As Kim entered the room, a chill ran down his spine.
In the center of the room was the corpse of a horned demonic bear that was almost three times Kim's size with it's blood splattered all over the place. Its body, or what was left of it, was covered in deep gashes that had spewed out blood and was now completely dried up, it's main body had been mangled beyond recognition. It's limbs had seemingly been separated from the main body in the most painful and merciless way possible and the stench of blood filled the entire room, and combined with the room's cool atmosphere, it was like one could physically feel the putrid stench of the corpse birthing a truly horrid experience.
"How the hell?"
He said in a low tone. He was surprisenly calm, it turned out that the fear he felt earlier was only temporary as the gears in his head started turning, in an attempt to figure out what could have possibly made a creature like this one to end up in such a state. His brain went through various possibilities as to how a beast on the same, potentially higher level than him could be killed so mercilessly.
'Could someone have cleared the quest before me?'
"..."
'No way! If someone cleared it before me, I should have received some sort of notification. Right?' Kim thought as he summoned the window containing the quest information again, just to confirm.
'Affirmative. Once a quest is cleared, all existences involved with said quest will most definitely be informed upon it's completion'. Rem confirmed.
'Alright, but if that isn't the case then....'
Kim's eyes went wide at the sudden realization. Dens contained monsters of the same species and living beings always had a tendency to compete for power which meant that there would definitely be contests to determine the leader, or in this case the den master.
'i got to get out of here'. Kim thought as he hurriedly tried to escape through the large door which he had come in from. But before he could even take three steps towards said door, he was assaulted by a powerful aura that literally froze him in his tracks.
'uh.....what's happening? Rem!'
'your current predicament is as a result of the den master's exclusive skill, it's called dominance'. Rem promptly replied.
'Damn it!' Kim thought, he could easily guess what kind of skill that was but that didn't help as the force was just too powerful. Kim was able to determine that the current den master was probably the one who killed the dead demonic bear, and he was well aware that he couldn't win against such a creature but even if he wanted to run, simply couldn't. Kim summoned most of his inner strength and turned his neck to look back into the darkness at the far edge of the den master's circular room.
Two blood red eyes glowed from the darkness, accompanied by the tremor of the ground as the creature walked forward. Step by step, the creature walked forward and as it did, more and more of it's features came into view. First were three large and threatening obsidian black horns, followed by a massive paw with claws that were at least ten times sharper than the grey wolves' and then a deep red fur that sheltered extremely thick and tough inner muscles became visible, and before long the entire creature was now stood just a few twenty meters away from Kim.
Kim stood mouth agape at the sheer massiveness of the creature. The beast was at least four times Kim's height and was twice the size of the sword saint. In short, it was huge.
The creature gazed at Kim, and as it did, it became quite clear who the prey and predator were in this situation. Even with Kim's strength and genius, he couldn't even hope to beat a creature like this one. Nevertheless, he remained calm.
'rem'. He simply said.
'A high end grade seven beast, an Alpha of the horned demonic bear species'. Rem confirmed, without even needing Kim to complete his sentence.
'Damn it'. Kim said to himself.
"Ugh!" He yelled as his legs suddenly buckled under the force of the skill, dominance, followed by a loud 'thud' as he fell to the ground. Strangely, Kim could feel a sort of familiarity with the creature in from of him and he wondered why.
"RAWWWWWRHH!!!" A loud rour resounded on the walls of the circular room, sparks flew followed by a system message.
[
You have been challenged to a duel by the den master, do you accept? Yes/No
]
That was also when Kim realized, the reason for the familiar feeling with the monster. It was definitely the same one he meet when he first transmigrated into this world. It was the pitch of the roar that gave it away, the difference was subtle but Kim was quite observative thus, he could easily notice.
Enhancing his body with Qi, Kim stood up, and faced the creature. He was only able to stand because the beast purposely reduced the force of it's skill
"So it's you, huh?" He said through gritted teeth, still struggling from the effect of the creature's dominance skill.
'oi rem, what happens if I reject the challenge'.
'the creature will be able to keep his skill active, making you weak enough prey for easy hunting'. Rem bluntly replied.
'oh I see, so if I don't accept the challenge and take my chances fighting squarely against the beast, then it is going to kill me while I am still under the effect of it's skill, huh. By the way, how long can he keep the skill up for?'
'affirmative. As long as a trespasser is in his domain, the skill remains active'.
'.....'
'so the only choice I really have is to try my luck against it in a duel'.
Kim determined as he simultaneously pulled out his sword from the sheath, taking an attack stance with the tip of the sword pointing at the beast.
'yes'. Kim thought.
*Tsuuuuuucht*
The thought was followed by sparks as the dead bear's corpse suddenly dematerialized and a red coloured barrier formed around the two existences, locking them in the ring of combat. Then a panel appeared before Kim
[
Rules of the duel
-Running away is prohibited. No party can leave the circle until the duel ends.
-The duel circle can never be destroyed from the inside.
-The duel only ends until one party dies, or it is disrupted from the outside.
]
Those were the only rules of the fight that was about to take place. Kim scanned through it quickly but carefully, such that he didn't miss any detail.
"RAWWWWWRHH!!!!" The beast charged forward, signifying the beginning of the battle.
Kim dodged by stepping to the right, creating some distance between him and the creature. The beast crashed into the duel circle's barricade, but immediately recovered and shot Kim a glare.
If looks could kill, Kim would have already died several times over by now. The creature's claws glowed red in preparation for an attack, But he wasn't the only one as Kim also he prepared his first attack.
Heavenly tempest talon strike.
.
.
.
.