Free Web NovelChapter 75: _Making Massive Progress
[Inter-dimensional travel is successful.]
Ambrose groaned, kneeling off the ground. He’d landed on what appeared to be sand. Weird-looking grey sand that stretched farther than the eyes could see—like a desert.
When he raised his head to the sky he got even more disoriented. The sky wasn’t exactly one. Not quite. It was an endless glass ocean with cracks scattered across its surface.
The air was arid and cold, each breath drying up his throat. He got on his feet, rubbing his head as he scanned his eyes through the desert.
"What is this place?" He muttered, unable to keep his gaze away from the glass sky.
The cracks leaked with erratic bursts of aether energy, filling the land with enough pressure to make a Guide of his Rank faint. But he was no longer a mere ’Guide’.
[Connection unstable...]
[Location: ...Unregistered]
[Once you find the entrance the key is meant to open, the daily quest should commence.]
"That doesn’t exactly answer my question," Ambrose huffed. "Whatever. Now... How does one find a doorway in an endless desert? Where would I—"
He was cut off by the sound of something rising out of the earth behind him. He turned around, eyes widening when he saw what it was.
A wooden black door stood about ten meters ahead of him. It seemed like a regular door at first glance... until you noticed the iridescent light waves glowing around its edges.
Suddenly, he felt something appear between the fingers of his right hand. Hesitantly, he lifted it to his face.
The black key.
"... Okay," he mumbled under his breath, taking a step forward. Then another. "It doesn’t get easier than this..."
God, he better not jinx this.
Each step forward, each crunch of his boots on the grey sand made his blood spike with anxiety. He exhaled through his mouth, trying to keep himself level-headed.
Once he reached the door, he brought the black key to the keyhole. He paused.
What if there was some catch? What if whatever lay behind this door was something that would prove life-ending?
’Aura?’ he reached out. ’Can I reject this daily quest? I have a bad feeling about it and—’
[The quest can’t be rejected.]
’Of course, it can’t. Homicidal ass AI.’ Ambrose rolled his eyes, shrugging to himself at last. "Fuck it."
He pushed the key into the keyhole, twisting it once. The lock clicked, and the door creaked open by a few inches. Pulling the key out, he pushed the door all the way in, squinting right after.
Blinding white light shone from the other side, making it impossible to see what was beyond this point. Fear and his instincts rooted him to the ground.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
If he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t be able to get back home. Get back to Orion. Devon—oh, hell no. He wasn’t going to remain stuck in this scary dimension.
So, he willed the key back into the system’s storage space, threading cautiously into the light. By the time he was all the way in, he got his vision back.
However, he almost instantly regretted being able to see.
Sprawled before him was still a vast expanse of grey sand and a shattered glass sky. But now it was different. Giant skeletons and bones littered the place like a graveyard.
Most of the bones seemed like fifty per cent of it was buried beneath the sand. From skulls. To clawed fingers. Rib cages—
—Dread flooded Ambrose’s chest like never before. He backed up, subconsciously searching for the doorknob.
His heart dropped when he felt nothing.
"Shit." He cursed when he glanced back only to see that the door had vanished. "Gods of hell, what have I gotten myself into?"
[DAILY QUEST ACTIVATED.]
[OBJECTIVES: Survive Grey Desert for an hour and kill at least fifty Fractured Apparitions.]
[REWARDS: 1000 EP and Passive Spatial awareness skill.]
[PENALTY: ... Death.]
"How original, girl..." Ambrose was going to say more but then realised something vital.
One thousand EP?
Last time he checked, his total EP meter was at three thousand. He needed four thousand to rank up to a B-Rank Aether Hybrid.
This was it!
He was finally making massive progress.
Or at least, about to...
"Fractured apparitions," Ambrose’s eyes narrowed. "What would those be like—"
He stopped, eyes pinned ahead. A white mist had begun rising off the ground around the giant bones, so thick that he could only make out the outlines of said bones.
His breath hitched, fists clenching beside him. Like a signal, shadowy figures began appearing within the fog. They were human-like, their bodies slim and limbs swaying lazily.
’Aura? What are their ranks?’
[The Fractured Apparitions are all C-Rank entities.]
... C-Rank?
His last stats evaluation placed him at the same level as a C-Rank beast. Which would seem impressive at first—until you notice that there were tens of figures in the fog.
Standing.
Watching.
That changed when one of them lumbered a leg forward. The next second, a faceless being with porcelain grey skin was upon him, a clawed hand raised to strike.
Ambrose’s eyes widened, instincts helping him evade with a strong sidestep to his left. Yet the entity managed to strike his shoulder, making him stumble back as a numbing pain hit him.
He hissed, clutching his shoulder while struggling to follow the apparition’s movements. It was like a blur, repeating certain movements off sync and sometimes making him feel like it was being paused.
When it charged toward him again, Ambrose’s fists ignited with blue flames. He threw a jab aimed at its head, only to realise too late that its head had already moved.
He jumped back before he could get hit, his fingers twitching in preparation. The stinging pain from his shoulder bled into determination, his teeth gritting.
The darn thing was moving. But at the same time, it gave the illusion that it was repeating some movements, making him feel like he had enough time to evade or strike.
Which means there was only one way to bring it down.
Strike first!
He darted, arms spread out wide. The beast attempted to move again, but he was already above it, legs raised and eyes locked on its head.
SLAM!
He clasped both palms on its head. He roared, the flames on his palms making the thing’s head explode into dust. As it crumbled before him, he straightened, focused on the others lingering behind.
[One Fractured Apparition down!]
[Would the host like to acquire its aether core?]
His eyes lit up.
That might come in handy.
’Yes.’
The entity’s chest glowed with a dull blue light which disappeared in a couple of seconds. A new system screen appeared in front of him.
[C-Rank Aether core acquired. Core can be sold in the system shop for coins.]
Ambrose’s expression set into something serious as all the apparitions straightened like arrows waiting to fire. He wasn’t a body language expert but he was certain that meant they all wanted to attack.
At once.
"Fuck my life..."
The fog pulsed.
And then—every single Apparition moved.
