The Acidspine Toad croaked again, its swollen throat pulsing grotesquely as it prepared another strike. Ethan saw it coming this time from the subtle contraction, the tension before release.

The tongue shot forward, even faster than before.

But instead of retreating, Ethan stepped in without hesitation.

He burst forward, his feet barely finding purchase as he launched himself off a half-submerged log that immediately began to sink beneath his weight. As he closed the distance, he twisted his body at the last possible moment, letting the tongue skim across his side.

It burned instantly.

A searing line of acid carved across his skin, eating into flesh like it had a mind of its own.

But he didn’t stop or even flinch.

Gale Rend.

At point-blank range, his arm cut forward in a sharp, decisive arc, compressed wind forming along the edge of his strike.

Slice!

The hand blade tore clean through the base of the extended tongue, severing it mid-lash. A spray of acidic fluid and green blood burst outward as the limb dropped uselessly into the swamp below.

There was a moment of silence where time seemed to still. Then the toad shrieked, letting out a wet, choking, gurgling sound that vibrated through the air.

Ethan landed lightly on a narrow patch of solid ground, his body already moving as the creature recoiled in pain.

’That’s one.’

Its most dangerous attack was now gone.

No more lightning-fast pierces from impossible distances and no more unpredictable reach.

Now, it only had one more weapon at its disposal.

The creature’s body swelled again, its throat bulging unnaturally as it prepared to spit its acidic splatter.

Ethan inhaled sharply.

’Skyshatter Cry.’

Pain flared in his chest, his throat already rough from earlier use, but he forced it down.

"HAAAH!"

The sound didn’t just erupt; it detonated.

A visible wave of compressed sonic force blasted forward, distorting the air as it slammed directly into the toad’s open mouth.

The effect was immediate, suppressing the acid spray.

It was driven back entirely by the pressure, scattering it harmlessly as the creature’s head snapped backwards from the force.

Ethan exhaled slowly, lowering his stance as he steadied himself.

’That’s both of them sorted.’

Its tongue was gone, and he had a perfect counter for its acid sprays. All it could try to do now was attack him physically, but that was exactly what Ethan wanted.

For the first time since the fight began, the creature was vulnerable.

And he didn’t waste it.

As a beast, survival was almost always the priority. So naturally, the toad’s first instinct was to retreat, jumping back into the swamp and disappearing into its natural domain.

But before it could, Ethan moved quickly, acting decisively.

’Gale Rend.’

’Gale Rend.’

Wind gathered along his right arm, then his left.

With each of his hands condensing into a sharp and deadly wind blade, he lunged forth and twisted his body. Then he unleashed them both across his body, mimicking Wolfy’s Cross Slash.

Shing! Shing!

The blades tore through the creature’s thick hide, slicing deeply across its throat, which seemed to be the most vulnerable part of its body. It had the least flesh, and Ethan was smart to target it.

For a moment, everything stilled again

Then, the massive body trembled as its insides began spilling out of the opening he had created. Its grotesque eyes dimmed as all kinds of revolting liquids and organs lay themselves in front of him.

Ethan held his nose and backed away.

He watched as it slowly slid off its perch, sinking back into the bubbling, acidic swamp with a low, hissing gurgle.

{Beast Eliminated!}

Ethan stood there, chest rising and falling.

His side burned, his shoulder throbbed, and his skin was marked with many acid burns. Worst of all was his throat, which felt like a pitchfork had scraped at it.

"And that’s a common beast," he muttered hoarsely.

He let out a dry laugh.

"Great."

The system flickered again.

{Would you like to acquire this beast as your own?}

Ethan stared at it before answering, "No fucking way."

He didn’t even hesitate.

"I mean..."

He frowned slightly.

"If I partially assimilated with it, I might get acid resistance."

That would be useful, very useful on this floor.

But then he pictured it, that tongue, that body, that everything.

"Yeah... no."

His expression flattened.

"I’m not shooting my tongue out like that. Absolutely not."

He sighed, watching the last traces of the beast disappear beneath the acid.

There was no corpse or meat for him to harvest, and he doubted it was even edible if it remained.

"Guess me and my beasts won’t be eating much on this floor."

That was a problem, a big one.

But it wasn’t like he could do anything about it, as he rolled his shoulder slightly, wincing.

"I was expecting it to be tough..."

His gaze swept across the swamp.

"...But this is on another level."

If his earlier assumption was accurate, then there would be five types of common beasts and five types of elite beasts. Not to mention, this floor must be massive.

"Yeah, I’m not rushing anything."

Especially not his fourth beast slot.

He’d take his time, observe, and choose carefully.

With that in mind, he carefully traversed the Acidic Swampland until ten painful hours passed.

’What was my progress in that time?’

Ethan smiled, though he wasn’t amused.

’Fuck all.’

Each fight drained him, each movement demanded focus, and each mistake cost him. That was without even encountering an Elite Beast yet.

"I need to be smarter," he muttered.

His MP reserves were no longer something he could burn freely, not on a floor like this where the terrain alone was a threat. And without beast meat to recover, he had to be even more conservative.

Even his beasts weren’t safe when he summoned them.

"I’ll have to heal them after," he said under his breath.

As he moved cautiously across another unstable stretch of terrain, his thoughts settled into something more grounded.

"The higher the rank, the bigger the gap."

It wasn’t just numbers, and as he’d learned previously, stats didn’t tell the full story. Skills, environment, and experience mattered, and he had experienced and proven that firsthand.

"C Rank is where things get tough."

A faint smirk tugged at his lips despite everything.

"I guess it’s like back in school, where a C is a passing grade, not that I ever got one."

He stepped onto another drifting platform.

"Everything below doesn’t really count."

But he had stepped into the realm of what "counted".

As much as he struggled, he still managed to kill a bunch of dangerous C Rank Beasts. While only considered Common Beasts, that didn’t change what they actually were.

Even B Ranks would struggle to do what he had, let alone most C Ranks.

That was testament enough to his abilities.

Ethan was now a real threat, and someone was about to find that out for themselves the hard way...