Rhys stared at the giant, moving mountain. His mind was still trying to understand the System’s words.
A dead monster.
A Titan.
’What kind of existence is that? It’s a literal god!’
He was sure the mortal world could not contain its presence. So if such an existence ca out of the labyrinth and into the outside world...
Rhys could not imagine the consequences. The probability of that was extrely low, as unlike dungeons, labyrinths never break after the failure of their challenge.
Yuki’s face was serious. She kept her hand on his arm, making sure he did not move.
"That is the Guardian of the Ashen Plains," she said.
Rhys did not take his eyes off the Golem. The entire ash plains were just its decaying body. He felt very small and insignificant.
"Don’t worry, it’s not alive," Yuki muttered.
"How can it be walking if it is dead?" Rhys asked, confused. The System had been silent for a long ti, probably trying its best to analyse the reason.
But for so reason, Rhys believed Yuki knew.
"It has no thoughts. No will. It just walks," she said. "It has been walking for thousands of years. Its body is so full of powerful energy that it will not stop moving until it has completely turned to dust."
She looked at the Golem with a strange expression. It was not fear, he could tell. It was sothing else. Pity... Loneliness...
’Sadness.’
"It never attacks. It never defends," she continued. "But no one can get near it. The energy coming from its decaying body is too strong. Anything that gets too close will have its life force drained away in seconds. They would be turned to dust, just like the ground we are standing on."
Rhys listened carefully to her explanation. He understood now. The Titan was not a monster to be fought. It was a natural disaster. It was a part of the environnt.
"We must go around it," Yuki said. "The entrance to the next area is at the edge of the plains."
He followed Yuki. Neither of them spoke. They walked for a long ti, moving in the opposite direction to the giant, walking corpse.
Finally, they reached the edge of the Ashen Courtyard. In front of them was a dark opening in the side of a rocky cliff. It looked like the mouth of a huge cave.
A passage led down into darkness. The world transford. The grey, open plains were gone. They were now in a network of vast, echoing caverns.
The only light ca from massive, glowing crystals embedded in the walls and the high ceiling. They cast a shifting, dream-like blue glow on everything.
The light made strange shadows dance on the cavern walls. The air was cool and damp. There was a constant sound of dripping water.
It would have been calming if not for another sound which made the atmosphere eerie.
Whispers.
They seed to co from the walls themselves. They were aningless or in a language that no one could understand.
’Can you translate them?’
[...]
Rhys slowly understood that the edge he thought he had because of the System was becoming less effective now that he faced things outside of the mortal world.
’Perhaps this will change after I reach Tier 3.’
That was the first point at which he could upgrade the System. From that mont on, he could create skills with the System. Not only that, he could evolve them too.
Even Skill Core or Profession Core evolution was possible. Rhys could not wait.
The possibility of not having to collect core fragnts from higher bloodline monsters to evolve a Skill Core or Profession Core excited him.
’That will take a long ti...’
His constitution was already saturated with Qi; he just had to choose an elent and its property for him to break through to Tier 2.
However, he could not do that in this labyrinth. He had to get outside for that.
’Whatever, let’s finish the challenge here,’ Rhys thought, following Yuki.
They walked cautiously into the blue-lit darkness. Suddenly, sothing moved above them. A dark shape detached itself from the ceiling.
It dived down at Rhys with incredible speed. It was a bat, but it was larger than any bat he had ever seen.
Its wings were wide and leathery, and it let out a high-pitched shriek as it attacked.
Before Rhys could even raise his dagger, Yuki acted. She flicked her wrist. A small shard of black ice shot through the air.
It hit the bat in the chest. The bat froze instantly, its shriek cut short. It fell from the air and shattered into pieces of frozen flesh on the cavern floor.
Yuki looked a little tired after the attack.
"My energy is low," she said.
A small, purple lifespan crystal appeared where the bat had shattered. Yuki picked it up. She did not give it to Rhys.
She put it in her own mouth and swallowed it. The tired look on her face disappeared.
"I need energy to protect you," she said, as if explaining her actions. Rhys just nodded. He understood their deal.
Another shriek ca from above. A second bat was diving at him. This ti, Rhys was ready.
"I’ll handle this one," he said. He moved quickly. Dodging its divebomb, he spun around and threw his dagger.
The dagger flew through the air and hit the bat in the back of its head.
Thud.
He bent down and pulled the dagger from its corpse, which turned into a lifespan crystal and a dark, stone-like object.
’A core fragnt?’ Rhys was excited.
[Skill Core Fragnt (Shadowed Dive) has been acquired.]
[Type: Movent Attack.]
[Description: A fragnt containing the essence of the Shriek Bat’s surprise attack. It allows the user to move with a burst of speed from a hidden position and strike in straight line.]
[Collect 100 fragnts to form a complete [Ordinary-Grade Apprentice Shadowed Dive Core].]
Rhys also learned that not all monsters here had two or more revivals, like these bats. They had only the instinct to attack any movent.
They had a simple function, unlike the wolves and stalkers he had killed before.
’Anyway,’ Rhys popped his knuckles, ’ti to get a new Skill Core.’
He was about to take a step forward to start hunting when Yuki put a hand on his chest, stopping him.
"Be quiet," she whispered.
Rhys froze. He listened carefully. He could hear a faint rustling sound coming from the ceiling high above. It was the sound of thousands of wings.
All colour drained from his face. The whispers he had been hearing before were from them.
"The bats hunt by sound," Yuki explained. "Your fight was quiet. But any loud noise will alert the entire swarm."
Rhys understood. They had to be completely silent.
He was constantly in a highly tense state. He focused on every step he took. He could not use his active stealth skill because it used Qi and made a small disturbance which might be considered loud in this cavern.
He had to rely on his body alone. He moved slowly, placing each foot down with perfect care.
Occasionally, making sure there were not more than a dozen bats, they hunted them. Every skill core fragnt was collected by him, while Yuki took the lifespan crystals.
Suddenly, a notification from the System appeared in his mind.
[Due to constant, focused practice under pressure, a new lifeskill is being ford...]
[Lifeskill [Silent Step] has been acquired.]
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