'There's no telling when someone might find me…' Soren thought, his grip tightening on the damaged halberd, already mentally drawing on his now restored mana pool to try and restore the weapon.
Before his mana began to flow, however, he stopped, thinking to himself once again, 'What if they find me while I'm out of mana…?'
The mere thought alone brought a shiver to his spine.
It wasn't like he could handle more than one Aitherian at a time, he could barely handle one. But he felt much more comfortable if he had at least a decent amount of mana to use in case of emergency.
With that, he decided he would only repair the weapon a bit at a time, so as to ensure that he would at least get some progress on fixing it, even if the progress would be incredibly slow.
Using his [Atomic Manipulation] ability, Soren focused intently on mending the barely perceptible atomic fractures in the ancient blade of the weapon.
Soren felt like he never would have been able to notice the almost phantasmal tears in the weapon, if it wasn't for his new affinity to atomic energies, he likely would have still been clueless that the concept could be used in such a way.
Soren could feel the very air surrounding the blade of the weapon slowly shift through different states of matter as his ability seemed to directly change the atomic structure of the oxygen molecules.
He assumed the process would definitely get faster as he developed more with the ability, but he wasn't too worried about his current state, as it seemed like the ability didn't need his direct input to perform literal alchemy.
That was a nice plus.
Once the atomic structures of the previously oxygen molecules reached the necessary element, they seemed to almost melt into the atomic fractures, slowly bridging the gaps made by the tears.
Stopping the flow of mana, Soren decided that that would be enough for now, seeing as he had already spent 15 mana on just the small tears through the blade.
This was going to take a while at this rate.
He really needed to find a way off this damn ship.
Using the {Call Of The Void} skill, Soren allowed the weapon to be stored within the void as he opened the door, peeking out for a moment before fully exiting, a rapidly building irritation taking over him.
He was getting tired of having to sneak around so much, although he was hesitant to to start being reckless, seeing as his previous overconfidence cost him some fingers…
He had managed to attach the other two fingers while he was recovering his mana, but the mental trauma wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.
Looking right, down the hallway, Soren pushed down his hesitant feelings, even disregarding the feeling of his perception telling him of any possible nearby danger.
With a deep, calming breath, Soren allowed his eyes to lower shut. Somewhere deep inside of him was a hunger. A hunger to run head first into the danger with a daunting smile. A hunger for… power?
Soren didn't think of himself as someone to have such a basic want, but the feeling was pretty point blank.
Opening his eyes with an even deeper exhale, Soren readied himself before breaking into a full on sprint down the seemingly endless hallway.
Allowing his instincts to take over, Soren used his atomic ability to push the air out of his way, decreasing the air resistance massively, increasing his speed by a definite noticeable amount.
Already, the walls of the hall were starting to look a little blurry.
Deciding to push it a step further, Soren literally gave himself a spring in his step as he boosted himself forward a little bit each time his feet left the ground.
Now, it was getting a bit hard to see anything around him, but Soren didn't allow himself to panic, simply closing his eyes, actively using his [Minor Clairvoyance] ability to have at least a slightly better way to sense the things around him.
Having already been an above average height guy, Soren could already run pretty damn fast, but this was on a whole other level. He was definitely competing with the top speeds of high class athletes of the old world.
The best part about it was that his legs weren't getting tired almost at all, the decrease in air resistance doing wonders for him.
After what felt like almost a straight minute of running, Soren sensed a solid structure rapidly approaching.
Snapping his eyes open, Soren came face to face with a door. Seeing as crashing into it at the current speed he was going could probably kill him, Soren encased his entire body in a dense layer of air, using his atomic ability to yank himself backwards, his body feeling like it was being smashed against an anvil.
Soren was pretty sure he heard his bones creak under the massive change in momentum, the dense layer of air around him helping to stop himself from being flattened under the sudden stop of inertia.
Despite that, he managed to not smash face first into a door, going at unreasonable speeds.
That was a win in his book.
Cutting off his flow of mana, Soren took note of how much that whole ordeal cost him…
[Mana: 15/50..]
Welp, there went a majority of the mana he was hoping to save up.
Soren was debating whether or not he should wait and restore more mana, but his curiosity at the door in front of him was a bit too tempting.
Summoning his weapon back, Soren moved forward, allowing his instincts to take over, checking to see what type of vibe he got from behind the door.
Well, there was undoubtedly some form of danger behind the door, but Soren honestly didn't feel too deterred by that.
It kind of excited him actually.
Putting his hand at what he assumed was a doorknob, Soren twisted it, bending low as he pushed the door open, not wanting to be caught by surprise to a trap.
Before the door was even fully open, the first thing that he noticed was a musky scent, like the damp fur of a stray dog.
It was almost sickening, Soren needing to steady himself for a moment as he used his halberd to hold himself up.
With a thought, Soren covered his nose in a layer of condensed air, nearly completely getting rid of the foul stench.
The layer was a bit too thick for his liking, but he was sure he would be able to do better once he got more proficient with the ability.
Pushing the door open enough to see inside, Soren couldn't help but widen his eyes at the horrifying sight before him.
Rows upon rows of cages stuffed full to capacity with beasts of various sizes, seemingly haphazardly crammed within the bared cages.
'Are these the beasts that resided within the dungeons placed on Earth?', Soren thought, his instincts telling him to run away, his body, however, stayed rooted to his spot.
Soren had never actually seen the Dwellers of the dungeons in real life. Of course, growing up within this type of world, he was taught about their existence in school, but most ordinary people never really saw them unless a rift rupture occurred within their settlement.
The last time that happened in Soren's settlement, though, was before he was even born, and it had ended in the deaths of more people that could be spared.
His mother didn't like talking about it, seeing as his father was killed during the rift rupture, that being when the Dwellers inhabiting a dungeon would break their way out of the restraints placed upon them by the Aitherian race.
Their intelligence increased along with their power the longer they were allowed to roam.
While a dumb monster was already dangerous enough, an intelligent one that knew how to strategize and hide is far more menacing.
The only saving grace was that it only happened if a dungeon was completely left alone. Nowadays, rift ruptures seem incredibly rare around the populated parts of the world, as Saviors were careful to make sure a dungeon was being regularly cleared.
That wasn't the case for the now uninhabitable portions of the planet, however, as too many rift ruptures had happened at the start of the Aitherian races invasion, making large portions of the world having been taken over by elder beasts, Dwellers that which had grown to a point of intelligence that even high ranking Saviors had trouble dealing with.
If Soren had to guess, this was likely a part of the alien ship that they allowed the beast to breed before they used whatever method they had to place them in dungeons.
Taking a stroll around the room, Soren's eyes couldn't help but widen, as the cages full of beasts seemed to be endless.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the other side of the room, a wide set of double doors greeted him.
Seeing as there didn't appear to be anybody keeping watch of the room, Soren saw the caged Dwellers as a bunch of free EXP.
Making his way back over to the other side of the expansive room, Soren sent his halberd to the void, before sitting down a decent distance away from the cages.
…
A short time later, Soren's mana was fully restored.
Standing up, Soren stretched his body, summoning his weapon back. He was curious how the {Call Of The Void} skill could get any better.
It already seemed quite fast and convenient; Maybe a lower mana cost each time it ranked up?
Dismissing his thoughts, Soren didn't think getting too close to the cages was a good idea. It was a marvel the encaged beasts hadn't already been alerted by his presence.
He wouldn't push his luck.
Allowing his mana to flow, Soren could feel himself having already improved with his {Atomic Manipulation}. At first, it was like trying to read a book about rocket science… upside down.
But his control was already improving; He was starting to cut out the unnecessary bits of flowing his mana with the ability.
Focusing his intent on his halberd, Soren lifted it from his hands. It wasn't exactly telekinesis, but it looked a lot like it.
Other than his dream to become a Savior, Soren had always liked science, so he prided himself on his knowledge from his chemistry classes in school.
Still, even with that knowledge, Soren doubted even the smartest of people could control the ability with such ease, at least not as quickly.
Soren relied heavily on his enhanced instincts to guide him in his control. Crazy how his {Minor Clairvoyance} actually had some use.
Ensuring his aim was right, Soren launched his halberd forward, its long body sliding in between the bars of a cage, the spearhead sinking into the skull of a slumbering wolf-like beast.
The creature could barely let out a cry before its brain shut down.
[Unknown D-Rank Dweller vanquished!
New entity killed, bonus Exp rewarded!
+35 Exp!]
Hm, it seemed the system wouldn't provide the name for the creature. Maybe it based the name off of what the user identified it as…?
Seeing as the creature resembled a wolf, Soren decided to dub them 'Mutated Wolves'.
Checking his mana pool, Soren was delighted to see that he had barely used any mana,
[Mana: 45/50…]
It was still a decent chunk, but it was definitely an improvement from how he had been using it previously. Granted, it wasn't like he had done anything too crazy.
As Soren thought of more ways to cut down on mana usage, he couldn't help but notice as the other creatures within the cage didn't seem too phased by the killing of their kin. Actually, wait, that couldn't be right…
Staring wide-eyed in shock, Soren could barely stifle a gasp as he watched the other Mutated Wolves begin tearing at the limbs of their brethren.
They didn't seem too dismayed by the fountains of blood that sprouted from the dead creature's previously attached legs, as they languidly tore through their spoils with sickening crunches.
They even bit through the bones.
Some were ravenous as they dug into their kin's flesh, pushing others aside in their revere, others were slow and patient as they even swallowed down the damp, matted fur of the corpse.
Any reservations he may have had before for killing the beasts in their sleep was tossed aside, as Soren jerked his hand back, his halberd taking the creature's head with it as it flew back towards him.
*Clang*
The Mutated Wolf's skull slammed against the bars, far too big to fit between the narrow gap, the spearhead of his halberd barely perturbed as it slid from the creature's skull, the handle crashing with a bit too much force into Soren's open hand.
Watching as the creatures weren't very concerned by the noise, he saw a young Mutated Wolf clutch the decapitated head of its kin, its tiny claws shredding through the flesh, dicing it into sizable chunks.
What a cruel world Soren lived in…