For the following days, Alex stalked the monster, observing and learning everything he could about it.
He barely slept, surviving only on short naps that coincided with the moments the creature also rested. It was a dangerous habit — sleeping near an advanced monster was nothing short of madness — but he had no other choice.
So, he came up with a solution.
He tied several vines together and rigged them to an empty potion bottle filled with water. When the monster moved and triggered the vine, the bottle would tilt and spill its contents over him, waking him instantly.
'I'm sure this qualifies as some kind of self-torture,' Alex thought at the time, 'but it should work.'
And it did. The monster didn't seem to notice or care about the vines under its heavy, scaled feet. Thanks to that, Alex could keep up with it without fear of being ambushed.
Over time, he learned its behavior — the way it hunted, its preferred prey, its attack patterns, and even its favored resting spots. Every small detail added to his growing knowledge.
During this time, Alex also gathered as many magical plants as he could. With the space in his sub-space now freed after using most of his prior ingredients for potions, he was able to collect a fair amount.
But what drew his attention the most were the poisonous plants he found.
He soon devised a plan — he would brew a poison, mix it into the meat of an animal the monster usually hunted, and trick it into eating it.
It was a viable idea. The monster didn't seem to mind eating already-dead prey.
Still, if the plan failed because the salamander could detect the poison's scent, Alex created a backup plan: Plan B.
He would craft primitive traps — sharpened wooden stakes, fired at high speed using wind mana. Even if the strike didn't kill the monster, a graze would be enough for the poison to enter its bloodstream.
Still, he preferred Plan A.
The problem was how to create the poison without losing sight of the salamander. He couldn't risk letting it slip away.
As he followed the creature one night, an idea struck him.
'Ah! I could use its sleep schedule… though that brings problems of its own.'
And he was right. The monster's sleep cycle matched his own, meaning he'd have to sacrifice rest until the poison was ready.
'It shouldn't take that long to make, right?' Alex thought.
After all his practice with potion-making, and since he had already memorized the recipe from the dream, thanks to all the naps he took. It shouldn't take him more than thirty minutes — or so he hoped. If the salamander woke up early, he'd have to abandon the batch entirely.
Still, he took the risk.
The moment the creature drifted off, Alex began working at full speed — grinding plants, distilling toxins, and bottling the mixture.
He worked faster than he expected, adrenaline fueling his precision. When he was done, he exhaled softly. The first part of his plan was complete.
Now came the next question — how to obtain meat from one of the salamander's prey without losing sight of it.
'Wait… how am I supposed to hunt an animal without letting the monster out of my sight?'
It was a glaring oversight. If he went hunting, he might return to find the salamander gone.
He strained his mind for alternatives, but none came.
In the end, he had to abandon the poisoned-meat plan entirely.
However, a more treacherous idea began to take shape in his head.
He could make the salamander fight another monster — then, while it was distracted, strike it with Water Spear infused with his newly brewed poison. He would have only one chance. If it failed, he'd lose the poison and had to face the salamander's full wrath.
Still, it was the best option he had.
'Okay. Let's do this.'
Alex began tracking the creature again, searching for another monster nearby. It took several hours, but eventually, the stage was set.
From the cover of darkness, Alex watched as the Gloomscale Salamander clashed with another beast. Its scales shimmered crimson whenever it channeled fire spells and darkened to a deep obsidian when it cast darkness magic. Sparks and shadows danced between them.
Alex uncorked his vial of poison and channeled his mana. A Water Spear formed before him, the poison swirling inside its liquid body like ink in glass.
He waited — patient and tense — for the perfect moment.
When the salamander finally killed its opponent and began devouring the corpse, Alex's eyes gleamed.
'Now!' he shouted internally.
He released the spell. The spear sliced through the air with deadly precision, piercing the salamander's side and driving deep into its flesh.
The creature let out a guttural shriek, jerking sideways and raising its body into a defensive stance.
Alex followed up instantly with Windslicer Barrage, maintaining the spell for six full seconds.
The salamander, already slowed by the poison's paralytic effect, couldn't evade properly. Fifteen of the eighteen blades struck true, cutting deep and leaving bleeding lacerations across its body.
Its desperate cries filled the forest.
Now heavily wounded and weakened, the creature's movements faltered. The poison coursed through its veins, and with less strength to protect itself, the poison stiffened its limbs until it could barely move.
Alex took his chance.
He summoned one final Water Spear, pouring the last of his mana into it — more than five hundred remaining units. The spell pulsed with power, brighter and heavier than before.
He took aim.
The spear struck the monster's head, exploding on impact in a burst of pressurized water, bloody chunks.
Silence followed.
Alex had done it — he had slain a monster two levels above his own rank.
He exhaled sharply, then let out a half-laugh, half-sigh.
"Ha! That wasn't hard at all," he muttered, mocking himself. "Only took days of stalking, poison-making, and ambushing when it was exhausted."
He shook his head. He didn't even know if the points from this hunt would be worth all that effort.
But he didn't care. All that mattered was that he'd killed a creature vastly stronger than himself — and the core was still intact.
He collected the glowing core carefully, drank a mana potion, and began walking again through the dense jungle — unaware that his actions had just caught the attention of a pair of unseen observers.