The maintenance room shook violently.
The unstable rift pulsed like a living heart, expanding and contracting as purple-black energy leaked into the air.
One pair of red eyes became ten.
Ten became twenty.
Then more.
Growls filled the underground chamber.
Kael slowly cracked his neck.
"Well..."
Green energy flickered beneath his skin.
"Let's do this."
Liora rolled her shoulders.
Crimson energy danced across her fingertips.
"Then try not to get bitten."
Kael looked offended.
"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm the one getting bitten?"
Arin pointed at him.
"Because you previously got bitten eleven times."
"..."
"...That was not information needed to survive apocalypse."
Even Elias laughed.
Then he realized nobody else was laughing.
"Oh."
The first rat emerged.
Then another.
Then another.
The entire floor began filling with Rift-Touched Rats.
[Target Identified
Name: Rift-Touched Rat
Rank: F
Level: 4
Strength: 9
Agility: 15
Endurance: 7
Vitality: 10
Ability: [Rift Corruption]
Skill: [Predator Leap Lv.1]
Weakness: Fragile skeletal structure.
Note: F rank, should be a piece of cake.]
Twenty-seven enemies.
Maybe more.
In their previous life, ordinary humans would have died instantly.
But these weren't ordinary humans.
"Formation Alpha." Arin spoke calmly.
Kael grinned.
Liora nodded.
Elias blinked. "Formation what now?"
The three ignored him.
Years of fighting together took over instantly.
Kael charged first. Green aura erupted around him. For a brief second, jagged bone protrusions formed along his forearms.
BOOM!
His punch sent the first rat flying into two others.
The creatures crashed into a wall.
Bones shattered.
Blood exploded.
> [Enemy Eliminated]
The system window appeared immediately.
Kael blinked. "...That was satisfying."
The rest of the rats attacked. All at once.
The room erupted into chaos.
Bone Against Fang
Five rats lunged toward Kael simultaneously.
"Courting death."
Green energy exploded outward.
For the first time since reincarnating—
His true ability awakened.
Bone spikes erupted from the floor.
SHKKKK!
Three rats were instantly skewered.
The remaining two crashed into him.
One sank its teeth into his arm.
The bite didn't penetrate.
The creature looked confused.
Kael looked down.
"...You done?"
Then he punched it into the ceiling.
CRACK!
The body dropped lifelessly.
"Noise (Nice)." Kael nodded. "I missed this."
On the opposite side of the room—
Liora moved.
Graceful.
Precise.
Deadly.
One rat leapt toward her throat.
She sidestepped effortlessly.
A tiny cut appeared across her finger.
One drop of blood floated into the air.
Then became ten.
Then fifty.
Crimson threads erupted outward.
SHHHHHK!
The rat was sliced into pieces.
Another charged.
Another.
Another.
The blood threads moved like living serpents.
Every movement was efficient.
Every strike lethal.
Elias stared in shock. "...What kind of powers are these?"
Liora didn't answer.
She was too busy killing.
Meanwhile—
Arin stood directly before the rift.
The largest cluster was approaching him.
Ten rats.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
The shadows beneath his feet expanded.
Purple energy illuminated his eyes.
The darkness itself seemed to obey him.
A rat lunged.
Arin vanished.
The creature struck empty air.
Then—
Arin appeared behind it.
SLASH
A blade of condensed shadow sliced through its neck.
The body collapsed.
Another rat attacked.
Another.
Another.
Arin moved between shadows like a phantom.
Every strike was fatal.
Every movement precise.
Elias could barely follow him.
"What the hell..."
This wasn't normal.
None of this was normal.
And somehow—
The three were fighting like veterans.
Like people who had done this for years.
Which, technically...
They had.
The Alpha Appears
Then—
The rift expanded.
A powerful roar erupted from inside.
Every remaining rat immediately retreated.
The temperature dropped.
The ground trembled.
Arin's expression changed instantly.
Danger.
Real danger.
Something much stronger was emerging.
The system flashed.
[Target Identified
Name: Rift Rat Alpha
Rank: E
Level: 9
Strength: 18
Agility: 24
Endurance: 16
Vitality: 21
Mana: 10
Ability: [Alpha Command]
Increases nearby rat attributes by 20%.
[Rift Frenzy]
Gains increased speed when injured.
Skill: [Predator Leap Lv.2]
[Pack Leadership Lv.1]
Weakness: Sensitive eyes, Exposed throat, Vulnerable during command roars.
Note: Boss or not this should be easy right?.]
Silence.
Then Kael whistled. "Now we're talking."
The Alpha was nearly the size of a motorcycle.
Black fur.
Crimson eyes.
Massive claws.
Rows of jagged teeth.
And unlike the others—
It looked intelligent.
The creature locked eyes with Arin.
Then smile.
A horrible imitation of a human smile.
Elias took a step backward. "That thing just smiled."
Nobody responded.
Because everyone saw it.
And nobody liked it.
The Alpha roared.
Every remaining rat charged simultaneously.
The real battle had begun.
End of Chapter 6 — The First Hunt