Steadily Upgrading Everything!
Chapter 38: Dangerous if left unchecked.

Chapter 38: Dangerous if left unchecked.

The moment John stepped out of the shimmering blue portal, the scent of wet earth and thick vegetation assaulted his senses.

Thump!

He landed on a patch of moss-covered ground, branches cracking beneath his boots.

The canopy above was dense, shrouding the sky in a veil of green shadows.

The jungle around him pulsed with life, chirps, rustles, and distant howls echoing in all directions.

He stood still for a moment, adjusting his breath, orienting himself.

Then, a low, vibrating hiss slithered through the air.

John’s eyes snapped to the right.

Emerging from between two thick trees, its clawed feet crushing underbrush effortlessly, was a massive lizard-like beast.

Its body was scaled, dark green with jagged black patterns.

Two thick tails swayed behind it, both tipped with bone-like spikes.

Its head, narrow and elongated, turned sharply, revealing seven glowing eyes, each blinking at a different rhythm.

John’s heart skipped a beat.

A single glance at its aura told him everything he needed to know.

Spirit Fruit Realm

’Two whole realms above me.’

His thoughts flashed back to the Ten-Tailed Black Tiger, how close to death he had been back then.

And this... this monster is even stronger.

Without hesitation, John spun around and ran.

His body blurred into motion, his feet pounding against the dirt trail as branches whipped past his face.

Trees became a blur, and his qi flowed instantly into his lungs and legs, activating his Slow Toad Breathing Skill.

His speed shot up like a bolt of lightning, his breath deep and rhythmic, body almost weightless.

Boom!

Behind him, the lizard let out a piercing shriek and thundered after him.

Its long body slithered and crashed through the jungle like a battering ram.

Crash!

A tail swept at John from the left. He somersaulted forward, narrowly dodging it as it shattered a tree trunk beside him, the explosion of bark raining down in his path.

"Too close!" he gasped.

The chase intensified.

The beast darted in and out of the undergrowth, using its two tails to vault over trees, closing the distance each time John tried to widen the gap.

Its jaws snapped once, twice, just a breath away from sinking into his shoulder.

John gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face.

"I can’t outrun this thing forever," he muttered, leaping over a large root and tumbling into a clearing.

Then he made a snap decision.

He halted mid-sprint and spun on his heel.

"Let’s test this thing properly," he growled.

His feet planted firmly, John focused his Qi into the center of his forehead, his glabella.

"Soul Piercing Gaze."

A glowing symbol sparked to life between his eyebrows, like a third eye opening in the middle of his face.

ZZZZMMM!

A thin, concentrated beam of spiritual light fired forward, faster than a blink.

It hit the beast square in its left shoulder, and for the first time, the lizard screeched in pain.

Smoke rose from its scales, a deep gash carved into the tough flesh.

John’s eyes widened.

"That worked? It actually...!"

Boom!

The beast lunged again, tail whipping around.

John rolled to the side and activated the gaze again.

Another piercing beam tore through the air, this time slicing across the creature’s ribcage.

Blood splattered onto the nearby foliage.

The Twin-Tailed Abyss Lizard shrieked and spun, charging blindly through the trees in rage.

Its movements became wild, erratic. But John was already moving, flanking it, circling around, firing more beams.

Zap!

One hit a hind leg, and the beast stumbled.

Zap!

Another slashed near its eye, narrowly missing the socket but leaving a deep groove across its head.

It howled, and a wild tail sweep forced John to backpedal, slamming into a tree and wincing.

Too reckless, he thought, breathing heavily.

But then he noticed something strange.

The beast was backing off.

It wasn’t lunging anymore.

Its seven eyes flicked left and right in frantic coordination.

Blood dripped from a dozen wounds, none fatal, but enough to dissuade a prolonged fight.

It’s... scared?

The lizard let out a frustrated growl, slapped its tails on the ground twice, and then, with a heavy hiss, it turned and lumbered away into the forest, crashing through the underbrush like a retreating storm.

John remained frozen, panting.

His limbs trembled with adrenaline, but a grin spread across his face.

It gave up.

He sat down hard on a rock, wiping sweat from his brow, the symbol on his forehead slowly fading.

"That... was incredible," he whispered. "That beam, at just level two, it tore through its defenses like a blade through silk."

For the first time, he realized just how dangerous Soul Piercing Gaze could be.

He looked up at the canopy.

"This island isn’t going to go easy on me," he said to himself, "but if I keep evolving... I might just survive."

Then, wiping the dirt from his robes, John stood again, eyes scanning the jungle.

He soon found a safe patch of forest under a canopy of thick, twisting vines.

He leaned against the bark of a gnarled tree, panting heavily, sweat running down his back.

The lizard’s roars still echoed faintly in the distance, but it had finally given up chase.

He lived, barely.

But this near-death encounter stirred something in him.

"If I keep facing beasts like that alone... I won’t survive the full ten days."

The ten-tailed tiger had already taught him that recklessness spelled death.

And now, facing a Spirit Fruit Realm creature, two entire realms above him, he barely made it out with his life.

He realized something crucial then, ’this survival test wasn’t just about strength. It was about alliances. Tactics. Strategy.’

"I need someone I can trust. Someone who won’t stab me in the back at the first opportunity..."

Riara’s face appeared in his mind, smirking, loud, confident... but never deceitful.

She’d helped him before, and despite her arrogance, she had principles.

She wasn’t someone who would attack him from the shadows.

He nodded to himself and turned toward the dense foliage.

"If I can find her, we’ll stand a better chance. Together, we can gather more cores, and watch each other’s backs."

With determination flaring in his chest, John took a deep breath and activated his Spatial Awareness, spreading its reach across twenty meters around him.

Every rustle of leaves, every subtle shift in spirit energy, he tracked it all as he sprinted through the thick underbrush, leaping over roots and ducking low-hanging branches.

Then, suddenly...

A chill ran down his spine.

A sharp intent sliced through the calm like a razor.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and his spatial sense blared a warning...

"Behind me—fast!"

He spun on instinct.

But too late.

Shhk!

A silvery blur sliced through the air and pierced his left shoulder, just below the collarbone.

"Gah!" John cried out, the force of the strike lifting him off his feet.

A fountain of blood spurted out from the wound, staining his robes deep crimson.

He slammed hard into the forest floor, skidding violently along wet leaves and dirt before his body crashed into the trunk of a thick tree, the impact rattling his bones.

Pain exploded through his torso, but John gritted his teeth, forcing himself up with shaky arms.

Blood dripped freely from his wound, and his spatial sense flickered wildly as his heart pounded.

Across from him, stepping out of the brush with terrifying calm, came his attacker.

A young woman with blonde hair, braided tightly behind her head.

Her cold blue eyes studied him with amusement.

Her grey robes rippled softly in the breeze, and on her chest was an unmistakable symbol.

John’s eyes widened.

"Roaming Earth Clan?" he muttered under his breath.

He’d seen that insignia before, during the alchemy examination.

The person who had ranked first in their batch had proudly displayed the same crest.

Riara had spoken about them as well.

And now, one of them stood before him, her blade gleaming with his blood.

She smirked. "Seems like you know my clan," she said, tilting her sword and casually flicking the blood off its edge.

The droplets splattered onto the moss-covered ground.

John clenched his jaw, his mind racing even as the pain throbbed through him. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, rising fully to his feet.

He subtly reactivated his spatial sense, locking onto her movements, her weight shifts, her weapon’s angle.

She was strong, but not invincible.

His sense told him she was at the Spirit Seed Realm, same as him.

Still, that strike...

’Her sword technique is terrifying... Even with my spatial sense, I only sensed it a moment before it hit. She’s not just strong, she’s precise.’

The girl laughed softly, amused by his tension. "Why?" she repeated, raising her blade again with slow, graceful movements. "Because this test isn’t just about survival, idiot. It’s about dominance. I plan to be in the top fifty—and that means thinning the competition early."

Her blue eyes gleamed like shards of ice. "Especially ones like you, quiet, resourceful types. You’re the most dangerous if left unchecked."

John’s breathing steadied, and his fingers curled slightly, Qi rising beneath his skin.