Show Me Your Stats!

“What... is this...?”

It was a vast, unnaturally deep pit—so massive ituld easily fit the entire lord’s castle. Swarming inside wereuntless ma-beasts of all different species, packed together like ants. From hulking giants to tiny creatures, some glistened with tough carapaces, others rippled like gooey, melting organisms. Bloom and Hera’s faces turned pale at the sight—this was something they had never seen before.

“This is... this is insane!”

Ayra, on the other hand, flushed with excitement and shot to her feet—only to be yanked down into the snow by Hera, who grabbed his ankle in panic. Bloom hissed, “How dare you lay hands on the Lord!” but Hera, peering once more into the chasm, let out a heavy groan.

“This is the most horrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed...”

She sighed deeply, troubled, then looked at Ayra—only to be struck speechless.

The young lord was staring into the pit with eyes gleaming like a madman, his hands clasped together at his chest, trembling in exhilaration.

“How... how are they not devouring each other even though they’re different species? What kind of revolutionaryntainment method is this...?”

“My Lord? Hello?”

“No, look—that’s Pallasikampfikachao! Exemplughma, Virzshardalé, Berstsnostja! Are those subspecies? That double-layered jaw structure... A-Ah! That’s... that’s a Kingkulamgullur—I’ve only ever seen it in literature!”

“My Lord!!”

“Oi, snap out of it!!”

Chanting a string of scientific-sounding names like a possessed scholar, Ayra forgot entirely that they were on the edge of a cliff and tried to dart forward—only to be tackled by Bloom and Hera. His face plunged into the snow, snapping him out of it.

“...He seemed normal, but yeah, he’s definitely a Maze-born mage.”

Hera muttered under her breath, her grip firm on Ayra’s shoulders. Bloom, for once, didn’t bother lding her for roughness—instead silently stepped between Ayra and the edge, blocking his view.

The brief chaos passed, leaving only a tense silence.

“We need to fall back,” Hera muttered. “Even Iuldn’t take on that many ma-beasts.”

“...Wait. Hold on.”

Ayra’s muffled voice came from where his face was buried in snow. He lifted his head, nose red from theld, and sniffled as he spoke—his voice trembling with unhinged excitement.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to try since the Maze. But it required antrolled space like this—one with a massive number of ma-beasts crammed together... and I’ve never had the chance...”

“What?” Hera snapped. “You’re still not thinking straight. Maybe another snow bath will fix that—”

“No, wait! Just listen! If this works, we can wipe out a huge portion of the horde without lifting a finger! Just let me observe them for, like... ten more minutes... No, five! Please...”

Begging piteously, Ayra eventually earned ampromise: flattened between Hera and Bloom, he was allowed to study the pit from the cliff’s edge. Mutteringnstantly and scribbling furiously into his research notebook, he kept saying “just five more minutes”—which turned into thirty.

Finally, with a deep, mournful sigh, Ayra pulled something out of his subspace: a strange apparatus and a vial filled with various ingredients.

Among them was a shimmering rainbow powder—sugar-like crystals that, when used on Janus once before, had caused a nightmarish reaction.

“If not for the need to protect my citizens, I’d be camped here for a week minimum... Iuld’ve written at least ten papers...”

With a regretful look at the pit, Ayra began preparing. He expertly mixed ingredients in precise ratios, adjusted temperatures, and added mysterious reagents with unhesitating hands. Before long, black liquid began to boil inside the flask. Compared to thection used on Janus, this one was far more potent.

Holding up the inky solution, Ayra said, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° “Cover me. If any ma-beasts approach, take them out immediately.”

“Understood! I’ll guard you with my life!”

There was a reason for such caution—if even a single drop spilled, all three of themuld die.

Ayra activated a physical spell. With a sweep of his gloved hand, the deep snow atop the cliff floated upward, casting massive shadows over them. Like drifting clouds, the snow hovered over the pit of ma-beasts. Physical magic wasn’t his specialty, and sweat beaded on his brow.

Then the flask, too, floated up into the air and vanished into the hovering snow. A faint clink echoed out, and slowly the snowy mass began to swirl. Tainted by the potion, the pristine snow darkened into a stormy cloud.

The ma-beasts below began to look up. Soon, a soft gray powder—ash-like snow—started to drift down upon them.

The first to react were the smallest creatures. Fingernail-sized beasts let out piercing screeches and immediately turned on the others. Chaos spread. Within moments, the entire horde went mad, biting and clawing at anything in sight.

“My gods...”

Bloom’s jaw dropped. Hera swallowed hard, tense.

The writhing horde below twisted into a massive, living vortex—screaming, attacking, tearing each other apart. They shredded bodies and gorged on each other’sres. Splashes of blood in every hue flooded the pit. As theres werensumed,rpses melted like snow and vanished.

Ayra, watching this perfect chemical chain reaction from above, smiled thinly—his pale gray eyes glowing almost silver in the light.

The scholar who had spent years researching ma-beasts watched as even in hellishnditions, an instinctive food chain took shape. He carefully studied their attack patterns, exposed anatomy, and behavioral triggers—cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes sparkling. Hera, watching his delight,uld only sigh.

When the snowfall stopped, the number of surviving ma-beasts had dropped to a fraction of the original.

Ayra, genuinely disappointed that the fun had ended so soon, finally turned to the others.

“Well? Think you can handle the rest now?”

❄

As it turned out, Hera’s skill matched her boasting. Every last surviving beast was a high-danger variant—but none were a match for her.

With each swing of her blade, bodies split, blood sprayed, and Ayra was briefly reminded of Janus slaying the Ocampania pack. He stared for a moment, entranced.

Bloom, though not as overwhelming as Hera, held his own well. His armor was torn in several places, but he sustained no injuries. Ayra, too drained from massive spell use, observed from a safe distance.

Perhaps because of his youth, Bloom only grew more aggressive with each kill. At last, panting, he struck down the final beast. His helmet was stained with red,ncealing his expression. Hera sheathed her weapon, and Bloom finally lowered his sword with a heavy exhale.

“You’ve both done excellent work. I’ll handle extracting the magic stones—take a breather.”

Confirming that no further threats lingered, Ayra stepped forward. With a flick of his hand, the ma-beasts’rpses split cleanly and revealed their magicres.

Typically, one stone per beast—but these had swallowed multiple others, and the undigestedres poured out in a cascade.

As Ayra worked, he grew curious about the stat difference between Hera and Bloom. Now that the situation was secure, he opened their stat windows.

HP: 27,122

MP: 2,435

Physical ATK: 10,469

Magic ATK: ???

Favorability: 26♡

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