Chapter 24: Fight
Along the way, Abium noticed that the damage in the outer forest of the tower was significantly less and thought the earlier earthquakes must be due to the 'Detonation.'
He also noticed a big change as he walked more than five kilometers away from that tower area and soon widened his eyes.
The surroundings didn't face any earthquake waves at all!
Alas, he began to notice some monster trails.
As he looked at those large footsteps, Abium quickly confirmed these were Orcs' footprints and grew solemn.
'Hmm, it seems there is an Orc settlement nearby. It's better to use the Remote Mapping function from now on. But before that, I need to take some rest.' He thought to himself.
He knew traveling alone in an unknown land would get him killed and decided to move cautiously.
A few minutes later, he found a hidden entrance concealed behind many types of weeds and moved closer towards it. Abium could easily guess it was a goblin cavern from the outer look and took out the sword from his space rings.
These types of caverns often hid six to eight goblins.
He stealthily walked near to that cavern. He pushed the grass thicket aside and crouched down before walking in. He took out the magic lamp from the spatial ring and lit it, making a faint flame appear inside the cavern.
With a magic lamp in his left hand and an iron blade in his right, Abium bluntly started killing his way in. The basic sword aura instantly cut down those small creatures like nothing.
Half a minute later, a few small bodies were spread on the ground in the depths of the goblin cavern. These goblins were all uncivilized. They hadn't developed any wisdom, so no one could even be able to communicate with them. Although their strength could threaten first-tier warriors, Abium didn't find any difficulty.
After a few minutes of search, he removed those dead goblin bodies from the cavern, burned them a few hundred meters away, and returned to the cavern. Then, he opened the blue interface and examined Azolla's Remote Mapping Function.
[Remote Mapping:
The Host has to use the Spiritual Scan ability first and scan the surroundings before using this function. Once the scanning is over, the map will update on its own. With the Host's current spirit power, the Core could scan upto a 200-meter radius and create a virtual map in your mind. The Host can also update the map using the information or hand-drawn maps.]
'Interesting.' Abium nodded, viewed the surroundings using Azolla's spiritual scan, and scanned the nearby area.
He soon noticed that a 3-dimensional map of the surrounding area appeared in his mind and widened his eyes.
'It seems there is no other danger nearby.'
Abium double-checked the surrounding areas and began to put several traps around the cave.
Once everything was over, he blocked the cavern entrance using wooden blocks and found a suitable place to take some rest.
But before that, he opened his status bar and soon zeroed his attention on the affinity option.
Although he saw something abnormal in the status earlier, he didn't have time to check it.
Soon, Abium noticed a big change in all three of his affinities and raised his eyebrows.
'My Fire Affinity has been improved from 'High' to 'Good.' Then, my Darkness and Space affinities also improved from 'Average' to 'High.' This is not a normal thing at all. Is it due to that crystalline blood droplet?' He contemplated for a while and decided to ask Azolla once she woke up from the 'dormant' state.
Then, he leaned his back on the rocky cavern wall and fell into a deep sleep.
After a few hours of rest, he woke up slowly, walked out of the cavern, and checked the surroundings.
At that moment, he noticed that the sun hadn't set yet.
'But traveling in the night is more dangerous.' After some thought, he decided to stay in this gloomy cavern for one night and searched for food in the surrounding areas.
He roamed in the woods, picked up a few edible berries, and even caught a mare using his hunting skill.
He would've faced it difficult to catch or kill a running hare if it were before, but his recent enchantment made everything possible.
'Although I don't have any seasoning, it's better than starving in hunger.' He sighed bitterly, entered the cavern, and gathered a few dry wooden sticks.
Then, he skinned the hare, cut the flesh part into pieces, and put them in a cigar plant leaf.
After that, he used the hand drill method to light the wooden branches and then created a fire.
He grilled the meat and ate it quietly along with the edible berries. After that, he stayed in the cavern for the rest of the night.
Around 7 A.M, he walked out of the cavern and continued his journey to the Borderland.
He hid his tracks and progressed towards the east cautiously. On the way, he noticed many strange trees and plants that he had never seen in the past life and was genuinely astounded by the different flora and fauna.
Trees tall as cathedrals surrounded them, and a strange green light - almost holy - shimmered through the vast canopy of leaves.
The forest seemed to have an intelligence of its own. It knew that a traveler from the mainland was there and didn't give him any trouble.
So far, Abium had been lucky. He had been attacked, of course, by goblins and kobolds. But some monsters had left him alone.
He continued his journey for more than an hour and finally arrived at a narrow path. Both sides were blocked by large rocks, poisonous vines, and thorns and looked more like a gloomy passage.
Just as he took a step on the pathway, a loud snoring sound came from the front and caused him to halt his footsteps.
'What was that sound?' Abium's pointy ears started to twitch as he quickly scanned the surroundings, opened the Remote Mapping, and noticed a red mark on the map.
'Enemy?' He furrowed his brows and stealthily walked forward.
A few seconds later, Abium saw a glimpse of a large monster next to a large rock and squinted his eyes.
What appeared in front of them was not some Goblin but a sizeable bull-like monster. Currently, it lay near the rock and seemed to be in a deep sleep.
'Minotaur!' Abium instantly identified the creature, touched his space ring, and took out the long sword.
'I need to get a good sword later. This one is chipped in many areas.' He muttered inwardly, unsheathed the weapon, and studied the sleeping monster.
It was a humanoid monster with a head and tail of a bull, had a monstrous body, and its strength might be comparable to high-tier monsters. Its body was brownish-black in color with full of furs, had two terrifying black horns, and held a large iron ax in its right hand.
He also checked its status and turned grim.
...
[Name: ?????
Age: 67
Race: Abyssal Demon (Minotaur)
Class: Rank-4 Demon Warrior
Health: Normal
Attributes:
Strength- 4.4
Agility- 4.3
Vitality- 4.6
Spirit- 1.4
Warrior Skills:
Basic Axe Arts, Intimidation, Chaotic Roar, Skin Hardening.]
...
'It is indeed a powerful creature. But am I able to kill it?' Abium furrowed his brows, moved closer towards the rock, sneaked behind it stealthily, and gripped his iron sword tightly.
'No, I've to kill it swiftly.' He knew that these wild creatures were skilled in sensing the enemy's presence and imbued much mana into his sword.
The next instant, a brilliant sunshine aura enveloped his sword edges and soon gathered at the sword's tip.
Abium then leaped towards the Minotaur, aimed the sword at its neck, and thrust it with full force.
Minotaur awakened due to the sudden noise and was about to roar, but Abium's sword had already arrived before its neck.
Before it could even utter a roar, Abium thrust the sword with full force and stabbed its neck.
Its eyes grew red as it noticed the sneak attack and instantly tried to activate its [Skin Hardening] skill.
But Abium's movement speed was too swift and steady.
Before the Minotaur could harden the skin around its neck, his sword tore through the flesh like paper, entered deep into its neck, and almost appeared on the other side.
The next instant, Abium pulled the sword with full force and backed away with hurried footsteps. He moved more than 10 meters away from that demonic creature and stared at it warily.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur roared in anger, grabbed its ax, and tried to stand up but couldn't. At that moment, blackish liquid gushed out of its neck and painted its lower body in black color.
Although Minotaur's strength was much higher than Hobgoblin's, its agility was low.
While the Minotaur was stumbling due to the wound, Abium causally raised his hand and muttered.
"Fire Orb."
A second later, he conjured a ball of the red orb and sent it towards the direction where the Minotaur was standing.
It appeared around the size of a baby's head and emitted radiating heat waves. Under Abium's guidance, it moved at an unimaginable speed, arrived in front of the Minotaur's face, and collided with the Abyssal Demon.
The next instant, the fire orb exploded, released a massive flame and a shockwave, and caused a burning wound on its chest area.
The Minotaur also pushed back due to the shockwave and crashed onto a heavy rock. At that moment, the earlier flame also spread all over the fur and started burning the Minotaur everywhere.
Roaring in pain, the Minotaur released its handgrip, dropped the iron ax, and slowly fell.
'I don't think it will survive.' Abium nodded inwardly, sheathed his sword, and walked towards the Borderland.