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Kuro's back slammed against the damp corridor wall, chest rising and falling like a drumline inside his ribs. His eyes darted across the hallway, scanning the bodies, the twitching limbs, the torn flesh, the blood still pooling. Every breath he took felt like gravel scraping against his lungs.
He didn't get a moment to wipe the sweat from his face before another low snarl echoed down the stone corridor. A blur shot out from the side, and instantly his body moved before his mind could. He shifted his weight, twisting on his heel, and brought his chipped short sword down hard. The blade cleaved through the Lycan's shoulder, cutting deep until the hilt slammed into bone.
The beast shrieked and staggered, but Kuro didn't let up. He ripped the blade out, turned his hips, and slashed again, catching the monster across the throat. A spray of blood hit his flak jacket and chin.
Before the Lycan's corpse even hit the ground, another beast lunged at him from the side, but this one was different. It was shaped like a baboon, with long arms that scraped the floor and fingers tipped with knife-length claws. Its red eyes locked on him, ready to cut him in half.
Kuro ducked under its first swing, feeling the breeze of its claws miss his scalp by inches. He slid across the floor, barely regaining balance before planting his foot and shooting up with a diagonal slash across its ribs. The beast screeched, stumbling back, but not far enough.
He lunged forward, ramming his shoulder into its chest and forcing it onto its back. Then, with both hands gripping the handle of his sword, he drove it straight down into the thing's gut. It writhed, its claws scraping across the stone as blood pooled beneath it.
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[ NOTICE]
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YOU'VE HAVE KILLED THE [RAZOR-CLAWED BRIGA.]
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Another growl came from behind, heavier this time.
Kuro turned.
A bear. No, not a bear. Its size was bear-like, sure, but its fur was jet-black and coarse like dried ash, and its face was misshapen, its jaw opened sideways, revealing too many teeth to count. Its front paws slammed the floor as it charged, its roar ripping through the air like a siren.
Kuro gritted his teeth and sank into his stance. "Come on, you ugly piece of shit," he muttered, his eyes locked onto the beast in front of him.
The moment it lunged, he sidestepped just enough, dragging the blade along the beast's side, but it wasn't deep enough to make a real dent. Its massive body crashed into the wall, dazed, but not down. It turned fast, swinging one of its massive claws.
Kuro ducked under it, pivoted behind the monster, then drove the sword up into the space between its ribs and spine. The beast howled, thrashing wildly as Kuro held on. His grip slipped, his muscles burned, but he pushed harder until the blade finally tore free, and the creature dropped with a deafening thud.
Silence.
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[ NOTICE]
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YOU'VE HAVE KILLED THE [BLACK-SHADOW RAZAN.]
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Kuro staggered back, almost tripping over a corpse. He leaned against the wall, his short sword dangling in his hand, with blood dripping from the tip. His entire body was soaked in blood, sweat, and whatever else those monsters were made of.
He let out a long, tired sigh and closed his eyes for a second, feeling the weight of it all press down on his chest.
"...Shit..." he muttered, breath ragged. "...I need a damn break."
He collapsed onto the corpse of the black shadow Razan, the thick fur beneath him warm and sticky with blood.
He had no idea how long he'd been in the dungeon, days maybe? it all blurred together. All he knew was that it never stopped, wave after wave of monsters, no rest, no breaks. His body was wrecked, he was tired, so damn tired, but he couldn't afford to stop.
But as he tilted his head forward, eyes fixed on what stood ahead, all thoughts of taking a break faded.
A pair of massive double doors loomed at the end of the corridor, tall enough to make him feel small just looking at them. The surface was made from black stone, polished to the point it almost shimmered under the dim dungeon lighting. Golden lines ran through it, carving out strange symbols he couldn't recognize, glowing faintly like veins pulsing with some kind of energy.
He didn't need anyone to tell him what was behind those doors. His body already knew.
His skin prickled. His stomach twisted like he was about to throw up. It wasn't fear, exactly, it was something else. It was more like a gut-deep instinct screaming at him that what waited beyond those doors was nothing like the monsters he'd fought so far.
"...Definitely the boss," he muttered, his hand tightening around the handle of his chipped short sword.
He exhaled slowly. "Status screen."
A soft chime answered him, and the familiar transparent blue screen blinked to life in front of him, hovering just a few inches from his face.
━─━─━─≪◈ STATS ◈≫─━─━─━
[NAME] ➤ Kuroshin Kagemura
[AGE] ➤ 13
[LEVEL] ➤ 13
◇───INFO───◇
[JOB] ➤ NONE
[TITLES] ➤ Courage Of The Weak...
[HP] ➤ 340.9/400
[CP] ➤ 960/1130 (GENIN)
[FATIGUE] ➤ 25
[AVAILABLE ABILITY POINTS: 8 ]...
◇───STATS───◇
[STRENGTH] ➤ 37.5
[AGILITY] ➤ 25.5
[SENSE] ➤ 22.5
[HEALTH] ➤ 27.5
[INTELLIGENCE] ➤ 29
◇───SKILLS───◇
[BASIC TAIJUTSU TECHNIQUES] ➤Lv.6 (PASSIVE.) [ Basic Melee attacks inflicted on an opponent is increased by 18%. ]
[BASIC SHURIKENJUTSU TECHNIQUES]Lv.3 (Passive) [ When throwing small concealed weapons, damage inflicted is increased by 10%.]
[WIND AFFINITY] ➤ Lv.2 (PASSIVE.) [ Whenever a Wind Style jutsu is used, its power is increased by 20%.]
[BASIC KUNAI TECHNIQUES]Lv.7 (PASSIVE) [ Basic kunai attacks inflicted on an opponent are increased by 15%.]
◇───JUTSU'S───◇
[TRANSFORMATION JUTSU] ➤ Lv.10
[BASIC CLONE JUTSU] ➤ Lv.10
[SUBSTITUTION JUTSU] ➤ Lv.10
[VACUUM BLADE JUTSU] ➤Lv.2
[GALE PALM JUTSU] ➤Lv.1
━─━─━─━─≪◆≫─━─━─━─━
Kuro kept fiddling with the hilt of his chipped short sword, the metal slightly warm from the blood still coating the blade. His eyes lingered on the status screen hovering in front of him, flickering faintly with every blink.
"I'm finally at level 13… and all my stats are in the twenties now," he muttered, eyes dragging across the numbers. "Which makes me feel better..not by much, but better."
His wind affinity skill had finally leveled up to Level 2, not that it made him particularly excited. Out of all the skills he had, this was probably the only one that could give him some kind of edge against whatever the hell was waiting for him behind those doors.
But the reason it was only at Level 2 in the first place was because he hadn't used the Vacuum blade or the Gale Palm Jutsu's nearly as much as he wanted to. Since he'd been saving his CP like a man clinging to his last coin. Additionally, his Gale Palm was practically useless to cost that much chakra, and his Vacuum blade jutsu just consumed too much chakra.
Still, the fact that he'd leveled up eight times gave him something to work with. Every stat had jumped by eight points, and his total CP pool had grown with it, so that was useful. And then there were his eight ability points, which wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, but right now, everything counted.
He raised his hand to the screen and placed four points into Speed and four into Strength.
"I would've put some into something else," he muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "but these two are gonna be the only ones that actually keep me alive in there."
Speed for agility.
And Strength to do enough damage.
The boost was something. But staring at that door and feeling the weight of the air pressing against his skin, he wasn't convinced it would be enough. "Although... I don't know if it's enough to take on whatever's behind that door." He let out a long breath, almost a groan at the end of it.
This was different.
He'd bled before, fought like hell before, but this was the first time it felt like one wrong step might mean game over, permanently. "If I fuck up... that's it. I'm dead, again." He let the words hang there for a second.
Then came a small, dry chuckle from his throat, more bitter than amused.
"But who gives a fuck…" he muttered. "I'm not going to die. At least not here."
He let the status screen fade, closing it with a flick of his fingers. Grunting he rose to his feet, using his short sword like a cane for a second before shaking off the ache in his knees. His flak jacket had taken several hits, barely holding together by the straps on his side. His shirt underneath was torn near the shoulder, exposing the raw, bruised skin beneath.
Reaching into one of the deeper pockets stitched inside his vest, he pulled out a round, smooth stone, slightly warm to the touch. A symbol was carved at its center, glowing softly in bright blue.
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[ NOTICE]
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Do you wish to use the Teleportation Stone?
[Y/N]
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Or he could just call it a break for the day.
He stared at it for a long moment, his thumb slowly brushing over the symbol. 'Should I leave…?' he thought, more to himself than anything else.
He had the option. No shame in using it. No one would blame him.
But as he looked back at the looming double doors, all he could think about was the time he had. He had a year, one year until canon began. Until all hell started to break loose, one year to get strong enough to not just survive, but to thrive.
If he ran from everything that scared him now… what would happen when he couldn't run?
When there was no escape button?
When someone he cared about was behind that door, bleeding out, screaming for help?
"Fuck that," he muttered.
He shoved the teleportation stone into his inventory. He didn't hesitate. He didn't overthink it.
He just walked.
Each step felling heavier than the last.
Reaching it, he paused, placing both hands on the stone surface, rough and cold beneath his palms.
Then he pushed.
The stone doors groaned against his strength, the golden lines flaring as if reacting to his presence. A deep hum vibrated through the floor beneath him. As the door creaked open inch by inch, a cold wind spilled out from the darkness beyond, along with the scent of ash, blood, and something that smelled like burnt metal.
The sound of the double doors closing behind him as he walked in echoed through the hollow chamber like a final warning.
Boom…
The noise rattled through the walls, drawn out, until it faded into the stillness of the air.
Kuro stepped forward.
His boots crunched against dirt, bones, and twisted roots that cracked and shifted under his weight. He paused after a few steps, eyes slowly drifting up, then around him, taking in the massive expanse of the boss room.
Rows upon rows of massive cracked stone pillars reached up to the distant ceiling, with thick green veins wrapping their way around the pillars, pulsing faintly, some of them even dripping dew or sap that hissed as it hit the floor. Overgrown patches of wild grass, moss, and sickly-looking fungi littered the ground in uneven clumps.
The torches embedded in the sides of the pillars barely helped. Their orange flames flickered weakly against the darkness that clung to the room, beyond a certain point, the world just... stopped. Just a stretch of pitch-black that swallowed anything beyond it.
And in that darkness were bones.
Dozens. Hundreds. Piles of them.
Some bleached white, others fresh with drying flesh and splashes of old blood. They were twisted, mutated, like something had torn through monsters alike, crushed them underfoot, and left nothing but the remains behind. Even now, a few of the skulls looked like they were watching him from the ground.
The air was thick with the smell of rot.
Kuro gagged immediately, his hand covering his nose as the smell slammed into him. It was like a mix of garbage, decay, and open wounds left to bake under the sun. His eyes watered as he gritted his teeth, breathing through his mouth to avoid throwing up.
"Holy shit…" he muttered, squinting ahead.
. . . . .
"GRRRRRR..."
. . . . .
That's when he heard it.
A low guttural growl that stretched on like it had been building for hours in a throat full of blood. It came from directly in front of him, somewhere within the darkness just past the last row of pillars.
Then, two red lights blinked open.
Not lights.
Eyes...
They burned through the darkness like torches soaked in blood, unblinking and locked straight onto him.
Above the pair of eye's, hovering over nothing but darkness, appeared a glowing title in dark orange letters..
[THE KING OF THE FOREST, SKULLREND THE HOLLOW-TOOTHED.]
Kuro's body reacted before his mind could even catch up. His feet slid into position. He dropped low into his stance, short sword angled across his forearm, his off-hand raised to guard his face.
Every muscle in his body tensed.
The red eyes didn't move. Not yet.
Then came the sound of dragging claws. Heavy. Metal against stone. Click... click... click...
Out from the darkness, something stepped forward.
No..a monster stepped forward.
Towering over everything around it was a werewolf-like creature easily three times his size. Its fur was black, thick, and ragged, with streaks of red running across its chest like warpaint. Its arms were massive, the size of thick tree trunks, and layered with veins and twisted muscle. Both hands ended in claws as long as knives, curling and twitching with each step.
Around its neck hung several skulls, some human-like, some beast-like, strung together like cheap decorations. The bones clinked as it moved, sounding like windchimes from hell.
Its face was barely a face at all. One side looked torn off, jaw slightly unhinged. The rest was stretched and scarred like something had tried to peel it back and failed. Yet the eyes, the eyes, were bright, filled with nothing but bloodlust, and completely focused on Kuro.
It didn't charge yet.
It just… watched.
Waiting.
Gauging.
Kuro swallowed hard, not daring to blink. He could feel the way his heartbeat thudded in his ears, how his arms felt slightly numb. He didn't know if he was strong enough. He didn't know what kind of skills this thing had or how fast it could move.
Then the boss suddenly crouched, its massive body tightening like a compressed spring. The muscle in its legs bulged, veins popping out like thick cords, as a low snarl rumbled from its throat.
Then it launched.
A blur of fur, claws, and death...
BOOM—!
The floor cracked beneath where it once stood.
Kuro's eyes widened, barely managing to bring up his short sword just as the monster's claws came screaming toward his head. Steel met bone, then everything went white.
The impact was like a freight train.
His blade shattered on contact, the force slamming into his guard and ripping the air from his lungs. His body was flung backward like a ragdoll, crashing hard into a nearby pillar. The stone exploded around him as the column cracked and snapped apart like dry wood.
Then came the ground.
Kuro hit it, rolled once, then skidded across the hard moss floor, stopping only when he slammed into another pile of broken bones.
His vision swam as he tried to open his eyes, he coughed, then spat only to see blood coming out. His whole chest screamed with pain his ribs were definitely cracked, maybe broken.
His arm trembled as he pushed himself up, his legs shaking underneath him. He staggered, barely catching his footing before collapsing again onto one knee.
Then he saw it.
His short sword.
Or rather, what was left of it.
Just the hilt, with a few jagged pieces of metal hanging from the guard. The rest had been scattered across the room in glowing fragments. "…Gr…great…" he muttered under his breath. Another mouthful of blood dripped past his lips. "Fucking fantastic…"
Thump… thump… thump…
Footsteps echoed through the room..
The boss was approaching, each step of its massive clawed feet scraping against the floor, dragging slightly, as if it was toying with him. The twisted grin on its half-ruined face stretched wider, revealing a maw full of cracked, stained fangs. One of the skulls hanging from its neck clinked against its chest as it tilted its head mockingly, like it was amused by how easily he broke.
Kuro's breath shook as he opened his inventory with a thought.
CLICK!
A kunai materialized in his palm with a soft flash of light. It wouldn't help him very much, but with his sword broken, he had no choice but to use it.
He wrapped his fingers tight around the handle, pulling himself up to his feet with a low groan. Every bone in his body screamed at him to sit back down, to give up, to run.
But he couldn't. Not here. Not now.
He didn't break eye contact as the monster inched closer, its shoulders hunched, and claws twitching. That mocking sneer never left its face.
Kuro exhaled slow and deep, lowering into a loose stance, kunai at the ready.
"Alright…" he muttered under his breath, blood still dripping down the side of his face.
"…Let's dance, fuck face."
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