Wrath of the Re-climber

"I wasn't expecting this..." Murmured Ethan as he looked at the special skill ruin that dropped out.

"This is understandable, at least; this guy was different from the others, " He casually said, looking down at the corpse of a lizard who was slightly bigger with grey scales.

"A variant species," He suggested; variants are species that seek a different part in evolution, and this led to a mutation occurring all over the body of the said entity, and this sight wasn't pleasant.

"If I remember, the Akaran believe in such a path of evolution." He thought of those troublesome entities he would have to face in the higher realms.

"This guy dropped quite a treasure, a ruin germ, and a skill ruin, different from the cores which should be dropped... Is the ugly creature planning something?" Ethan sat on the dead lizard's head and thought of what to do.

"What did you get?" Asked Katnese, Ethan looked up at her, 'she went through some harsh training, good, she seems to be growing decently' thought Ethan.

"These..." Ethan pointed at the chiming stones; this stunned everybody; from how shining it looked, it should be precious, and indeed, it was; for the beginner level, it was like having a legendary weapon in a noon camp.

Damian and the rest looked at it with greed; Ethan picked the ruined stone portraying the symbol of endurance; he absorbed it, and, looking at his stats of endurance that jumped to ten, he nodded with satisfaction.

"At a certain point, we would be left to choose where to attribute our stats, I thought of maxing to easily increase endurance, but this would help me manage time"

"Wait, why did you absorb it that fast!" Shouted Dimitri; he glared at Ethan, "You're being selfish," He said.

"You need to eat what you work, kid," said Ethan; he picked up the skill and looked at them.

"Kid?" Dimitri was shocked by that statement coming out from the mouth of this guy, he was older, "how there...!"

Dimitri went quiet when he saw Ethan handing the other ruin over; however, he was not free...

"I would take ten cores for this ruin skill," Said Ethan; this shocked everybody, including Katnese.

"The price is too much," said the quiet boy at the back; Damian shook his head, "can't you reduce the amount?" He asked; Ethan shook his head, rejecting the demand.

"I can be cheap with this; it's a valuable source of strength. I can't handle it that easily," Said Ethan. Damian gritted his teeth but had no word; he knew, but after becoming slightly stronger, he could feel it.

'strong'

He was exuding something terrifying, any wrong move, and I would be dead; they all felt it, including Lauren, who started thinking about whether she should follow Ethan or get stronger and leave.

"Can I borrow?" Said Patricia; Ethan looked towards her and smiled.

"Sure, but be sure to pay," said Ethan; she came forward and handed her share of cores she hadn't absorbed; in the group, she is definitely the weakest.

"I have five cores," She said; Ethan nodded; that was the exact amount she got since she started hunting.

Lauren gritted her teeth in anger, "this bitch, that's why she was weak and did not do much; she is using that boy," she Thought.

"Here, have it." Ethan gave it to her and took the cores; Patricia absorbed the skill.

[Piercing gaze]

A skill that paralyzed an opponent for a brief moment, the issue was, that it needed mana to activate it, if not, the effect would just be someone glaring murderously at another person, thought it sufficient to give the user a margin of seconds to strike the opponent, it was a good skill in the beginner zone, because, it was a skill aimed at hunting humans.

Ethan walked away, looking at his status, which had grown a lot; he wasn't satisfied; he needed to collect enough stones from the last floor.

"Aren't you Africa she would pay?" Asked Katnese, glancing at Patricia, absorbing the skill in front of the envious gaze of others.

"She would pay; penalties are kind of costly in this world," Ethan smiled, pushing the door to the next floor ahead.

Kyaaaaa!

A scream Burst out of the tunnel, and everybody's face paled out at the threatening scream.

"The clickers," Murmured Ethan; things were becoming serious; the more dangerous the situation was, the greater the reward; he took out the lizard sword short word and his poison sword.

"Is time to farm some cores? " He walked into the abyss, leaving the rest behind; Katnese clenched firmly on her sword and followed behind.

"If those things are dangerous, killing one may give out something precious," Said Damian; he looked at the extra-large lizard Ethan killed and came up with a conclusion.

"It's like a game; the stronger the monster, the greater the reward granted," He said; Lauren and the rest nodded and then rushed inside the dark tunnel.

Soon, clashing sounds were heard followed by monster wailing and the grunt and screams of people.

*

{Ethan Grimm}

[Stats]

[Strength: 113

Speed:134

Dexterity:123

Endurance:120](+5 ruin stone)

[Blessing: Vampirism]

He took a deep breath and walked towards the elevator; everybody looked at him like he was a monster; at the beginning of the fight, it was clear that this creature was strong, but he shredded them apart with bare hands, took damage, and paid back by killing it's target.

"He is crazy" Thought Lauren.

She wasn't the only one who thought so; most importantly, he no longer looked like a twelve-year-old boy; his height grew, same as his size, and he looked like a youth now.

"Those things were a pain," Thought Ethan; he kept on receiving damages from their constant wails, which slowed him down; at least I dealt with them, and now it was a serious matter.

He pressed the door to the elevator...

Ding!

He entered the elevator and was ready to go down when he saw something amusing, 'these kids are funny' he clenched his sword.

"You stop there," He said, Damian and the rest were confused.

"What do you mean stop?" Asked Damian, Katnese too was confused, Damian answered, "Only one person can go past the fifth level to the sixth, you are not coming "

It took a moment for the group to understand, but it was clear...

Monopoly over power.

That was it; to get stronger, Ethan would have to swallow everything in the beginner zone to get ready for the Apex war at the summit, and most importantly, the elevator was designed to bring only one person to the bottom.

"You bastard, you are showing your real face finally!" Shouted Dimitri; everybody wasn't pleased with the decision to stay back; if even Ethan was asking them to stay back, there should be something good down there.

As they descended towards the fifth floor, it was clear that Ethan knew this place and everything; he acted strange and was strong in their conclusions.

He can see the future, or he is someone from the future or a past being, they thought, but Katnese believed it to be perfectly possible; she had known Ethan longer than everybody here and was certain that this person wasn't the same person he knew.

Visor!

Ethan pointed his sword at Dimitri, who took a step forward, "if you do not value your limbs, you may come forward," said Ethan casually.

Dimitri was stubborn; he thought Ethan wasn't manly enough to try and attack a friend; he grinned, "Don't be that selfish; let's forget those days we bickered together." His leg came forward; that was the worst thing he should have done.

The atmosphere became dark, and the surroundings turned pitch dark as Dimitri's vision's vision focused on a particular place.

Red eyes, the scarlet eyes, stared inside his soul and shredded him apart to pieces; in that brief moment, he died.

Dimitri kneeled on the floor, gasping for oxygen; his body trembled and spasmed nonstop, and everybody was shocked by the reaction.

"What did he do?" Asked Lauren; she looked at the elevator closing as Ethan had disappeared, "Hunt the remaining monster while going up," He said before the elevator closed.

"He tried, no, he killed me; how am I not dead, haha?" Dimitri lost his cool and looked at the floor; Damian looked at the closed elevator, "I want that strength," He thought.

"You're going too far, Ethan," Thought Katnese; she was the first to turn back and get ready to hunt down the beast on the upper floors.