As screamed in agony as the pain coursed through his body. Acting quickly, he unleashed a Void Arrow, shattering the creature''s head into meat paste. He then snatched a High Health Potion from his storage, downed it quickly, and poured the remaining liquid over the bite wound.
The sensation was like a thousand needles piercing his flesh, but the puncture wounds sealed up as he climbed to his feet. As noticed another monster lunging toward him and swiped its ws across his helmet.
''Damn! That nearly got me!'' he internally panicked just as he dodged in time.
As As moved away from the monster''s corpse that attacked him, he cast Void st directly at its head and killed it. Once the creature was dead, he leaned against the wall to recover.
He removed the helmet and saw three scratch marks across the front, ''Thankfully, I got this armor; it''s always saved me a few times,'' As mused as the metal repaired itself before he put it back on and activated the Light skill.
The white light illuminated the tunnel as a bright orb appeared above him. As that happened, As heard scuttling not far from his position, which made him smile as the creatures fled into the darkness.
As continued down the path while watching for the monsters, ''They will try to ambush me,'' he thought excitedly. ''They will help me level up.''
He shivered as the cold air seeped into his bones, a deep sense of foreboding settling over him. The environment was imbued with an eerie aura of death and decay. The ground beneath him was a mix of damp, uneven dirt, while the walls were solid grey stone coated in a thickyer of blue moss that seemed to pulse with a life of its own.
After walking down the same tunnel for twenty minutes, he came across a massive underground forest, which caused him to think, ''Oh no.Those Yara-ma-yha-who will be hiding in the trees and bushes?''
As readied his spells, and as the Light Orb floated next to him, he spotted dozens of human and creature footprints leading into the nearby treeline. ''It looks like I have no choice but to follow them,'' he groaned internally.
While standing there, As waved his hand while casting Call Of The Void to summon the Voidstalkers. Twelve small raptor monsters rushed out of the azure portal that appeared nearby and greeted him with head nudges.
''''Find any monsters in the forest and lead them to me,'''' As ordered. ''''They may be hiding, so be careful.''''
Following that, the Voidstalkers chirped before rushing into the trees as he waited behind. Five minutester, the first raptor flew out of the bushes while threerge humanoids chased it.
The neers were covered in brown matted fur, dirt, and blood. Their red eyes glowed with hatred as the lead creature released a woop. They were chasing after the little raptor that chirped, trying to capture it, but the dinosaur was too fast.
As scanned them to find out what they were.
[Yowie]
[Rank: D - 300 Exp]
The Voidstalker bounded right toward him, ''Its bringing them here!''
As the Yowies spotted him, he readied his des and charged toward him as the little raptor readied to fight. As darted forward and quickly moved to the side as the closest monster went to attack.
As cast a Void Arrow at the creature''s torso, which caused it to stumble due to the pain it was inflicted with. The creature crashed to the ground and was injured as the other two jumped over it.
One tried to punch him, but he deflected it using his sword while activating Void Step to avoid the second monster''s fist. When he reappeared, As plunged his de into Yowie''s skull while casting Voids st at the first, which sent it crashing against the tunnel''s wall.
The second got close and kicked him, but As quickly cast Void Guard to block the attack just before he cast Void Bullet at the creature''s head, which exploded on contact, sending the monster crashing to the ground.
As leaped into the fray, swinging his weapon furiously at thest Yowie. Although he dodged most of its attacks, a few strikesnded, leaving dents in his armor. He quickly used Void Step to get behind it.
He plunged his Nightde into the monster''s back and cast a Void Bullet, which blew its back apart and caused it to drop to the ground; after that, As tried to kill thest one remaining by stabbing it in the head.
The Voidstalker was eating one of the dead Yowies before he ordered it to search for the scouting party. Then, As looted the three Green Monster Cores before returning to get the three he had left behind.
Once that was done, he entered the forest and followed the trail the scouts left behind. As continued for a while but started to feel his Voidstalkers being taken out by other monsters and wondered what happened.
''What''s out there now?'' he thought to himself.
As continued down the monster trail and soon found the first body. It was slumped against a tree; it was a woman covered in blood, and it looked like some monster had shredded her apart as the armor was in pieces.
As As examined the corpse, a sudden chirping noise made him nce around. Something dropped from above before he could fully react andnded squarely on him. Instinctively, he cast Void Step, but the creature remained stubbornly perched on him.
He quickly drew his Blood Knife, stabbing the beast repeatedly. Then, with a decisive flick of his wrist, he unleashed Void Wave, sending the creature crashing to the ground. As spun on his heel, using Void Step to close in on the injured foe.
As scanned the new monster before finishing it off.
[Drop Bear]
[Rank: D - 300 Exp]
''Is this an Australian horror forest?'' he pondered before lunging forward and thrusting his de into the monster''s head.
After doing this, more of the bears dropped out of the branches above, causing As to deflect several w swipes, but he ended up using Void Guard to defend himself against the sudden attacks.
As started battling the Drop Bears, who moved quickly. He was faster and managed to deflect many attacks. His armor stopped most of the damage as he started stabbing and shing, causing the monsters to die.
He used Void Step to avoid the creatures before casting his magic or striking with his des, causing the bears to roar in agony as the metal bit deep into their flesh. As was a blur and continued to move faster while striking at the monsters.
It took him ten minutes to finish the Drop Bears off, but as thest one died, he felt the experience pouring into his body. Once the battle ended, As counted five bears and looted the cores before moving on.
As trekked along the trail and saw puddles of blood littering the ground, causing him to think, ''They must have kept getting ambushed.''
While studying, As saw several tongues shoot out of the bushes around him and trap his limbs. He was stuck in ce and couldn''t move, so he decided to wait for the monsters to appear, as he knew what spell to use.
After that, five Yara-ma-yha-who appeared while letting out creepyughs andchittering among themselves. The monsters closed in on As, whoughed himself just before casting Void Wave.
The azure wave rushed out of his body and mmed into the creepy frog monsters. Once they were confused, As dashed forward and started ughtering them with multiple stabs that pierced their fragile bodies.
As decapitated thest creature, who was stuck to the spot. Following the fight, he cut out all the cores before continuing down the path, only to find a cave the tracks led up to. He stepped across the threshold and had to block an arrow that flew at his face with Void Guard.
A resounding ng echoed as the arrow struck an azure shield. The man in charge swiftly ordered the archer to cease fire. As turned to face him and saw a tall ck man with glowing green eyes d in imposing metal knight''s armor.
Beside him stood a young archer in modest leather armor, gripping his bow. Two otherspleted the group: a blonde mage and a ck woman with silver hair and pointed ears who appeared to be a healer curing an injured man.
As took out a Minor Health Potion and threw it to the healer, who quickly fed it to the man. Then, he turned to the so-called leader and said, ''''Are you the missing scouts? There was a quest to find you down here.''''
The man nodded, ''''Yes,d. We were trapped down here by those frog men who killed many of our teammates,'''' he answered with a frown.
''''I know; they infest the forest,'''' he said while handing out more potions to the man. ''''I''m As, a wandering adventurer who took the quest to save you guys.''''
''''I''m Arash, part of the Cave Wanderers,'''' the man said with a smile before pointing to the silver-haired woman, ''''That''s my wife, Homa.''''
Arash pointed at thest two, ''''Arnold and his wife, Natasha. They are new explorers who recently joined the Explorer Guild.''''
As nodded, ''''Well, stay here, and I will clear a path to the exit, a trek through the forest littered with Drop Bears, Yowies, and Yara-ma-yha-who''s.''''
The man nodded, ''''Be careful out there, As. Those monsters are dangerous.''''