Level Up: Voidwalker

Atlas glanced toward the explosions and knew the Swamp Drake would attack whoever it was when they appeared. He waited while twirling the Blood Knife as several people reached the top of a nearby hill.

'Adventurers?' he mused as a Marshlord chased the group, and the monster was enraged.

When the people got close to the waterhole he was hiding above, the Swamp Drake exploded out and grabbed one of the horrified men before returning to the water, but Atlas cast Void Blast that shot through the air like a missile.

The spell struck the crocodile, causing it to roar with fury as the pain overwhelmed it. Its gaze shifted toward Atlas, who had swiftly used Void Step to materialize beside the enraged beast.

He drove the Nightblade deep into the creature's flesh and unleashed a Void Bullet. The explosion ripped through the crocodile's body, sending shockwaves that should have been fatal, but the beast still clung to life.

With a furious thrash of its tail, it struck him with a bone-jarring force. It hurled him through the swamp like a rag doll, and he collided violently with the trunk of an ancient tree, leaving him dazed and battered.

Atlas dropped to the ground with a thud, groaning in pain. 'That hurt,' he thought while rubbing his head.

He struggled to his feet as his Regeneration kicked in, healing the broken bones and open wounds. Following that, he looked up to see the Swamp Drake lunging at him with its jaws wide open.

Atlas swiftly cast Void Step, evading the monster's jaws with precision. He reappeared beside it, driving Nightblade into its skull with deadly accuracy. A moment later, he unleashed Void Blast, the spell ripping through the creature's brain and erupting in an explosion of blood and fragments.

'I got lucky there,' Atlas thought while deeply breathing. 'I need to return here when I rank up, but first, let's hunt some Marshlords before leaving.'

Seconds later, the giant crocodile monster died, and the body started vanishing, leaving behind a red Monster Core. Atlas picked it up and turned toward the battle between the adventurers and Marshlord as he threw the loot into his Dimenionsal Storage.

'Should I help? Maybe I can kill it to earn even more experience,' he mused with a grin as the excitement boiled up within him.

Atlas used Void Step to get closer to the hippo monster who trampled a woman who tried to block its path toward the two mages at the back. As the creature approached, he appeared before stepping to the side and running Nightblade down the side of the thing.

The monster roared in pain, but Atlas ignored it while charging the Marshlord and dodging a bite before thrusting his blade into its forehead. He cast a Void Bullet that blew its head apart.

He felt the experience flow into him as his body vanished into the dungeon floor. After that, Atlas kicked the core toward the adventurers before leaving, 'Things are too challenging here for now. Maybe I will check out the other dungeon before returning.'

Atlas then made his way out of the dungeon, only to notice the sun lowering in the sky, lighting up the world in a pink glow and causing him to think, 'So beautiful, this world is incredible, I can't wait to see more of it.'

While walking back to the inn, Atlas sent Amethyst a message informing the phoenix of his adventure, which she seems happy about. She told him they were heading to the Free Cities in the Northern Wastes.

He decided to head there when he had healed Lilith, but soon enough, Atlas reached the inn and got dinner as Mitra ushered him onto a nearby table. The older woman brought a hearty meal of meat, mashed potatoes, and some beans.

Atlas started eating and thoroughly enjoying it as the different flavors exploded in his mouth; while doing that, he checked his status to see the gains he had earned.

[Level Up: 88→89]

[Experience: 280/2000]

[Experience Gained: 1150]

[Mana: 3000→3006]

[Strength: 564→566]

[Stamina: 770→780]

[Charisma: 380→382]

[Intelligence: 444→448]

[Core Points: 24250→24890]

[Core Points Gained: 650]

After that, Atlas finished the meal and returned to his room to rest. All the fighting he had been doing exhausted him. He climbed into bed after dismissing his armor and weapons, which was nice as he felt light.

He got under the covers and tried the Void Realm, as he had leveled up significantly since his last attempt. Atlas's soul was sucked into the strange world where he appeared in the same arena he fought the Void Brute Bear.

Atlas quickly summoned his armor and weapons as the bear's voice rang out, 'You've returned stronger. Shall we start round two, little one?'

''Let's go; I need to beat you today to progress through the level,'' he replied with determination.

The Brute Bear stepped forward and readied a giant glub just as Atlas burst forward like a bullet. He used Nightblade to cut straight through the armor and sliced the monster's flesh, causing it to jump back, which made him smile.

Atlas raised his hand and cast a Void Bomb, which shot out of his hand and slammed into the Void Brute Bear's chest. The explosion erupted and blew apart the arena, but he cast Void Step to vanish from the blast radius.

When Atlas appeared in the distance, he cast Void Guard. As the shockwave hit him, he was sent skidding back as the breath was taken from his chest, and the ground around him was destroyed.

He quickly looked up to see a hairless bear missing its legs, which made him feel bad. Atlas approached the monster, who excitedly said, 'That was great, Voidwalker! I felt the power of the spell when it hit me.'

Following that, the Void Brute Bear vanished into azure motes that opened a path into the mountains. Atlas guessed the second challenge would be down there, so he started walking down the monster trail without wasting more time.

After walking for ten minutes, Atlas got a bad feeling when a Savage Bear lunged from behind a boulder. He quickly cast Void Guard to block the monster's claws, which angered it, but he cast Void Step to escape the ambush.

When Atlas appeared nearby, he cast a Void Arrow into the bear's skull, causing it to explode into meat paste as more of them appeared. Twenty monsters ambushed and encircled him, but he smiled before using Call Of The Void and summoning the Void Raptor Group Two.

The warrior launched and crashed into the biggest bear while the other dinosaurs roared before battling the Void Bears. Atlas joined in by using his blades to stab and slash into the monsters who couldn't take it.

They tried to flee, but Atlas and the remaining four raptors chased them. He decapitated one Savage Bear as the dinosaurs tore the others apart. The battle lasted another five minutes before the last enemy vanished into the Void Realm.

While recovering his breath, he decided to check the levels total.

[Savage Void Bear – 4749/5000]

[Cave Void Bears – 1987/2000]

[Brute Void Bears – 9/10]

[Void Bear Queen – 1/1]

Atlas was happy with the results. Following that, he went around hunting savage bears and killed over two hundred of them while he slaughtered dozens of Cave Void Bears. He was now standing before a tunnel leading to the second challenge.

While standing there, more Savage Bears attacked, but the Void Raptors jumped on them with their giant claws before tearing them into piles of meat and bone. Hours passed by, and Atlas got to cocky and was taken out by the claws of a Cave Bear.

He woke up in bed and shook his head before sitting up; Atlas looked up at the ceiling and pulled up the targets.

[Savage Void Bear – 4312/5000]

[Cave Void Bears – 1823/2000]

[Brute Void Bears – 9/10]

[Void Bear Queen – 1/1] Find your next read on m_v l|e'm-p| y r

'This will take a while, but I can do it; I need every monster I can get to fight against Chaos,' Atlas thought before getting out of bed.

He stretched his arms and noticed it was raining outside; Atlas approached the window and noticed Tajariyah was getting lashed by wind, rain, and rubble falling from the mountain above.

While watching this, he decided to move south after completing the two dungeons and the last quest. Atlas then put on extra pants and a tunic before summoning his armor. Once everything was equipped, he left the room for breakfast.

Atlas arrived at an empty dining hall. Babak was reading a book behind the counter, but when the older man spotted him, he smiled, ''Do you want some breakfast, boy? I can throw together some meat sandwiches,'' he offered.

''Yes, please,'' he answered while approaching the counter and sitting down to wait.

Babak nodded before entering the kitchen, and a younger man with a bow slung on his back joined him at the counter. Atlas noticed he was dressed like a ranger from the fantasy movies, but this one looked worn out by life.

Mitra appeared and spoke warmly, ''Siavash, would you like some ale, darling? I know you guys just got back from the coast.''

Siavash nodded, his expression sour. "It was nightmarish, Mitra. Sea creatures kept assaulting the waystations and forts, and one of them was destroyed, plunging everything into chaos. The mayor suspects there's a more powerful monster pulling the strings behind all this."

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