The road east of Windscar gradually narrowed as the cultivated land gave way to rocky slopes and scattered woodland. Subin Vans walked at the front of the group, his sword resting at his waist, while Han Yerin followed beside Ara. Behind them, Park Jae-hyun and Liu Wei were arguing over which of them would finish the next powerful monster first.
“You say that every time,” Jae-hyun said. “Then Subin cuts it down before either of us gets a proper chance.”
“That is because you spend too much time talking,” Liu Wei replied.
“I spend time assessing the opponent.”
“You spent five minutes assessing a C-rank boar last week.”
“It had unusual tusks.”
“It was a boar.”
Subin continued walking without turning around. “If you two want to compete, find your own monster. I’m not waiting while you argue over who gets to attack first.”
Yerin laughed, and even Ara smiled. The atmosphere had improved considerably since they left Windscar. Their recent work had involved too many merchants, missing cargoes, and people who preferred excuses to honest answers. A dangerous stretch of wilderness sounded refreshingly straightforward.
By mid-afternoon, they reached a rocky plateau overlooking a broad ravine. The terrain below was broken by steep shelves, narrow passages, and tall formations of dark stone. Sparse trees clung to the upper slopes, while the ravine floor was littered with the remains of fallen rock and the bones of large animals.
Ara unfolded the regional map.
“This is the Ironfang Ravine. The Association has reports of A-rank monsters in the area, mostly solitary hunters. Several mining expeditions abandoned the nearby slopes after losing equipment and pack animals.”
“Any settlements nearby?” Yerin asked.
“Two small mining camps to the west. Both have withdrawn their workers. There is a supply post farther south, but the road remains open.”
“Then we clear the immediate threat and see whether the ravine is worth exploring,” Subin said.
Jae-hyun looked down at the broken terrain. “A-rank monsters in narrow ground. Excellent. At least we won't have to chase them across an open plain.”
Liu Wei drew his sword halfway from its sheath. “Assuming they don't run.”
Subin started down the western slope.
They found the first signs of activity less than a kilometre into the ravine. Deep gouges marked the side of a rock shelf, and several boulders had been displaced from the narrow path. A broken mining cart lay on its side nearby, its iron frame twisted as though something heavy had struck it.
Ara crouched beside a set of tracks. “Four-legged. Heavy. The front claws dug into the ground when it turned.”
“How heavy?” Jae-hyun asked.
“Enough to break that cart without slowing down.”
A low growl rolled through the ravine.
The creature emerged from behind a cluster of black rocks, its body resembling a massive feline covered in dark grey plates. Jagged iron-coloured growths rose along its shoulders and spine, and its front claws were long enough to scrape sparks from the stone. Its mouth opened, revealing two pairs of curved fangs.
A red notification appeared in Ara’s assessment display.
Ironfang Ravager — Level 284 — A-rank
The monster's eyes fixed on Subin. It lowered its body and charged.
Subin stepped forward.
The Ravager crossed the distance with frightening speed, its foreclaws striking the ground hard enough to scatter fragments of stone. Subin waited until its head dropped for the killing lunge, then moved diagonally past its right shoulder. His sword passed through the gap beneath its plated neck.
The wound was deep, but the monster did not fall. It twisted in mid-charge and swept its tail across the path.
Subin raised his sword to deflect the blow. The impact drove him a step sideways, and the Ravager used that moment to turn toward him again.
Its armour was thicker around the shoulders than the body. The first cut had reached the softer tissue beneath its neck, but the creature's dense mana reinforcement had kept the wound from becoming immediately fatal.
Subin adjusted his grip.
The Ravager lunged again, this time leading with its plated shoulder. Subin slipped past the impact and cut across the joint of its front leg. Before the creature could recover, he reversed the angle of his blade and drove the point into the opening beneath its jaw.
The monster collapsed, its claws scraping the rock as its body went still.
Jae-hyun stared at it. “You could have left the legs for us.”
“You were still talking,” Subin replied.
“I was watching.”
“Then you watched well.”
Yerin approached the carcass and examined the armour plates. “The hide should be valuable. The shoulder growths might be useful for defensive equipment.”
Ara checked the surrounding area. “There may be more. These tracks aren't all from the same creature.”
They moved deeper into the ravine, keeping to the wider paths where the footing was reliable. A short distance later, they found a second Ravager feeding on the remains of a large horned animal. This one was smaller, but its movements were quicker, and it immediately abandoned its meal to attack.
Yerin met it first.
She planted her feet as the monster sprang from a ledge and thrust her spear toward its chest. The point struck a plated section and glanced aside, but the impact disrupted its landing. She pivoted, drawing the creature past her while Jae-hyun attacked its exposed flank.
His sword cut across the hind leg. The Ravager snarled and turned on him, forcing him to retreat behind a stone outcrop. Liu Wei intercepted its next charge, striking twice at the joints before withdrawing beyond the reach of its claws.
Subin watched for a moment, allowing his companions to handle the fight. The Ravager was dangerous, but it was not beyond their abilities. Yerin had controlled its approach, Jae-hyun had damaged its movement, and Liu Wei was preventing it from gaining momentum.
When the creature tried to climb the outcrop to reach Jae-hyun, Subin moved in.
One clean cut severed its weakened front joint. A second struck the side of its neck, and the monster fell against the rocks.
“Better,” Subin said.
Jae-hyun gave him an irritated look. “You sound like an instructor.”
“Would you prefer I say you were brilliant?”
“Yes.”
“You weren't.”
Liu Wei laughed as Jae-hyun turned away to inspect his sword.
They continued for another hour and encountered two more Ironfang Ravagers. One fled after taking a spear wound from Yerin, while the other fought until Subin cut through its neck. The group did not pursue the fleeing creature into the narrow eastern passages. They had no reason to waste time chasing a wounded monster into unfamiliar ground when the immediate objective was to assess the ravine.
Near the centre of the valley, they found a mining camp built against the base of a steep cliff. The shelters had been abandoned, but tools and supply containers remained scattered around the site. One building had partially collapsed, and a line of claw marks crossed its wooden door.
Ara searched the camp for signs of recent activity. “The workers left in a hurry, but this wasn't a complete evacuation. They abandoned equipment that could have been recovered if the route had been safe.”
“Could the Ravagers have forced them out?” Yerin asked.
“Possibly. But four monsters wouldn't normally make an entire camp abandon a mine unless there were more nearby or the workers had suffered serious losses.”
Subin examined the claw marks on the damaged building. They were wider and deeper than those left by the Ravagers. The surrounding stone bore similar scratches, but the marks had been made at different heights, suggesting that whatever produced them had moved between the ground and the cliff face.
A sharp crack echoed from above.
Everyone looked up.
A mass of dark stone shifted on the cliff. At first, it appeared to be a section of the rock face breaking loose. Then a pair of pale eyes opened, and a huge creature pulled itself away from the wall.
Its body was long and muscular, supported by four powerful limbs. Iron-coloured scales covered its back, while a crown of jagged horns protected its skull. Its tail ended in a heavy, spiked club that scraped the cliff as it descended.
Ara's assessment display flickered before settling.
Ironcrest Devourer — Level 312 — A-rank
The monster dropped from the cliff and struck the ground with enough force to shake the abandoned camp. Dust billowed around its limbs, and several loose stones tumbled down the slope.
Jae-hyun's expression sharpened. “Now that's more interesting.”
“Don't rush it,” Yerin warned.
The Devourer turned its head toward them and released a harsh bellow. The smaller Ravagers had been dangerous predators, but this creature carried a much denser concentration of mana. Its scales were thick enough to deflect ordinary blows, and the horned plates around its skull formed a natural shield.
Subin drew his sword.
The Devourer charged without hesitation.
Its speed was surprising for its size. Subin moved aside as the creature smashed through the remains of a wooden shelter, sending broken beams flying across the camp. Yerin thrust at its exposed flank, but the spear point failed to penetrate the scales deeply enough to stop it. Jae-hyun attacked from the opposite side, forcing the Devourer to turn and exposing its hindquarters.
Liu Wei struck the tail before it could sweep through the group. His blade left a shallow cut, and he withdrew just as the spiked club crashed into the ground where he had stood.
The Devourer pivoted and drove toward Subin, lowering its horned head.
Subin met the charge with a controlled sidestep. His sword struck the junction between the skull plate and the neck, but the blade slid across the reinforced surface, leaving a bright line in the scales.
The impact forced him backward.
He studied the wound as the creature turned. The armour was not uniformly thick. The head and shoulders were protected by overlapping plates, while the underside of the neck had smaller scales that flexed when the monster moved. The joints were also vulnerable, although reaching them safely would require precise timing.
The Devourer lunged again.
This time Subin waited until the last moment, then cut across its front leg as it planted its weight. The blade found the narrow gap between two scales. The monster's stride faltered, and Yerin immediately drove her spear into the same joint.
The Devourer roared and twisted away, smashing its tail through the camp's remaining storage rack. Metal containers scattered across the ground.
“Keep away from the tail!” Ara shouted. She had moved behind a stone wall, where she could observe the creature without entering its attack range.
Jae-hyun and Liu Wei coordinated their next assault. Jae-hyun drew the monster's attention with a strike to the shoulder, while Liu Wei attacked the hind leg from the opposite side. Their blows did little damage to the armour, but they forced the Devourer to turn repeatedly, preventing it from building up another full-speed charge.
Subin used the opening.
He moved in beneath the creature's lowered head and delivered three rapid cuts. The first opened the damaged joint in its front leg. The second passed through the thinner scales under its neck. The third drove deep enough to disrupt the mana reinforcement concentrated around its chest.
The Devourer staggered.
It tried to retreat toward the cliff, but its injured leg could no longer support its weight. Yerin thrust into the exposed side, and Jae-hyun struck the other shoulder to prevent it from turning. Subin stepped clear of the tail's reach and brought his sword down through the weakened junction at the base of the neck.
The Devourer collapsed beside the ruined shelter.
For several seconds, the group remained alert, watching for movement. When the monster finally stopped breathing, Yerin lowered her spear.
“That one would have been a serious problem for the mining camp.”
“It already was,” Ara said. “Look at the damage.”
The abandoned camp had suffered more than ordinary wear. Several storage sheds had been crushed, the path leading toward the mine was blocked by fallen rock, and deep gouges crossed the ground around the entrance. The Devourer had likely occupied the cliff above the camp, using the ledges as a hunting position. The smaller Ravagers had ranged through the valley beneath it.
Subin wiped his sword and examined the monster's head. The horns and the larger scales could be salvaged, while the mana core was valuable enough to justify careful extraction. He left the more delicate work to Ara and Yerin, who had experience identifying useful materials.
As they worked, a distant rumble sounded from the eastern end of the ravine. Several birds burst from the cliffside and flew over the valley.
Jae-hyun looked toward the sound. “More of them?”
“Could be falling rock,” Ara replied. “The eastern passages are narrow, and we haven't surveyed them.”
Subin glanced toward the dark opening beyond the camp. The passage was wide enough for the Devourer to have entered, but its floor descended into deeper terrain. He could feel mana moving through the rocks, though not strongly enough to identify a creature by that alone.
They had cleared the immediate threat, but the ravine was larger than the area they had explored. Going farther without understanding the terrain would turn a straightforward hunt into an unnecessary risk.
“We'll return to the supply post and report what we found,” Subin decided. “Tomorrow, we'll approach the eastern passage from the upper ridge. If there are more powerful monsters, we'll deal with them after we understand the ground.”
Jae-hyun sheathed his sword. “And if something attacks us on the way?”
“Then you can stop talking and fight it.”
Liu Wei laughed again.
They finished collecting the valuable materials, marked the abandoned camp on Ara's map, and began the return journey before darkness settled over the ravine. Subin glanced once at the eastern passage, already considering how he might approach the next fight.
The Ironfang Ravager had tested his timing. The Devourer had forced him to study armour and movement before committing to a decisive strike. Neither opponent had pushed him to his limit, but each encounter had given him another opportunity to refine his swordsmanship.
Tomorrow, he would find out what else the ravine had to offer.