Level Up: Voidwalker

Atlas screamed in agony as the pain coursed through his body. Acting quickly, he unleashed a Void Arrow, shattering the creature's head into meat paste. He then snatched a High Health Potion from his storage, downed it quickly, and poured the remaining liquid over the bite wound.

The sensation was like a thousand needles piercing his flesh, but the puncture wounds sealed up as he climbed to his feet. Atlas noticed another monster lunging toward him and swiped its claws across his helmet.

'Damn! That nearly got me!' he internally panicked just as he dodged in time.

As Atlas moved away from the monster's corpse that attacked him, he cast Void Blast directly at its head and killed it. Once the creature was dead, he leaned against the wall to recover.

He removed the helmet and saw three scratch marks across the front, 'Thankfully, I got this armor; it's always saved me a few times,' Atlas mused as the metal repaired itself before he put it back on and activated the Light skill.

The white light illuminated the tunnel as a bright orb appeared above him. As that happened, Atlas heard scuttling not far from his position, which made him smile as the creatures fled into the darkness.

Atlas continued down the path while watching for the monsters, 'They will try to ambush me,' he thought excitedly. 'They will help me level up.'

He shivered as the cold air seeped into his bones, a deep sense of foreboding settling over him. The environment was imbued with an eerie aura of death and decay. The ground beneath him was a mix of damp, uneven dirt, while the walls were solid grey stone coated in a thick layer of blue moss that seemed to pulse with a life of its own.

After walking down the same tunnel for twenty minutes, he came across a massive underground forest, which caused him to think, 'Oh no. Those Yara-ma-yha-who will be hiding in the trees and bushes?'

Atlas readied his spells, and as the Light Orb floated next to him, he spotted dozens of human and creature footprints leading into the nearby treeline. 'It looks like I have no choice but to follow them,' he groaned internally.

While standing there, Atlas waved his hand while casting Call Of The Void to summon the Voidstalkers. Twelve small raptor monsters rushed out of the azure portal that appeared nearby and greeted him with head nudges.

''Find any monsters in the forest and lead them to me,'' Atlas ordered. ''They may be hiding, so be careful.''

Following that, the Voidstalkers chirped before rushing into the trees as he waited behind. Five minutes later, the first raptor flew out of the bushes while three large humanoids chased it.

The newcomers were covered in brown matted fur, dirt, and blood. Their red eyes glowed with hatred as the lead creature released a woop. They were chasing after the little raptor that chirped, trying to capture it, but the dinosaur was too fast.

Atlas scanned them to find out what they were.

[Yowie]

[Rank: D - 300 Exp]

The Voidstalker bounded right toward him, 'Its bringing them here!'

As the Yowies spotted him, he readied his blades and charged toward him as the little raptor readied to fight. Atlas darted forward and quickly moved to the side as the closest monster went to attack.

Atlas cast a Void Arrow at the creature's torso, which caused it to stumble due to the pain it was inflicted with. The creature crashed to the ground and was injured as the other two jumped over it.

One tried to punch him, but he deflected it using his sword while activating Void Step to avoid the second monster's fist. When he reappeared, Atlas plunged his blade into Yowie's skull while casting Voids Blast at the first, which sent it crashing against the tunnel's wall.

The second got close and kicked him, but Atlas quickly cast Void Guard to block the attack just before he cast Void Bullet at the creature's head, which exploded on contact, sending the monster crashing to the ground.

Atlas leaped into the fray, swinging his weapon furiously at the last Yowie. Although he dodged most of its attacks, a few strikes landed, leaving dents in his armor. He quickly used Void Step to get behind it.

He plunged his Nightblade into the monster's back and cast a Void Bullet, which blew its back apart and caused it to drop to the ground; after that, Atlas tried to kill the last one remaining by stabbing it in the head.

The Voidstalker was eating one of the dead Yowies before he ordered it to search for the scouting party. Then, Atlas looted the three Green Monster Cores before returning to get the three he had left behind.

Once that was done, he entered the forest and followed the trail the scouts left behind. Atlas continued for a while but started to feel his Voidstalkers being taken out by other monsters and wondered what happened.

'What's out there now?' he thought to himself.

Atlas continued down the monster trail and soon found the first body. It was slumped against a tree; it was a woman covered in blood, and it looked like some monster had shredded her apart as the armor was in pieces.

As Atlas examined the corpse, a sudden chirping noise made him glance around. Something dropped from above before he could fully react and landed squarely on him. Instinctively, he cast Void Step, but the creature remained stubbornly perched on him.

He quickly drew his Blood Knife, stabbing the beast repeatedly. Then, with a decisive flick of his wrist, he unleashed Void Wave, sending the creature crashing to the ground. Atlas spun on his heel, using Void Step to close in on the injured foe.

Atlas scanned the new monster before finishing it off.

[Drop Bear]

[Rank: D - 300 Exp]

'Is this an Australian horror forest?' he pondered before lunging forward and thrusting his blade into the monster's head.

After doing this, more of the bears dropped out of the branches above, causing Atlas to deflect several claw swipes, but he ended up using Void Guard to defend himself against the sudden attacks.

Atlas started battling the Drop Bears, who moved quickly. He was faster and managed to deflect many attacks. His armor stopped most of the damage as he started stabbing and slashing, causing the monsters to die.

He used Void Step to avoid the creatures before casting his magic or striking with his blades, causing the bears to roar in agony as the metal bit deep into their flesh. Atlas was a blur and continued to move faster while striking at the monsters.

It took him ten minutes to finish the Drop Bears off, but as the last one died, he felt the experience pouring into his body. Once the battle ended, Atlas counted five bears and looted the cores before moving on.

Atlas trekked along the trail and saw puddles of blood littering the ground, causing him to think, 'They must have kept getting ambushed.'

While studying, Atlas saw several tongues shoot out of the bushes around him and trap his limbs. He was stuck in place and couldn't move, so he decided to wait for the monsters to appear, as he knew what spell to use.

After that, five Yara-ma-yha-who appeared while letting out creepy laughs and chittering among themselves. The monsters closed in on Atlas, who laughed himself just before casting Void Wave.

The azure wave rushed out of his body and slammed into the creepy frog monsters. Once they were confused, Atlas dashed forward and started slaughtering them with multiple stabs that pierced their fragile bodies.

Atlas decapitated the last creature, who was stuck to the spot. Following the fight, he cut out all the cores before continuing down the path, only to find a cave the tracks led up to. He stepped across the threshold and had to block an arrow that flew at his face with Void Guard.

A resounding clang echoed as the arrow struck an azure shield. The man in charge swiftly ordered the archer to cease fire. Atlas turned to face him and saw a tall Black man with glowing green eyes clad in imposing metal knight's armor.

Beside him stood a young archer in modest leather armor, gripping his bow. Two others completed the group: a blonde mage and a Black woman with silver hair and pointed ears who appeared to be a healer curing an injured man.

Atlas took out a Minor Health Potion and threw it to the healer, who quickly fed it to the man. Then, he turned to the so-called leader and said, ''Are you the missing scouts? There was a quest to find you down here.''

The man nodded, ''Yes, lad. We were trapped down here by those frog men who killed many of our teammates,'' he answered with a frown.

''I know; they infest the forest,'' he said while handing out more potions to the man. ''I'm Atlas, a wandering adventurer who took the quest to save you guys.''

''I'm Arash, part of the Cave Wanderers,'' the man said with a smile before pointing to the silver-haired woman, ''That's my wife, Homa.''

Arash pointed at the last two, ''Arnold and his wife, Natasha. They are new explorers who recently joined the Explorer Guild.''

Atlas nodded, ''Well, stay here, and I will clear a path to the exit, a trek through the forest littered with Drop Bears, Yowies, and Yara-ma-yha-who's.''

The man nodded, ''Be careful out there, Atlas. Those monsters are dangerous.''