It's been three more hours, but Erix was still in the volcanic region and entered deeper after resting for half an hour at a small cave he found a while ago.
When he arrived at a valley amidst volcano mountains and jumped down, he alerted a group of grotesque monsters with rocky carapaces and strange tendrils at their octopus-like heads.
This was a seething landscape of molten rock and cascading flas. The air was thick with the acrid scent of sulfur, and the ground radiated heat like an inferno's embrace with the horde of monsters that woke up and rushed towards Erix, each one above level 90.
"One more hurdle, eh? No matter," Erix grinned as his cells trembled in excitent to battle again.
He tightened his fists, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the approaching horde of fla and magma monsters, each one a grotesque fusion of lava and sinew.
The first monster lunged at him, its fiery tendrils snapping like vipers. Erix's instincts kicked in, and he sidestepped with a dancer's grace, the ground beneath his feet trembling with the force of his movent. His body seed to flow like liquid as he evaded the monster's attack, a wisp of steam rising from his boots, where they brushed the scorching ground.
In an instant, Erix countered. His fists beca blurs as he struck the creature's hardened magma exterior, his blows landing with the precision of a master sculptor chiseling away at the stone. Each impact sent sparks and fragnts flying before the monster exploded into gore—deader than dead.
Erix's lips curled into a determined grin as he continued to weave and strike as more monsters arrived. 'My stats might hit 300 after I finish off this horde.'
Suddenly, a strange monster tried to blindside him, erupting from the ground in a burst of lava. But Erix was ready, as he could already sense its aura. He spun on one foot, delivering a sweeping kick that connected with the creature's midsection. The impact shattered its outer shell, sending shards of magma spraying in all directions.
The battlefield beca a storm of fire and fury as more monsters closed in. Erix danced and dodged, his movents fluid and precise. He leaped over a wave of lava, his body twisting in mid-air as he delivered a devastating flying kick to a monster's head, sending it sprawling into a pool of molten rock.
Sweat glistened on Erix's brow as he pressed on, never letting his guard down. He ducked beneath a fiery tendril, delivering a rapid succession of punches to a creature's chest, each hit cracking its molten armor. With a final powerful strike, Erix shattered the creature's form, causing it to collapse into a heap of cooling magma.
The battle raged on as Erix was a force of controlled chaos amidst the roaring monsters. He spun, pivoted, and leaped, his movents blurring the line between martial prowess and artful dance. His fists and kicks were a symphony of power and precision!
One by one, the creatures fell, their fiery forms extinguished by Erix's unyielding assault. The landscape around him was littered with the remnants of their defeated bodies, the ground now cooling and solidifying once again.
Finally, as the last monster dissolved into a smoldering puddle, Erix stood up with his head slightly tilted upward and his eyes closed.
His chest heaved with exertion, and his hands were still wreathed in faint wisps of steam.
After a minute, Erix exhaled and began to move his body into a stance.
He pulled his right arm back while forming a fist and put his left palm forward.
As he stood there, Erix began to visualize his intent—a punch that transcended re physical force. He saw his target not as an adversary but as an extension of the universe itself. His punch was no longer just a technique; it was a convergence of energy, intention, and purpose.
With his eyes still closed, Erix began to move forward while moving his smoothly waving hands as he found various ways in which he could execute his punch, just like how there were various ways one could use other weapons.
At the climax of his movent, Erix's fist connected with an invisible barrier that even he didn't sense and broke it, releasing a devastating punch that was more powerful than any punch he had thrown before, causing hot gusts of wind to scream and ground to tremble as even the atmosphere around him shook.
*Boom!!*
[Congratulations. You have comprehended Punch Concept.]
[Punch Concept]
_Realm: Alpha.
_Effect: All punch-attacks deal 50% more damage.
"Finally…" Erix softly uttered before taking a deep breath. 'Well, thanks to Rin's parents, I gained more than just a Punch Concept.'
The set of movents and fist weaving he did opened a new world about using his body's physical energy and how to channel his mana to execute a myriad of punches!
…
While Erix finally returned to the Yorik Kingdom, Isabella encountered six people from Earth as they arrived at Star-Frost Magha Tribe in the last several hours.
One of them was soone she knew and had even traveled with before.
Serina!
Since all of them had the sa ergency task, they worked together and moved to a hunting ground to kill rising levels of frenzied monsters.
With a group, they could quickly quell many monsters by helping each other, unlike those frenzied monsters who only knew how to attack aggressively.
This was a two-birds-with-one-stone situation as they traveled in the icy expanse from one tribe to another and killed monsters to level up while also preventing small monster tides from attacking the tribe.
On their journey, they also encountered two Abyss Servants with strange ice powers when the night arrived.
The group killed them after an intense struggle, with two people of their group getting severe injuries, one of them being Isabella, as she was frozen into a popsicle with her vitality hanging at rely 10.
…
"Isabella, how are you feeling?" Serina asked, her voice laced with concern.
Isabella was resting on a bed in her house at Star-Frost Magha tribe.
"I am almost fine, except I just feel a bit chilly internally throughout my body," Isabella said with a wry smile.
Serina's fists tightened as her eyes showed anger, "It's that bastard's fault!"
Serina was talking about a man called Jakel in his thirties, who had an assassin-like class called Shadow Night Drifter.
Since he was an assassin with Shadow Affinity, he attacked on his own when getting opportunities or creating opportunities with his quick and sharp projectile attacks while escaping unscathed.
During the battle, when the Abyss Servant was on the verge of dying, he prepared his attack to give it a final blow to get the kill and appeared several ters before Isabella before releasing his attack.
However, the Abyss Servant didn't die with his attack and instead rushed towards him in a frosty rampage with breakneck speed as if using so last-ditch skill before death.
Jakel quickly scurried away as he vanished with so shadow-attributed skill, but Isabella was still behind him and got severely injured, putting her on the verge of death.
Serina and others didn't like Jakel because of his uncooperative and superior attitude, which almost caused Isabella's death.
"Isabella, we won't take him with us next ti, okay? He may be powerful, but a stupid teammate is worse than a powerful enemy."
"Yes, you can tell him to find another group because I also don't want him disrupting our team's progressing synergy," Isabella nodded.
"Alright, I'll talk to others. We are done today, so get plenty of rest until morning."
Isabella nodded. "Don't be too harsh on him, or he might bear a grudge, and we don't want that."
"Got it. I'll politely and reasonably tell him that we don't need him," Serina said with a snort before leaving.
'It was really, really close…' Isabella sighed.
Isabella's heart had beco a bit cold today because of Jakel's actions. When she imagined how she wouldn't see her son, Erix, Rin, and others if she died, Isabella beca terribly scared of dying.
'I have my special skill that will revive , but if I didn't have that…' Isabella shook her head. 'I have to be more careful.'
…
On the other hand, Rin and Nessa spent the rest of the day killing monsters in surrounding areas to earn gold coins and investigate Abyss-related things with Velfion Prince and Princess's team.
When the night descended, and they returned to the Kingdom, Rin finally used her 1-hour leave card and left to check out things on Earth.
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