The jaws of the Spheric Beast strained and pulsated as though it wouldn't be satisfied until the blood of Damian stained its tongue. Examining this Beast, Damian recognized it instantly.
It was a scorpion, with a height a little over two meters. Its body was covered in gleaming brownish-red scales, and its huge pincers clacked with a hunger rarely seen. Just above its head hung the infamous stinger that extended from its rear and dribbled with a green liquid.
CLANG!
Seeing this, Damian's gaze grew serious. He brandished his weapon, successfully blocking the huge pincers of the scorpion. It gave him no reprieve and attacked almost immediately.
A domineering pressure fell upon Damian's shoulders, and he registered at that moment that the strength of the scorpion was actually higher than his. He gritted his teeth, before swiftly retreating several steps backwards.
Currently, Damian was at Stratum 6 after killing his way to his current position. As a result, his stats had improved, if only slightly. However, Strength wasn't among. Casting aside his Edict and Soul Edict, Agility was probably his highest attribute thanks to the added 20 points from the Light Saber.
And he intended to take advantage of it. He had noticed that in exchange for Strength and Vitality, the scorpion had abandoned Agility. But of course, that didn't mean it was slow. If anything, it was still four times faster than even the greatest athletes of the previous Earth. However, to the current Damian, it was still slow.
Damian rolled sideways, narrowly evading the huge pincers of the scorpion. However, in the next moment, it was upon him again, and this time, it attacking with its stinger!
CLANG!
Damian swung his blade to meet it, and could barely hold his own against the sheer strength of the scorpion. The venom of the scorpion dripped on the floor and quickly ate away at the hard, concrete ground. Damian's gaze grew grim. The venom was dangerous, immensely so. He had to take care of that first.
He successfully retreated once again, thanks to his superior speed, before suddenly speeding around the Spheric Beast to arrive at its rare. Damian brandished his weapon and…
SHING!
In one clean slash, the tail of the scorpion fell to the ground, its green blood splattering messily everywhere. What followed was the pained shriek of the scorpion. It bashed through everything, trampling on the Nulls and unfortunate Humans that were nearby.
Adah Winfrey's face were painted with horror as she watched this scene. She was scared, immensely so, and wouldn't even mind running away right now. However, she knew this would be the most foolish action to take as she was still unable to protect herself. Hence, she could only stick with him for protection.
Damian, on the other side, didn't rest. He went after the scorpion, taking advantage of its current frenzied state to immobilize it by severing all its limbs, before continuing to do the same to its pincers.
The scorpion dropped on its floor heavily as it released low painful sounds. Although it had lost several liters of blood, due to its high Vitality, it was still able to hold on.
While its scales were certainly hard, there was no way it could fare against Damian's Light Saber. The Artifact was made to ignore the defenses of any lifeform under the Second Sphere, and obviously, the scorpion was far from such a level.
Damian arrived before it, his eyes landing on the scorpion's eyes that was pervaded with dense killing intent. But he was having none of that. He raised his blade above his head and slashed with all his strength.
The heaving body of the scorpion stiffened for a moment, before its head rolled over the ground, its green blood trailing behind it.
[ You have acquired the Edict Essence of First Sphere, Stratum 15 Venomous Scorpion ]
[ Strength +15, Vitality +15, Edict +10 ]
[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 7 ]
[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 8 ]
[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 9 ]
[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 10 ]
[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 11 ]
Damian felt his body nourished to greater levels. His muscles became denser and tighter, announcing the increase in his Strength stats.
He looked towards the corpse of the Venomous Scorpion and spotted a bronze colored orb and a golden card next to it. He swiftly picked them up before keeping them in his Storage Ring.
He had no time to waste. He directly charged towards the Nulls barricading his path, falling all with several swings of his blade within moments. Suddenly, he stopped, looking back towards Adah. He had almost forgotten about her.
"What are you waiting for? Follow me!" He growled, jerking her back to reality.
This young lady had actually been daydreaming in the midst of danger. What if she had died? Fortunately, the Venomous Scorpion had killed the Nulls that would have pose a threat to her life when he severed its tail.
"Uh?... Ah! Yes!" Adah's cheeks went red from shame. She had actually been so enthralled with his performance that she began thinking why Damian was unheard of in the University before this hell on earth.
Upon seeing this, Damian only shook his head. He had no desire to know the lady's thoughts, as all that currently stuffed his mind was the Tower. He needed to get to the Tower to amass the best rewards.
Noticing that Adah was already beside him, he began moving again. And his killing spree began… again.
*
A young lady watched on coldly as two Stratum 20 Nulls disintegrated under the bath of the sinister black flames wafting from her hand.
They couldn't even offer any resistance before they were reduced to soot.
Behind her stood several students, each with varying degrees of apprehension. Some had admiration coating their faces, some couldn't contain the love that practically overflowed from their gazes, while some wore their envy like a mask. And yet, the respect that twinkled at a corner of their eyes shone through.
To all these though, the young lady was unmoved. Her black flame spread out, destroying all that dared come within its perimeters. The ease at which she got rid of these cteatures was one that would have shocked even Damian, if only slightly.
This shock would however, vanish when he recognizes her face. She was none other than his crush that humiliated him.
Her black irises flashed for a split second as she looked towards the bronze Tower two hundred meters away from them.
The Tower had clearly risen at the center of the whole University. Hence, it was no surprise she could see it despite being at the very opposite of Damian's direction.
However, the motive behind her peculiar stare was just as the same as Damian's.
She needed to get there.