Utopian System

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: System's Jump

The night enveloped the city in a cloak of darkness, broken only by the soft glow of the barrier.

Elio stood at the edge of the wall, his figure silhouetted against the starry sky. Ember perched nervously on his shoulder.

Elio was armed to the teeth: ten max-level daggers hung from his belt, his familiar spear rested in his right hand, and the system armor gleamed faintly under the moonlight. The resistance cloak waved gently in the night breeze, and in his pockets, several oxygen stones waited to be used.

Around him, only his closest allies were present. Zara, Lucien, Selene, Kriz, Brok, Micah, Ren, and the four seductresses formed a silent semicircle behind him. The tension was palpable, mixed with concern that no one dared to express aloud. Their invocations huddled close, offering silent support to their humans.

Elio turned to them, his eyes scanning each face, etching their expressions in his memory. Finally, his gaze settled on Ember, who rested on his shoulder.

"Ember," he said softly, "the time has come. I need to summon Wide Guard."

The salamander emitted a soft chirp, as if understanding. With a flash of light, Ember disappeared, returning to the system book.

"I'll summon you again when I return," Elio promised, his voice barely a whisper.

Touching another page in his book, Wide Guard, his small elephant, appeared beside him.

Elio turned one last time to his companions. "Defend the city until I return."

Zara stepped forward, her eyes shining with concern. Flare, her salamander, mimicked her worried expression. "Come back to us, Elio," she said simply, her voice barely a whisper.

Lucien nodded gravely, his frog croaking softly. "We'll be waiting for your return."

Kriz, in a rare moment of seriousness, added: "Don't you dare make us wait too long, boss." His playful rabbit stood at attention, as if ready to follow Elio into battle.

Elio smiled, grateful for his friends' support. With a final farewell gesture, he turned to the edge of the wall.

And then, without further hesitation, he jumped.

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The wind whistled in his ears as he fell, the sea of monsters spreading beneath him like an ocean of nightmares. Wide Guard fell beside him, its presence offering a sense of security amidst the dizzying fall.

Before reaching the upper layer of monsters, Elio pulled out his system book. With a quick movement, he brought it to the page of the level 6 challenge.

The question appeared.

"Do you wish to challenge the sixth level?"

"Yes."

The world around him faded into a whirlwind of light and darkness. For a moment, Elio felt as if he were suspended in a void, with no up or down, no past or future. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the sensation ended.

Elio blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dimness surrounding him. He wasn't in the familiar wide chamber of previous challenges. Instead, he found himself at the beginning of a tunnel, inside a small sealed chamber.

Before him, the entrance was framed by the same white, indestructible stones that made up the city walls. The tunnel stretched into darkness, its depths hidden and impossible to discern.

The air was cold and damp. The silence was almost absolute, broken only by the soft dripping of water somewhere in the depths.

Elio put an air stone in his mouth and breathed deeply, centering himself. This wasn't the challenge he expected, but he was prepared for the unexpected. He checked his equipment one last time: daggers in place, spear firmly in hand, armor perfectly fitted.

Elio took a step forward.

The darkness enveloped him, as if the tunnel itself were swallowing him.

"Here we go," he muttered to himself, his voice barely audible in the oppressive silence of the tunnel.

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As he advanced, Elio noticed that the cold gradually intensified.

At first, it was barely perceptible, but with each step, the temperature seemed to drop a little more.

His system armor and resistance cloak protected him, keeping his body at a tolerable temperature, but still, he could feel the bite of cold in the air he breathed.

The dripping that initially accompanied him began to diminish until it finally ceased completely. The silence that followed was ominous, broken only by the crunch of his steps on the increasingly icy floor.

Elio continued to advance, his senses on high alert. The smooth, white walls of the tunnel, previously just cold to the touch, were now completely covered with a thin layer of ice. The light emanating from them reflected on the frozen surfaces, creating a mirror effect that made the tunnel seem infinite.

"I should have brought some disposable fire swords," he muttered to himself, regretting not having foreseen this situation. The heat generated by such weapons would have been invaluable in this increasingly hostile environment.

As he progressed, Elio noticed something unsettling. His resistance was beginning to decrease. It was barely perceptible at first, a reduction of 0.001 points per second.

Under normal circumstances, this loss would worry him, but Elio had his system armor...

Which healed him more than 0.005 points per second.

He decided to increase his speed, hoping to cross this icy zone before the cold could seriously affect him. His steps became faster, more urgent, the echo of his movements resonating in the frozen tunnel.

However, as he accelerated, Elio noticed with growing concern that the cold also seemed to intensify. It was as if the tunnel itself was becoming more hostile with each step.

Wide Guard floated beside him, its small form a comforting presence in the eerie tunnel. Elio wondered if the elephant was feeling the cold too, or if its magical nature protected it from such mundane concerns.

The rate of resistance loss increased, now decreasing at a rate of 0.005 points per second. Elio frowned, his mind working quickly to find a solution. He knew he couldn't maintain this pace indefinitely.

But Elio had the strength of 5 men, with a speed of 5 he could run at about 50 km/30 mi per hour without tiring too quickly...

He decided to jog at a good pace, his acceleration was amazing, but the tunnel still showed no signs of ending, and Elio's resistance began to drop faster, reaching 0.01 points per second. this-chapter-is-MVLeMpYr

"This could be problematic if it increases too much," he thought, his mind already calculating how long he could maintain this pace before the loss of resistance became critical.