Reincarnated as Duke’s Heir
Copyright© 2025 by TheSmartOne
Chapter 24: Intent
The Forest of Death was never silent.
Even in the stillness, something always lurked beneath the surface—a whisper of movement, a shift in the shadows, the promise of unseen fangs waiting to tear into flesh.
Lucas had killed three undead beasts.
Too easy.
Seven more stood between him and the completion of his test.
But this was no longer about survival like in the beginning.
This was war.
A test not of endurance—but of adaptation.
Lucas rolled his shoulders, breath curling in the cold air. Mist swirled around his legs as he scanned his enemies.
Seven Intermediate-Realm beasts.
Stronger. Faster. Smarter.
They weren’t just mindless corpses anymore.
They had learned.
The scent of their fallen kin still clung to the air, and now they were cautious. Their movements were sharper, eyes tracking him with lethal precision.
No blind charges. No wasted attacks.
They were hunters now.
And Lucas?
He was going to find out what he truly was.
A grin tugged at his lips.
Good. Let’s see what I can do.
...
Lucas dropped his concealment, deactivating Corpse Veil.
Thus technique was good because it helped him adapt to this environment.
But...
Assassination wasn’t his style.
He had some golden bastards to kill, and he wanted them to see it coming.
The moment he revealed himself, the beasts reacted.
No time wasted.
The first moved—a four-legged monstrosity with a jaw that unhinged too wide, muscle stretched like melted wax.
It pounced.
Lucas twisted mid-air, the beast’s claws barely missing his ribs. The moment his feet touched the ground, he retaliated—
FWOOM!
Blue fire erupted from his palm, a wave of frost-laced flames surging toward the beast.
It hit. The monster howled.
But it didn’t stop.
It plowed through the fire, its rotting flesh blackening but refusing to freeze.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
It’s resisting the cold?
The beast lunged again—this time faster. Its grotesque maw snapped inches from his throat.
He acted fast.
Lucas stomped his foot into the ground.
Ice spread.
A frozen field expanded beneath them—
The beast —
slipped.
Momentum carried it forward, its exposed ribs crashing against the ice.
Lucas moved.
He slid beneath its massive body, fist glowing with mana, and slammed his knuckles directly into its exposed heart.
CRACK!
Ice surged through the open wound, freezing the beast from the inside.
It convulsed, its own thrashing causing further fractures—until it collapsed in a heap of frozen ruin.
Lucas exhaled.
Lesson learned.
You resist the cold? Next time I will burn you alive.
These beasts adapted.
And so would he.
...
After the first one
Two attacked at once.
The first—a wolf-like beast, its body riddled with holes, green venom dripping from its fangs.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
Poison?
The second—a hunched, gorilla-like monster, its limbs twisted, skin covered in jagged stone.
Lucas hesitated.
A mistake.
The wolf struck first.
SHRRK!
Its poisoned claws raked across his left arm, slicing through flesh.
Pain. Burning. His veins turned green.
Lucas gritted his teeth.
Not today.
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