Ethan had set up a small fire in the middle of the huge hall. Everywhere was quiet — only the crackling sound of the fire was heard. Ethan tried as much as possible to clean the void-eyed meat thoroughly. He even added seasoning to taste.
He then started to roast the meat till it looked dry and crispy. The smell was exotic, but he didn't dare say he was going to enjoy the meat. This was a gamble, and it sounded foolish — but he had to try. The system would not allow him to die that easily, right?
After some hesitation, he ate the meat. It was not bad — in fact, it was delicious. "Not bad," Ethan sighed. But not for too long.
[warning: you have consumed poisoned meat]
[the poison in your body has been nullified]
[from now henceforth, any poison that enters your body will be nullified]
Ethan was happy. With this new skill, he wouldn't need to fear poison any longer. He had just gambled his life for this.
[you have consumed poisoned meat. The poison in your body will be converted to 2 stat points in 3 hours]
Not only would his body now nullify poison, it would also increase his stats.
"Nicely done — this Astrum System just keeps getting overpowered," Ethan thought.
Ethan practiced Star Sword Technique Level 2 for about 6 hours before he slept off.
The next day, Ethan woke up and stretched his body. After that, he added the 2 stat points he got from the poisoned meat to Agility.
[attributes: strength 45, agility 27, stamina 35, speed 45, mana 20]
Now, no matter how he practiced Level 1 Star Sword Technique, he didn't get EXP or stat points anymore. That was because he had fully mastered it.
Pressing forward into the ruins, Ethan continued to check room to room. Anytime he encountered void-eyed hounds, he just let the ork chief handle them. All he had to do was help a little anytime the ork chief was in a dire position.
Later that day, Ethan entered a room. It was huge like a basketball court and dark. The floor was slimy, and the air smelled like dead corpses. Ethan didn't panic as he checked what was in the room. At the center, he found what looked to be a large cocoon — as large as two humans stacked together.
Ethan became highly alert as he carefully used [Shadow Smoke] to hide himself. Then he continued to examine the room and found there was no threat around. He deactivated his skill and approached the cocoon.
[new quest received: destroy the beast mutant Night Stalker to gain 15 to 30 exp]
"Mutant Night Stalker? I haven't heard about this beast before," Ethan said.
"Eh, who cares — today is my lucky day. All I have to do is be fast before its mother returns," he said.
Ethan quickly summoned his Starless Sword and stabbed the cocoon. Immediately, brown slime came pouring down from the cut.
[mutant beast Night Stalker killed]
[you have gained 50 exp as first person to kill one]
"Gosh, it stinks. What the hell is this place?" Ethan cursed. This room was filled with about 30 cocoons. How the hell would he be able to breathe?
"Earning 50 exp is nice. If not, I would've sworn at this damned system," Ethan felt disgusted.
[you have ranked up to level 8]
[you have gained 10 stat points]
[congratulations: you have earned a new space skill
[skill: space compress – you can easily squeeze an enemy into a round ball depending on their levels. Can only be used once a day]
"Space compress… I can't wait to put it to use," Ethan said. He then put 5 points on Strength and 5 points on Agility.
[attributes: strength 50, agility 32, stamina 35, speed 45, mana 20]
After killing 28 cocoons, he earned 840 exp.
[rank: half awakened level 8 – 500/900 exp]
Ethan quietly listened in case the commotion caused nearby hounds to come in. Although the hounds were weaker than him, if about 50 ganged up on him, he'd be doomed.
On his way to kill the last cocoon, a black rotted hand burst out from it. Ethan stayed calm and didn't panic. He immediately rushed forward and hit the cocoon using Star Sword Technique.
BANG
The pressure shattered the cocoon — but he saw a black figure rush out. It was missing a limb, and black blood oozed out. Ethan chased it with speed, slashing at the injured beast. The beast was cornered, but its speed was fast.
Ethan performed [Space Teleportation], hitting the beast on its head. BANG — it shattered on impact. But the beast wouldn't die easily. It still ran everywhere with no head.
This gave Ethan a headache. How was it still alive? If the kid beast was this strong, what of its mother?
Ethan performed the Star Sword Technique again — this time using mana.
BANG — the explosion was loud. The beast disintegrated to dust. The attack cost Ethan 5 mana points.
[Night Stalker level 7 killed]
[25 exp gained]
Ethan didn't dare wait, as he was hearing loud thumping coming fast. He immediately activated [Shadow Smoke], blending together with the dark room.
BOOM — a huge rotted hand shattered the walls of the room.
There Ethan could see it. A tall and long humanoid beast with black rot skin. It had long, lanky arms emitting black aura. Its mouth was filled with long, sharp teeth — and it looked like the beast was smiling with its wide mouth open.
Ethan had felt this aura before. He felt it when he first entered the ruin.
It was strange — if this beast had been following him, why didn't it kill him on the spot?
Right now, he was hiding on the ceiling, so the beast would find it difficult to spot him.
The beast roared angrily after seeing the destroyed cocoons on the ground. It scanned around, trying to find the culprit — but found no one. It turned around and began walking towards the slaughtered baby Night Stalker.
Ethan knew now was the chance, because his [Shadow Smoke] skill was 1 second away from its limit.
"Fuck it," Ethan cursed as he lunged from the ceiling, aiming towards its head. The beast turned around, swinging its long rotting hand and hitting Ethan.
BANG
His chest caved in as he vomited blood. If not for his armour, he would have been sliced in two by now.
CRACK BOOM — he shattered a wall and fell to the street.
"Crap… I'm fucked," Ethan regretted flying out from the shadows.
ROOOOAAAAR
The beast screamed as it chased Ethan. Its long body could cross 10 feet in seconds.
Ethan performed his Star Sword Technique using mana.
BANG
It shattered one of its arms that lunged at him — but it quickly grew back.
"Fuck… Sacred Soul Beast!" Ethan screamed.