Yong Jin kept searching for the gate, back and forth on each room. But he couldn't find anything even after searching for a hundred times.
'DEATH?! ARE YOU PLAYING WITH ME OR SOMETHING!?'
"I'm sure there's a gate here jin."
'FUCKING HELL!'
"The faint aura of the gate isn't disappearing, That is why I'm sure there's something here."
'Sigh... Let me rest for a while and I'll check the exterior of this castle.'
"Got it."
Yong Jin sat down and took a breather for several minutes then continued to look for the gate outside of the castle.
All he could see was remnants of the previous people of the castle. Rusty weapons, rusty armors, broken bows and many more were scattered at the ground. The walls that were filled with moss and cracks were covered in thick dusts.
As Yong Jin circled the entire castle, he still couldn't locate where the faint aura of the gate was.
Then an earthquake occured out of nowhere, shaking the entire ground. The castle walls, crumbled. The broken chandeliers inside the castle fell, Wrecked statues fell on the ground. The sudden earthquake was too strong for the fallen kingdom to handle. It lasted more than thirty seconds, but it was enough time to destroy the entirety of the castle.
'Damn, what was that earthquake. Now the castle's destroyed.'
"It seems the gate's presence is beneath the castle."
'What? So It's hidden underground?'
"Yes, That earthquake was a sign that there's still an accessable gate in here."
'Okay, so i'll need to destroy the ground?'
"Maybe, Just try piercing the ground with Dark Imitate."
Yong Jin flew and used his ability to form a large greatsword and used it to pierce the floor of the ruined castle.
The plan was successful as it made a hole in the center of the ground. Yong Jin slowly went to the hole to check it out. The place was deep, He didn't imagine that a deep hole would be lying beneath the Castle.
'Should i head deep down on this underground, death?'
"Yes, The faint aura suddenly got stronger as we climbed down this deep hole."
'Finally, I'll be able to go back to earth.'
"Yes, we might be able to, but first we'll head to my tomb."
'Oh yeah, I forgot about your tomb.'
Yong Jin slowly flew down as he got deep in the underground hole...
After three minutes, he finally landed unto a ground.
Yong Jin kept looking around and didn't saw anything, the place were only filled with dirt walls and three passage hallways.
'Hey death, which way should i go?'
"The middle one."
Yong Jin walked and went towards the middle passage. After several minutes of walking, he finally found a ruined gate.
'Why does it look like from a game that i played when i was young?'
The Ruined gate had rectangular shape and was missing a single block. (Similar to a Minecraft Portal)
'Can you make it work?'
"It's impossible, since it's already ruined. We need to search for another Gate at this rate."
'So we've wasted one week for this ruined gate!?'
"Most likely, yes. We don't have a choice."
'Damn!'
"Do not worry, time flows different in avalon. Since it's already a fallen world."
'What do you mean by that?'
"An hour here is equivalent to four hours in your world."
'Oh, so a week here is most likely a month at earth?'
"It appears so, that's why we should search for the other gates quickly."
'Sigh, fine... Let's get out of here.'
Before Yong Jin could turn around, a sudden presence vibrated unto his senses giving him goosebumps.
He quietly looked around and notice two red circles flashing infront of him.
'What is that?'
"Run!"
The two red circles started blinking, It was eyes...
A very huge eyes, that were hiding beneath the underground.
As it closely moved infront of Yong Jin, It revealed it's true appearance. A giant black serpent with red eyes was hiding underground.
'What's that!? How can that Giant snake fit in this place!?'
"Run Jin! That's a Devourer! It's a monster sent by the World Tree."
Yong Jin immediately ran towards the hole he went in, The Giant serpent followed Yong Jin as it tried to eat him.
'Fuck! I'm gonna die for real!'
"Run, don't let it catch you or you'll die inside it's belly."
'Can't i just resurrect and kill it from the inside?'
"Unfortunately no, It eats even the soul of its prey. So you won't be able to survive."
'Fuck!'
"So that's why this place didn't last, there was a Devourer sent here. Now it makes sense."
'Can't you stop solving problems and help me get out of here!?'
"Just go straight to where you came from and escape by flying."
Yong Jin ran as fast as he can to avoid getting caught by the giant serpent. He finally got close to the hole and used his ability to make wings and flew back towards the surface.
But the Giant serpent still followed him...
'What the heck is with that snake!?'
"It seems it got stuck in here and hibernated for centuries, It's most likely hungry after sleeping for countless of years in this underground."
'So It'll do anything to eat me!?'
"Yes, that is correct."
'Fuck! Fuck! Help me!'
"I'm thinking of a plan, relax."
'How can i relax at this point!?'
"I got it, try luring the serpent to were other monsters reside."
'Okay!'
Yong Jin finally got out of the hole, followed by the giant serpent. Then he immediately lured it to where other monsters reside, The Giant serpent followed Yong Jin. After reaching to a certain part of the jungle that was filled with hungry giant wolves. The serpent stopped and stared at the Giant wolves.
The Giant wolves then growled as they confronted the huge serpent.
"Now, try to escape."
'Okay.'
Yong Jin's black wings disappeared, so he ran and escaped.
Several minutes later...
Yong Jin took a breather and sat down at a tree, He and Death discussed about their next destination while arguing alot of times due to Yong Jin's stubbornness. Yong Jin's cold personality before changed due to death's ability.
"Jin, we shall head south to where we came from."
'Why? I thought you didn't sense anything there.'
"The gates are always directed to where you are designated. And when its cut off, You will be teleported to an unknown place. But it usually teleports you to a nearby place where other intellectual species reside."
'What do you mean by that? Why can't you explain it in a more easy way that i can understand.'
"Sigh, just follow my instructions."
'So we'll be heading back towards south?'
"Yes, there should be a nearby gate there. Probably."
'Wait, i hear something.'
Yong Jin stood up and noticed something was coming. So he grabbed a long sword with his dark imitate ability in advance.
The ground was shaking, trees were shaking from afar. Before he knew it, the Giant serpent appeared infront of him.
'Fuck! How did it find me!?'
"It seems it got your scent, You'll not be able to escape from it's grasp unless you kill it."
'Do i have to fight that big snake now!?'
"Yes, or it'll follow you wherever you go."
The Giant serpent rushed to attack Yong Jin, but Yong Jin managed to dodge it and countered using his ability, The dark blades that were summoned by Yong Jin tried to penetrate the Serpent's skin but didn't work due to the thickness of the serpent's skin.
'HOW CAN I KILL THAT!? EVEN MY BLADES DONT WORK!'
"Relax, I'm looking for it's weakness. Buy me some time."
'Easy for you to say!' As he dodged the attacks of the Giant serpent.
The Giant Serpent got furious as Yong Jin dodged all of it's attacks. The serpent opened it's mouth and spat out some green venom that was made with acid.
Yong Jin tried to dodge it but got hit by one of the acid. It quickly melted his shirt and got wounded at the stomach.
But Yong Jin who cannot feel any pain didn't budge and continued to counter attack using his Dark Imitate ability.
Yong Jin felt immense aura coming from inside him, It was the effect of climbing through another stage.
Yong Jin's concentration got sharper, He can now quickly cast dark imitate in a matter of seconds. The blades he summoned still wasn't able to pierce through the serpent's skin. So he tried to attack it through the eyes.
But it was difficult for him to attack since the serpent's movements were unpredictable.
So their fight continued without any progress for both of them.
"Jin, I finally found it's weak spot."
'Finally! Where!? Where should i attack him?'
"The tail, See those thick scales from his body? It doesn't cover up it's tail."
'Okay, I'll try to concentrate my attacks on it's tail.'
Yong Jin ran as quickly as he could, The Serpent tried to bite him, but Yong Jin managed to evade it. The Serpent went through and bit the tree, Yong Jin finally found an opening and summoned a long black sword. He held it with both of his hands and gripped it as hard as he could. And he swung it as strong as possible to cut off the Serpent's tail. The Long black blade was able to cut the serpent's tail. Yong Jin screamed as he swung the sword, The serpent growled as it got hurt by Yong Jin's attack.
The serpent regained it's posture and attacked Yong Jin, but Yong Jin who went up another stage was able to create a black shield immediately.
So the Serpent's bite didn't work. Yong Jin immediately used all of his strength and summoned fifty dark swords in the air, Surrounding him. Yong Jin targeted all of the Serpent's parts that weren't covered in thick scales. The Swords then flew quickly and penetrated the body parts that were targeted by Yong Jin, even the eyes were stabbed along with it's mouth that was fully opened while Yong Jin attacked.
The Serpent finally died....
"Wow, I cannot believe you're this good. How can you control all of those swords and target it unto different parts?"
'Well, i just concentrated deeply and managed to do it.'
"You make me proud! You've also reached third stage within this battle."
'Yeah, i felt it earlier while fighting the serpent.'
"I wish we could store this serpent. But it'll consume alot of your fuel."
'What do you mean store it?'
"You see, when you reach third stage of my ability. You can use the 'Abyss' and store anything there. Think of it as an invisible inventory or some call it spatial storage."
'What!? For real?!'
"Yes, I have alot of abilities. But Most of it will be unlocked if you level up more."
'Okay, Let's store this giant serpent!'
"Are you sure? It'll consume alot of your fuel."
'Yes I'm sure!'
"Fine, but first absorb the serpent's fuel then we can store it."
'Okay!'
Yong Jin absorbed the Serpent's fuel and managed to use his newly obtained ability called 'Abyss'.
The serpent's body was lying on the ground then a black liquid formed beneath it, slowly dragging the serpent's corpse under until it was not seen.
Then the black liquid disappeared.
Yong Jin felt a sudden heartache and fell on his knees.
"I told you so."
'Ugh, i feel strange.'
"That serpent was huge, Ofcourse it'll take a great toll on your emotions."
'I feel sad all of the sudden.'
"Nevermind that and focus, We'll start moving."
'Okay.'
Yong Jin then stood up and departed as he head south to where he came from before.
As he ventured the vast lands of Avalon, he encountered alot of monsters...
Fought countless of times, and honed his senses.
Tested alot of techniques that would be suitable for his abilities. Then he learned something new, he called it "shadow spike".
As he fought and absorbed the emotions of his enemies, he gained alot of fuel and learned alot of things. Dark imitate had another use rather than summoning swords around him. He discovered that Dark imitate can be summoned anywhere as long as it is within his vision's reach. The shadows of his enemies, the shadows of the surroundings. Anything within his vision's range can be used for Dark imitate. So he learned a new surprise attack, The Shadow Spike. By using the Enemy's shadow, he can summon spikes from the shadows and penetrate the enemies immediately. As long as it's dark and within his vision, he can use it.
Yong Jin fought and fought as he embarked on his journey towards south and learned alot of possibilities for his abilities. Death was impressed that Yong Jin would be able to think of something like Shadow Spike.
"Anyways, why the heck did you named it Shadow spike?"
'So that it'll be easy to use. As you know, your Abilities need to be concentrated for it to work.'
"Yes i know, But why call it shadow spike?"
'Since, it is spikes that attacks from the shadows, and it'll be easy to visualize after naming it and memorizing it.'
"So that's why, instead of concentrating... You made a shortcut. You're a clever one, Jin."
'Ofcourse! In quick battles, concentrations is a must. But when you get distracted, you'll lose. That's why i called it Shadow spike to imprint the visualization on my mind and automatically summon it to the targeted shadows. Basically a shortcut, rather than concentrating it right?"
Death was impressed and already knew this possibilities, and told Yong Jin.
"This is just the beginning, You'll be shocked if you knew the capabilities of all my abilities."
Yong Jin grinned and continued his adventure on the great lands of the fallen world, Avalon.
Chapter END