I Am a Hero With A Hundred Abilities-Chapter 17: Ch 16.Rulers of the sky

Ethan sat atop the altar of rebirth.

The silver light of the two moons reflected off his armor, but there was no satisfaction in his expression.

He glanced at Gray, his companion, whose golden eyes shone with quiet intensity.

"It looks like hunting Mawlers is no longer profitable," Ethan muttered, his voice laced with frustration.

He hated it—the threshold that dictated when he stopped receiving points and fragments.

All the pain, all the deaths he had endured, just to take down a single monster, meant nothing now.

Every kill, every hard-earned victory—wasted.

And now, to grow stronger, he had to start from scratch again.

A thought crept into his mind, a whisper of doubt that had been festering deep inside him for a while.

"Should I just give up?"

Ethan clenched his fists.

The sheer mental exhaustion of dying over and over again was beginning to weigh on him.

No normal human could endure what he had endured.

He had lost count of how many times he had felt his own body break, felt his own breath stop, only to wake up at the Altar of Rebirth as if nothing had happened.

It wasn't just physical pain—it was the slow, creeping weariness of a man being crushed by an unrelenting fate.

He wasn't even supposed to be here.

Just days ago, he was a normal guy on Earth. A nobody.

Now, he was locked in a brutal cycle of life and death, fighting monsters that could crush him with a single bite.

Who would blame him if he stopped? Who would criticize him if he walked away?

For the first time since arriving in this world, Ethan hesitated.

Then, without warning—he blew himself up.

BOOM!

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Gray yelped, his ears flattening in shock.

He stared at the altar, confused, his tail flicking in agitation. His master had just self-destructed—why?

A moment later, Ethan respawned at the Altar of Rebirth, gasping as he reoriented himself.

He let out a slow exhale, shaking off the lingering pain of death.

Then, he laughed.

"It's too early to be giving up now."

Ethan looked down at his hands. He was still here.

He had made it this far, hadn't he?

That alone was proof that he could keep going.

If he gave up now, everything he had endured—all the suffering, all the sacrifices, all the pain—would have been for nothing.

"I can't just throw it all away," he murmured.

This was a second chance—a new life, a new world. And in this world, power was everything.

He clenched his fists.

Power to protect himself.

Power to protect those he cared about.

Power that would ensure no one could ever look down on him again.

Power to bend fate itself to his will.

The sanctum had given him the opportunity to obtain that power.

How could he give up now?

"A thousand deaths? Ten thousand? Even a million?" Ethan smirked, his golden eyes burning with renewed determination.

"I'll experience them all. Because being weak is not an option. I would rather die than remain weak."

Gray's ears perked up as Ethan approached, his usual smirk back in place. The hesitation, the doubt—it was gone.

In its place was the unyielding resolve of a man who had already died a hundred times yet refused to break.

Ethan swung himself onto Gray's back, gripping the fur of his silver mane.

"Let's go, Gray." His voice was steady, unwavering. "It's time to hunt."

The Graven Mawlers were finished.

Now, it was time for their next prey—the Fellstrider Rykir.

****

A Graven Mawler stalked through the flatlands, its massive frame moving with a deceptive silence.

Its claws scraped against the rocky terrain as it marked its territory, dragging deep gashes into the earth.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and dust, a claim of dominance among its kind.

But then—a shadow loomed over it.

Something large blocked out the sun, and the Mawler instinctively froze, its primal instincts screaming at it to run.

As it slowly lifted its gaze—only for sharp talons to fill its vision.

Before it could react, the beast above snatched it from the ground, powerful claws piercing deep into its flesh.

The Mawler thrashed, snarling, its limbs flailing wildly as it fought to break free—but the grip was unrelenting.

The predator was stronger.

Higher and higher they ascended, the wind howling past, the ground shrinking below. The air thinned, making it harder to breathe. The Mawler's struggles grew weaker, more desperate—but the beast knew this dance well.

The Rykir had done this countless times.

When it reached a height where even the strongest beast would suffocate, it finally let go.

The Mawler plummeted.

It tumbled through the sky, its body twisting in the air, its powerful limbs clawing at nothing.

The world spun around it as the ground rushed closer and closer—until finally—

CRACK!

Its massive frame smashed into the rocky plains, bones shattering on impact.

A final, gurgling snarl escaped its throat before silence took over. It was dead.

The Rykir swooped down, its leathery wings spread wide as it landed beside its kill.

With a sharp, reptilian screech, it dug its beak into the carcass, tearing into the fresh meat.

The Rykir we're Masters of the Sky.

They were fearsome, bird-like reptiles, their bodies covered in a mix of dark, scaled skin and sleek, feathered wings.

Their razor-sharp talons could rip through flesh with ease, and their hooked beaks were designed to tear apart prey.

They were fast, efficient hunters, striking from above when their prey least expected it.

The land belonged to many beasts, but the sky was their domain.

As one Rykir soared through the sky, its black eyes scanning the Ruined Expanse below, searching for its next victim.

It glided effortlessly, riding the warm air currents, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Then—a flash of light.

For a moment, its vision blurred as something reflected in its eye, disrupting its focus.

And then—

BANG!

A bullet pierced through its skull.

The Rykir jerked mid-air, its wings twitching violently as it lost control.

Blood sprayed from the clean hole in its head, and its lifeless body spiraled downward before crashing into the ground with a dull thud.

Down below, Ethan sat on a rocky outcrop, his predator fang still smoking.

His eyes widened in disbelief as a system notification appeared before him.

[You have obtained 0.001 Ability Fragments.]

[You have obtained 100,000 points.]

Ethan stared at the notification, then at the dead Rykir below.

"...That was way too easy."

Ethan then realized a crucial fact.

The Rykir were apex predators of the sky, reigning over the Ruinborn Expanse.

But the creatures of this land were mostly land-dwellers—they had no natural threats from above.

Nothing had ever challenged them from the ground before.

But Ethan wasn't from this world.

He was a new species that had entered the Ruined Expanse—one that could snipe them from below.

A grin spread across Ethan's face, excitement surging through his veins.

"This just made my hunt a whole lot easier."

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A/N will release an extra Chapter if I get 50 power stones.

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