LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 98: Warehouse
Others might have thought that Atlan was doing them a favor, but in truth, he simply wanted to have time for himself to practice his own LifeSkills. He wanted to test his mettle against such a large horde of Canzers where he didn't have to worry about others finding out his secret.
Don't get it wrong, Atlan wanted to save them from suffering by 'sacrificing' himself, but he also wanted to practice at the same time.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
Once he was inside the shopping center, he looked around and saw different mall outlets open with mannequins displaying the latest trendy outfits.
He went through the fast food section, the outfits section, department stores, and even a pet store.
Just then, he ran past one large outlet to the side with the name;
<Beta's Hardware>
He was going to run past this store, but something caught his eye. Just further up inside the store was a single aisle that sold industrial hardware such as lathes, milling machines, and presses. And one of the things they were selling was these ball bearings of all sizes.
They were selling steel balls.
Perfect! Atlan thought. He quickly took a turn to the right and entered the store.
Once inside, he opened up his Soul System and manifested a giant hand that grasped one of his LifeSkill planets with a muddy surface with black streaks. This was his Mage LifeSkill.
—Mage: (B) Spiked Chitin Spray
——— Consolidating the 4th stage
Once it was grasped in the giant hand, Atlan felt the power coursing through his veins. He quickly looked behind him and saw the horde of Canzers about to catch up to him.
A black cone of webby strings shot out of his palms and spread out in front of him until it covered the double-door entrance of the hardware store. This spray of black webs was as thick as a finger with multiple thorns around it.
Atlan estimated that it could hold a single Pseudo Canzer for about 20 seconds to break through. But a horde of them? Probably 2 seconds at most.
So, he grasped his LifeSkill planet again and shot out another burst of webs that reinforced the blockage at the entrance.
That wasn't enough, so Atlan shot out another one in succession.
He wanted to continue doing it more, but he found that the giant hand he manifested couldn't grasp his LifeSkill planet anymore. The plant turned translucent and was imperceptible to touch.
Atlan saw that the planet was slowly but surely gaining its color back, but it would take at least three seconds for it to come back fully opaque.
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It turned out that he couldn't perpetually use his LifeSkill. It would need a cooldown after it was used three times continuously.
But he didn't have time to wait.
The first line of Pseudo Canzers ran towards the chitin spray headfirst, bulging the webbing but stopping them completely.
'Hurt!....pain…,' the Canzers screamed.
They wanted to push forward, but the spikes along the webs cut through their armor like it was cheese. And the further they pushed themselves forward, the further the spikes embedded themselves onto their bodies. They would have stopped there and recuperated for a few seconds, but the Canzers behind them had no care for their well-being.
The horde pushed forward, trampling those that got stuck in the chitin spray.
Atlan knew that he didn't have enough time, so he quickly grabbed a handful of steel balls and pocketed them in his toolbelt.
It was at this point that the horde finally broke through the webbing and ran towards him at full speed, heartlessly stepping on their comrades till they died.
[You have reaped the death of a simple creature: Pseudo Canzers] x8
[Due to your trait, you have multiplied your experience by 10]
[You have gained 400 experience]
Atlan looked to the side and saw an 'employees only' door to the side. He quickly ran towards it, with the Pseudo Canzers hot on his tail. Some of them couldn't stop their momentum because of the slippery tiles of the store, so they crashed onto the aisles of the store.
This gave Atlan enough time to go out and run through the thin hallway that led to another room.
Once the Canzers reached the door, they were soon caught in a jam. The hallway was only wide enough for two Canzers at most and these monsters weren't exactly the most patient of beasts. They tried to squeeze through the tight passage, which further caused traffic behind them.
Atlan went out the other side and saw that he was in a large open space with tons of boxes and wooden pallets around. This seemed to be the warehouse of the Hardware store where they stored their inventory.
He activated his new LifeSkill, Thermal Vision, and saw the dark blue spots beyond the door. The Canzers were still having trouble passing through the hallway.
This gave him enough time to prepare.
He took out the steel balls in his toolbelt and squeezed fifty of them together into his palms. His whole body was engulfed in a black flame as he activated his Physique LifeSkill. It gave him the strength to easily condense the steel balls into one single pellet.
He continued to create pellet after pellet, with a total of 5 super-condensed metal balls. This was much stronger than his condensed soil pellet, which withstood much greater strength for his slingshot.
Now that he could activate his Physique LifeSkill, his slingshot power increased multiple times!
Just then, the door suddenly burst open as the first batch of Canzers finally reached the warehouse. They looked around the room, smelling that human's distinct smell. They all looked up and saw him standing atop a tower of boxes and crates.
More and more Canzers continued to run out the door, slowly filling the room like a tide.
It wasn't long before there were hundreds of hungry, rabid, Pseudo Canzers beneath the tower of boxes that Atlan stood on.
They trampled on each other trying to reach up towards him.
Atlan activated his Spiked Chitin Spray and shot it toward the only exit in the room.
He didn't want them to run away.
He set his eyes on the fiery planet in his Soul System and finally grasped it with his giant hand.
—Sniper: (SSS) Apocalyptic Hellfire
——— Consolidating the 3rd stage