Second encounter

No one really knows how the Abyss came into existence. Even Brian Summersault, at the end of his career, wasn't sure about the origin of the Abyss, but one thing was certain: like humans, creatures from the Abyss weren't entirely made of flesh and blood. Their bodies were a strange mix of mana and other things which humans didn't exactly understand.

As a result, when they died, the mana present in their bodies would return to the atmosphere, and some small part of it would turn into miraculous crystals.

Dawn, who was hidden behind a soul nourishing pod, looking at the surroundings with a hawk-like gaze, suddenly noticed a small stone emitting sharp white light; the sharp glow was immediately noticeable in the dim environment of the cave.

Immediately, he muttered "Found it."

under his breath and looked around to see any signs of threats. Once Dawn confirmed the surroundings were clear, he slowly moved and rushed towards the crystal, his eyes filled with temptation.

Dawn was already somewhat used to crawling. After crawling for some time, his speed had also somewhat increased.

He was like a baby snake slowly crawling forward on the cold and damp ground.

But even these actions were really difficult for him as he hadn't really recovered; his head was still throbbing in pain, so using the new skill was also out of the question.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, forcefully pushing through the pain. Thankfully for him, after one minute he was directly on top of the glowing white crystal, and without hesitating, he picked up the crystal from the ground and held it tightly in his palm until a few windows popped up in his vision.

[Silver Grade Soul Power Crystal]

[Absorbing the crystal can permanently increase Soul Power by a certain amount.]

[Absorb the Soul Power Crystal]

[Yes/No]

Dawn's small, cute eyes flashed with ecstasy; indeed, Brian Summersault didn't lie—these crystals were indeed miraculous.

Once someone died in the Eternal Battlefield, they would leave behind various such crystals, containing skills, stat points, rare materials, and even miraculous treasures in some cases.

However, at this point, Dawn didn't care about anything else. Without hesitating, he chose yes, and immediately following his choice, the crystal in his hand turned into a stream of white particles which surrounded his body and disappeared.

[Soul Power increased by +0.9]

Dawn felt a cool and soothing sensation filling his heart; every pore in his body seemed to open up and scream in joy. The pain and tiredness that he felt disappeared like a puff of smoke on a windy day.

His body felt strong and refreshed as if he had just received the world's best massage from the greatest masseur the world had ever seen.

However, the feeling didn't last long and vanished as quickly as it came.

Dawn felt slightly lost and suddenly had the urge to hunt down all the Nether Wraiths present in the surroundings.

"If I'm in a Nether Wraiths colony, there are bound to be more of them..." Dawn muttered with a strange glint in his eyes.

He realized encountering Nether Wraiths wouldn't be hard.

But before that, he had to look at his stats.

"Status."

[Name - Dawn Skylar

Age - 18

Class - Superhero

Fighting power - Beginner Iron Grade Warrior

Soul Power - 2.3

Strength - 0.9

Agility - 1.1

Physique - 0.7

Skills -

Nine Abyss Laser Eyes Level 1, Suit of Righteousness and Eternal Valor Level 1.]

Dawn's heart was instantly filled with elation; he silently prayed to encounter another Nether Wraith as fast as possible.

He was also slightly relieved in his heart, now that he could grow stronger, the threat of hidden assasin also decreased slightly.

"Let's hide first, the commotion might attract even more trouble."

Thinking about certain things, Dawn hesitated for a moment before rushing back to his hiding spot.

Time continued to pass, and soon another hour passed in the blink of an eye, but there was no sign of any Nether Wraith nearby.

"Was I wrong earlier?" Dawn was starting to grow slightly impatient; he thought nearby Nether Wraiths would notice the commotion and would rush toward him in large droves.

In reality, the size of the Nether Wraiths colony was beyond Dawn's cognition; his simple actions just couldn't generate any waves in this gigantic structure.

Just as Dawn was about to give up and head back to reality, he noticed something cutting through the air and moving towards him at fast speed.

"Krokro, where are you, dammit?" a ghostly howl filled with boundless anger resounded throughout the cave like thunder.

Dawn, who was hiding behind the egg, was hit by a strong shock wave, causing his hair to flutter slightly.

"So strong," Dawn muttered with a look of trepidation on his face.

His heart was already in his throat. Dawn's instinctivly knew his actions of killing the Nether Wraith had finally been noticed.

The cave was dim and filled with an eerie atmosphere. Suddenly, the darkness some distance away from Dawn seemed to come to life and morphed into a giant Nether Wraith almost twice the size of the monster that Dawn had earlier killed.

This particular Nether Wraith's eyes glowed red in anger. "Why are you not here, you fucking insect?"

The air vibrated because of its furious shout; it became apparent to everyone that it was looking for the Nether Wraith that Dawn had killed.

Hiding behind the soul nourishing pod, Dawn swallowed his saliva and shivered.

He had a feeling the monster in front of him was twice as strong as the earlier one; he didn't have the confidence to kill it in one shot.

"Something is wrong... that son of a bitch Krokro is not here..." the Nether Wraith suddenly stopped shifting it's glowing eyes and looked ahead with a dazed look in its eyes as if it had just noticed something.

"What is this, traces of mana... hmm?"

Suddenly its form shifted and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared from Dawn's view.

Dawn, who was looking at it intently, suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart; the monster had definitely noticed his presence.

"Who are you?"

In the next moment, the pod that Dawn was behind exploded, sending blood and flesh flying in all directions.

Kruki was already angered by the sudden disappearance of his personal henchman Krokro, and now the abrupt appearance of this strange being left him perplexed.

Dawn didn't answer his question; he took a deep breath clenched his fists, his palms slick with sweat. He didn't have time to think. This was his only chance. 'Nine Abyss Laser Eyes,' he muttered, forcing his fear down."