Final Life Online

Instead, Avaernus himself stood there—an imposing figure, carved from light and shadow, yet alive with an aura that bent reality around him.

"Finally…" the figure said, his voice echoing as though it carried the weight of centuries. "Finally someone came."

A weary sigh escaped him, one hand brushing over the scars engraved across his ethereal armor. "I feared I had left the conditions too harsh. But you…" His gaze steadied on Rhys, equal parts sorrow and recognition. "You have stepped upon one of my legacies. As you must already know, I have scateered my wealth across whole continenet, but this place holds the best among my treasures, My self Created Skill."

The figure's hand lifted, light gathering in his palm. "Since you stand here, it means you achived the conditions I set. Then… you shall inherit it."

The glow flared, and a searing pulse struck Rhys's chest like a second heartbeat. His vision blurred with lines of radiant script as a system prompt appeared before him:

[ You have obtained the Unique Skill: Undefeated Valor ]

[ Effect: For every duel you win consecutively, all stats increase by +1%. ]

[ Limit: 100%. Beyond this limit, each additional victory permanently grants +1 to a random stat. ]

The words etched themselves into Rhys's soul, burning not with pain but with fierce resolve.

When his vision cleared, the figure of Avaernus remained only for a heartbeat longer, his expression heavy with both pride and warning.

"Carry it well, Lunar Blade. For every victory will not only shape you… but weigh upon you."

And then he was gone, leaving Rhys alone beneath the ancient tree, his heart pounding with the rhythm of a new, unbreakable legacy.

Rhys opened his eyes back in the real world, the rustling of leaves returning to his ears. He let out a slow breath and smiled faintly.

"Finally got it," he murmured, glancing at the glowing system prompt one last time before it faded. The new skill pulsed inside him like a quiet flame, waiting to be tested.

Once he reached the edge of the wild forests, he extended his hand. "Alright… time to get serious. Come out, both of you."

The summoning circle flared beneath his feet, intricate glyphs of silver and azure weaving together in the air. With a soft, watery slorp, Puddle burst forth, wobbling excitedly in its rare Ancient form. Its surface shimmered with shifting colors of light and shadow as it made an eager, high-pitched sound—

"Kuyuuu~!"

Almost immediately after, the glow of moonlight descended, and Bounce materialized with a dignified grace. The Divine Moon Turtle flapped its stubby wings, radiance spilling from its shell in soft waves, and let out a gentle but oddly determined cry—

"Pyuuu~!"

Rhys couldn't help but laugh under his breath. For all their ancient power and overwhelming presence, both of his partners had a way of sounding adorably innocent whenever they appeared.

"Cute, but don't let it fool anyone," Rhys muttered, resting Aether Vein against his shoulder as his eyes scanned the treeline. "We've got work to do."

The wilderness stirred in response—as if the monsters lurking in the shadows could already sense the arrival of their new challengers. Faint growls and shifting branches echoed through the air.

Puddle's surface rippled, light and dark mana churning restlessly. Bounce's silver glow sharpened, casting long shadows across the ground.

Rhys drew his sword. "Let's hunt."

The first beasts broke from the trees, snarling as they rushed forward—fangs, claws, and fury.

The wilderness erupted into chaos, the trees shuddering as a wave of snarling beasts crashed through the underbrush. Fangwolves lunged in from all sides, their yellow eyes gleaming, while serpents slithered low, scales glinting like poisoned glass. Behind them, a hulking Treant dragged its splintered limbs forward, roots tearing through the soil.

Rhys stepped into their storm, blade rising in a shimmer of blue fire. The mana along its edge hissed with power. "Formation," he said evenly, his voice carrying in the chaos. "We end this quickly."

Puddle quivered with excitement, its form bubbling before releasing a burst of radiant orbs. The Light Bullets screamed through the dark, searing straight through the skulls of three wolves; the rest staggered, blinded by the flash. Beside him, Bounce's shell brightened with argent light. Moonlit Barrier pulsed outward in a ripple, wrapping Rhys in a faint sheen that turned aside the first fangs and claws that struck.

The Treant's roar split the canopy. Roots coiled and lashed out like whips. Rhys met them head on, his sword spinning into a wide arc. The Whirlwind Slash shredded through two vines and carved across the flank of a charging wolf, its blood spraying into the roots that tried to hold him back.

"Pyu!" Puddle answered, spewing a jet of water with enough force to crack one of the Treant's limbs in half. Sap bled into the dirt. The great wooden beast reeled, its gnarled frame smoking as Rhys pressed forward, melding fire into water. Steam howled along the blade as he brought it down in a single scalding strike. The Treant's bark sizzled under the impact of the Steamburst Edge, a screech tearing free from its hollow chest.

Bounce's wings gleamed, and a crescent of silver shot from its back. The Lunar Wave cleaved clean through two serpents, their writhing bodies collapsing in a hiss of venom.

The remaining wolves gathered, springing together in a desperate surge. Puddle shuddered, its body darkening as shadows writhed upward. Abyssal Grasp clawed out of the earth, tendrils winding around fur and fang, dragging three beasts screaming into stillness. Rhys didn't hesitate—mana compressed along his blade in a thin arc, and with a single swift stroke he cut them all down in an Arc Surge Slash, the impact leaving the air humming as their bodies fell in halves.

When silence finally fell, the Treant lay split and steaming in two pieces, serpents lay butchered, and the wolves bled into the soil. Smoke rose from Rhys's shoulders as he let his sword drop to his side. The forest reeked of blood and charred bark.

For only a heartbeat, it seemed over—until the ground shook again.

Minotaurs thundered through the trees, six iron-skinned juggernauts wielding massive axes. Harpies swooped down from above, shrieking, claws gleaming. Between them padded a single panther cloaked in shadows, its eyes glinting crimson, each step silent as death.

Rhys smiled faintly, his breath steady. "Good. More fuel."

He raised his sword as mana flared across his frame, the translucent shimmer of his shield pulsing to life. The beasts came.

The first minotaur's axe slammed down, but Rhys slid beneath it, blade flashing upward. Sparks scattered as steel bit into hide, blood spraying across his cheek. Puddle surged forward, spewing another jet of water that staggered a harpy mid-dive. Bounce intercepted another, wings flaring bright and throwing it to the dirt with a blast of argent force.

The panther struck then, silent as smoke. Its claws raked across Rhys's side, but the mana shield blazed, softening the blow. He turned, his blade catching the creature mid-leap, but it vanished into shadow at the last instant. The harpies shrieked as they dove, only to be met with Puddle's radiant burst. Light tore across the clearing, blinding feathers into the ground where Rhys cut them down in fluid strokes, one after another.

The minotaurs pressed harder. One charged, horns lowered, its hide glimmering like metal. Rhys steadied, then unleashed a second scalding strike of Steamburst Edge. The heated blade carved through its arm, shearing axe from hand, before Bounce's crescent light took its head clean.

The panther reappeared behind him, claws dripping shadow. Puddle reacted first—dark tendrils coiled, Abyssal Grasp locking it in place. Rhys turned, breathing once, then thrust his blade straight through its chest. The beast's cry was strangled, its form bursting into mist that scattered with the wind.

At last, silence.

Blood steamed on the earth. Feathers and bone littered the clearing, corpses already beginning to dissolve into motes of mana. In the ruins, one object remained—gleaming faintly, sharp and cold. Rhys knelt, lifting the shard of black crystal that shimmered like a predator's eye.

Shadowfang Relic. The artifact thrummed in his hand, hungry, waiting.

He let the shard sink into his satchel, then exhaled slowly. Around him, Puddle bobbed against his boot, releasing a tired but happy chirp, while Bounce waddled close, its shell dimming as its glow settled into calm.

The deeper Rhys pressed into the desolate forest, the air grew heavier, as though the trees themselves remembered wars too ancient for words. Their bark was scorched in places, their roots blackened, and the ground beneath him bore the faint trace of ash, long since settled but never forgotten.

A low rumble shook through the soil. Heat followed, washing through the silence. When Rhys looked ahead, he saw the clearing—lit not by moonlight, but by a flickering blaze that clung unnaturally to a figure in the center.

It was a knight once, or something that wore the armor of one. Now it was engulfed in an eternal fire, its steel warped and molten, its visor hollow save for the inferno burning within. The Flaming Revenant stood still at first, sword resting against the scorched earth.