Chapter 32: Ethan’s solo hunt begins The sky above the city shimmered in soft morning hues. Today, Ethan would head into the wilderness. Descending the stairs, he found his parents already seated in the living room. His father, Jack, looked up from a datapad and nodded. "Son, we’ve handled everything on our side. We can leave anytime now. Your grandfather sent five people from the family—they’ll manage the rest here." Ethan nodded. "Dad, I’ll head into the wilderness for three or four days. Once I’m back, we can move out." Elina’s eyes showed a trace of worry. "Okay, take care. Don’t do anything reckless, alright?" Ethan smiled gently. "I won’t, Mom. I promise." After a hearty breakfast, Ethan made his way to the city gate. Dressed in his dark combat gear, he presented his credentials as a Level 9 Warrior and exited the city without issue. Once outside the city, Ethan walked for a short distance. Then, standing firmly, he stepped onto his sword. With a push, he soared into the sky. He didn’t head to the military camp. His goal today was simple: battle powerful monsters at the Level 9 Grandmaster realm. He already had a location in mind—Area 25. Flying at a blistering speed of 1,000 meters per second, he turned into a black streak across the sky. At this speed, nobody could track him except some Grandmasters. But within his mental domain, there were none. In just five minutes, he arrived at his destination. Hovering mid-air, Ethan closed his eyes and activated Spirit Sense. Previously, he could only sense the presence and aura of a creature—he could make guesses about its realm based on aura intensity. But now, with Spirit Sense, he could perceive the very density and flow of energy inside living beings. He could see through the energy, read their realm and strength level. His mental domain spanned a massive 150-kilometer radius. Area 25 was once a bustling city, now long abandoned. Skyscrapers stood tall, but time had not been kind. Vines wrapped around buildings. Trees grew out of broken windows. Rusted cars littered the streets. It was a post-apocalyptic ruin with the haunting breath of nature reclaiming her throne. As Ethan spread his mental sense, countless powerful auras lit up in his mind. There were many monsters at Master Level 7 and above, and a shocking number of Grandmasters—some even peak Level 9. He could feel their movements, breathing rhythms, even heartbeat patterns. At the center of the city stood a massive palace-like structure—probably a government building before the fall. Inside that palace, Ethan sensed an incredibly dangerous presence—a Level 4 King-ranked monster, an Earth Dragon. Though it was sleeping, its aura leaked out like a suppressed volcano. It felt stronger than a typical Level 4 King. In fact, it might be equivalent to a Level 9 King without using any martial skills. Ethan calculated that if he went all-out, he might be able to fight it. But there was no need—not yet. He wasn’t here to risk his life recklessly. His current goal was to fight monsters at the Level 9 Grandmaster realm—monsters that were already two to three times stronger than average Grandmasters. Some of them had auras even approaching his own level of strength. "Monsters really are nature’s darlings," he murmured. "If they could learn techniques, Earth would’ve fallen a long time ago." He pointed to a tall building that seemed devoid of any monsters. Flying into it, he leapt off his sword, which hovered beside him silently. Ethan began strategizing his battle approach. He wanted to try something. He activated his Clone Skill. With a shimmer of light, ten identical clones appeared around him. They looked exactly like him—same face, same build—but no clothes. Ethan placed a hand on his chin and muttered, "Hmm... I really am very handsome. If I were a gi—" He immediately slapped himself. "What the hell am I thinking?" Shaking off the thought, he activated his Armor Skill, covering each clone from head to toe in full combat armor. Now, no faces were visible. They looked like mysterious warriors in silver, black, and grey. "That’s better." Each clone possessed 5% of his full strength. That meant roughly 3,500 tons of force per clone—equivalent almost to a Level 2 Grandmaster. His clone would take force from his core to operate. When a martial artist becomes a grandmaster,once the force from the core drained,the core would absorb some energy passively. The absorption rate was dependent on the size of the core. With Ethan’s massive core,the absorption rate was also massive. He could now only maintain 10 clones of full potential at 5% of his strength now with the passive absorption. So this 10 clones could operate independently. And even in battle,Ethan could just activate his primordial three elemental breathing technique to replenish his energy in a blink of an eye. Then, he activated Metal Creation. Ten blades materialized in the hands of his clones—each sword modeled after iconic weapons from anime, manga, and novels. There were elegant, curved sabers, massive greatswords, demonic blades, and holy longswords. Ethan didn’t care—they looked badass. He stood proudly as the squad formed around him. Clones in cool armor, wielding legendary weapons. "Damn, we look like some multiverse overlords," he muttered, amused. He then forged his own sword—Frostmourne, newly created using high-grade metal energy. The old one couldn’t handle his full power anymore. Then, Ethan picked his prey: 11 targets. Ten of them were Level 2 Grandmaster monsters. The last one? A terrifying Level 9 Grandmaster. The squad leapt into action, flying off in ten different directions, each clone riding their blade like a silent hunter in the air. Ethan, the real one, turned toward his target—a Godzilla-type beast, possibly a mutated crocodile. Towering as tall as a five-story building, its body rippled with raw power. Ethan floated above the ground, standing on his sword, hands behind his back, observing calmly. The beast stared up at him. Ethan was no more than an insect in front of it. Yet the calmness in Ethan’s eyes never wavered. Instead, behind that calm... was madness. He wanted to fight. He wanted to test himself against this monstrous being. The monster roared in confusion. Why wasn’t this little thing running? Its body began to glow—from tail to throat—as it powered up. Suddenly, with a roar that cracked the air, it fired a massive energy beam straight from its mouth toward Ethan. A blinding stream of light that threatened to disintegrate everything in its path. Ethan didn’t move. He wanted to test his regeneration. The beam hit him squarely. The monster roared in victory as Ethan’s figure was engulfed. But the beam passed through—and in the aftermath, Ethan still floated there. His armor and clothes were gone, even his skin looked charred—but his body was whole. The intense light had burned him, yes, but his regeneration had already kicked in. Each burned layer healed in real-time, faster than it could be destroyed. Ethan grinned. "Sweet." The monster’s expression changed. Confusion. What... just happened? Ethan looked down at his naked body and muttered, "That beam even burned off my pants... Well, whatever." He conjured new armor instantly. Then he grabbed Frostmourne, descended to the ground, and said with a gleam in his eye: "It’s my turn now." --- Ethan charged forward without using any martial skills or techniques—just raw, brute strength. His movements were fluid, explosive. The beast lunged with terrifying force, but Ethan weaved through its attacks like a shadow. He slammed his fist into its knee—bones cracked. The monster roared and retaliated with a massive swipe of its tail. Ethan blocked it mid-air with a spinning kick that sent shockwaves into the earth. They clashed—over and over. The earth trembled. For two straight hours, they fought a brutal battle. Ethan didn’t unleash a single special move. No flying swords. No sword intent. Just fists, speed, and overwhelming force. He was testing his limits. The monster was powerful—maybe even slightly stronger than him in terms of brute force—but Ethan was faster, smarter, more precise. Eventually, he grew tired of dragging it out. He focused, summoned a sliver of sword intent, and raised Frostmourne high. With a clean, diagonal slash—the air split apart. A pulse of energy sliced through the monster’s body like a divine judgment. Blood sprayed like a geyser as the monster collapsed—split from shoulder to hip. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Silence returned. The Level 9 Grandmaster monster was dead. Its estimated value: 100 billion credits. But Ethan knew he couldn’t sell it legally. That would expose his identity. Instead, he quickly summoned dozens of metal-forged flying knives, slicing off the monster’s precious parts. He carefully skinned it, folded the leather, and stored it. Then he retrieved bones, teeth, and the monster’s core. The whole process took just five minutes. Clean. Efficient. Silent. Ethan glanced once at the lifeless behemoth, then took off into the sky again. He then concentrated on his sense to see what the clones were facing. They also finished their fight. They didn’t drag the fight like the main body. They used techniques, skill to finish the fight instantly. Ethan now felt a need of a spatial ring of a dimensional storage like those in the cool animes. But he didn’t know if earth even possessed any of those things. Ethan then sent all the material with a clone to sell them in secret. As the clone was in full battle armor,no one would know. Beside it was flying in the sky on a sword. Everyone could tell that he was a spirit master. No one would dare to mess with a grandmaster level spirit master in this base city. The clone went to the military camp to make a deal. He would supply the materials,they would pay the money and no question asking. Ethan was sure that the military would choose the right option or elese there were other forces to sell. Even if he sold in less than the market price,he would be able keep his identity safe.