I looked to my left, to the opening in the earth where I had slid off the worm.

  The worm’s body loomed in the sand, but something was different. Its form looked larger than before—thicker, heavier, swollen unnaturally. The sight twisted my gut. I had already torn through it, bled it dry, yet here it was... changing.

  Then I heard it.

  A deep, guttural groan rumbled through its body, vibrating the air like the sound of stone grinding against stone. My breath caught in my throat.

  It’s still alive?!

  The beast convulsed once, its body shuddering with unnatural growth. Then, as sudden as that dreadful realization came, its movements stopped. The colossal form sagged and went limp, the sound of its death rattling out across the desert.

  Huh? Boss?

  My mind pieced it together in fragments. That explained why I hadn’t felt the sand shifting like with the other worm. This wasn’t a normal one.

  I clenched my teeth. I’d neglected this part of the system, but no longer.

  Forcing my shaking hand up, I clicked on the Archive icon.

  So... I killed that sandworm before it could evolve. Before it could mutate into something greater. I must’ve nipped it in the bud before it grew too strong. That growth, the sudden change in its body...

  Or rather, I stopped it midway. That was the only reason I survived. Pure luck.

  My chest rose and fell as the truth sank in. My instincts had carried me, driving me to react beyond conscious thought. I didn’t know I had that in me.

  The Tower did. It always knew more than it let on. Could it be omniscient?

  Still, the Archive wasn’t complete. Large chunks of the entry were shrouded in question marks. This information would only be revealed once I killed more than one of these creatures. That's the correlation. I've killed plenty of orcs and goblins, so the full information is there.

  I lowered my arm, blood dripping from my sleeve, my wounds screaming at me with every movement. My mana was a quarter gone gone, my strength dwindling. I scurried out from beneath my little world, out into the open again.

  I smirked bitterly. “This class really sucks in the beginning...”

  My senses of smell, hearing, and touch increased drastically. It hit me all at once. The desert no longer felt like a blank, hostile expanse. Every grain of sand, every subtle vibration, every whisper of wind painted itself across my mind.

  I could smell the acrid stench of the worm’s ruptured innards as if they were inches from my face. I could hear the distant crunch of shifting sand as something small—maybe a lizard or insect—burrowed nearby. My skin prickled with the faintest tremors beneath the surface, warning me of potential movement long before it broke through.

  It was overwhelming at first. But as my mind adjusted, it began to order itself, forming a coherent pattern.

  Let's check out my new spells.

  Huh? Nothing new?

  I frowned, scrolling through the system menu again. No fresh spells greeted me.

  Wait. There was a new perk.

  Placed Magic Circles.

  That was all it said. Simple. Almost too simple. My heart quickened. If it really was as straightforward as it read, then it's simple.

  I straightened my arm toward the open desert. I pictured it. A jagged bolt of lightning, tearing down from the heavens thirty meters away.

  The air shimmered.

  "Lightning Bolt."

  A glowing blue magic circle burst into existence above the sand. In the next instant, a lightning bolt screamed downward, slamming into the ground with a deafening crack. Sparks scattered across the dunes, fusing sand into blackened glass.

  My breath caught. That wasn’t like before—the intensity was exponential. I hadn’t even poured much mana into it.

  I licked my lips, the taste of ozone sharp on my tongue. “Now this... this is risky.”

  But my hands were already trembling with anticipation. Could I push it further with my unique skill?

  I inhaled, focusing. This time, I didn’t imagine one. I imagined three.

  "Lightning Bolts."

  Three blue circles shimmered into being at once. A moment later, three bolts of lightning tore from the sky, their paths colliding midair into a blinding convergence. The combined explosion detonated with such force that the shockwave blasted sand against my body. The ground seemed to recoil, scorched earth stretching outward in a charred crater.

  The heat brushed against my face, and I staggered back. My mana reserves had drained sharply from this test and before. Some of it had regenerated, but I just used it. Why wasn't I scared? Why wasn't I?

  Movement.

  A rumble shivered under the sand, this time far to my right. My sharpened senses flared, painting the vibrations in my mind. Multiple signatures.

  The desert split open a few hundred meters away, spraying dunes into the air as three colossal sandworms erupted in unison. Their bodies twisted like serpentine towers, their maws yawning wide, teeth glinting as they shrieked toward me.

  For a moment, I stood in silence, watching them race across the desert. Then a laugh slipped out, low and sharp.

  "Haha."

  After all that, after everything the Tower had thrown at me, I finally understood. I could feel it in my blood, in my bones. I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I was grasping control.

  I raised my hand, the air splitting with pink light as I willed open four weapon portals. The rifts spiraled into existence, each one spinning with barely restrained energy. One sword, one axe, and two spears shivered within, waiting to be unleashed.

  My eyes locked onto the incoming monsters, "Weapon Gate."

  It doesn't matter if I'm hurt or scared.

  I’ll never lose again—starting now.