As the roar thundered behind him, Aya Tone fled without a moment’s hesitation, pouring every ounce of his strength into his escape.
‘That mere stone monster still couldn’t take down that kid,’ he thought.
The mountain path was rugged and treacherous, yet Aya Tone, as if suddenly possessed by a newfound parkour ability, nimbly stepped upon every available stone. His body moved with surprising agility, only to abruptly plummet into a muddy pit at the side of the path.
“F***…”
‘Never again will I blindly sprint through these mountains,’ he vowed inwardly.
****
“What in the hell? With such a massive stone body, how can its movements be so incredibly swift?”
Li Huaiming’s frantic escape faltered; with a sudden, sharp sidestep, he barely managed to evade a crushing blow from the stone monster looming behind him.
Nevertheless, the fierce gust from the monster’s fist destabilized him, causing him to stumble and collapse heavily into the thick weeds nearby.
‘This is bad!’
Before Li Huaiming could even regain his footing, a colossal stone fist loomed larger and larger in his vision, prompting him to instinctively roll to the side.
“Boom!”
Where he had been moments before, the stone fist withdrew, revealing a deep, gaping crater carved into the earth.
A sudden, chilling wave of dread washed over Li Huaiming, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.
Had he been even a single second slower, he would undoubtedly have been reduced to nothing more than a splatter of crimson.
Yet the crisis was far from over; he absolutely had to eliminate this stone monster.
Seizing the monster’s brief moment of disorientation, Li Huaiming swiftly scrambled to his feet, re-centering himself.
Gripping the monster’s arm as it recoiled, he used its own momentum to execute a mid-air somersault, then with a precise, targeted kick, sent its relatively small stone head soaring away.
The now headless body stiffened, then, in the very next instant, crumbled into a heap of scattered rubble on the ground.
“Heh, it seems these monsters possess brains, albeit rather minuscule ones.”
With a dismissive scoff, Li Huaiming stomped on a loose stone shard near his foot, pulverizing it.
‘Just ordinary C-grade monsters…’
His gaze then sharpened, sweeping vigilantly towards the nearby surroundings.
‘There isn’t just one stone monster!’ he realized.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Dozens of colossal boulders hurtled directly towards Li Huaiming. It appeared the other stone monsters, having witnessed his formidable strength, had cunningly opted for a flanking maneuver.
Their strategy was clear: first, deplete Li Huaiming’s stamina, then overwhelm him in a collective assault.
It was almost inconceivable that such a coordinated tactic could have been devised by mere stone monsters.
‘So the stone monster from earlier was nothing more than bait,’ Li Huaiming mused.
Li Huaiming, being perceptive, quickly deduced that the stone monster which had pursued him moments ago must have been “thrown” forward as a diversion.
Its sole purpose was to impede his escape!
Though the dense tree trunks in the forest managed to intercept the majority of the airborne boulders, the sheer number of remaining stones still threatened to engulf Li Huaiming’s entire field of vision.
‘Such a widespread assault… there’s no escaping this,’ he thought grimly.
Li Huaiming clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
‘If I can’t escape, then I’ll shatter every single one!’
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Aya Tone, having just teleported back, arrived precisely in time to witness Li Huaiming obliterating every rock that descended before him.
His bare fists, utterly unprotected, were now a grotesque sight; the skin had already split open, and drops of blood steadily fell, blooming into eerie, crimson flowers upon the earth.
Despite the deep furrow in his brow, his face betrayed not the slightest hint of hesitation or retreat.
With every powerful punch, fresh blood splattered.
The very air around them seemed to thicken, enveloped by the potent, metallic scent of blood.
“He’s rather dashing, isn’t he?” Aya Tone remarked, a hint of envy in his gaze as he watched Li Huaiming.
‘See? I told you,’ he thought. ‘Men!’
‘Should be doing men…’
‘Er, no, that’s not right.’
‘It should be: men should engage in fist-to-fist combat, truly unleashing their sweat and effort.’
‘Magical girls and all that? How utterly pathetic.’
Li Huaiming, naturally, had noticed the sudden appearance of the small girl. Without even glancing back, he barked furiously, “Get lost!”
‘Anyone capable of spatial teleportation must be a high school student who recently awakened their abilities, likely just goofing off and accidentally warped here,’ he surmised.
‘But what good is that now?’
“Oh, my, little one, you’ve got quite the nerve, daring to speak to me in such a manner,” Aya Tone scoffed. He hadn’t anticipated such a vibrant scolding immediately upon his return.
‘How could I possibly tolerate this?’ he wondered.
He had originally intended to simply flatten the entire dungeon.
‘Now…’
He had changed his mind.
With a flourish, he aimed his magic wand at Li Huaiming and cast, “[Multiple Body Enhancement].”
“You’ve been powered up! Now go and get ’em!”
“What on earth are you blabbering about?” Li Huaiming retorted, his fists still flying, shattering the rocks before him.
‘That little girl behind me, just waving some magic wand around twice, claims to have cast an enhancement spell?’ he thought incredulously.
‘What a preposterous joke!’
‘How could a spatial ability user possibly possess supportive magic abilities!?’
Unbeknownst to him, however, his body was already undergoing a profound transformation.
“Watch out!”
The stone monsters’ projectile attacks covered an immense area, and with Aya Tone standing so close, he was inevitably caught within the onslaught.
Sure enough, a colossal boulder, with uncanny precision, plummeted directly towards his head.
A surge of anxiety tightened Li Huaiming’s chest. Despite his earlier harsh words, his upbringing had instilled in him a strict code: he could not stand by and watch the vulnerable fall before him.
Yet, at this critical moment, his hands were entirely occupied.
The stone monsters’ next wave of assault was already upon them…
“Use your spatial ability to escape, quickly! Why are you just standing there like an idiot?!” Watching Aya Tone remain foolishly rooted to the spot, Li Huaiming felt a furious pressure building, as if he might genuinely suffer a brain hemorrhage from sheer exasperation.
‘This kid—surely he wasn’t caught in an elevator door, was he?’
“Why all the shouting?”
Calmly, Aya Tone raised his magic wand. “Starlight Breaker!”
Starlight coalesced into a brilliant beam, instantly shattering the boulder. Without losing any momentum, the radiant blast continued its trajectory, striking the distant stone monsters that were relentlessly launching their attacks.
“Boom!”
As the smoke and dust gradually cleared, a grim reality emerged: every last stone monster had been utterly annihilated.
Li Huaiming: “…”
‘That magic… it feels so incredibly familiar…’
‘Did I just say something I shouldn’t have?’ he wondered, a cold dread creeping in.
“So, little one, do you have anything to say for yourself now?” Aya Tone asked, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he approached Li Huaiming.
“My deepest apologies, Great Witch! I failed to recognize you without your disguise. Please, forgive my earlier insolence!”
There’s an ancient saying in Country Z: “He who knows the times is a wise man!”
Thus, Li Huaiming promptly opted to kneel.
“Tsk, I actually preferred your arrogant and untamed demeanor from just a moment ago.”
Without further teasing, Aya Tone simply stated, “Let’s go.”
Li Huaiming blinked in surprise. “Go where?”
“To resolve that out-of-control dungeon, of course. Just now, a rather handsome man—I believe his name was ‘Aya Tone’—explained the entire situation to me.”
Praising himself in front of another person felt rather awkward.
However, unaware of the subtle self-praise, Li Huaiming had no idea that someone was shamelessly accepting it.
“Brother Aya?!” A spark of joy ignited in Li Huaiming’s eyes.
‘So Brother Aya is alright, and he even met this distinguished individual!’
‘But why would this esteemed personage want to bring me along?’
Ordinarily, a mere C-grade dungeon wouldn’t even be enough to pique their interest.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m bringing you along, aren’t you?”
Li Huaiming, his thoughts laid bare, felt no embarrassment; that was precisely what he had been pondering.
“Someone offended me, and I simply don’t feel like moving. Is it so wrong to find a proxy to handle it?”
“!” Li Huaiming’s brows knitted together in a deep frown.
‘Which fool, utterly devoid of common sense, dared to offend this Great Witch? Do they have a death wish?’
“Please tell me, Great One, who dared to offend you? I shall personally teach them a lesson!”
“Oh, really?” Aya Tone peered at Li Huaiming with a distinctly playful glint in his eyes.
“Uh…” Li Huaiming froze, his face instantly contorting into a wry, bitter smile.
‘It wouldn’t happen to be me, would it…’
“Who knows~”
“But I’m just a rookie, not even B-rank! I can’t possibly do it!” Li Huaiming exclaimed, his smile still bitter. He yearned to slap his past self from ten minutes ago, twice over.
‘Serves you right for being so foul-mouthed; you cursed the wrong person!’
Isn’t she prickly.