'Currently, my talent points are at 3,730. I must quickly kill monsters to increase my talent points.'
After parting ways with Saitama, King opened the system interface and pondered where to go next.
The most urgent task at hand was to upgrade his existing Talents. Naturally, the first choice was his S-Class talent, Fighting Spirit.
The monsters he currently faced were relatively weak, allowing his Fighting Spirit to slowly stack up and eventually achieve a one-hit kill effect. However, as the level of monsters increased, he feared he might be instantly killed by an opponent before he could accumulate enough power.
Although he possessed Undying Body, once he suffered a major injury, the accumulation of Fighting Spirit would be interrupted, and he would have to start from scratch.
'Genos's talent is going to be a huge help. I must accumulate enough strength before the war between the Hero Association and the Monster Association begins.'
King's gaze became determined. He made up his mind to participate in the battle between the two associations under the identity of Kotaro/Dark Mask.
"Hehehe. The newcomer orientation continues."
Swish!
An agile figure descended from the air, blocking King's path. Sneck struck an attacking pose with a wicked smile.
"Sneck?"
King was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Sneck to choose him instead of going after Saitama.
"Kid, let me tell you, even within the Hero Association, people use special methods for the sake of rankings. For example, taking out the newcomers who just joined."
Bang!
Before Sneck could even touch King, he was knocked to the ground and rendered unconscious by a single punch, leaving only King's departing back.
"I don't know how this guy made it into A-Class. Fubuki from B-Class is leagues ahead of him."
Sneck's strength wasn't much greater than an ordinary person's. His specialty was Snakebite Fist, and he didn't have any remarkable battle records.
King shook his head, summoned the system interface, and headed straight into the deep mountains.
'System, activate the Talent Trial Card.'
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for activating the Talent Trial Card. You have obtained S-Class Talent: Energy Detection, and Skill: Spiral Incineration Cannon.]
Swish!
King vanished into a forest. At this moment, he could clearly perceive a powerful surge of energy not far away.
'A monster!'
King stopped. Standing before him was a two-meter-tall figure holding a meter-long spiked mace, with two cold, glinting fangs protruding from his mouth.
"I am the Boar Man! Foolish human, prepare to die!"
Whoosh!
The spiked mace came whistling through the air. If it were an ordinary person, they would likely have been smashed into meat paste instantly.
Boom!
A large pit was smashed into the ground, while King narrowly dodged the attack.
"Nice weapon. I'll take it!" King grinned.
He had been worrying about not having a handy weapon.
Meanwhile, the Boar Man's offensive became increasingly fierce.
Boom... Boom...
The massive commotion caused other animals in the forest to flee.
Just as the Boar Man was getting excited, an extremely powerful heat wave blasted toward its face.
"Disappear!"
Spiral Incineration Cannon!
Rumble!
A massive pillar of fire erupted. The Boar Man disappeared into the flames before he could even scream, leaving only a solitary spiked mace falling to the ground.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Tiger-level monster. Obtained 200 Talent Points.]
"Not bad. Quite handy."
King swung the spiked mace with powerful gusts, a satisfied expression on his face.
"I didn't expect to find a Tiger-level monster right after entering. This talent is very useful."
King pondered for a moment. Genos's talent was a sharp tool for finding monsters, and it could even predict the approach of danger in advance.
'Let's set a small goal first: save up ten thousand talent points.'
With his goal set, King continued into the deep mountains. However, what he didn't know was that a dark shadow was gathering in the forest.
...
"Die!"
Bang!
Taking out another Wolf-level monster with one hit, King felt slightly tired. He had killed no less than ten monsters along the way, but the highest among them was only Tiger-level.
'Almost half of the trial card's time has passed. It seems Demon-level monsters and above are truly hard to find.'
Looking at the 4,300 talent points in the system, King was somewhat unsatisfied. Talent Trial Cards with S-Class Talents were not easy to obtain. After all, he didn't encounter low-level Dragon-level monsters every day.
"Hmm? What's this?"
King suddenly noticed something was wrong. Previously, he could still sense the faint energy of some animals, but now the surroundings were silent, without a single trace of a living aura.
"So many corpses!"
King headed deeper into the forest, and more and more animal corpses appeared before his eyes. What was terrifying was that these corpses were all shriveled, clearly having had the blood drained from their bodies while they were still alive.
"This kind of method... could it be her?"
King's pupils constricted as he thought of a fearsome existence.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a massive swarm of energy rushed toward him at high speed.
House of Evolution, Demon-level monster, Mosquito Girl!
King's expression became exceptionally solemn. Mosquito Girl was definitely no ordinary Demon-level monster. She could enhance herself by having her mosquito swarms suck blood, and could even reach the peak of Demon-level.
She had once pushed Genos to the brink of desperation until Saitama intervened just in time. However, she didn't die in the end and went on to sell takoyaki with Dr. Genus.
Buzz...
A massive black shadow discovered King's presence and dove down from the sky like a torrential flood.
Savage Tornado!
Pop! Pop...
The oncoming black shadow dissipated like foam under the devastation of the violent wind. Layers of corpses quickly piled up beneath King's feet.
"Hehe. I didn't expect to find such a powerful human in these deep mountains." A charming voice drifted over.
What came into view was a slender figure with a beautiful face, but the mosquito wings on her back revealed her identity as a monster.
Mosquito Girl. She was a monster created by Dr. Genus by merging mosquitoes with a female structure, a test subject of the House of Evolution.
"Your blood must be very delicious." Mosquito Girl licked her lips.
Buzz...
Several massive swarms of mosquitoes merged into a torrent, instantly engulfing King.
"Perfect timing!"
Spiral Incineration Cannon!
Boom!
Terrifying flames spread out, instantly incinerating the mosquito swarms within a hundred-meter radius.
"Oh, you've got some skill."
Mosquito Girl's expression showed some surprise.
Before she could react, King gathered strength and leaped into the air, a spiked mace whistling toward her.
Clang!
King's eyes narrowed slightly. At the last moment, the spiked mace was blocked by Mosquito Girl's sharp blades, and his body was subsequently knocked back to the ground.