the shattered bodies of the worker ants.

The air became thick with the glittering dust. Rhys saw an opportunity. He used his Ash Veil ability. The skill was not just for ash; it could manipulate any fine dust particles.

He commanded the golden crystal dust. It swirled up, creating a thick, golden cloud around the Feral ant.

The Feral became confused. Its vision was completely obscured by the swirling dust. It could not see him anymore. The Feral became desperate.

It unleashed another powerful sonic shriek, this time in all directions. It was trying to find him inside the dust cloud.

The perfected Internal Resonance skill protected Rhys from the blast. He felt the hum, but it did not affect him.

The battle fell to his advantage until the gem on the Feral’s back began to glow with a bright red light.

"Fuck."

Rhys pulled himself to a corner and jumped behind a boulder as a flash of a red beam illuminated the entire opening.

For a few fractions of a second there was no sound, then an overwhelming shockwave yanked his body back into the hard walls.

"Cough."

Rhys coughed up blood, allowing his constitution to heal as he turned to look at Yuki. She stood among the falling debris of the attack as it all froze in mid-air around her.

She moved her hands, throwing all this debris towards...

"Yuki... fuck you!"

...him.

Rhys used Low-distance Jump on Yuki, and both of their bodies were pulled towards each other. He turned slightly, catching her in mid-air and putting her over his shoulder.

Then...

Spank.

"Human, why did you hit my ass?" she actually sounded wronged.

Spank.

"Y-you are a big bully."

Rhys delivered another spank as he felt warm tears on his shoulder.

"Why did you throw that debris at me?"

"I didn’t mean it! You happened to be where I could throw it!"

"Still..."

"Skreee!"

"Ugh, let’s finish this ant, then we can talk."

With another jump, Rhys reached a position above the Lancer. He used his Viper’s Kiss dagger technique. He did not aim for the thick armour.

He aimed for the joints in the Feral’s legs and neck; the small gaps where the crystal plates connected. He managed to chip away small pieces of its crystal armour.

He was damaging it, but it was a very slow process. The Feral was incredibly tough.

Rhys saw his chance. The Feral was momentarily off-balance after firing another energy beam into the empty dust cloud.

He looked up.

He saw a large, sharp crystal hanging from the hexagonal ceiling. It was directly above the Feral ant.

A plan formed in his head as he anchored himself to the crystal, his body pulling upwards with incredible speed.

He flew over the Feral’s head, landing silently on the ceiling like a spider. As he hung in the air for a second, he pushed off the ceiling with his feet.

Twisting his body in mid-air, he landed forcefully on the crystal, breaking it off from the ceiling.

Bam!

There was a loud cracking sound. The crystal, together with him, fell upon the Lancer, squashing it to death. It was dead.

"Huff... finally."

The remaining worker ants became confused without their leader. They stopped attacking. They turned and retreated back into their dark, hexagonal tunnels.

The battlefield became quiet. Rhys was breathing heavily. His arms and legs ached from the long fight.

But he felt a deep sense of victory. He had defeated a Feral, alone.

"Human, that was too long for a fight."

Rhys’s lips twitched. He knew it. Ferals were not easy to kill.

He was sure this monster might have been the weakest among Ferals, yet it still took great effort and factors other than strength alone to take it down.

’I am still weak,’ Rhys sighed.

The Feral Lancer’s body began to dissolve into a cloud of purple light. It left behind three items on the ground.

The first item was a thin, stone tablet. It felt warm to the touch. It was a skill scroll.

[Skill Scroll: Sonic Burst.]

[Grade: Earth (Low).]

[Allows the user to release a focused blast of sound to disorient enemies.]

’Finally, a skill...’ And a earth graded one!

The second item was a blank, grey sphere. It looked like a simple stone, but it was what excited him most.

[Empty Skill Core detected. This item can be used to instantly convert a mastered lifeskill into an Ordinary-Grade Skill Core without the need to collect 100 fragments.]

It did not have any restrictions, meaning he could choose which skill should be turned into a Skill Core. This was an incredibly valuable treasure.

The third item was a small, swirling ball of clear energy. Rhys could feel a light breeze coming from it. The System analysed it.

[Element Ball (Wind) has been acquired. This contains a pure, unbonded essence of the Wind element.]