Astartes arrived at the Kobold Arena Catacomb.
It looked like a towering stelae that almost touched the clouds, its surface shimmering with mana. The sheer size and complexity of such a piece of architecture never ceased to amaze him.
This sort of technology, its origins, was something that he was deeply curious about.
Together with the Lava Cavern Catacomb and the Orc Ruins Catacomb, these two Class E Catacombs and one Class D Catacomb were located in the centre of the city, approximately one kilometre away from each other.
Not many teams of rankers were here queuing up to enter the Catacomb, like the Class F Catacombs. Since the global apocalypse of catacomb creatures more than one hundred years ago, humanity quickly came to realise that catacombs did not allow for the entry of more than 10 individuals at a time. Although this number varied, the higher the class of the Catacomb, the fewer the number of rankers that could enter it.
After waiting for about twenty minutes, he finally got his chance to enter the catacomb. Passing through the glowing film of mana, he found himself in a mountainous region with grey skies and billowing winds.
The texture and air of this environment were completely different from those of other Class F Catacombs. The mana here even felt...thicker.
RAAARR!!!
He suddenly heard a terrifying roar of a creature from the distance. It soon appeared in his view.
It was a three-meter lizard-like creature that remotely resembled a dragon, with powerful muscles and a scaled body and tail.
It was a Kobold.
However, it was not alone. Two other creatures of its kind appeared alongside it, their menacing appearance and their powerful fluctuations of pressure not inferior to the leading Kobold.
Together, they charged at Astartes. With their tough scales, they were highly resistant to not only physical attacks but also magical ones, and with huge, dragon-like claws, they were formidable at close range. They did not fear long-range battles, either. Despite being towering and bulky creatures, they were also deceptive in terms of their explosive speed, making them a threat to any long-ranged attacker with their swarm-like attacks.
It was because of this all-around formidability of the Kobolds that no other party of rankers aside from that led by Branch Chief Blaze Beam was able to clear this catacomb without paying a huge price.
BOOM!!!
The Kobolds swiped their powerful claws at Astartes in unison and from different angles, causing the air to blow wildly. However, their attacks were met by Astartes' impervious [Magic Shield]
But the Kobolds were fearless and relentless, unleashing several claw attacks in succession, rupturing the [Magic Shield]. Astartes did not counterattack immediately and calmly observed them attacking his triple-layered [Magic Shield], ferociously gauging their level of strength.
After several minutes of relentless attack, the [Magic Shield] finally reached the last layer of defence before it exploded into motes of mana, and the Kobolds broke through the defence, only a few meters away from Astartes.
But all they saw was Astartes standing there unfazed. He simply raised his finger, and a magnificent light of mana and ice expanded outwards.
[Icicle Blast]
Before the Kobolds could do anything, a massive sword of ice sliced outwards horizontally! Its speed was so fast, its light was blinding, and its cold was bone-chilling.
CHIINNGG!!
The Kobolds' bodies were sliced in half with a single swing! Their expressions were frozen in place as they watched the upper half of their bodies fall to the ground instantly, soaking the ground in their blood. The cut was so cold and so clean that it took several seconds for the first sign of blood to emerge from their dead bodies.
"The first of the Kobolds I have encountered, and their power is almost nearing the Middle Class E. Interesting.."
Astartes saw two loot drops emerge from two dead bodies of the Kobolds. They were tiny, pale grey beads. They were low-grade Class E attribute cores.
Astartes sighed and muttered, "Hopefully, my luck improves going forward."
Before coming here, he had already read up on the knowledge of Class E Catacombs and had always corresponded with Blaze Beam for his experience on what he should be prepared for.
If Class F Catacombs were like an introductory, beginner's course to Catacomb raiding and becoming a Ranker, then Class E Catacombs and above were the advanced courses.
An attribute core of a Class F Catacomb was not graded into types, and a ranker could absorb them until they entered the E Rank. It was different in Class E Catacombs and higher. Class E catacombs provided fewer chances of a loot drop. Also, attribute cores were classified into three grades: Low, Middle and High. This meant that absorbing higher-grade attribute cores gave one more chances of improving one's power quickly.
One crucial change at this level was that the F-Rank was a realm of power that had no subdivisions. However, starting from the E Rank to the A Rank, there were three subdivisions: Low, Middle, and High. For one to progress through the subdivisions, a ranker needed to absorb the right cores to improve his or her power.
For example, a Class E Ranker in the Middle E Rank cannot absorb low-grade Class E attribute cores to reach the peak of Class E. That would take several years to accomplish. However, absorbing a high-grade Class E attribute core would make one's progression to the peak of Class E thousands of times faster than absorbing that of a low-grade or even a middle-grade attribute core.
How does one obtain high-grade attribute cores of a certain class? By raiding the Catacombs of a certain class endlessly, which would increase their chances of finding more highly valued loot drops!
It was why becoming a powerful ranker was so difficult! Ascending ranks was not easy, and the price and dangers were immense!
Astartes did not seem lucky this time, much to his disappointment. Fighting three powerful Class E Kobolds that probably were a step away from reaching the middle ranks of Class E for only a single low attribute core was annoying.
If any other ranker aside from Astartes could hear his little tantrum about how unlucky he was right now, they would complain to the word about how LUCKY Astartes was to obtain two low attribute cores after killing three Kobolds, unlike them, who risked their lives to kill several without getting any before shooting themselves in the head in resignation at their bad luck!
When he motioned to pick the low-grade attribute cores, his senses immediately tingled with alarm!
[Magic Shield]
Without a thought, Astartes cast his skill subconsciously, and a triple-layered barrier of shimmering blue mana appeared around him like a dome.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
In less than a second, several projectiles rained on his [Magic Shield] incessantly, and the projectiles were so powerful and so numerous that even the triple-layered barrier feature of Astartes' expert-level [Magic Shield] came under severe stress! Astartes frowned when he identified these projectiles as large metal longspears!
An ambush!
The [Magic Shield] exploded into smithereens, yet several more projectiles rained down! Astartes quickly erected another one, and eventually cast two more [Magic Shields] before the rain of spears finally ceased!
Although he was fairly unharmed, a faint trickle of blood seeped from the corners of his palm!
The split-second gap in his casting speed made him unable to fully prevent himself from being completely against such a multitude of ranged attacks!
Moreover, he had fallen into a false sense of security and had nearly fallen almost completely into a well-orchestrated trap! Had he let himself get too comfortable, he would not have been able to defend himself in time!
He would have died!
"Such a well-laid ambush."
He underestimated this Class E Catacomb after all! It felt like being doused with ice water! He really needed it.
A smiling Astartes stared at his bleeding palm briefly before gazing at the mountain before him, which had several Kobolds emerging behind rocks and the soil. There were dozens of them, surpassing almost one hundred.
This Class E Catacomb, the intelligence and danger of this place could not be underestimated again!
A dazzling green glow of mana washed over Astartes' body right now, and his injured palm was healed anew. This amazing scene unfolded within seconds!
It was Astartes' only healing skill, the [Greater Heal] skill!
Instead of feeling fear or doubt, Astartes' expression was one of excitement. It was as if he were taken to a playground and asked to play all day to his fullest enjoyment, not a life and death battle!
"Come."
A massive sword of ice appeared above his head, unleashing a frigid cold that permeated its surroundings. It was like a sword that could slice everything, leaving an icy bloodbath in its wake.
At the same time, ten dark snakes appeared from the ground, exuding a palpable aura of death and decay and slithered gracefully around Astartes.
But Astartes was not done yet, as a shimmering blue mana barrier appeared before him again!
[Icicle Blast]!
[Darkness Hand]!
[Magic Shield]!
Astartes cast all three skills at once!
Simultaneous Skill Casting!
A feat no other ranker of his level would dare replicate, yet he did it with ease!
Because he had no fear of insufficient mana. He did not need to use his own mana! He did not possess the limitations of his peers! As long as he had a skill within the Infinite Cast slot, he could cast that skill endlessly! To infinity!
Because he possessed the Infinite Caster Inherent Skill!
He was the Infinity Mage!
The Kobolds were going to understand what true annihilation felt like!
A glorious bloodbath was about to unfold!