My SSS-Rank Innate skill: Infinite Adaptation core

[You have killed a Level 3 Lesser Wolfang.]

[You have killed a Level 1 Lesser Wolfang.]

[You have killed a Level 8 Lesser Wolfang.]

[You have killed a Level 7 Lesser Wolfang.]

...

[+EXP Earned.]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

...

[All Stats Increased by 1.]

[All Stats Increased by 1.]

[You have gained 1 Stat Point.]

[You have gained 1 Stat Point.]

...

As time passed, Nova’s breathing grew heavier and heavier, each inhale ragged, each exhale forced.

Swoosh Swoosh.

BANG.

He was starving.

His stomach twisted painfully, his throat dry and burning. Hunger clawed at him from the inside, but he didn’t stop.

He couldn’t.

Time was a luxury he no longer had.

Even though his senses, movements, and techniques had grown sharper, a far more pressing problem had taken over his body was beginning to fail. If he didn’t find a way to deal with his hunger and thirst, he would soon become too weak to even lift his sword.

But there was nothing. No food ,no water

only blood. Hours bled into days. Two days had passed inside the dungeon.

System messages continued to flood his vision kills, level-ups, skill changes but he didn’t have the time to read them. One moment of distraction was enough for his body to be torn apart.

Rieka was still unconscious , Yet she was alive. He could feel it. Her mana was slowly recovering, keeping her barely sustained.

Nova , on the other hand, looked like something barely human now.

His eyes were sunken, hollow. His clothes were torn into rags, barely covering his body. His skin was stained red, painted with layers of blood that had long since dried and been replaced again.

He had found two more healing potions among the drops, and they had kept him going but they couldn’t replace food or water. They only delayed the inevitable.

At least his sword held. Despite the countless clashes, it hadn’t chipped or broken.

His movements grew more brutal, more primal. There was no hesitation left in him. No restraint. As he plunged his hand into a wolfang’s belly and ripped out its intestines, his strength allowed him to tear through flesh with his bare hands.

A beast tried to flank him.

He turned instantly, grabbed it by the jaw, and crushed its face with a violent twist. Bone shattered beneath his grip, blood spraying across him but he didn’t react.

Another grazed his thigh.

Nova didn’t even scream.

He had grown used to the pain.

Instead, he retaliated immediately, driving his fingers into its chest and ripping out its heart. His hands dripped red as he tossed it aside without a second glance and moved on to the next target.

Despite the adrenaline, despite the rage that kept him standing his body was reaching its limit. Nova hadn’t slept.

Not even once. For two days straight.

[You have killed a Level 11 Lesser Wolfang.]

[You have killed a Level 8 Lesser Wolfang.]

[+EXP Earned.]

[You have leveled up!]

[All Stats Increased by 1.]

[You have gained 1 Stat Point.]

.....

Nova saw the notifications, but he had no time to check them. More kept appearing, one after another, never stopping. The numbers were endless. The wolfangs howled as they leapt over the corpses of their own kind, treating the piled bodies like nothing more than ground. The mountain of flesh beneath them did nothing to slow them down.

Nova kept moving forward. He had already pushed far from his starting point, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Corpses were scattered everywhere along his path, stacked in gruesome heaps. At the very least, he felt some relief knowing that Rieka was no longer in danger. He had dragged the entire wave far away from her.

Another notification flashed before his eyes. He didn’t read it, but he felt the change instantly. Power surged through his body as his skills evolved, growing sharper, stronger, more refined. Yet even then, he couldn’t feel happy. There was no room for it.

...

[Your skills have leveled up.]

[Sword Might has advanced to Rank A ]

[Sharp Senses has advanced to Rank B]

[Pain Resistance has advanced to Rank B]

....

No matter how many beasts he cut down, more replaced them. Stronger ones. Faster ones. Endless waves that refused to stop. Still, Nova didn’t break. Not yet. His sword moved like lightning, each swing cutting down multiple beasts at once.

His eyes were bloodshot, burning with exhaustion and fury. The lack of sleep had slowed his thoughts, dulled his reactions but his body kept moving. He kept killing.

Far behind the slaughter, Rieka slowly regained consciousness. Two days had passed. Her mana had mostly recovered, and the healing potion Nova had given her had restored her wounds. She sat up slowly, her head still fuzzy, trying to recall what had happened. Then she looked around and froze.

Mountains of wolfang corpses filled the dungeon. The floor, the walls, everything was drenched in red. The air itself felt heavy with lingering bloodlust. Only one thought came to her mind had he killed all of them?

Then she heard it.The growls. The howls. The sound of steel clashing. The sound of destruction.

She stood up and began walking toward it. Strangely, her body felt fine. No pain. No weakness. Only confusion and a growing sense of dread.

On the other side, Nova stood alone. His eyes were bloodshot, glowing faintly with exhaustion and rage. His mind was slowing, barely holding together, yet his body continued to move.

His original sword had long since broken. Now he wielded another blade he had picked up from a fallen beast drop , not even knowing what it was. There had been no time to check.

Both his hands moved relentlessly, cutting down anything that came close. There was no technique anymore only instinct, only madness. Then, suddenly, something changed.

He felt it. One presences. Different from the others. Stronger. Much stronger. It charged toward him.

Its body was nearly twice the size of the other wolfangs. Its muscles were denser, its presence heavier, and its speed far beyond anything Nova had faced so far. It lunged forward, its claw tearing through the air straight toward his head.

Nova barely managed to react. He raised his sword and crossed it in front of his face.

BANG.

The impact shattered his blade instantly.

The force sent him flying backward. Nova groaned in pain as he crashed into a mountain of corpses, his body barely holding together. Even then, even in that state, his hand instinctively tightened around something a sharp, sturdy bone he had picked up amidst the chaos.

He forced himself to stay conscious. Because he knew it wasn’t over. The massive wolfang lunged again, faster this time, aiming to finish him.

”NOVAAA—!”

A horrified scream echoed across the battlefield.

Rieka.

She stood there, frozen in shock as the beast closed in on him. For a split second the wolfang’s attention shifted. And that was all Nova needed.

He moved.

With the last bit of strength left in his body, he lunged forward and drove the sharp bone straight into the beast’s eye, piercing through its skull and out the back of its head.

The body froze. Then collapsed. Dead.

Ding!!

[You have survived the First Floor.]

[Quest Progress: First Floor Cleared Three Remaining.]

[Reward: You have acquired an Inventory of Unlimited Space.]

[Your Artifice Appraisal has evolved into All Appraisal Eyes.]

[Next Floor Wave will begin in one hour.]

...

Nova didn’t have the strength left to read the messages.

His vision blurred.

His body finally gave in.

The moment the fight ended, everything he had been holding back pain, exhaustion, hunger crashed down on him all at once. His grip loosened, his legs gave out, and he collapsed forward.

He had pushed beyond his limits. Far beyond what his body should have endured.

Darkness crept into his vision.And just before he lost consciousness he felt it.

A soft touch. A pair of arms catching him before he hit the ground. Warm, gentle, Familiar Nova didn’t resist.

He couldn’t. His mind faded and everything went dark.

After thirty minutes, he slowly regained consciousness pain greeted him instantly.

It lingered in every part of his body sharp, heavy, and impossible to ignore. His mind was still hazy, his vision blurred, but he could feel something soft beneath his head. As his sight slowly cleared, he realized he was resting on Rieka’s lap.

Her face came into view.

Beautiful.

Even though it was stained with blood, there was a tenderness in her expression as she looked down at him . His vision wasn’t completely steady yet, but he could still make out the softness in her eyes as she watched him wake up.

”Oh... you’re awake,” Rieka said softly when she noticed my movement.

For a moment, she simply looked at him. Something felt different. She couldn’t explain it, but he seemed... different now. Stronger. Sharper. Even more handsome than before.

After waking up earlier, she had already pieced things together. He had fought alone for two days straight without rest, without stopping... all while protecting her. Just thinking about it made her chest tighten. It sounded impossible, illogical even.

Yet it had happened she didn’t ask him how.

She didn’t need to. What mattered now was simple. They were both alive. Though... she didn’t know for how long.

Nova slowly pushed himself up from her lap, his body still aching. Without saying much, he took out the last healing potion he had left. He drank half of it, then handed the remaining portion to Rieka.

”Drink it,” he said quietly.

”No... it’s alright. You drink it all. I’m not in pain anymore. Clearly, you need it more than me,” Rieka said softly.

For the first time, she smiled. And it was... dazzling.

Nova paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. He remembered giving her a potion earlier while she was unconscious it must have worked well enough. Without arguing further, he drank the remaining potion.

Warmth spread through his body instantly.

The pain faded.

The deeper wounds on his body began to close slightly, while the smaller ones disappeared completely. His breathing steadied, and strength slowly returned to his limbs.

For a brief moment there was peace.

Then, after a few seconds, Rieka spoke again. ”How do we get out of here? We didn’t even sign up to kill a boss.”

Her voice carried confusion... and a hint of concern. Nova’s heart trembled. This was only the first floor. Three more remained.

He had grown stronger far stronger than before but it didn’t matter. If the difficulty continued to rise like this, the next wave would be filled with enemies even more terrifying than the ones they had just faced.

And this time he didn’t know if he could survive it again.

Thanks for reading....