Iron Sovereign: I Hunt the Apex

Chapter 2: The Second Wave

Aiden stood in the middle of the empty street, his heart pounding against his ribs. The blue letters floating in front of his eyes faded away, leaving him in the dim light of the rift zone. He flexed his fingers and looked down at his arms. His skin felt slightly tougher than before, and the aching pain in his chest from the monster's tail strike had vanished. The energy flowing through his body felt clean and steady, but he had no time to ponder it.

Above him, three stone hide beasts crouched on the edge of the ruined building. Their yellow eyes glowed in the dark haze, locking onto him with hungry intent. They were smaller than the first one he had slain, but they moved together with practiced coordination.

Aiden looked down at the ground. His short hunting blade was still buried in the throat of the dead beast lying nearby. He lunged forward, grabbed the wooden handle, and pulled the knife free with a hard jerk. Blood sprayed onto the pavement, but Aiden kept his grip tight. He wiped the blade on his pants leg and backed away into the middle of the street, giving himself room to maneuver.

The first beast leaped from the roof. It came down hard on the hood of an abandoned car, crushing the metal under its heavy claws. The loud crunch echoed down the alley. A second later, the other two monsters landed on the asphalt to his left and right, cutting off his escape routes.

Aiden took a slow breath, forcing his mind to focus. In the past, he would have panicked. He was just a low-tier porter who carried heavy backpacks for rich guild members. But something had changed inside him. The fear was still there, but behind it sat a sharp, cold calm. The energy he absorbed from the first monster gave him confidence in his own physical strength.

The monster on the car leaped first. It lunged through the air with its jaws open wide, aiming straight for his chest.

Aiden did not panic. He waited for the exact right second, then sidestepped to the right. The beast crashed into the ground where he had been standing. Before it could regain its balance, Aiden stepped in close and drove his hunting blade deep into the soft flesh behind its front leg.

The monster let out a sharp shriek of pain and thrashing wildly. Aiden pulled his blade out and kicked the beast hard in the ribs. The force of his kick surprised him. The monster tumbled across the asphalt, skidding several feet before coming to a stop. His physical strength had noticeably increased.

The remaining two beasts growled, realizing he was not easy prey. They moved in together, closing the distance from opposite sides.

Aiden backed up until his heels touched the metal bumper of a ruined van. He could not fight both at the same time in the open. As the beast on his left lunged, Aiden threw himself sideways onto the hood of the van. The monster's jaws snapped empty air, its sharp teeth slamming together with a loud crack.

From his higher position on the hood, Aiden drove his blade downward into the back of the monster's neck. The knife pierced through a gap in its rock scales, severing its spine. The beast collapsed onto the hood, going limp immediately.

Target slain: Stone Hide Beast.

Trait absorbed: Enhanced Reflexes.

Reaction speed increased.

A rush of cool energy flooded through his nerves. Suddenly, the world around him seemed to move a fraction slower. He felt the air shift behind him as the third monster leaped toward his back.

Without looking, Aiden threw his weight to the side, rolling off the hood of the van. The monster crashed onto the roof of the vehicle, caving in the metal. Aiden landed on his feet on the pavement below, spun around quickly, and used his momentum to drive his blade directly into the beast's exposed throat.

The blade sank in up to the hilt. The monster shuddered, let out a weak gasp, and fell silent.

Aiden stood over the fallen beast, chest heaving as he gasped for air. Sweat mixed with dust and monster blood dripped down his nose. The blue letters flashed again in his vision, signaling another increase in his physical traits. The energy filled his limbs, making his body feel lighter and far stronger than when he had first entered the rift.

He walked over to the edge of the street and picked up a heavy iron pipe lying near a pile of rubble. He tested its weight in his hand. It felt light, almost like a wooden stick. He swung it once, listening to the clean whistle it made as it cut through the thick air.

He was alive. Against all odds, he had survived the trap Marcus set for him.

Aiden looked back toward the end of the street where the exit portal had closed. The Iron Vanguard guild thought he was dead. Marcus was probably back at the guild hall right now, making up a fake story about how a low-tier porter died due to his own carelessness.

A cold, hard anger settled deep in Aiden's chest. He was not going to hide in this rift zone forever. He was going to find another way out, gather his strength, and make Marcus pay for every drop of blood spilled on this pavement.

He turned away from the exit area and looked deeper into the ruined city sector. The rift zone was large, stretching for miles through abandoned streets and crumbling skyscrapers. To get out, he needed to find an active rift core or another exit portal opened by a different team.

Aiden began walking down the middle of the street, keeping his heavy pipe ready and his eyes scanning every alleyway. The air grew colder as he walked deeper into the district. Strange, dark vines covered the sides of the concrete buildings, and the silence around him felt heavy and unnatural.

He walked for nearly twenty minutes without seeing another monster. The quiet made him uneasy. In a rift zone, total silence usually meant something far worse was hunting in the area.

He reached a wide intersection in front of a ruined shopping mall. The front glass doors were completely shattered, and deep gouges were carved into the thick concrete pillars supporting the entrance.

Aiden stopped in his tracks. A strange, low hum vibrated through the soles of his boots. It was not the sound of a beast breathing, but a deep mechanical pulse coming from inside the dark mall.

He took a careful step closer to the entrance, gripping his iron pipe tightly. Inside the dark lobby, a faint red light began to pulse in rhythm with the sound.

Aiden squinted into the darkness, trying to see what was generating the power. As the red light grew brighter, a pair of metallic footfalls echoed from the darkness inside.

A tall figure stepped into the dim light of the doorway. It was not a monster made of flesh and stone. It was a dark metallic construct, seven feet tall, holding a glowing red energy blade in its right hand. Its chest plate bore the ancient symbol of a fallen civilization, and its single red eye locked directly onto Aiden.

The construct raised its red blade, and the air around it hissed with intense heat