Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start

Alex stepped through the portal, entering the fifth floor of the tower, which was also the sixth floor in a way; his body, however, was still aching from the last battle.

[Defeat the beast residing on the floor. Good luck.]

For the first time, the system sent him a good luck message; however, one thing was sure to him now.

'There's only one beast.'

He felt a bit relieved at that, and soon the light around him faded as his feet touched solid ground once more.

The atmosphere shifted—heavy, oppressive, and eerily silent.

Then, as his vision cleared, he saw it.

A massive beast sat in the center of the battlefield, waiting.

'Shit...'

Alex's instincts screamed at him, warning of danger unlike anything he had ever faced. His entire body tensed as he locked eyes with the creature before him.

A Manticore.

It wasn't just any beast.

This thing was a ten-star, star-connection realm monster—far beyond anything he had encountered until now.

Its golden eyes gleamed with intelligence, its muscular leonine body rippling with untapped power.

Black bat-like wings were folded against its back, and its long scorpion tail swayed lazily. Its venomous tip dripped with a liquid that hissed upon touching the ground.

Alex's fists clenched instinctively.

Just looking at it sent chills down his spine. It wasn't moving. It was just... watching him.

'This thing… it's not like the others.'

He had no time to hesitate. His instincts told him one thing—if he held back, he would die.

Without another thought, he activated his physique; his mist-like body pulsed violently.

His astral essence swirled and darkened, destruction energy coating his fist as he shot forward at full speed.

'Kill first. Think later.'

BOOOM!

Alex's fist, wreathed in pure destruction, crashed against the Manticore's hide.

But something was wrong.

The beast didn't react—no roar of pain or movement—it just stared at him, its golden eyes unblinking, even as its body disintegrated.

'What the hell?!'

Alex stumbled back, watching as the beast—this supposedly overwhelming monster—was reduced to dust.

He could feel it. This wasn't an illusion. His destruction energy had completely erased it instead of just shattering it.

And yet... something felt off.

'That was too easy...'

His heart pounded, confusion warring with caution. His instincts hadn't been wrong before. That thing was supposed to be powerful—so why did it let itself die without resisting?

Was this some trial with some hidden mission?

Such a thought went away as soon as it came, as the floor mission clearly stated that he had to kill the beast.

'Then what—?' His thoughts, however, were interrupted as the sound of air whistling reached his sharp ears.

Alex barely had time to move before...

SCHLICK!

Pain exploded through his chest.

His eyes widened in shock as he looked down. A long, razor-sharp scorpion tail had pierced through his torso from behind, stopping just an inch away from his heart.

'Damn it...!'

He gritted his teeth, veins bulging as he forced his body to move.

With a sharp breath, he twisted, yanking himself free before leaping back to gain distance. Blood gushed from the gaping wound, staining the ground below him.

'That could've killed me...'

Alex staggered, his breath uneven, but he forced himself to stay upright.

Without wasting a second, he activated breath control, his breathing slowing to a steady rhythm before shifting into healing breath.

A soft green glow surrounded him, and slowly, the wound in his chest began to close.

His gaze snapped toward the Manticore.

It was still sitting there.

Watching him.

It hadn't moved at all after landing that devastating strike. It simply observed, tail swaying idly as if it had all the time in the world.

Then, its lips moved.

"Are you done?"

Alex froze.

His heart skipped a beat as his mind reeled. His breath hitched, his body tensed, every fiber of his being screaming at him that something was horribly wrong.

'Did... did it just talk?'

That shouldn't be possible.

The monsters in this dream world weren't real.

They were artificial constructs meant for battle. None of them had intelligence. None of them could speak.

But this one just did.

As if to confirm his growing horror, the Manticore continued. "It doesn't matter. You've already been poisoned."

Alex's body stiffened. His sharp blue eyes narrowed.

"What?"

A chuckle rumbled from the beast's throat. "One of the strongest poisons in existence. You won't last much longer."

Alex's mind reeled; formulating a new plan surfaced in his head, as he opened his mouth to retort—but the words never left his lips.

His body convulsed violently as he fell to his knees.

He coughed, a wet, sickening sound, crimson blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

The wound on his chest, the one he had just healed—

Flared up again.

His vision blurred as agony spread through his veins, his body rejecting every attempt to fight back.

The Manticore, on the other hand, raised a brow. "That was fast."

The voice, however, didn't come from the Manticore standing in Alex's line of sight; it came from behind him, making Alex's eyes widen.

"I was being cautious for no reason, I guess," the beast said, stepping closer to Alex as the one in front of him started to melt under Alex's shocked eyes.

"Shocked, right?" The beast went on, circling Alex slowly as if it had won. "It was just a clone. Why did you think it and the last one you killed never moved from their spot?"

Hearing those words, the realization hit Alex like a speeding truck. He finally understood why it didn't feel like an illusion.

'It was a clone...'

A clone is a material thing. It can be touched and felt, so, of course, it would disintegrate instead of shattering like illusions.

"Well, it's time to end this."

The beast finally decided to end this, as it stared down at Alex kneeling on the ground.

It opened its jaw, ready to bite off Alex's head, as its eyes gleamed with hunger.

But just as its jaws neared Alex, something unexpected happened.

A fist coated with dark purple energy zoomed through the air, moving right into its mouth, and causing its eyes to widen.

'What?!'

That was all it could think as it saw Alex jumping away, his breath now controlled and even the wound on his chest healing.

"Hah..." He sighed as he dusted the dust off his clothes, stretching. "For a second, I thought I would have to use my trump card on you."

Staring into the eyes of the beast, which were now filled with pain and horror, he continued. "But that arrogance of yours made me change my mind."

"H-How?" The Manticore asked, gritting its teeth as its flesh started to disintegrate.

"Should I tell you?" Alex grinned at the beast, answering its question. "Well, your poison did shit to me, as I have poison immunity."

The blood and pain weren't the result of poison acting up in Alex's body; he had just stopped using controlled breathing, causing his healing breath to backfire and his wounds to reopen.

He had it seem like he was being affected by the beast's poison.

The beast, however, stopped groaning as soon as it heard Alex's answer, closing its eyes, and opening them clearer.

"Good job," it said, making Alex frown. "You cleared the sixth floor of the tower."

As soon as it said that, the beast disintegrated into nothingness, again without roaring in pain, making Alex's body tense as he wasn't going to fall for the same thing again, but...

[You have received 40,000 points for clearing the sixth floor.]

[Please proceed to the next floor after sufficient rest.]

As soon as those notifications came, a new portal opened, but Alex just fell back on the ground, relaxing.

He knew two things after reading the notification.

One was that the beast had died. The floor was cleared.

The other was that he could rest for as long as he wanted, meaning the next floor would be just as hard, if not harder.

Alex, however, didn't care about that.

For now, he really needed some time to heal himself.