Villain's POV: The Heroines Want Me!

With that, Rize continued moving around, hunting every monster he found in his way. With each kill, Rize became more efficient and smarter. Aside from the fact that he was also gaining power, Rize was instinctively taking every experience and storing it in his mind before he would change any particular mistakes or flaws and try to better them.

Using Endless Hunger and Blade of Wrath, he was able to kill targets with both. However, he was naturally unable to fight with both at the same time. It was like every time he tried to use both, his brain would cease to function, and he would lose control of the Black matter or his body.

"ROAR!!"

*Swish*

The monster shrieked as it attacked Rize; meanwhile, the boy tried to deflect the hit while also using Endless Hunger to attack from behind. However, as he tried to do that, he felt a headache course through his mind that made him lose focus.

*BANG*

The monster slammed into his body, sending him flying back as he hit a tree. He groaned in pain as the tentacle pierced the monster's back, snapping its spine with ease. The creature fell dead.

"Ugh…" Rize slowly stood up as he dusted his clothes. "This is really annoying. I've been trying to use both at the same time, but how am I supposed to even split my brain like that? I only have one damn brain."

This was by far the biggest hurdle Rize had faced ever since he had started his training all those years ago. His monstrous learning ability had given him the illusion that there was nothing he couldn't really learn with enough practice. He always knew what to do, and so it was simply a matter of putting in the effort to perfect it.

This was well and truly the first time that Rize didn't know what to do. He couldn't split his brain in half and let each half take care of a certain task; that was not how a brain worked.

"Tsk…" He rubbed his hair as he looked around him. "It's pointless to be angry right now. I will manage until I learn how to do it. I need to keep trying still, even if it is very risky."

There was nothing easy in the world, but if he truly unlocked this ability, Rize would have a humungous advantage against any opponent. He could sneak attack, or use it to overwhelm his opponent with sheer destructive power.

It would be the biggest breakthrough he ever had, even bigger than awakening itself. Until that happens, he had to keep trying.

"Ok, I think that's enough weak monsters. I need an actual challenge." He muttered as he started walking, heading deeper into the forest. That entire time, he had been lurking around the outskirts, hunting weaker enemies as a warm-up.

'Killing these things also stopped giving me stat points so I'm guessing I need to start going for much stronger monsters within the same Tier.'

With that plan in mind, Rize changed direction and headed deeper into the forest. The deeper he walked, the more dangerous the atmosphere felt. All the warmth of the sun started dissipating and was replaced by a sense of threat that constantly loomed over his head as he tried to find his next target.

During that time, Rize practiced using his essence as a scanner. It was one of the essential skills that awakened should have, and his being a rookie meant that he needed to focus on doing that task when it should be something that he does as easily as breathing.

At the same time, he tried to practice channeling the essence through his body to boost his physical capabilities. With that amount of essence he had, it was a lot harder to channel it, as it required immense focus.

However, as Rize channeled that energy to all kinds of different body parts, he slowly learned and got familiar with the process, slowly speeding it up. At first, it would take him at least 30 seconds to get his energy to a certain body part, but with practice, it got down to 28 seconds and kept decreasing.

So, even as he was walking, Rize was still getting stronger even in an idle state. An hour later, Rize finally reached a deeper part of the forest. It was incredibly quiet, and yet that silence didn't make Rize relax.

'Hm.' He stopped and looked around him. 'I don't like how quiet it is.'

His senses weren't picking up anything odd, but he felt it… Something was there. After waiting for a few moments, Rize started walking again.

But as he took a few steps forward, suddenly a presence appeared within the area his essence was covering. It was incredibly fast, cutting the distance short in mere seconds.

"...!!!" Rize brandished his sword just as the monster emerged. It was huge, easily covering the sun above his head as it leaped forward. Its black fur looked so thick that it appeared like armor rather than hair.

"Shit!!!" Realizing that the monster was about to fall on him, Rize rolled to the side quickly, barely dodging the huge monster as it landed on the ground. The entire place shook from the impact.

Rize rolled a few times before he came to a stop and stood up. There, he saw a huge bear… One that was easily bigger than anything he had seen before. Its three eyes, its mouth dripping with saliva as it grunted and groaned.

Then, it looked at Rize with crazed, bloodthirsty eyes. It was mad.

"What the hell?!"

"ROAR!!!"

The bear didn't waste a single breath as it attacked Rize, swinging its giant paw at him. The boy activated his essence, boosting his speed as he moved out of the way, jumping back several feet. The bear didn't stop as it rushed toward him and slammed down with both arms.

'It's so fast!' Rize clenched his teeth as he put his sword forward to block the hit. The slam came down on him ruthlessly, and it felt like a truck crashing into his body. Rize flew back several feet as he rolled and came to a stop on his feet.

'When I said a stronger opponent, I didn't mean this!' He clenched his teeth. Rize could tell that the bear wasn't a mature one, but it was still a very high Tier 8 monster or even a very low Tier 7. On top of that, it seemed to be in a rampaging state because of something. This wasn't going to be an easy challenge, and he could tell immediately.

'Oh well, I won't run away.' Rize thought. 'I'm here to get stronger, not to survive.'

So, he brandished his sword as he got ready to attack. 'It's time to put Blade of Wrath to its full potential.'

Stacking up the damage and the criticality of each hit was perfect against strong opponents because it made each blow mean that much more.

"Roar!!!" The bear felt the human's threatening presence and rushed at him again. This time, Rize took it head one.