Level Up: Voidwalker

Chapter 35: Hiding In A Tree

Atlas gazed around with interest, noting how the arena resembled a Greek amphitheater with seats that gradually rose until they disappeared from view and murky swamp water that reached up to his ankles.

As he took in the surroundings, a bell chimed, startling him as torches came to life as they lit up one by one. That's when Atlas noticed a ten-foot black gate beginning to open, accompanied by the echoing sound of heavy footsteps.

He spotted a large and more vicious-looking Swamp Creeper, which made his skin crawl. It stood seven feet tall and was covered in muck, vines, and damp vegetation. A foul odor hit his nose, causing him to recoil in disgust.

'That smells so bad, makes me want to throw up,' he thought while gagging.

Atlas held his nose and covered his mouth with a scarf he pulled from storage. Once safe from the smell, he used Void Sight on the monster.

[Bog Fiend]

[Rank: D - 300 Exp]

'Well, this is going to be hard,' Atlas thought. 'It's not nearly dead like the White Warden I killed before, which will make it much harder to defeat.'

As he watched the monster, it let out a primeval roar as another bell chimed, announcing the start of the boss battle. Atlas yelped as the Bog Fiend closed in on him and swung a giant mossy fist.

Atlas jumped to the side as it slammed into the floor; he got to his feet and cast several Void Arrows at the monster. The azure blue sliced through the air and connected with its body, causing miniature explosions.

The Bog Fiend roared in agony, but Atlas spotted something. As small blue flames broke out on the spot, his spell hit, which caused his eyes to gleam, 'It's weak to fire!'

While thinking the monster sunk into the swamp water, 'Where did it go!' he started to panic internally.

Something told Atlas to protect himself, so he cast Void Guard as the Bog Fiend's fist slammed into his torso. Pain overloaded his body as he flew across the amphitheater and crashed into the lower seats.

[Health: 182/258]

Atlas clenched his teeth as his Regeneration kicked in, allowing him to cast a barrage of Void Bullets and Arrows at the creature. It attempted to evade into the water, but the shimmering azure arrows found their mark.

The creature bellowed in agony, thrashing about as flames licked across its form, consuming a layer of moss. Atlas's smile of satisfaction faltered, replaced by a grimace of pain as he struggled to rise on unsteady legs.

He downed one of the better Health Potions, allowing him to start moving normally despite the pain. Atlas quickly jumped forward as the Bog Fiend appeared behind him, but he unleashed ten Void Bullets this time.

The projectiles struck the monster forcefully, eliciting a pained recoil. Sensing an opportunity, Atlas leaped up and dashed towards its legs. He drew his dagger and sliced it into its mossy ankles.

As Atlas slashed its ankles, the Bog Fiend collapsed with a tremendous splash, drenching him in filthy water. Seizing the opportunity, he unleashed a barrage of Void Arrows into the creature's body.

The arrows buried deep before exploding, inflicting significant damage on the creature. Despite growing lightheaded, Atlas continued casting until he stumbled. With his final ounce of strength, he cast one more Void Bullet before everything went black.

Hours later, Atlas woke up with a scream, shivering as he found himself mostly submerged in the filthy water. Frantically, he looked around for the Bog Fiend but saw only a baseball-sized, glowing green Monster Core and a pile of loot that caught his attention.

Atlas got up while shaking his head and stretching his body, causing all the bones in his body to snap. Following that, he approached the pile of loot and saw ten silver coins and a yellowish potion that sparkled as the light hit it.

He threw the coins into his storage while examining the potion.

[Advanced Antidote Potion: Heals most poisons known to the world]

'Oh this will be useful one day,' Atlas thought while storing it away.

After that, he glanced around for an exit, which he spotted. It was a glowing door that led to the jungle outside. Atlas sighed in relief before stepping through it while readying his dagger for more attacks.

But nothing came as he stepped out the door and felt the hot air brush against his face. When outside, Atlas looked around and couldn't see anything, so he climbed up a tree to get the lay of the land.

It took him five minutes to rush up the tree and finally get a look out of the jungle, covered in mist and flying monsters passing by. That's when Atlas spotted a lone mountain where he was meant to reach the girls were nearby.

The trees around Atlas started to shake, and he could hear roars, howls, and other strange noises from monsters below could be heard. Atlas stiffened as he saw the Jungle King again, but it was heading in his direction this time.

Atlas quickly descended into the canopy and hid below the leaves just as an explosion rang out from the nearby mountain. He panicked as that's where Amethyst and Artemis were waiting for him.

He poked his head out of the canopy to see a purple explosion tearing up the summit, but that's when he spotted something flying away from the mountain, causing him to release a breath of relief.

Following that, the tree he was in started to shake, which confused Atlas. He started climbing lower, only to stop when a sea of monsters passed, 'Guess I'm hiding in a tree.'

Atlas looked up at the sky and noticed it was late afternoon, which meant the sun would be setting in a few hours, 'I need to find somewhere to sleep safely and check the mountain where the girls were.'

He climbed down the tree until he was ten feet above the ground and noticed the swarm of monsters slowing down. Atlas waited for another hour, and he saw nothing before climbing down.

When his feet touched the ground, Atlas looked around and saw nothing. After that, he searched for a place to sleep, and after a couple of hours of searching, he soon found a cave with an overhang, which was out of the way of the monster trail he was on.

Atlas slowly approached the cave as he readied a spell but found nothing but a dry space. Realizing everything was clear, he wrapped his cloak around him before pulling out some bread.

He began eating while observing the jungle, bathed in a pink glow from the setting sun. The light illuminated the mist, creating a strange, enchanting haze as the beautiful scene captivated his interest.

Soon after, he got comfortable in the corner of the cave, drifting off to sleep to the soothing sounds of the outside world. The night passed by as Atlas was hidden in the shadows, which he unintentionally did, but it hid him from the monsters that investigated.

The following morning, Atlas slowly opened his eyes as he yawned, only to jump out of his skin when he saw a little monster resembling a Honey Badger glaring at him with white and black fur and glowing yellow eyes.

He slowly stood up while holding his hands out to the side, but the creature had other plans and lunged at him. Atlas yelped as he tried to dodge the angry badger who swiped at him with its sharp claws.

Atlas fell backward as the thing bit into his ankle. His scream echoed through the cave as he started to thrash his leg, launching the creature across the chamber with a hiss. 'What the hell! Where did this thing come from!''

Once it was at the cave entrance, Atlas scrambled to his feet, but it lunged at him again. This time, he was ready and cast Void Guard, which caused the monster to crash face-first into the azure shield, but that didn't do much apart from daze it for a few seconds.

He took his chance and sprinted out of the cave, but the crazy badger was on him. It started to chase Atlas through the jungle while letting out a deep growl. As he jumped over a branch, the thing caught up to him and slammed into his back.

Atlas was sent flying, but that's when the badger bit into his shoulder, causing him to let out a scream of pain as they hit the ground with a crash. He tried to get the thing off, but it was clinging to him.

''Get off me, you little shit! Why are you attacking me!'' Atlas shouted at the badger, intent on teaching him a painful lesson.

It then used its claws to slice through his skin, which felt like hot knives, causing him to scream out. Atlas gritted his teeth as the pain was worse than anything he had experienced so far.

The two were wrestling, but the badger was determined to hang on by digging its claws and teeth deeper into his skin, 'What is this crazy thing! I did nothing to it!'

He was flailing around like a madman, but that's when something caught his attention, causing Atlas to forget about the badger as a monster towered over them with a look of malice in its black eyes.

The newcomer was massive and covered in a greenish-black hide with a row of razor-sharp teeth the size of him. Atlas noticed the only difference between its Earth counterpart. 'Now a damn Tyrannosaurus! What the fuck is with this jungle!' he internally panicked, but used Void Sight on it.

[Drakaroth]

[Rank: A+ - 1000 Ex]