Ren 2

He took one last deep breath before he stepped into the darkness, the echoing silence swallowing him whole. Obviously The hunt had begun.

The air inside the dungeon hung heavy with the stench of decay and damp earth. Water dripped from the cracked ceiling, each drop echoing in the oppressive silence.

Ren moved cautiously, his senses on high alert. His Imperator System's interface painted a ghostly overlay on his surroundings, highlighting suggested paths from the map Garret had given him which was rudimentary, little more than a suggestion of the labyrinthine tunnels ahead.

He didn't take long for the first Echoes to appeared almost immediately, grotesque, mutated rats, their eyes glowing with malevolent intelligence.

Ren didn't engage, he didn't need to. The whispering ones were echoes that rely on physical attacks, instead they would torment their prey mentally till he runs mad and that he was prepared for.

Just as expected, he began hearing annoying whispers and nagging sounds in his head, threatening to drive him insane. He didn't know when he spat mouthful of blood from the effect of their voices in his head.

Bitting his lip, he scanned his surrounding for anything he could exploit and luck was by his side. He threw his make shift weapon at a spot in the ceiling above them, triggering a small rockslide that buried the creatures alive.

It was a brutal method, but efficient. He couldn't afford to waste time or energy on minor threats.

Deeper into the dungeon, the Echoes will grow stronger and more numerous. He'll have to faced off against them all by himself, he rested a bit before going deeper into the dungeon. Naturally if others heard he challenged a dungeon all by himself

They would call him a mad man for he is God as dead, but for the whispering ones dungeon, a leeway could be made since this creatures rely mostly on mental attacks.

If you can withstand such attacks, such dungeon is a grinding ground for hunters going on a raid for fun.

Each encounter he faced was a test of his skill, his strategy, and his ability to control the environment around him. He was like a conductor of chaos, orchestrating the battlefield to his own advantage with his wit and quick thinking.

Thanks to his good level of physical prowess, he didn't find It hard to navigate this dungeon as long as he could out think his foe

The deeper he went, the more intense the whispers became. They weren't audible, but he felt them, insidious suggestions, doubts, fears, all designed to break his concentration, to weaken his resolve.

The Whispering One's influence was already reaching his broke limit, attempting to unravel his mind. Each battle becoming a testament of will and determination.

He pressed on, his willpower his only shield against the mental onslaught. Finally He reached a vast cavern, its center dominated by a single Whispering One, a towering, grotesque, mutated rats, shrouded in darkness, its eyes burning with an unholy light.

The creature didn't attack immediately just like the rest one before it. Instead, it began to whisper, its voice a symphony of insidious suggestions, designed to exploit Ren deepest fears and insecurities

It spoke of his family, his friends, his own mortality. It painted vivid images of failure, of loss, of death.

Ren gritted his teeth, his body trembling, but his mind remained resolute. He wouldn't succumb. He wouldn't break. He focused on his goal, on the power it held, on the future it represented.

He would not be defeated, He would claim what was rightfully his. Ren charged at the creature like a deranged lunatic

But it evade it's strike with ease and swiftness while it intensified it's whispering, a cacophony of voices assaulting his mind.

Images began flashing before his eyes, his family trapped in a collapsing building, his friends torn apart by Echoes, himself lying dead in the dust all the while The creature fed on his fears, attempting to break his resolve, to shatter his concentration.

Trapped in such illusion, Ren mind under go the breaking and remoulding process countless times. Only being able to shake off the whispering ones effects on him when is mind is at the verge of breaking down completely.

Ren held firm, He focused on his breathing, centering himself, drawing strength from his willpower. He visualized his System's interface, the cool, calm display a stark contrast to the chaos within his mind. He saw his stats, his ability showing unawakened, his plan. He would not be swayed.

He raised his head, his body tingling with the power of his will. A wild smile itched on his face as he had completely gone loco

He did something no one would dare with a whispering one, he forcefully established a mental link with the Whispering One. a tenuous connection that thrummed with raw willpower energy.

The creature recoiled, surprised by his audacity. It had expected resistance, but hadn't anticipated such a strong will.

Its eyes burns with malevolent intelligence. This one was different; it wasn't like the gaze he got when he first arrived here. the creature has decided not to rely solely on its mental attacks anymore.

it's claws scratches the hard floor creating a disturbing noise itching to the ear and it's gnatching of teeth didn't make it ever pleasant

The creature lunged, its claws slashing through the air, missing Ren by a hair's breadth. if Ren hadn't rolled aside at the last minute while using the rusty pipe in his hand to barely deflecting a vicious swipe from its tail after missing it mark.

he sure would have become a dead man by now, The Whispering One was fast, stronger, and far more agile than anything he had encountered before. not to mention he had next to zero experience in combating beasts or echoe

With his unawakened ability, he couldn't go on a hunt as the weakest beast might prove quiet difficult for him without any ability. Thanks to his little wealth he had been able to precure the numbers of upgrade crystals he needed all along until now

With little demands on unranked upgrade crystals, it isnt worth a fortune unlike the other grades upgrade crystals. But like every thing else, there is an end and right now he had run out of cash and options to further his growth.

The major reason he couldn't hire a raid party or get a good weapon, the last of his cash is what he paid Garret with earlier.

Looking at the state of the pipe just from one strike, he swallowed hard imagining what it would have felt like if that hit had landed on him.

This now is a physical battle, a brutal dance of death. He has to rely on his agility and intellect, dodging the creature's attacks while searching for openings.

Willpower alone doesn't cut out for this, he needs to outsmart the creature as His already outmatched in strength, but luckily for him, he was quicker, more cunning.

He used the environment to his advantage, using the cavern's uneven terrain to disrupt the creature's attacks. He lured it into narrow passages, forcing it to slow down, giving him precious moments to strike.

Each strike was a gamble, a desperate attempt to inflict damage while avoiding the creature's deadly claws and teeth. He was cut, bruised, bleeding, but he refused to yield. His willpower, honed in the countless mental battles, fueled his resolve.

His muscles were screaming out in defiance, every joint aching from the immerse pain of impact and continuous swing of the Rusty pipe

The Whispering One roared, its fury growing with each failed attack. Its becoming relentless, its attacks growing more ferocious, more precise.

pushing Ren to his limits, his stamina dwindling, his body screaming in protest cope with the deranged madness that threatened to devour his fortitude from overexertion of mental attacks.

He was close to defeat, his breath ragged, his vision blurring. He stumbled, nearly falling prey to the creature's claws. But at the last moment, he managed to regain his footing, his mind still sharp despite the physical exhaustion.

Just then He saw an opening, a tiny gap in the creature's defense, a fleeting moment of vulnerability. One he couldn't afford to miss for a second, no matter what sacrifice he had to pay, he sure would take the bait

He seized the opportunity, plunging his rusty pipe deep into the creature's side, aiming for a vital point he'd observed during their earlier exchange.

The Whispering One shrieked in pain, its body convulsing as it withdrew backwards in rage and pain. It lashed out wildly once again, hoping to take out the one that had caused it so much pain.

Ren prepared for this took the brunt of it's blow head on but its attacks were now weaker, less precise. Flinging hom against the other side of the cave, Ren cough out a mouthful of blood with a few of his bone broken

Ren ignore the wretching pain, spring to his feet and rolling side ways to avoid the creature follow up attack as he pressed his advantage forward, delivering a series of blows to the creature side, each one fueled by adrenaline and desperation.

He continued thrusting like a mad man till Finally, with a final, desperate thrust, he drove his pipe through the creature's heart.The Whispering One collapsed, its body twitching for a while before it finally went still.

Silence descended upon the cavern, broken only by Ren's ragged breathing and hiss of pain. He had won. He had defeated the Whispering One in a brutal, close-quarters battle and it was his first actual battle.

He collapsed to his knees, his body battered and bruised, but his spirit unbroken. He had faced death, and he had emerged victorious.

A crazy laughter escaped his lips, he laughed so loud one would only conclude he had gone haywire upstairs. After a while he calmed down, dragging his tired self to the side of the creature.

With Mastery precision he harvested the creature core, soon a crystals faint, flickering inner light rest in his hand with its unstable and often dimming quality.

Ren sigh seeing this crystal "I can't believe I almost lost my life for such a weak crystal" looking at the crystalslightly rough or pitted surface, indicating its lower quality and it's dull surface appearance with minimal sheen.

There is no doubt this is obviously an unranked upgrade crystals or best said, an unranked resonance crystals as it been known generally.

He took the Resonance Crystal and absorbed it straight away, leaving a pile of ash behind when the energy in it has been completely depleted

At the same time his system hummed in resonance, resonating with foreign energy that had just permitted his body.

He could feel the change going on within him as the system slowly began to evolve, this is a feeling he had heard about a lot in forums and media when people talked about evolving their system.

Since the requirements to upgrade ones system is crazy outrageous, not many can really upgrade their system. Resonance crystals can only be gotten from the boss of a dungeon and it takes a lot of raid team to take down one boss.

Not to mention the astronomus amount of resonance crystals need to upgrade ones system to the next level, a total of hundred same grade crystals of the user to evolve or a single high grade crystals higher than the users level.

All along he wasn't able to purchase an F-grade resonance crystals due to the high numbers of F-grade system users clamouring for upgrades, the price is crazy too.

Unranked is scares But still accessible since nobody really cares about it that much, how many unranked class users are there in the first place. But now the future, once shrouded in uncertainty, now lay before him, bright with potential.