Level Up: Voidwalker

He gazed around only deep ravines and mountain ledges hanging over steep slopes that dropped into a dark chasm. Atlas spotted a pathway down and summoned his armor while readying weapons; he noticed the chest piece was still ripped, but the material started repairing itself.

\'So handy to have a repairing rune,\' Atlas mused. \'Glad I bought this armor; it will be useful for years.\'

Following that, Atlas pulled out the Night Blade and slowly made his way down the side of the mountain path until he reached some foothills. He glanced around and saw a waterfall crashing into a massive lake in the distance, reminding him of a tundra.

\'This place is quiet but looks peaceful,\' he mused while looking around. \'But the monsters will appear sooner than later.\'

Absently, Atlas approached the crystal-clear water and caught sight of his reflection. He was taken aback, as his appearance never failed to surprise him. He looked both ethereal and exceptionally handsome with his strikingly short white hair, pointed ears, and glowing azure eyes.

\'There was no one like me on Earth, not even close. But I prefer this look over my old one,\' he thought.

While admiring himself, Atlas saw a notification pop up with a message.

[Welcome to level two, Voidwalker! I hope you beat this level, but I must warn you that it will be harder as the monsters are stronger than the Void Raptors]

After reading that, he heard a bellowing roar echo across the landscape and bounced off the surrounding mountains, making him spin around in alarm while looking at all the peaks, but he saw nothing.

The foothills appeared empty, but something inside Atlas told him that the Void Realm\'s second-level monsters were closing in on his position, \'I think the creatures want to fight me and are rushing in my direction,\'\' he pondered with a smile.

Atlas readied his blades just as he noticed a sea of rubble falling close by. He looked up and was shocked when spotting a group of bears sliding down the mountainside while eyeing him like their dinner.

\'Damn bears! This is going to be tough,\' Atlas thought while readying to fight them.

They were the size of black bears from Earth but looked more vicious and savage-looking. The creature\'s fur was as black as the night sky, and its body had glowing blue stripes, causing him to become shocked at its ferocious nature.

He noticed their glowing blue eyes piercing through the dim light of the mountain shadows that overshadowed the foothills. \'They look strong and share the same colored eyes as me,\' he thought with concern.

That\'s when he spotted the monster\'s sharp claws as they dug into the stone beneath them, causing sparks to fly as the creatures moved. One unleashed a roar that sent a shiver down Atlas\'s spine, \'Oh god, it looks like I\'ll have to get used to fighting monsters now.\'

Regaining his composure, Atlas quickly scanned the newcomers to see how strong they were.

[Savage Void Bear]

[Rank: E+]

\'Let\'s go! I need to get stronger to survive in this world,\' Atlas psyched himself as the first bear reached him.

The monster swung its claws to remove his head, but he leaned back before quickly counterattacking. Atlas moved to the side as he lunged at the monster\'s chest; he plunged the Night Blade into it and cast a Void Blast into its body, causing it to explode just as the others reached him.

Atlas constantly used Void Step to dodge the bear\'s attacks while striking the savage bears with his blades and magic. A battle soon erupted in the foothills as he butchered the crazy monsters rushing at him.

By the time he finished the last Savage Void Bear of the group, Atlas was out of breath and low on mana but was happy with the outcome as a notification popped up.

[Savage Void Bear: 4994/5000]

[??????]

[??????]

[??????]

\'Bears! It had to be Winnie the Pooh\'s evil cousins, but I have to discover the other three monsters to get the information,\' he snickered.

Atlas resumed traveling through the foothills and had to climb back up the mountains. As he did that, a noise caught his attention. This caused him to look up, only to jump in fright as a massive blue bear fell toward him.

He tried to cast Void Step to escape, but the bear let out a horrifying roar that stopped his body from moving. The monster slammed into him like a truck, kicking him out of the Void Realm as his first go at level two failed, which he found amusing.

His eyes opened only to see the boulder above him and the tent to his right. \'It had to be bears, but this will be fun. I can\'t wait to see the three other monsters, bet they will be much stronger than the Void Raptors.\'

Once Atlas thought that, he decided to start a fire due to it being cold outside as the air was making him shiver even through his enchanted cloak; following that decision, he began to dig a small hole before poking his head out of the hole to check if the area was clear.

When he realized nothing was around, he crawled through the forest and looked for wood to start a fire. Soon, he realized he was in another forest, with tall trees, dark green leaves stretching out in all directions, and thick foliage.

Bushes blocked the view thanks to growing all over the place. \'Hopefully, the Achaemenidians aren\'t nearby; I don\'t want to fight those stupid Nightowls,\' he thought while searching.

Following that, Atlas started collecting an armful of dried wood and returned to his hideaway to get warm. While strolling through the trees and bushes, he spotted a torch in the distance, which worried him, but that was when he realized the enemy was nearby.

The lights were slowly closing in on the crevice he was staying in. He narrowed his eyes as he equipped his helmet from storage and stashed the wood in his hiding spot for later. Atlas guessed they would find it as they were determined to capture him again.

Atlas knew he needed to confront the threat before they could discover his location, \'This isn\'t good; I need to deal with them before they find me.\'

Once he had done that, he rushed into the bushes and slowly approached the soldiers searching for him with paranoid expressions. It took him ten minutes to reach the large group of enemy troops.

That\'s when he managed to get a better look at the thirty Achaemenidians walking down a Monster Trail as they scanned their surroundings. They were clad in leather armor and helmets that shielded their vital areas.

\'Hunters most likely, but they are heavily armed to be normal people.\'

Most carried curved swords and shields, though a few wielded spears and slings as they looked around nervously. All the enemy soldiers towered over Atlas at a height that worried him for a second, but then an idea came to him.

But this would mean he must aim for their lower halves when attacking. While sitting there, Atlas watched as they started to pass the bush he was hidden in, which made him internally chuckle, \'They don\'t even know I\'m here.\'

He readied the Night Blade and Blood Knife as the last soldier was closing in on his position. When the Achaemenidian came close, he burst out. The soldier\'s eyes widened in shock as Atlas severed his ankles with a quick slash, sending him crashing to the ground with a pained cry.

\'Now to kill him before he can alert the others,\' Atlas thought before driving his blade through his neck, which silenced them. With the sound of footsteps approaching, he quickly vanished into the underbrush, his movements smooth and deliberate as he melted back into the shadows.

The other soldiers appeared with panicked expressions as the commander looked at his dead comrade. He watched them from another bush as the man angrily shouted, \'\'Split up in groups of three and find the demon! The emperor personally sent us to capture or kill him.\'\'

Atlas watched as the soldiers split up and started to walk through the forest as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. While there, he used Void Sight on some enemies to check out their strength.

[Farid]

[Level: 113]

[Rank: Adept]

[Rostam]

[Level: 189]

[Rank: Adept]

[Omid]

[Level: 143]

[Rank: Adept]

\'Not too strong, but they aren\'t weaklings either,\' he thought as the excitement soared. \'I will ambush them to get the upper hand.\'

When thinking that, Atlas watched as the soldiers vanished into the forest before rushing after the first group while keeping low to the ground. As he came close to the three enemies, he readied his weapons.

\'Here we go!\'

Atlas swiftly slashed through two soldiers\' ankles before launching a Void Arrow at the third, who was caught off guard. The spell quickly pierced the metal armor, sending the man crashing to the ground alongside his stunned comrades.