Meanwhile, as Auron walked out of his room, Lyra Ashford and Dante watched from a distance. Dante couldn't help but voice his concern. "You sure about this, Lyra? I don't think stalking Auron is a good idea. With the end-of-year tournament coming up, shouldn't we be practicing—"
"Oh, come on!" Lyra cut him off with a smirk, barely hiding the curiosity sparkling in her emerald eyes. "Auron's changed a lot since he failed to form a contract. Call it a woman's intuition."
Dante stared at her flat chest, about to say 'girl's intuition' instead, but the glare Lyra shot him shut his mouth faster than he could have cared to admit.
"Yeah, sure. But remind me again how stalking is supposed to help. Everyone has their secrets, you know."
"Quit messing around, Dante," Lyra snapped impatiently. "Besides, I wasn't asking for your help. Even if you didn't agree, I'd beat you until you tagged along."
Dante sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Ugh. Women. If only my Steelback Boar wasn't weaker than your Frost Wolf."
They continued to trail behind Auron, determined to uncover his "big bad secret." But Dante's irritation morphed into curiosity when he saw where Auron was heading.
"Wait… isn't that the Academy's exit?" Dante asked, his brows furrowing. "Why is Auron leaving the academy?"
Auron, meanwhile, was too lost in his thoughts to notice Dante and Lyra tailing him. The allure of his new skill occupied his mind, driving him forward.
As he approached the academy's outer edge, he encountered a shimmering barrier—an invisible wall meant to protect the academy from the wilderness. Beyond it, a wasteland stretched out , a brutal contrast to the pristine paradise of Glaivemire Academy. It was as if his entire life here had been a sheltered illusion.
But those thoughts were irrelevant. Gritting his teeth, Auron crossed the barrier with steeled resolve.
"This… is the outer area where most Iron-ranked beasts live," he muttered to himself.
Back at the barrier, Dante's voice trembled. "What the hell is he doing? Did he just give up on life and decide to finish himself off? We need to drag his ass back here before he gets eaten!"
"Wait!" Lyra hissed, grabbing Dante's arm. "Something feels off. Auron doesn't seem like he's here to commit suicide. The Auron I knew wouldn't just give up like that."
"But he hasn't formed a contract with any beast," Dante said, glancing at her in disbelief. "He's basically served himself up as a snack to the wild Iron-ranked beasts out there!"
Their comical argument faded into the background as Auron marched further away from the barrier. After walking a fair distance, he finally spotted his first beast.
A wild cat. But given its massive, two-meter frame packed with pure muscle, it looked more like a bear.
A grin crept onto Auron's face. "Activate Stone Skin."
His skin darkened to a bronze luster, a sensation of unyielding strength flooding his senses. His body felt solid—like steel forged by the world's most brutal blacksmith.
"Alright, kitty-kitty," Auron taunted. "Let's dance."
The wild cat growled, its muscles coiling before it lunged at him with speed that blurred in his vision.
"Damn… The system wasn't joking when it said my agility was crap," Auron grunted as the beast's jaws clamped down on his forearm. Only, instead of tearing through flesh, its teeth met something far more unyielding.
Auron stared, wide-eyed. The wild cat looked just as confused as he did. Its iron-sharp teeth were biting into what felt like a solid slab of stone.
The absurdity of the moment made Auron burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! You thought your baby teeth could pierce this daddy's armor?"
Before the beast could react, Auron raised his arm and slammed it down on the wild cat's head. Over and over, he bashed the creature with merciless strikes until it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Then, the notification came.
You have slain a initial Iron-ranked beast!
Gained 2 Attribute Points in Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Charisma, Endurance, and Luck.
Auron's grin widened to the point of madness. His laughter echoed through the barren landscape, sounding more like the maniacal cackle of a villain who had just stumbled upon his golden ticket.
"Well, well, well. It looks like this bug in the system is my lucky break," Auron whispered, his voice trembling with excitement, he could already feel his body becoming stronger as a warm sensation flooded his body after he acquired the attribute points.
Meanwhile, back at the barrier, Lyra and Dante watched in utter disbelief.
"T-This… How…?" Dante stammered, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
Lyra's expression was similarly dumbfounded, but she quickly tried to rationalize the madness she'd just witnessed. "Wait… did he— Could he be some sort of prodigy? One of those freaks who just gets stronger from sleep or sheer luck?"
Her theory fell flat as the image of Auron's shit-eating grin came to mind. No prodigy looked that smug. Whatever was happening to him… It was definitely something else....