All the monsters that ambushed Stark suddenly dashed toward him, not leaving him a single point where to escape in this small cave, so small in fact that Stark’s body was only just barely fitting.
Any tighter and he would struggle to walk!
~FWISH~
“TONGUE LASH!”
“CLAW SWIPE!”
Some of the [Tongue-Claw Ambushes] launched their tongues at Stark, trying to wrap him up around them as to maybe try and crush his organs, or allow the rest of them to cut him in pieces.
While the other half just launched themselves at him, their white claws glinting in the darkness of the cave, though the energy ball from [Crimson Purification] still allowed Stark to see from close.
~FWISH~
They didn’t make a sound.
But… of course Stark wouldn’t sit down and do nothing against these… things.
“AURA SMASH! CRIMSON SPEARS!”
All this happened in less than half of a second, but basically: Stark summoned his five spears, then immediately threw one at the group of three monsters in front of him, momentarily stopping them as they were pierced.
“-98371! -102371! -97483!”
The three crimson fists on the other hand were sent at the back, hitting the monster’s tongue as they were the ones that used [Tongue Lash], burning it.
“-300000! -300000!” and most interesting of all: they received the entirety of their health in one go the moment Stark hit their tongues.
Meaning… that it was their weakness.
It was rare for monsters to have such an obvious weakness, and even more when the simple action of hitting that weakness was enough to instantly one shot them, but oh well, maybe it was to adjust the difficulty.
After all, the cave would be totally dark under normal circumstances.
“SPATIAL INVENTORY,” and to fight the last remaining group, meaning the two above that were currently dropping, their mouths opened, revealing their disgusting tongues, and their claws ready to slash…
~FWISH~
Stark put his hand inside his inventory and with lightning speed pulled two [Crystal Stun Potions], instantly launching them above without even looking.
~BAM, BAM~
The potions hit the monster’s mouth, and precisely their tongue.
[Weakness hit with ‘Crystal Stun Potion’!]
~DING~
And yet again, the monsters fell to the ground, exploding their hands against the rock as stunning their tongue was literally just as bad as hitting it, meaning instant death.
“Huh…” and so, knowing that, Stark didn’t hesitate a single second to pull out four more potions, throwing three of them at the monsters above, killing them as well.
And as for the last one… he just looked down.
“KRAAA!” the final [Tongue-Claw Ambush] finally emerged, thinking that its friends were doing a good job distracting the human.
And yet…
“Kra?” as it lifted its head, it just saw Stark look down at it, its friend’s corpses all around, “…”
~BAM~
He dropped the last potion on it, and it died instantly too.
“Phew…” the small golden ball beside him was still working, and so he could see around him.
But before that…
~DING! DING! DING!~
[You have slain “Tongue-Claw Ambush”, gained 376,200 EXP!]
[You have slain “Tongue-Claw Ambush”, gained 374,500 EXP!]
.
.
[You have slain “Tongue-Claw Ambush”, gained 377,600 EXP!]
~DING~
[Your level has increased to level 71, granting you three skill points and a boost in stats]
[Experience: 2,929,300/3,750,000]
Only one level, but thankfully enough he got enough experience to almost reach the next one too, meaning that it was worth it.
At this point, monsters below level 150, or even 200, wouldn’t cut it anymore in terms of experience.
Stark REALLY needed stronger monsters, especially ones that would grant him tons of EXP, and that were actually possible to defeat.
But in the end it didn’t matter much as he continued his journey through the small cave, easily following the path and not bumping into any walls thanks to the golden ball that emitted light.
And after around five minutes, where he yet again didn’t meet any more monsters (just like the sniper monkeys, these 8 monsters were actually the sole monsters of this zone since it was small to begin with).
But yet again, the simple fact that it was this “EASY” made Stark even more suspicious.
~FWISH~
He saw the exit of the cave, and successfully managed to leave, the sky now visible again as he was back at the ravine.
This was the entire second zone, yes.
First zone had 6 [Sniper Monkeys], second zone had 8 [Tongue-Claw Ambushes].
Literally what was the catch with this rift?
He was currently at the third zone, meaning more than halfway through the rift, yet he didn’t see anything worthy of restraining and blocking its access to anyone.
To be honest, he didn’t even see why it would be from the [Determination] difficulty.
Was he too strong? Or were all the others too weak?
He didn’t know, but surely… there would be something.
And Stark was right!
~FWISH~
He emerged from the cave and took a look at where he was.
And…
[Third Zone: The Sunken Bridge]
In front of him was a massive wooden bridge in extremely bad shape, though still full, allowing anyone to pass through if they dared.
Below was the void, complete void, and anyone who fell would immediately die.
Stark didn’t know if it was the same void from his [Void] skill, but even if it wasn’t, it was still terrifying to think about the fact that a single wrong step could lead to… whatever awaits below.
For no one knows what is inside the void.
It is death, true, but what causes this death?
“Hm…” Stark kept looking for a few minutes before slapping both his cheeks and deciding to not pussy out right now, “Maybe it’s because too many people fell for no reason?”
He theorized of a reason as to why this rift who closed, but even then, it didn’t make sense.
In the end, it didn’t matter, and he guessed that it would probably be the boss that was the issue.
At least he tried to reassure himself, because if it wasn’t the boss… then…
“Hm…” he slapped himself for a second time.
For some reason he kept having that bad feeling inside of him, that bad feeling he always got when something was amiss, that sense of dread he got when he knew that something horrifying was about to happen.
But even when he looked around him for five more minutes, nothing happened.
What could be that feeling…
[Just go, damn it]
“Alright, alright,” Stark arrived in front of the bridge.
It was creaking and constantly moving because of the wind, making it seem as though it would all fall apart at ANY point.
But even then.
~CREAK~
Stark took a first step, and immediately…
~DING~
[Do not run, whatever you do, don’t try, you will not reach the end.]
“I mean… that bridge is giant, so it would take me around 10 to 15 seconds to reach the end even for me…” this was just how big it was, at least two or three kilometers in size.
So running wasn’t an option, as it would immediately collapse under the weight and impact.
~THUD, THUD~
Instead, Stark needed to walk carefully and slowly, calculating each of his steps as to not pass through one of the holes in the planks.
Two minutes passed like that, minutes where Stark just carefully made sure to find the safest way to get to the end.
And.
When he reached the end, when he reached the middle point of the bridge…
IT happened.
~BOOM~
It wasn’t the bridge exploding, or anything in the environment, but Stark’s aura itself.
At this point, the alarms in his head were ringing so loudly that they were hurting his head.
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]
[GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!]
Stark’s heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it in his throat.
The alarms in his head were still going off, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.
He tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths and focusing on the present moment.
But it was no use: the feeling was too great, and he couldn’t help but feel like something terrible was about to happen.
Sensing that staying still wouldn’t do anything, Stark decided to continue to walk across the bridge, as it was better than just waiting for whatever horror was awaiting him.
Yet even then, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.
He turned his head, scanning the darkness below him, but saw nothing.
He shook it off and continued on his way.
A mere fifteen seconds passed between that.
And right afterward… the true horrors of this world revealed themselves to Stark.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something moving.
It was faint at first, just a shadow against the darkness of the void below him. But as he looked closer, he realized that it wasn’t just a shadow – it was something massive and terrifying rising from the depths of the abyss.
His heart skipped a beat as he realized what it was – a creature unlike anything he had ever seen before.
It was at least fifty times his size, with scales as white as snow and eyes that glowed with an otherworldly light. It seemed to be made of shadows themselves, flickering in and out of existence as it rose higher and higher into the air.
And when it fulled revealed itself… Stark realized that it was a giant snake, and it was looking directly at Stark, knowing of his presence.
A snake… that directly came from the void…?
