Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start

Alex barely had time to react.

"Tch—!"

A sharp whistle cut through the air, and an instant later, pain erupted in his left arm.

"AGH!" He cursed out loud, instinctively jumping back just before a massive clawed limb swept through the space he'd just occupied.

The sheer force of the attack left deep trenches in the ground, molten lava spilling into them like a cracked dam.

'Fuck!' Alex gritted his teeth, glancing at his arm.

A deep gash ran from his shoulder down to his forearm, but at least he still had it. A second slower, and he might not have been so lucky.

'Damn it... I didn't even see the attack coming.'

He landed on a jagged rock formation, breathing heavily as his eyes darted between the two figures standing before him.

One of them was a towering monstrosity of obsidian and magma, its entire body a walking fortress.

Thick volcanic rock plates covered its frame, with glowing crimson cracks pulsating with molten energy. It exuded an aura of unbreakable defense, standing there like an unmovable guardian.

And honestly? It was an unbreakable fortress, as none of Alex's attacks worked on it. Its elemental and physical resistance was off the charts.

The second, however, was the real problem.

Alex could barely make out its form—a slithering, shifting shadow that seemed to blend into the surroundings.

Even now, it was hard to pinpoint its exact shape. Its presence flickered, appearing in brief glimpses, its emerald-green eyes the only constant in its distorted form.

'Two bosses? Just when I thought I cleared the wave…'

Just moments ago, Alex had slayed the final beast from the wave, and when he thought that it was over, these two jumped out of nowhere, as if waiting for him to tire out.

If that wasn't enough, these bastards were peak star-connection bosses.

His gaze flickered back to the wound on his arm.

'That stealth bastard... if I hadn't reacted instantly, I would've lost the whole damn limb.' He growled inwardly, thankful that he had his body lightened to the limit using gravity; if not, he would've lost his hand.

The question was, how long would he be able to continue doing that?

Breaking him out of his thoughts, the ground rumbled as the armored beast took a slow step forward.

It was slow and methodical, but Alex knew whatever attack it unleashed would be devastating.

'It's like an unbreakable wall, while the other is an assassin waiting to strike when I lower my guard. Annoying.'

He clicked his tongue. "Alright, which one of you wants to die first?"

The only response was a deafening roar from the armored beast. At the same time, the air distorted around him—a telltale sign of the stealth beast lunging in for another attack.

Alex reacted instantly.

WHOOSH!

He kicked off the ground, flipping mid-air just as a shimmering claw sliced through where his chest had been. The wind pressure alone left a burning cut across his ribs.

"Tch! You're really starting to piss me off!" Alex growled as he landed, barely having a second before the armored beast took advantage of his movement, slamming its massive fist down.

BOOOOOM!

The impact sent magma spewing into the air, the ground quaking violently beneath Alex's feet.

He dodged just in time, but he couldn't keep running forever. His body was already burning from fatigue.

He had just fought through a thousand beasts with his physique activated, and now he was up against two bosses working together to make his life hell.

'This isn't good. I'm wasting energy, and none of my normal attacks are strong enough to take down that wall of a beast. And if I focus on it, that shadow bastard will keep slicing me up.'

For the first time since entering the tower, Alex hesitated.

'I didn't want to use this before reaching the sixth floor... but if I don't, I'm just prolonging the inevitable.'

His mist-like body pulsed violently. The astral essence surrounding him twisted and swirled before darkening into something more... sinister.

Destruction Energy.

A power he rarely used. A power that consumed, erased, and devoured all in its path.

The armored beast, seeing his shift in energy, let out a challenging roar and charged straight at him, confident in its unbreakable defenses.

Alex smirked. "You really think you can take this, don't you?" He swung Verathian in a wide arc, the blade coated in pure destruction.

SHHHRRIIIIP!

The moment the beast's body made contact with the attack, something unexpected happened.

Its armor—its unshakable, indestructible defense—

SHATTERED.

The beast barely had time to realize what had happened before its entire form disintegrated, erased from existence.

For the first time, the stealth beast hesitated.

Alex turned his glowing blue eyes toward it, as he deactivated his destruction energy. "What's wrong? Didn't expect that, did you?"

The beast took a step back, trying to fade back into the shadows—

Too late.

Alex's fist was already heading straight for its face.

BOOOM!

The force of the punch sent the beast flying, crashing through molten rock and jagged obsidian spires. Before it could even regain its footing—

THUD! CRACK! BANG!

Alex was on top of it, fists hammering down like meteors. Each blow sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, the beast letting out guttural roars of pain.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Blood and shattered bones flew through the air as Alex showed no mercy. He didn't stop. Not until the beast was nothing more than a mangled, lifeless corpse.

This stealth beast was only annoying because the armored beast protected it; with that one gone, it wasn't a big deal.

Finally, he exhaled, his mist-like body flickering before he received the notification.

[You have earned 20,000 points for clearing the fourth floor.]

[The second and last wave has been cleared.]

[You have 10 minutes before you are moved to the next floor.]

As soon as he saw the notifications, Alex let out a breath, his form shifting back to normal. He rolled his shoulders, stretching out his exhausted muscles, before sitting down cross-legged.

"Ten minutes, huh? Guess I should actually use it this time."

Closing his eyes, he activated breath control and healing breath.

His breath grew controlled and rhythmic before a soft, green glow surrounded his body as his wounds began closing, the pain fading away bit by bit.

For the first time since entering this floor, he let himself relax.

He knew that he needed to heal up this time. So, he healed his injuries and his physical fatigue.

As for mental fatigue, well, that wasn't something he had to worry about in the dream world.

This was a dream in a way, and no matter what one does in a dream, one won't feel that fatigued.

However, dying would be different.

Dying, even in the dream world, could give him a headache for a while.

'I don't plan on dying anyway.' He shrugged off those thoughts.

And before he knew it, the portal leading to the next floor appeared before him.

Alex opened his eyes, staring at it in thought. "...Don't tell me the next two floors are combined as well."

With a sigh, he got to his feet and stepped forward.

On to the next battle.

He just wished that instead of sending him against thousands of mobs, one strong boss would be better.

That way, it won't be an easy battle, but at least it won't be too long.