Free Web NovelChapter 832: Chapter 758: Beginning (2)
He stepped onto the array plate, glanced back at the crowd, his lips curving slightly, and then disappeared into the light curtain.
"Vera."
Vera took a deep breath and stepped onto the Teleportation Array.
Her back was cool and resolute, and in the instant the light curtain engulfed her, Duke saw her slightly turn her head, as if checking something.
...
"Duke."
The old man’s voice came from the front.
Duke stepped forward, passed through the giant array plate, and onto the silver-white metallic surface.
The runes beneath his feet glowed faintly, and a warm energy surged up from the soles.
Light illuminated, swallowing everything.
The blue light dissipated, and Duke’s feet landed on the soft ground.
He opened his eyes and looked around.
This was an endless expanse of barren landscape.
Grey-brown gravel covered the earth, stretching to the horizon.
A grey-white sun hung in the sky, its light dim, as if viewed through thick frosted glass.
No clouds, no wind, no signs of life.
The air was dry, as if it could instantly drain the moisture from a person, heat waves rising from the ground warping distant images.
Silence, deathly silence.
Duke stood still, silent for a few breaths, then glanced at the Six-Ring Badge on his chest.
Spiritual Power tapped in, a light curtain emerged, the resource point leaderboard was blank, everyone was still at zero.
He tried communicating with others through the badge, no response.
The internal communication function of the badge was completely blocked.
He tried the Wizard’s Mark, also to no avail.
"As expected."
He withdrew his Spiritual Power, not wasting any more time.
In the barren landscape, there were no landmarks, only gravel and dust.
Duke looked at the gray-white sun, roughly judged the direction, and stepped forward.
He was searching for the direction of a water source, because in such desolate environments, any life would gather around water sources.
According to the assessment rules, resource points would have Life Guardians, most likely clustered around these water sources.
After walking for two hours, the surroundings hardly changed.
Still the grey-brown gravel, still the dead silent wasteland.
Duke’s boots crushed the gravel, creating a faint crunching sound, the only noise in this world.
Then, he stopped walking.
In the distance, a dark outline faintly appeared, the shadow of vegetation.
Duke quickened his pace toward that direction.
After another hour, the outline became clearer.
A low shrubbery encircled a small puddle.
The puddle was not large, about ten meters in diameter, its water murky, but it was water nonetheless.
He slowed down, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
Where there’s water, there’s life.
Sure enough, at the edge of the puddle amid the gravel pile, he saw crude wooden stakes and animal skin tents.
These were signs of human construction.
Duke’s Spiritual Power silently expanded, sensing every corner around him.
A dozen or so presences.
Most were Level 1, with one exceptionally strong, deep within the tent group, its presence heavy as a mountain.
Level 2 Peak.
Between these tents, a flag stood with the Six-Ring Tower emblem on it.
This indicated the place was a resource point.
Just as Duke was about to withdraw his Spiritual Power, he suddenly sensed several presences rapidly approaching.
Those presences were weak, all Level 1.
Duke stood still, unmoving.
Five Kobolds rushed out from behind the gravel pile.
They were just over a meter tall, covered in gray-brown scales, almost blending into the barren landscape.
Holding crude Stone Axes and wooden sticks, they bared their teeth and charged at Duke.
When the Kobolds were ten steps away from him, they suddenly halted.
It wasn’t out of fear, but because a dark golden sand wall rose from the ground, blocking their path.
The sand wall was silent, as if it had grown out of thin air.
The kobolds stood stunned, looking at each other in dismay.
Duke raised his hand, and the sand wall suddenly exploded, turning into countless tiny sand blades.
Those sand blades whirled and danced in the air, moving so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye.
The five kobolds hadn’t reacted before they were swept up by the sand blades, carried into the air, letting out terrified screams.
The sand blades barely grazed them, not cutting their skin, just shredding the fur on their bodies into tatters.
A moment later, the five kobolds were tossed onto the ground by the sand current, sprawling pathetically in a heap, their fur missing patches revealing gray-brown scales.
They lay on the ground, trembling, unable to even crawl up.
Duke walked past them, heading towards the cluster of tents.
More kobolds rushed out from the tents.
A dozen, two dozen, three dozen, they charged at Duke wielding stone axes and wooden clubs, howling loudly.
Duke still didn’t pause his steps.
The sand stream around him began to spin.
Initially slow, it then grew faster and faster, finally forming a dark golden sandstorm that engulfed him entirely.
The sandstorm swirled and expanded outward; those kobolds that reached the edge were instantly flung away, crashing heavily to the ground.
Some hit rocks, others slammed into piles of rubble, their cries of pain arising one after another.
Duke walked through the tent area, heading towards the source of the Level 2 Peak aura.
More and more kobolds surged out, yet none could come within ten steps of him.
The sandstorm was like an insurmountable barrier, repelling all the attackers.
Finally, the largest tent was lifted.
A colossal figure emerged from within. This kobold was more than three times taller than its counterparts, its entire body covered in dark brown scale armor, with eyes of dark red, holding a heavy stone hammer.
The aura of a Level 2 Peak emanated from it, causing the surrounding debris to vibrate slightly.
It glared at Duke, letting out a deep growl.
Duke stopped in his tracks.
The sandstorm slowly rotated around him, the dark golden sand stream flowing like a living being.
He looked at the kobold chieftain, not uttering a word.
The kobold chieftain raised its stone hammer and charged at him.
Each step thundered on the ground, causing rocks to fly.
The stone hammer, carrying terrifying power, aimed straight down at Duke’s head.
Duke raised his hand.
The sandstorm suddenly concentrated, forming a thick sand shield above him. frёewebηovel.cѳm
The stone hammer struck the sand shield with a dull thud.
The sand shield remained unmoved, yet the kobold chieftain was rebounded back several paces by the force.
It paused momentarily, then charged again. This time faster, fiercer.
The stone hammer carved an arc in the air, rushing with a whirring sound towards Duke’s side.
The sand stream automatically surged in that direction, blocking the attack once again.
The kobold chieftain attacked continuously over a dozen times, each time effortlessly thwarted by the sand stream.
Its breath began quickening, and its movements slowed down.
Those dark red eyes focused intently on Duke, letting out a deep growl, sounding as if it was squeezed from deep within its chest.
Unlike the previous bluffing roar, this one carried something more ancient, more primal.
Duke felt the ground beneath him start to tremble slightly.
The kobold chieftain’s body began to expand, muscles under its scales puffing up like they were inflating, with bones snapping and cracking.
Its height surged from three meters to four meters, five meters, seven meters, and its eyes turned completely blood red, no pupils, only two dark red flames burning.
The kobold chieftain’s claws embedded deeply into the ground’s rocks, with each breath exhaling a searing white mist from its nostrils.
The seven-meter-tall colossal beast lowered its head, staring at Duke, baring its mouthful of sharp fangs.
The Level 2 Peak aura surged to its extreme, almost solidifying.
Rubble was jolted into the air, and even the air trembled. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Duke lifted his head, observing the massive creature, his expression indifferent.
He raised his right hand, spreading his fingers, with his palm facing the sky.
A dark yellow light point gathered in his palm.
It was tiny, only as large as a fingernail, but as it appeared, the surrounding space began to subtly distort.
The debris scattered on the ground started to quiver, then slowly lifted, floating towards Duke’s palm.
They weren’t sucked in, but guided by an invisible force, orbiting like planets around a star.
