NOVEL NEXT After Slaughter
The Abyssal Dark Wolves were just Low-Stage Tier 1 Abyssal Creatures, the lowest in the food chain. They were normal wolves found on Earth that had been corrupted by Abyssal Radiations.
They were the perfect target for newly Awakened individuals, posing a good threat while still being easy to defeat if one played their cards right.
So, for someone like Arthur, who had slain thousands of such wolves already, it was an easy task despite having Awakened only a few hours ago.
After all, the Abyssal Dark Wolves didn't have any abilities or skills. They relied solely on their physical strength, which was enhanced by the Abyssal Energy to fight. Their fangs, however, were terrifying.
Arthur met the wolf head-on as he got very close to it and slashed upwards with his sword, clashing the razor-sharp fangs against his cold steel blade.
"Heh, let's see how the enchantment does," Arthur thought as he planted his feet firmly on the ground, pushing back the wolf with all his strength. Then, he used the [Abyss Nullification] ability of the sword and slashed at the wolf.
The wolf pounced on Arthur again but received a slight cut on its side from Arthur's strike. The wound wasn't deep, but it seemed to weaken the wolf somehow.
Arthur grinned as he maneuvered behind the wolf and pierced its stomach. He had learned what he wanted to know, so there was no use in wasting time on it.
[Congratulations on Killing a Low-Stage Tier 1 Abyssal Dark Wolf.]
[You have gained 0.1 Soul Fragments.]
The wolf's body dropped to the ground as the remaining wolves lunged at him. But the following battles were merely a warm-up for Arthur, who easily dealt with all four of them.
He danced in the dark night, reaping the lives of Abyssal Dark Wolves. The slaughter continued for more than an hour as more and more Abyssal Dark Wolves came out for his blood.
But just like their brethren, their fate was the same.
After about three hours, Arthur sat in a small cave he had found. He had his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell, his head covered in sweat and blood, and his hands completely coated in crimson.
After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and lit a small candle for illumination. Many artifacts could help with illumination and other mundane tasks, but unfortunately, he didn't have those.
He simply relied on the dim light of the candle to remove his gloves and eat a piece of meat he had brought with him. He knew this luxury would last a few days before he had to resort to eating the meat of Abyssal Creatures, which was only palatable if cooked properly.
After filling his stomach and restoring his energy, he took out the Abyss Destroyer and looked at its dark blade with interest. It was far better than he had imagined.
A wide smile appeared on his face as he recalled his earlier observations. "It has some limitations, but overall it's fantastic. It doesn't actually nullify the Abyssal Energy; it just makes it fluctuate a lot. The effect is weak, so it only works on lower-tier creatures since they lack good control over the Abyssal Energy. Higher-tier Abyssal Creatures have better control and can brush off the fluctuations. Hmm, I can solve this problem in the future. Hehe. This is the best thing."
He kissed the dark blade in happiness. The sword had its limitations, as it needed to be close to the Abyssal Energy to fluctuate it. For example, like what Arthur did with the Abyssal Dark Wolves.
The enchantment didn't take effect until he had injured the wolves with his sword. Only through the wound made by the Abyss Destroyer was he able to activate the enchantment.
Naturally, if the wolves had attacked him with some ability, the enchantment would have activated automatically.
"Sadly, this won't work on the Voidborns—forget about the big guy. I doubt he even uses that Abyssal Energy as his source, or even that strange Void Energy. Well, it doesn't matter; it'll be the best weapon in Elferia."
Nodding in satisfaction, Arthur sent the sword back to his System Core, watching it disintegrate into particles of light.
After that, he muttered in a low voice, "Status!"
[Name - Arthur Stark] [Age - 18] [Rank - Novice] [Level - 1] [Soul Fragments - 2.1/100] [Path - ] [Skills - ] [Artifacts - Abyss Destroyer.]
Looking at the number of Soul Fragments, Arthur felt an urge to smash his head against the walls. He had killed a total of 21 Abyssal Dark Wolves, which took a lot of time and energy, and what did he get? A measly 2.1 Soul Fragments.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Arthur tried to soothe himself, but it was really irritating. He wanted to reach the peak of the Novice Rank in one week, but was it even possible with such a subpar system?
"I still have the Soul Cores. I can absorb them," Arthur tried to cheer himself up as he glanced sideways at a small heap of crystals, which were the Soul Cores of Abyssal Dark Wolves.
They were perfectly spherical in shape and as dark as if true darkness had come to reside within them. Their size, however, was very small, only about an inch in diameter.
"Well, time to absorb these," Arthur sighed and picked up five of the Soul Cores.
It was strongly advised not to absorb too many Soul Cores at once due to the dangers they posed. But Arthur was too annoyed to care about those threats.
He simply placed the Soul Cores in his palm and sat in a meditative position. Then, he crushed the five Soul Cores at once, and the Soul Energy inside began to leak, filling the cave like a white mist.
But it couldn't escape, as a strong suction came from Arthur, drawing in the entire mist.
Arthur sighed as he felt his consciousness sink in, thinking, "Time to properly absorb them."