Chapter 164: 164. Desolate Beast

The asteroid field stretched across the void.

Owen stood at the ship’s observation window, watching rocks the size of mountains drift past. Some were close enough to see their surfaces, Others were distant specks, barely visible against the starfield. The silence was absolute. No wind. No sound. Just the hum of the ship’s engines.

Gorvax guided the vessel deeper into the field as The hull scraped against small debris, but the ship held. Sparks flew past the viewport.

“The beast’s signature is near…” Gorvax said looking at his monitor. “…Three kilometers ahead. Inside a hollowed asteroid.”

Owen was already, his CE core pulsed at 258. Not enough. But he had the gauntlets. He had the temporary mana conversion if needed. He had RCT-trained control. Three weeks of meditation, of learning to fold his energy inward, of feeling the cosmic current beneath everything.

“Does …it have any weakness?”

“Desolate beasts do not have weaknesses as you would assume. But, They do have patterns. Learn the pattern and Survive.” Gorvax pointed to a dark shape ahead; a massive asteroid, larger than the others, with a gaping hole in its side. “There.”

The ship hovered at the entrance. The hole was wide enough to swallow a building. Inside, darkness. No light reflected from its walls.

Owen stepped into the airlock.

“Remember…” Gorvax said. “…I will not intervene.”

Owen nodded then the airlock cycled and the outer door opened. He pushed off and floated into the void.

—

The asteroid’s interior was a cathedral of shadows.

Owen’s Dragon’s Eye adjusted to the darkness. The walls were jagged, lined with crystalline formations that glowed faintly; Desolate residue, remnants of previous meals

. The floor was uneven, littered with bones. Not humans or any species he recognized. The air was thin and nonexistent, but his CE core sustained him, circulating energy through his body like a second bloodstream.

He landed on the floor. As his boots touched stone, dust rose in slow motion, hanging suspended in the low gravity.

Then he heard it.

A scraping sound. Chitin against rock. Heavy breathing that vibrated through the gravity-less space, through his boots, up his legs. The sound was wet, Labored and Hungry.

Then it emerged from the shadows.

The Desolate beast was the size of a small building. Its body was segmented, armored with plates that gleamed like polished metal. Six legs, each ending in a claw that could pierce the starship’s hulls and A tail that ended in a stinger, dripping with something that smoked and sizzled where it touched the stone. Its head was featureless except for a single vertical slit that glowed with violet light.

[Beep! Tier 5, five-star. Desolate Beast Detected!]

A device that Gorvax has given him beeped at his waist.

Then it saw him

The slit widened and the beast screamed, a sound that didn’t travel through airless space but through stone, through Owen’s boots, through his bones. It vibrated in his teeth.

But owen wasn’t stunned, instead he moved.

Momentum Shift carried him left, away from the first strike as the beast’s claw slammed into the ground where he had stood. Crystals shattered and Shards flew past his face.

Ka-POW!

He pivoted, driving his fist into the beast’s front leg. Cosmic Impact Fist, not full force. 50 CE, a test of measurement.

The gauntlets amplified the impact as Violet light flared at his knuckles. The impact cracked the beast’s armor and Purple goo leaked from the wound, glowing faintly in the dark.

The beast roared with Its tail whipping around.

Owen dropped, as the stinger passed over his head, close enough to feel the heat of its venom sizzling in the air. He rolled, came up, and punched again. Another 50 CE. Same leg. The armor shattered completely, exposing muscle and sinew.

The beast staggered.

Owen didn’t stop. He circled left, staying ahead of its claws, always moving. His Dragon’s Eye tracked every twitch, every shift in weight. The beast was faster than him in a straight line. But it was predictable. It telegraphed every strike.

He wasn’t faster but Owen was smarter.

Then the beast lunged again, both front claws extended, mouth gaping open wide. Owen jumped. Kicked off the ceiling. Dropped onto the beast’s back.

KA-POW! KA-POW! KA-POW!

Three punches. 50 CE each. The beast’s back armor buckled. Ichor sprayed. The creature thrashed, trying to throw him off. Owen held on, his gauntlets digging into the cracks he’d created.

He pulled his fist back. His Base CE had depleted now so Gathered CE from mana conversion. Two hundred.

Then he punched, again.

The beast’s back exploded. It’s Chitin and ichor and fragmented organs sprayed across the cavern. The creature collapsed, its legs twitching, its slit-eye going dark. The stinger twitched once, twice, then went still.

Owen stood on its corpse, breathing hard. Sweat dripped from his chin. His arms ached. His CE reserves were at a mere 8 He’d used everything and more to take down this desolate beast.

He knelt beside the body. The core was in its chest; a fist-sized crystal, pulsing with violet light. Grade three. Enough to push his CE from 258 to 300. Enough to make the fight worthwhile.

He pressed his palm to the core. His Mana Absorption skill activated, but this time it drew cosmic energy directly. The crystal grew warm, then hot, then blinding.

The core dimmed as the energy flowed into him, It merged with his core, expanding it, densifying it. He could feel his center of mass growing heavier, more substantial.

His CE replenished and began to rise. 260. 270. 280. 290. 300.

He exhaled. The core crumbled to dust between his fingers.

Gorvax’s voice came through the comm. “Acceptable.”

Owen looked up. “Acceptable?”

“Pathetic, but that is acceptable for a first hunt.”

The ship’s lights appeared at the cavern’s entrance. Owen walked toward it, his boots crunching on shattered crystal.

—

Back on the ship, Owen sat in the co-pilot’s seat, his CE core settling at 305. The residual energy from the core was still integrating, still expanding. He could feel it. Small increments. 306. 307.

Gorvax set a course for Veridian Cross. “You relied too much on the gauntlets and conversion.”

“They kept me alive.”

“They amplified your punches. But you still used 200 borrowed CE in a single strike. That is inefficient. You could have killed it with three 70 CE strikes to the same location. Instead, you overcommitted.”

Owen’s jaw tightened. “I still killed it.”

“Barely.” Gorvax’s voice was cold. “What if there had been two beasts? What if the first punch had missed? You would be dead. Your conversion would not have saved you. Your mana would have been irrelevant.”

He was right.

Owen looked at his hands. The gauntlets hummed softly against his skin. They weren’t the problem. His mindset was. He was still fighting like a dragon; overwhelming force, overwhelming power. But cosmic combat wasn’t simply about battle power. It was about efficiency in combat.

“Then teach me to be better.”

Gorvax was silent for a moment as the ship glided through the asteroid field, past shattered rocks and frozen debris.

“When we return to the veridian Crossing, you will make ready to venture to our next location, to fight in the arena. Tier 5, three-star opponents. You will learn to conserve. To adapt and To win without wasting energy.”

Owen nodded. His CE core pulsed at 308.

The ship emerged from the asteroid field. Ahead, the Veridian Crossinh glowed against the dark; a ring of light in the endless void.

“One more thing,” Gorvax said. “Your base CE is now 308. That puts you almost at Tier 5, two stars.”

Owen blinked. “Oh, yeah! That’s true. I’m gonna rank up soon!”

“Barely. But yes. You are no longer the weakest in the cosmos.” A pause. “You are simply close to it.”

The ship accelerated toward the ring as Owen watched the lights grow brighter…

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