Anny wasted no time. Her massive form surged forward with shocking speed for something so large. The earth erupted beneath her clawed feet. Her scaled fist drew back, gathering momentum for a strike that would easily shatter stone.

Nova's mind calculated trajectories and forces in an instant. 'I should dodge to the left and counter.'

As Anny's fist rocketed toward his face with devastating force, Nova activated his Grounded skill. The essence flowed through his legs, anchoring him to the earth and letting him evade faster than what would normally be possible.

Anny's fist missed his face by millimeters—so close that Nova could feel the displaced air rushing past his cheek, could see the individual scales on her knuckles as they blurred past his vision.

In the same fluid motion, Nova coiled and struck. His fist glowed with essence as it shot toward Anny's exposed midsection.

But Anny wasn't a novice fighter. In the fraction of a second it took for her punch to miss, she had already adapted her strategy. The leg that had been driving her forward suddenly lifted, transforming her charge into a devastating kick aimed at Nova's ribs.

Simultaneously, her arm positioned to intercept Nova's counterattack.

CRASH! BOOM!

Two thunderous impacts rang out in rapid succession as attack met defense on both sides. Waves of force radiated outward from the collision points, flattening the grass in expanding circles.

The force of the dual impact sent both combatants flying backward. Nova skidded across the ground, leaving a furrow in the earth as he controlled his trajectory. Anny's heavier form crashed through a small copse of trees, splintering trunks and sending birds scattering in panicked flight.

'Damn, she handled that well,' Nova thought with grudging admiration as he regained his footing.

That familiar tingling sensation spread through his arm again. Without hesitation, Nova channeled a focused burst of essence through his system. A soft pop accompanied the clearing of the blockage, and sensation returned to his limb.

Anny didn't let up. She hadn't even fully regained her footing before she was moving again, crossing the distance between them with explosive acceleration.

This time, instead of overshooting her target, she checked her momentum just as she reached Nova. Her fist lashed out against his face like a flash of red.

Nova brought his forearm up to block. The collision sent shockwaves up his arm, but his defense held firm. In the same motion, he countered with a lightning-fast punch of his own, aiming for her center mass.

Anny twisted, taking the blow on her left shoulder. Rather than resisting the impact, she rolled with it, using the momentum to fuel her next attack. Her body spun like a top, gathering force as her fist arced toward Nova's head with devastating power.

Nova evaded in the nick of time, swaying to the side as fast as his muscles would allow.

As Anny's massive fist whistled past his ear, he countered with a lightning-fast jab. His fingers struck a specific point on her outstretched arm, hitting a meridian point of his own. Rather than using the same technique Anny had used, Nova relied on the anatomical knowledge of a doctor.

A flicker of surprise crossed Anny's features as her arm twitched. The precision strike had temporarily disrupted the flow of essence through the limb, creating an opening in her otherwise flawless defense.

But Nova could not take advantage of it as another kick flew from below. He sidestepped, pivoting on one foot as he launched a roundhouse kick that connected with her flank. The impact sent ripples through her scaled hide, but she used the force to fuel her own spinning attack, narrowly missing his shoulder with a wide swing of her claws.

The ground beneath them cracked and shattered under the relentless barrage of forces. What had once been a peaceful clearing rapidly transformed into a battle-scarred wasteland.

'Ahh, this is fun!'

The sensation reminded him of his confrontation with the troll in the outlands—that rare, exhilarating freedom of using his full physical capabilities in genuine combat.

The battle's intensity continued to escalate. Anny's massive fist drove toward Nova's midsection with bone-crushing force. He blocked with his knee, reinforcing the joint with a concentrated layer of essence.

The force of the impact sent Nova flying backward. His feet carved twin furrows in the earth as he landed back on the ground, bringing him to a halt by the edge of a forest.

Anny pressed her advantage, following immediately behind him with an almost mindless focus.

Nova pivoted, gathering essence into his leg as he prepared to meet her with a high kick aimed at her approaching shoulder. But as he turned, something in the air changed.

Her eyes had transformed. The reptilian yellow had become a brilliant gold that seemed to glow from within. All the frustration and joy her expression had shown so far was replaced by emptiness—a complete dedication to the fight.

'Oh, shit!'

Nova's instincts screamed danger, but his body was already committed to the attack.

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The hit connected, but this time, it didn't end up as a block. Her attack shattered through his defensive essence, striking through to the bone with devastating precision.

Nova's leg burst apart in a horrific mist of red and white right below the knee. Bone fragments and flesh sprayed outward from the impact point. A wave of excruciating pain lanced up his spine, causing even him to let out a yelp.

Time seemed to slow as Anny's eyes widened in shock at her own destructive power. Her momentum carried her forward toward him, already sending out a strike that would connect with his shoulder. She was unable to stop it.

But Nova wasn't there to receive her strike. In the instant between injury and her second strike, he had activated his shadow-stepping ability. His damaged form disappeared from view, leaving only a dark smudge on the ground where his blood had fallen.

He rematerialized fifty paces away. Blood poured from what remained of his leg, though it was already beginning to regenerate

"OW!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Anny yelled back, using her hands to amplify the sound.

"OWWW!" Nova repeated with greater emphasis, grimacing as his body worked to repair the damage. "That really hurt!"

"I'm really sorry! I don't know what happened!" Genuine distress filled Anny's voice as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, clearly unsure whether to approach or maintain her distance.

From their protected vantage point on the hillside, the observers stared in shock at the sudden turn of events. Millie's hands were pressed against her mouth, eyes wide with horror. Quinn had gone pale, holding Millie in his lap. Even Larena, who was no stranger to battlefield injuries, looked shaken by the sudden injury.

Nova took a deep breath, centering himself through the pain. He kept one hand firmly on his knee, feeling the shin regenerating beneath his palm. "It's fine! Come over here!"

Judging that the spar was over, he deactivated his unification skill. His body shimmered with white light as he shrank back to his usual size.

Anny hesitated for just a moment before rushing toward him. Seeing him return to his child form, she followed suit, condensing until she stood before him as a small girl again. The white streaks in the hair of her neck seemed to have expanded upwards, blending further with the usual black.

"We'll call it a draw," Nova said, once she was close enough. He kept his voice casual, as if they'd been playing a simple game instead of nearly having a lethal accident.

Confusion filled her face. She glanced at his leg, nearly healed now but still bearing marks of devastating injury. "A draw? But... I clearly beat you."

"Oh, come on. You would have killed me if I hadn't moved out of the way. How is that not against the rules of a spar?"

Anny's shoulders slumped slightly. She looked down at her hands, studying them as if they belonged to someone else. "I… Well… I don't know what happened."

"Well, I do."

'But I still can't believe it. She managed to unleash the true form of the Thousand Beast Sovereign technique in just one fight. And, more importantly, that was definitely qi she used to destroy my foot. So it does exist in this world…'

Anny shifted impatiently from foot to foot, waiting for his explanation. Her eyes still carried flecks of that mysterious golden light, like embers after a wildfire. "...Well?"

"You somehow managed to use the perfected form of the cultivation technique I taught you," he explained, watching her reaction carefully. "Did the system give you any notifications?"

Anny looked away from him momentarily, focusing on something only she could see. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she checked through whatever information was available to her.

"No," she said finally, returning her attention to Nova. "Nothing new popped up. No new skill or anything."

'Does the system not recognize it? Or can qi circumvent the system somehow? Damn, now I'm really curious to test it myself. But I can't think of any cultivation techniques that would be effective.'

The observers began making their way down from the hillside, picking a careful path through the devastated landscape. Millie led the way, while Quinn and Larena followed close behind.

"Huh..." Nova continued, barely noticing their approach. "You definitely used something different than essence in those final attacks. Your eyes glowed in a golden color."

"Really?" Anny touched the skin beside her eyes, as if she might feel some residual evidence of the change.

"How did it feel?"

Anny was quiet for a moment, searching for words to describe the experience. Her gaze rested on the ground while her mind turned the clock back.

"...Uhm, like everything just clicked in a way," she finally said. "It was... kind of wonderful. Somehow, it felt like all the parts of my body were aligned in a single direction."

Nova nodded. "That makes sense. If I remember correctly, that happens when all the beasts you've taken in are united in their purpose. That's why it's such a powerful cultivation technique for fighting. And anything else that is governed by instincts, but to a lesser degree."

"Is that what happened?" Anny looked down at her small hands again, almost like they weren't her own. "I didn't... I couldn't control it."

"It will require practice. I had hopes of it being possible, but I expected it to happen while we are in the dungeon at the earliest. At this point, I'm absolutely certain you are a prodigy of cultivation."

"...Well, I've lived with these beast powers for a long time. Maybe that improved the chances?"

"Probably. But this technique isn't just about familiarity—it's about achieving perfect harmony between chaotic forces." He paused, considering his following words carefully. "But what's truly remarkable is that you accessed qi."

"Qi? That cultivation energy you talked about earlier?" Anny's eyes widened with understanding.

"Yes. I thought all types of internal energy from our earlier lives were converted to essence here, but now I'm no longer so sure… Perhaps all it takes is for something to generate qi on its own."

"Qi?" Millie echoed, having finally reached them. Her voice was small and uncertain, still shaken by what she had witnessed. "What's qi?"

Nova turned to her with a crooked smile. He was slightly exasperated that she would ask about that instead of asking how he was doing, sitting in the grass with half a leg. "A type of energy, similar to essence. But I'll have to do some research before I can say more."

"You alright, Nova?" Quinn asked, looking surprisingly worried as he caught up to them.

"Oh, yeah, I can heal any injury in a few minutes at most, so it's not a problem." He wiggled his nearly healed foot as he spoke, demonstrating the lack of care. "It just hurt."

"Yeah, we heard," Larena replied, chuckling a bit. Her trained eye had already assessed the battlefield, noting the patterns of destruction that told the story of their combat. "Well, you managed to convince me. That was an incredible fight!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Nova stood back up as his foot finally healed completely. Not even a scar remained to show he'd been injured. He tested his weight on it carefully, then nodded with satisfaction. "I think we're ready for the dungeon now."

"You still need to craft stuff," Anny reminded him, just in case he somehow forgot.

"Of course!" Nova made an exaggerated bow. "You shall have your sword and shield, my lady. Masterpieces, both."

'But I will probably save the best material for after we get to the dungeon. Some of them are way too valuable to be used on mere steel, like the soulwood or the mermaid tears. Not to mention the Void Lord Eye and Heart… Those are worth more than everything else I own combined.'

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