SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 72: The Hunter’s Rhythm II

The first kill was silent. Then the second. The third followed before the others could react. Panic soon spread among the goblins, yet the outcome had already been decided.

Arthur moved through them with controlled precision, but as the battle continued, something inside him stirred.

That familiar thrill.

The cold focus.

The quiet excitement rising with every successful strike.

It was not madness, nor blind bloodlust. It was something sharper. A deep satisfaction from perfect execution, from seeing his intent shape reality exactly as he willed.

The soul reaper within him awakened once more.

His movements became smoother, faster, flowing without resistance. Each attack connected effortlessly with the next. His dagger carved through flesh, guided by pure intent.

He found himself smiling.

"So this is what growth feels like..."

The goblins offered little resistance. There was no leader like the hobgoblin from before, no powerful presence to challenge him. They fell one after another, their numbers thinning rapidly.

Soon, silence returned to the camp.

Arthur stood among the bodies, his chest rising steadily, his mind calm. The thrill faded just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind only focus.

He immediately began collecting the spoils.

Cores were harvested, materials gathered, and crude weapons examined before being stored. He searched the structures carefully, taking anything that held value.

Nothing wasted.

Nothing left behind.

When he finished, he left the camp the same way he always did, quietly and without attachment.

Yet he did not slow down.

As he moved away, his Sovereign’s Perception detected another distortion nearby. It was not far, and its presence felt just as clear as the others.

Arthur frowned slightly.

"The frequency is strange," he muttered.

Finding multiple camps so close together was unusual, and the signals appeared more often than expected. Something about the dungeon felt active, almost restless.

But instead of caution, he saw opportunity.

A small grin formed on his lips.

"If it becomes dangerous, I’ll retreat," he said simply. "Until then... I hunt."

Confidence filled his steps as he moved again.

He located the next camp quickly. It was nearly the same size as the previous one, with a similar number of goblins roaming around.

The process repeated.

Observation.

Approach.

Execution.

The goblins never stood a chance. Arthur cleared them swiftly, his skills flowing with growing familiarity. His Intent Step allowed him to reposition instantly, while his strikes landed with precise lethality.

Again, no resistance.

Again, complete victory.

He collected the loot afterward without delay, storing everything neatly. The routine had become natural to him now, a rhythm his body followed without conscious effort.

Kill.

Harvest.

Move on.

As he continued, he could feel the steady increase of his Intent Points. The growth was clear, tangible, and deeply satisfying.

"This hunt... really paid off," he admitted quietly.

The dungeon itself seemed unable to slow him down. Each encounter strengthened him, each battle refined his control, and each victory deepened his confidence.

When Arthur finally left the area of the last camp, he paused for a moment.

The place felt different now.

Only minutes earlier, the region had resembled a growing settlement, filled with crude structures and roaming monsters. Now it was silent and empty, almost lifeless.

If not for the corpses scattered around, no one would believe goblins had once inhabited the place.

Arthur looked back briefly.

Then he turned away and continued forward.

Not far behind him, the explorers pushed deeper into the dungeon.

They moved quickly, following traces of disturbance and signs of recent battle. Yet every camp they reached presented the same sight.

Corpses everywhere.

Clean wounds.

No valuable materials.

No survivors.

The explorers exchanged uneasy glances.

"It happened again," one of them said quietly.

Another examined the area and shook his head. "No signs of struggle. Just like before."

They had hurried, believing they might catch whoever was responsible. Yet each time they arrived, they were too late.

The attacker always remained one step ahead.

Camp after camp told the same story. Monsters slaughtered with terrifying efficiency, resources taken with careful precision, and no tracks left behind.

It was as if a god of death had passed through.

Kael stood silently among the ruins of one of the camps, his gaze steady as he observed the surroundings. The pattern was undeniable now. Whoever this person was, they were moving systematically through the dungeon, hunting with frightening control.

And they were fast.

Very fast.

"We’re chasing a shadow," one explorer muttered.

No one disagreed.

The deeper they went, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. Some of them felt an unexplainable chill, as if the place itself remembered the presence that had passed through.

Fear lingered where the hunter had walked.

And yet, the hunter himself was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Arthur continued forward alone, unaware of the commotion trailing behind him.

His steps were steady, his mind focused, and his senses remained sharp. To him, this was simply the path of survival.

Grow stronger.

Take every opportunity.

Never hesitate.

He followed the faint distortions ahead, his eyes calm yet filled with quiet determination.

The hunt was far from over.

The cycle didn’t stop.

If anything, it only grew worse.

Arthur noticed it first in the numbers. The respawns showed no sign of slowing down. Monsters returned faster than before, almost as if the dungeon itself had grown restless.

Stragglers were everywhere.

At first it had been one or two wandering goblins. Then small groups. Now groups of five or more had become common, while the smaller numbers felt rare.

Arthur wiped the blood off his dagger and looked at another group approaching from a distance.

"...You’re kidding."

But he was already moving.

The routine continued. He killed, harvested, moved, and repeated. But now he had to increase his pace. He could not afford to waste time.

He collected cores not only from the monsters he killed but also from corpses scattered around, some clearly left behind by earlier battles or previous respawns. Anything valuable went straight into his storage.

Nothing wasted. Nothing ignored.