I looked at Aria, “ I know you probably have a lot to say right now but first let’s get out of this dungeon, we don’t want to stay here while it is falling apart.”
“Fine, put on the cloak and let’s go to my place, because there is much to talk about.”
We sneaked past the guards and made our way to Aria’s house.
When we got comfortable on her couch she gave me a very worried look.
“ I know you don’t want me to help you because you know I don’t like fighting and you want to get stronger on your own but you almost died in there … Why were you willing to go so far as to put your life on the line and refuse my help when you were clearly struggling.”
“ Well I think it’s time I told you about my powers, how they work and what is going on. “
I told her about Aetherion Prime, about the Nebula, about how this technically isn’t the first timeline, how time was sort of set backwards without us even knowing it or better yet a future that should have happened has been altered for it not to happen. I tell her about the fact that there is potentially a human working with the Drowned Choir and how they feed on despair,collapse, instability and have chosen earth to be their next target.
…
“ The reason why I am pushing myself as hard as I am is because I feel powerless … I feel as though with my current strength I can do nothing but sit back and watch as the world unfolds around us. I want to grow stronger before it’s too late before the holy war happens before they learn that I am still alive and try to kill me again, I need to be stronger for when the times come I am ready . “
Aria looked at me like I just told her the world was about to explode in 5 seconds and there was nothing we could do about it. She went through many different emotions and many different looks. She paced around the house back and forth thinking, talking to herself … processing.
I decided to give her space and give her time to think, in the meantime I was exhausted, It was 6pm and that dungeon took basically the entire day to clear and get home from. I told her I was going to take a nap. I went to the guest room and dozed off and slept. I was so tired that when I awoke it was the next day. I looked at my phone and it was 10 am. I went to her kitchen and started making a sandwich. The house was pretty quiet.
As I ate the sandwich I went to check up on Aria to see if she was awake yet I was surprised she hadn’t woken me up at all.
When I walked in her room it was like a mad scientist had been fixated on solving everything in one night. Her room was an absolute mess and there were torn pages from her sketch book all over the place drawings everywhere and she was taking notes profusely. When I knocked on the door to get her attention she jumped.
“Hey you scared me! How long have you been there?”
“Just for a minute or so, good morning .”
“ Morning?”
“Wait, did you not sleep at all?”
“Eh I may have dozed off a little but I was LOCKED IN.”
looks at the time
“OH SHIT it’s 10 AM!”
“So what kept you up all night anyway?”
“Since I don’t like fighting but I hate the thought of you dying on me even more I was thinking of what is the best way for me to help you grow while also not having to fight myself and after many hours of testing and making sure it worked I figured it out.”
She lifts her book into the air and with a flash of light the Kobold Venom Seer ( D- gate boss ) and a couple other Kobolds come out of her notebook.
I jumped back a little. It’s the first time I had ever seen her make a replica of a monster.
“ I spent the night watching the records of the dungeon and analyzing the monsters' attack patterns, behaviors and strength! And with a lot of trial and error I was able to replicate them into drawing versions of themselves with their exact same set of skills! :D ”
“Okay?.......”
“I noticed during the boss fight you were still getting used to your skills and were very clumsy when using them. Unlike most awakened that have a very limited set of skills that they master throughout their lives you on the other hand are going to power up and get more and more skills the more dungeons you raid.”
“And?”
“ and you need to practice with those skills to better make use of them and really get the most out of them!”
“ So you want me to practice on your drawings?”
“Precisely!”
“And how are we going to do that discretely? You know I am trying to stay under cover.”
“I am glad you asked!”
I follow Aria to the library where she has a wall of books the length of a school bus.
“Wait, don't tell me you are doing what I think you’re doing?”
Aria sends mana into her fireplace igniting it with a rainbow flame. She then preceded to uncover a fingerprint scanner and retinol scanner where she put in the codes to reveal….
“A SECRET PASSAGE!”
We walked downstairs as I looked around. Everything seemed to be High tech even the stairs looked fancy and like they were reinforced with high tier magic.
It was like a house under a house, there were kitchens, pantries , storage, generators, everything you would need to survive a nuke really.
After walking for a couple minutes we entered what Aria called a maximum reinforced training room. It was built to train and prepare for the worst of situations. It is Built with SS tier materials so no matter what we do to it it’s not gonna break.
“WAIT SS TIER?!?!?! This place must cost at least … AT LEAST A BILLION DOLLARS! IF NOT TRILLIONS.”
“My parents spared no expense when building this place; they made sure they could survive all out world war 3!”
“I don’t even know if a world war could bring this place down. With magic scrolls providing oxygen power and everything you could ever need green houses, an automatic farm, pocket dimensions you name it. THIS IS SICK! Why did you never show me this place before?”
“Well my parents said I wasn’t allowed to show anyone this place unless it was absolutely necessary … and after what you told me it sounds like the fate of the world depends on you so, I would say this is definitely necessary.”
The training room sealed behind us with a low hum.
“Ready?” she asked.
I rolled my shoulders once.
“Let’s start then.”
Light spilled from the pages.
One by one they formed.
Two D Rank Skirmishers.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
One D Rank Pyromancer.
One E+ Rank Lookout.
And a D Rank Shieldbearer.
Behind them, elevated on a conjured dais—
The Queen.
She sat.
Watching.
Aria had added the Shieldbearer deliberately. “You already fought these guys before might as well add a little bit more of a challenge. Although they act like the creatures I based them off, they do not remember how you fought, even though you have experience fighting them, they do not have experience fighting you.”
The Lookout moved first.
I dashed in and took it out with my sword before it could react.
It struck clean beneath the jaw.
He dissolved mid-sound.
Four left.
The Skirmishers split instinctively—left and right flank. The Shieldbearer stepped forward, shield angled. The Pyromancer lifted his staff.
And that’s when it happened.
For a fraction of a second—
I saw something.
A thin line extending from the Skirmisher’s blade.
Faint.
Red.
It traced a curved path through the air.
I didn’t think.
I stepped outside it.
The blade cut exactly where the line had been.
The Skirmisher blinked.
I didn’t.
Another thread—this one thicker—extended from the Pyromancer’s staff. It arced forward, expanding as it moved.
Fire.
I Burst Stepped.
Mana: 150 → 130.
The flame exploded along the exact path the thread had shown.
I had seen it. Right before the attack landed I could see it even for just a moment.
The second Skirmisher lunged from behind.
Two lines this time—one high, one low. Potentially a feint and a real strike.
I ignored the upper thread.
Steel met steel low.
He staggered.
I quickly deflected his attack and drove my blade through his chest.
He dissolved.
Three left.
The Shieldbearer advanced, shield first.
From the edge of the shield, several short threads pulsed outward in tight bursts
I stepped into the only gap between the lines.
The shieldbearer lunged at me with his shield clipping my shoulder.
HP: 150 → 138.
A glancing hit.
I pivoted around his shield arm and cut behind the knee.
He dropped.
Dissolved.
Two left.
The Pyromancer adjusted his stance. Staff rose higher.
This time the thread from his weapon didn’t arc.
It forked.
Two possible trajectories.
The first fork thickened.
That one.
I Burst Stepped sideways before the fire launched.
Mana: 130 → 110.
The flame detonated along the thicker path.
The thinner one flickered and vanished.
It appears he was still deciding which path to attack from.
I closed the distance.
The second Skirmisher intercepted.
Three threads burst from him at once.
Rapid strikes.
One grazed my ribs while I was blocking.
HP: 138 → 124.
The longer the fight went on the bigger the threads were becoming and the longer I could see them for.
I exhaled.
The room felt slower.
The Skirmisher’s next movement dragged a crimson line across my vision before he even shifted weight.
I cut through it.
He dissolved.
One left.
The Pyromancer panicked.
The threads from his staff multiplied wildly—erratic, overlapping.
Too many.
But only one thickened.
That was the real one.
I moved before ignition.
The fire scorched past my hip.
Heat brushed armor.
HP: 124 → 115.
I stepped through the gap in his projected line and ended him cleanly.
Silence returned.
Four minions down.
The room felt different now.
The air had texture.
Faint, residual threads lingered where they had attacked. Like afterimages burned into space.
I turned toward the dais.
The Queen hadn’t moved.
She watched.
And this time—
From her claws, threads extended too.
But they weren’t straight.
They coiled.
Layered.
Overlapping.
Far more complex than the others.
I could see them now.
Not just movement.
Intent.
Possible futures branching from her stance.
Predator’s Focus pulsed in my mind.
I rolled my neck preparing for round 2.
HP: 115 / 150
Mana: 110 / 150
Three minor hits.
Aria’s voice came from behind the control pillar.
“You’re moving a lot better this time around taking less damage!”
“Yeah.”
The Queen stood.
This time—
There would be no distractions.
No interference.
Just her.
The Queen stepped down from the dais.
No minions.
No interference.
No variables.
Just her.
And me.
The moment her feet touched the reinforced floor, the threads multiplied.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
From her claws.
From her shoulders.
From the angle of her hips.
From the slightest tilt of her head.
Every potential movement extended forward in crimson lines, overlapping, crossing, tangling in front of me like a web being woven in real time.
She moved.
The first thread sharpened.
A high slash.
I stepped outside it.
The blade passed through empty air.
Second thread—low sweep.
I adjusted mid-step and cleared it cleanly.
Third thread—short thrust.
I deflected.
Steel rang.
She smiled.
And then the threads changed.
They began splitting.
Forking.
Three possible slashes.
Two possible pivots.
A Burst Step that divided into multiple reappearance points.
Feints.
Not committed strikes.
I reacted to one—
She flowed into another.
The line I moved against faded mid-motion.
A new one thickened … I was too late.
Her claw carved across my side.
HP: 115 → 95.
I slid back half a step, boots grinding against the reinforced floor.
She had adjusted.
She realized I was reading her.
So she flooded the field with false futures.
Threads layered so densely they blurred.
For a split second—
I hesitated.
Not from fear.
From overload.
Too many projected paths.
Too many possible strikes.
Overreliance.
I had begun trusting the lines instead of the fight.
She pressed.
A rapid sequence—four feints, one real.
I ignored the threads.
Let my body reset.
Breathed once.
And something inside me shifted.
The lines didn’t disappear.
They receded.
Thinned.
Instead—
I felt it.
A pressure at my back.
A tightening in the air to my right.
A spike of intent directly in front of me before she even committed weight.
She Burst Stepped.
No thread thickened.
No visible projection.
But the space behind me felt heavy.
I turned before she materialized.
Our weapons collided mid-appearance.
She recoiled.
The sensation intensified.
It wasn’t visual now.
It was spatial.
Directional.
Danger had density.
She attacked high.
I ducked before seeing the motion.
She pivoted low.
My leg moved without conscious command.
We separated.
Her expression shifted.
The feints lost efficiency.
I was sensing danger.
She tried again—rapid micro-feints, overlapping intent, layered misdirection.
The threads flickered weakly at the edge of perception—
But they were no longer necessary.
Her killing intent pulsed like a flare before each real strike.
The moment of commitment.
And I moved at that moment.
We exchanged three more passes.
No clean hits.
She overextended on the final Burst Step.
For a fraction of a heartbeat, I felt emptiness where her center would be.
I stepped into it.
My blade drove clean across her collarbone and down through her core.
She froze.
Then dissolved into light.
Silence filled the chamber.
I lowered my sword slowly.
HP: 95 / 150
Mana: 110 / 150
One clean hit.
Aria approached carefully from behind the control pillar.
“You never stop growing, do you ,” she said quietly.
I nodded once.
The system flickered in my vision.
Predator’s Focus — Evolution Complete
New Skill Acquired: Sixth Sense
Rank: D → D+
The system flickered.
Agility: +1
Luck: +1
“The best part is I have a skill I haven’t even gotten to test out yet.”
“Really what does it do?”
Well the skill is called Hunter’s Overdrive it’s apparently D++ ranked and the description says
For 30 seconds:
- Increased reaction speed
- Increased crit chance
Afterwards:
- Temporary exhaustion penalty
“Given that my skill just grew stronger and I have a skill that claims to be D++ rank, I might be able to fight them all at once now.”
“Let’s test it out after you recover from the last fight.”
“Yeah let’s take a quick break.”
moving forward chapters will be shorter ( that includes this chapter )
Moving forward I will try to use gpt less and write things out myself more. ( I wrote chapter 9 part 1 all myself as you can tell part of the text is a lot more condensed and not as spread out. ) GPT can write fast chapters but the quality isn't the best. A lot of times I go back and forth so much with GPT that by time the chapter is in it's final stage some information gets lost and isn't included. For example in chapter 8 GPT forgot to mention the CP of all creatures and forgot to mention the name of the queen.
I noticed many writers post everyday or 3 times a day but I sadly don't have enough free time to do that. Not right away at least, so I'm shortening the chapters to make it easier for me to stay consistent with uploads and to hopefully improve the quality of the chapters.
For anyone curious the CP values are