Level Up: Voidwalker

Chapter 167: That Hurt

'I may have bitten off more than I can chew,' he pondered while deflecting several sharp knives that the Gibberlings were using, which confused him, 'Are they smart enough to use them? But it doesn't feel like it, as they're wildly swinging like children.'

When spotting this, Atlas was shocked as he had never heard of monsters using weapons against dungeon divers. But chose to ignore it for now as the creatures surrounded him while cackling and babbling, only to be hit with a Void Wave that sent them flying.

'That will give me some breathing room to kill even more,' he mused while casting his spell.

Following that thought, Atlas wiped out a small group with Void Lance, a devastating mix of the Void Bullet and Arrow spells. The projectiles pierced through the monsters before detonating on impact with the ground, tearing through their ranks.

As a thick dust cloud billowed around him and covered their area, Atlas shielded his visor from the debris. Seizing the moment, he cast Void Veil, cloaking the area in darkness and disorienting the remaining Gibberlings.

The whole clearing was covered in a dark bluish color, which would help him in his fight with the Deathclaws. With the monsters blinded and their senses thrown into disarray, Atlas struck ruthlessly, eliminating them swiftly.

Atlas watched the monsters stumble around as if they were lost, which made him laugh before he put them down. When the battle subsided, he scanned the aftermath and counted forty-seven red cores, potions, and silver coins across the ground.

'Annoying monsters,' he internally complained while cleaning his blade of the blood. 'Why are they using weapons? Maybe they took them off dead adventurers? I'll look at the Monster Compendium when I conquer this place.'

Exhausted, Atlas sank to the base of a tree, resting against it while catching his breath after collecting all the loot and checking his status.

[Level Up: 177?178]

[Experience: 3910/5000]

[Experience Gained: 6100]

[Health: 1612?1616(200)]

[Mana: 7366?7388(1000)]

[Strength: 1838?1844(100)]

[Stamina: 2228?2232(250)]

[Intelligence: 1512?1514]

[Core Points: 30470/100000]

[Core Points Gained: 12750]

[Void Lance: 0?1]

[Void Veil: 0?1]

'Not long until I rank up again and then I will be as strong as the girls,' Atlas thought with a tired smile as he remembered to send Amethyst a message using the Lover's band.

'I do miss that pigeon,' he mused with a smile while waiting for her reply. 'I can't wait to see her again.'

Seconds later, his girlfriend Amethyst mentioned that they were hunting monsters in the Shadowfang Kingdom to the north. Estelle said the Achaemenidians wouldn't follow due to the biting cold and the current war in Astoria.

She added that the group had been leveling up by completing quests and dungeons. Their excitement grew when they learned that Atlas was dungeon diving. They wanted him to hurry up and heal Lilith before meeting them, which he agreed to.

Following that, he told the phoenix that he missed her. It took some time to get a reply, but when he read it, he smiled, [I miss you so much more, Azhar'Zul. Please hurry up and meet us so we can explore together]

After this run, Atlas would head toward the Greenskin Confederation to get an airship across the sea. Once he finally felt better, he stood up while downing a stamina and mana potion before continuing through the first floor of the dungeon.

'From now on, the monsters are going to be even stronger,' Atlas thought with excitement.

During his journey, he had to fight small groups of Bugbears and Gibberlings until he met the next monster. Chittering sounds heralded their arrival as Atlas stepped into a vast clearing only to realize he had walked straight into a nest.

There were monster carcasses littering the ground that looked sucked dry, which creeped him out while thinking while studying the long-dead creatures, 'Spiders? It's some form of insect, but I'm not sure which.'

'I'm an idiot,' he thought, preparing his magic and readying his blades. 'Why do I always end up in these situations?'

The monsters finally showed themselves from the surrounding treeline and underbrush. They were horse-sized dark green scorpions with beady yellow eyes that locked onto him with hunger.

Atlas immediately spotted the menacing stinger and the pincers that snapped threateningly toward him. He quickly stepped back and activated Void Sight to assess the creature and see how much experience he had earned from killing it.

[Deathclaw Scorpions]

[Rank: C+ - 550 Exp]

[Don't let them sting you]

'Well, that's bloody obvious,' Atlas thought while waiting for the Deathclaw to rush at him.

Seconds later, the monster did as predicted, only to end up blind as he cast Void Veil that covered the clearing. The scorpions wandered lost as they tried attacking him with their pincers and stingers.

Atlas chuckled as he unleashed Void Arrow and Void Lance, piercing the creature's exoskeleton and delivering a fatal blow. He pressed the attack while avoiding the few lucky strikes that came dangerously close to his torso.

'That was close,' he thought, ducking beneath a snapping pair of pincers. With a swift slash, he severed them using his Nightblade.

The battle raged on for some time as more monsters emerged, but Void Veil effectively blinded them, turning the tide in his favor. Eventually, the Deathclaws stopped appearing, allowing him to catch his breath.

Once Atlas was prepared, he scoured the clearing for the remaining spoils, gathering nineteen red Monster Cores, silver coins, and potions dropped by the Rank C monsters. After walking for a while, he spotted the second-floor entrance and hurried toward it.

When stepping onto the new floor, which was a forest, the same as the first, Atlas encountered additional Bugbears, Gibberlings, and Deathclaw Scorpions. Drawing on his recent battles for experience, he managed to kill them quickly.

The Bugbears attempted to overpower him with brute strength, but Atlas's agility allowed him to evade their strikes. Meanwhile, the Gibberlings tried to use their overwhelming numbers, but he countered their swarming tactics with a decisive Void Wave.

Finally, the Deathclaw Scorpions joined forces with the other creatures, but Atlas responded with Void Bomb, obliterating them in a single, devastating blast. He continued traveling across floors two to seventeen while fighting dozens of Rank C creatures until he discovered a new monster.

They were shadow beings that attacked him from the darkness, making him yell in fright. The attack was sudden, but he managed to scan them while flying through the dark forest. Atlas crashed through trees before slamming into the side of a hill.

[Shadow Stalkers]

[Rank: C - 500 Exp]

[Use Light!]

''Ahhhh, that hurt,'' Atlas let out a moan as the pain shot through his body.

He sat up and noticed the Shadow Stalkers encircling him, but he raised his hand before activating Light, which drove the creatures back. Atlas struggled to his feet and quickly cast Void Bullets at them.

'I think the force will deal with the monsters where physical ones can't.'

The projectiles soared through their shadowy bodies and hit the ground around them, causing explosions. Atlas watched the stalkers fade into the dungeon, dropping behind eight red cores and some silver coins.

He let Regeneration heal his damaged body as bones popped back into place. Slices stitched themselves together while he stored away the loot before downing a health potion that helped the healing process.

Once Atlas could walk again, he continued using Light and Void Bullets to fight against the Shadow Stalkers until he reached the twentieth floor of the dungeon, where the landscape changed to a large cavern with only one way forward.

The ground was made from sand, and deep holes littered the landscape, causing Atlas to tread carefully until the cavern lit up with mana torches, allowing him to see his next opponent, which he scanned.

[Deathclaw Scorpion King]

[Sub-Boss One - Floor twenty]

[Rank: B - 1000 Exp]

[Use speed and your brains to fight this monster]

[Sub-Boss: 4/4]

Atlas was staring at a massive scorpion at least ten times the ones he had already fought on the previous floors. It rose from the sand, exposing its pitch-black exoskeleton as its massive pincers snapped.

The noise echoed off the cavern walls, a harsh, grating sound that Atlas tried to ignore. However, it grew too loud, forcing him to cringe as it reverberated through his ears. That's when the Deathclaw King charged forward, but he quickly used Void Step to avoid it.

He appeared silently behind the Sub-Boss, a plan forming in his mind. He decided to test something new, activating Dungeon Conqueror. Two Giant Cave Spiders materialized with a flash of dark energy and immediately pounced on the stunned monster.

The scene made Atlas chuckle as the Sub-Boss struggled against the onslaught of the Giant Cave Spiders. But he didn't linger on the sidelines for long. He jumped into the fray, launching a barrage of Void Arrows at the giant scorpion.

Each strike detonated, sending shockwaves through its armored body and eliciting a roar of pain. Atlas quickly dashed forward while casting Void Infusion on his swords before using them to cut right through one of the monster's legs.

[Drop some powerstones, comments, and gifts to help the novel grow; I appreciate all the support you can give]