Journey to the Summit: The Rise of a Enigma

Chapter 2: Agile Wolf

Nux looked at the two, small monster core resting in his palm. These core contains mana, and it can be used for many ways. One is absorbing the mana inside it.

Absorbing mana from beasts core are a lot faster than absorbing mana in the air. His thoughts were interrupted as his eyes caught sight of a monster.

A Gale Wolf.

His eyes became sharp, his dagger unsheathed and gripped on his right hand, mana gathering in his left hand. Channeling mana while moving, something that cannot be replicate by new Awakened like him. Yet, here he was, attempting it.

Rawr!

The wolf lunged at him, it's green fur fluttering in the wind. Once near Nux, it extended it's front right claw, with the intent of cutting down Nux.

Nux however wasn't idle. With a swift step back, he easily dodged the incoming claw. Then, he extended his slender arm, cutting a huge cut at the wolf's face.

Seeing this, Nux beamed. 'Those days of training wasn't wasted!' His joy was palpable, but his attention was entirely on the enemy in front of him.

Rawr!

Enraged, the wolf opened its mouth. Since they were close, it was about to bite the human child in front of him. Nux didn't panic. It had already been five seconds, he can now unleash Ball of Darkness.

With a swift movement, he fired the Ball of Darkness towards the incoming, opened mouth. The wolf, with its insides torn apart, died.

A green monster core, slightly bigger than the cores from slim, appeared near his foot. Nux wiped his non existent sweat. This was what his father taught him.

"No matter how high a level is, one thing remains the same. The inside of the body, is the most vulnerable part. If you can't deal any damage, look for a way to target their insides. They'll die. "

He muttered, repeating what his father told him. Taking the core away and putting it in his pants jacket, he continued his walk. Time passed quickly.

The blue sky was now orange in color. Nux looked at the sky, tiredness etched on his face. He had battling for the last 7 hours, he even had to use three monster cores to replenish his Mana.

He had killed 15 slimes, having only 14 of their cores left. He had also killed 9 wolf, which he sustained minimal injuries.

Claw marks appeared on his arm guards and chestplate. Blood stains were all over his body, all coming from the wolves he killed. Wolves are agile creatures, making it hard to kill them.

"Dungeon, exit."

He muttered before an ethereal glow enveloped him. With the blink of an eye, he was no longer in the Dungeon, but outside of the Dungeon Portal.

"You sure took your time huh?" He was instantly greeted by a familiar voice, Max. The guy was waiting for him, arms covered in bandages. Unlike Nux, Max seemed to be transported in a slightly dangerous area.

"I'm tired. How long have you been waiting?". Nux nonchalantly said, deep inside he was worrying about this friend of his. What kind of battle did Max have?

"Hmm... About an hour. Come on let's go, I want to rest too." Max urged him, the duo were tired. Still, Nux felt grateful, that Max waited for him. With a nod, the duo started walking back, while talking about their experience in the Dungeon.

Nux, upon entering his room, switched to a much more comfortable clothes. He sat in a lotus position, the monster cores he obtained scattered on his bed.

Closing his eyes, he started to cultivate. Unlike the last time where he absorbed mana from the air, he was absorbing mana from the monster cores.

Green and blue strings of energy flowed from within the cores, entering Nux body. The strings of energy was absorbed by the red ring in his sea of consciousness, releasing a soft, red glow.

Time passed, every second felt like an hour to Nux, who was engrossed in cultivation. Some of the monster cores had lost their colors.

Then, the most anticipated moment happened. The soft glow emitted by the red ring, brightened even more. Seconds passed, but the light did not show any signs of dissipation.

A minute passed, the red light disappeared. On the middle of the red ring, the two red dagger increased in number, now three. This meant that he was now a Third Level Warrior! The three daggers released another red light, this time enveloping his entire body. This phenomenon is called "Breakthrough". Once it happened, the light will be absorbed by his body, enhancing it greatly.

He looked at the three daggers, once those daggers reached ten, he will need to merge it all together, creating what others called a Core. At that time, he would no longer be a Tenth Level Warrior, but a First Level Assasin, adapted from his Dagger Attribute.

This thought alone excited him, he was looking forward to reaching that level.

Since there are still monster cores left, he guide the strings of energy towards the blue ring, it too emitted a soft, blue glow.

He wasn't sure if he could break through the Third Level with the remaining amount of monster cores. But still, he tried.

— A few hours later —

Nux slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. Since he had a breakthrough, his body was much stronger than before. And it could get even stronger!

His gaze went towards the window, then only then he realized a grave mistake. It was already morning! He was too engrossed in cultivation he had forgotten that he has school today.

"I'll be late!" He shouted with urgency, the thought of being late for class doesn't sit well with him.

Panicking, he immediately worn his school uniform, went outside of his dorm to find that, there was no longer a person there except him.

His face was filled with dread, he was not just going to be late by a few minutes, but probably by an hour!

With the speed of the Third Level Warrior, he scurried away, hoping for a light punishment for being late.