(A/N: Alert! Violence scenes up ahead!)
[D-tier Realm - Azterec]
[Simulation Complete!]
[Good Luck, Grim Warden!]
Pain hit before Killian saw it.
Something slammed into his side from the dark, throwing him off balance. His foot scraped against the ground as he forced himself to stay upright.
He thought of a loose rope swirling around his frame and the tendrils materialized to flexible dark matter that sliced past the dog cleanly and swallowed the remains.
Killian exhaled sharply, briefly pressing his side that stung. "What an impolite greeting. It must be the guard dog."
"Try not to exhaust mana required for your mission tomorrow, Killian."
Killian looked around the realm. That old man at the desk was right. The simulation was a real place.
The ground was firm beneath his feet and the dry air was surely not healthy. "Worry not. I'm not reckless. I just hate that I nearly died today."
He touched the healing strip on his neck that covered the healing bruise. "So I'd just fight the pain with more pain."
"And that isn't reckless?"
"Desperate, yes. Reckless, no. Have faith in me."
"Alright. I will help you."
"Appreciated."
A pack of three dogs sprinted towards him from his right. He locked eyes with their leader, shimmering black fur and stunted feet, growling with bared teeth.
The ropes of tendrils rose from his legs, swirling around his frame.
Low growls came from behind him. "Status." He tapped his inventory and the Void-Bat dropped to his hand. "Come."
They obeyed. A pack of small dogs dashed out from the distance, their bodies lean and rough, eyes fixed on him as they lunged in the air.
"Too slow." He swung his hand in the air, and the shadow tendrils followed, whipping the dogs to the side. He could feel the tendrils better.
They weren't just the absence of light but mass, with weight. He held unto nothing, visualizing holding the whip. He swung twice more. Injuring the dogs.
He extended his arm further for the tendrils to move out, attacking the pack with the leader closing in.
The tendrils stopped ten feet away. He tried to push them further off but he felt the strain.
That's the limit.
He pulled his arm back and they returned. "Sink your teeth to the ground." The tendrils went into the ground, turning the brown muddy colour to dark ash.
The dogs rushing in slowed down as the surface turned to dark ash spread around them. They sped off when the ground started caving in.
Killian leapt from his position as the ground under him had also weakened. "That was close."
He mentally retracted the tendrils to chase the dogs. Under Killian's gaze, they morphed to spiked ropes, thrashing the dogs and sweeping them off their feet.
By eating all those ambient mana, its speed had increased noticeably.
"Very well." He swirled the bat in his arms, walking to the injured whimpering dogs beside him. "Dead dogs possess no mana. I better make use of you."
Yelp! Yelp! Bark!
"Sorry, I don't speak dog."
The bat slammed on one's skull. Its eyes rolled back as it raised its forearms to defend itself.
The injured ones tried to drag themselves across the stone, claws scraping as they tried to move.
Bash! Bash!
Soft whimpers of pain filled the inward valley while blood stains spread across the floor. Killian stepped on a dog that almost slipped down the terrain.
"If you want to roll off and die, just wait for my Void-Bat to feed first." The bat rose and came down hard on its skull.
He bashed twice more, the impact echoing off the walls as one went stiff. He slammed his leg in it and stomped the bat in its stomach.
He shifted his weight, and swung again, meeting the neck bone. The place fell silent.
He exhaled, wiping splattered blood from his hand. The Void-Bat was lighter and visibly darker. Its hit also took more damage as if its capacity expanded.
"A little more." He turned to the tendrils holding down the other dogs that tried escaping.
It's a good thing these simulations are real places but with a reset mode.
I can't even imagine a Warden dying here.
The dogs shivered as they heard his steps coming towards them.
From their eyes, the weapon dripping the blood of their comrades held by a figure that felt as cold as dark winter promised certain agony.
The terrain held the noise, each strike bouncing back in dull echoes along with the short whimpers.
Bam! Bam! Crack!
Killian slammed his leg against the leader's neck, staring down at him. "Does it hurt your pride, sir?"
He squeezed his neck with the heel of his shoe, yet the leader didn't fight back. If it was resigned or frozen in fear, Killian couldn't tell.
Still he wanted to keep on till he heard it whimper in pain. He stopped, and he stepped away from the dog whose eyes held nothing.
Something is wrong with me.
"You just noticed?"
The tendrils stabbed the leader's body cleanly, consuming every bit. It was a faster death than any of his comrades experienced.
[D-tier Realm - Azterec Complete.]
[Close?]
Killian tilted his head. "I actually like dogs. What did you do to me? Is this the hell you said?"
"Have you never wondered why the Void is termed a forbidden element?"
Killian sighed, scratching his neck. He had never cared. Wasn't it because of politics and the rulers had the Light Element?
"Are you trying to scare me?"
"Not at all. With your affinity to the Void Element, do not find it strange if you share its hunger and emptiness."
That isn't good.
He looked back at the bashed dogs behind him. Then back at his Void-Bat. He didn't necessarily feel hungry but he knew he satiated something inside.
"Well, I have gotten what I wanted. We're done here." He tapped close. "I will be more careful now."
As the simulation fell, he checked his WLog with a thought. The interface appeared before his eyes. He checked at the Void Capacity.
[Capacity: 9.5% → 12%]
"Finally, it's a round number. I need to push harder."
The next realm started materializing.
His set-up had been the reason the Void worried but it was the best way to reach 30% within five hours.
A D-tier Realm for warm-up.
Two C-tier realms for the thrill.
A B-tier to push luck further.
He already spent one-third of the first hour in the D-tier Realm. "Warm-up time is over."
A sharp shrill cry agreed with him. Killian shuddered with excitement, stepping forward and feeling the muddy surface under him turn sandy and dry.
[C-tier Realm - Urjin (High Stakes)]
Wait, high stakes?
Isn't it almost a B-tier realm?
[Simulation Complete!]
[Good Luck, Grim Warden!]