Level Up: Voidwalker

Atlas still dashed around like a rabbit while dodging the Tidebreaker's pincers. He started casting Void Blasts into the monsters' bodies, which sent them flying as the spells were too much for the creatures.

It took him an hour to clear the crabs from the beach, which allowed him to collect all the twenty-five Rank F mana cores he could find. Atlas looked over the carnage and wondered where the monsters came from, 'Maybe a sea dungeon? The book did say they exist all over Valoria.'

Once he had collected all the cores and stored them away, Atlas remembered the quest item with a sigh, ''I've got to grab some of the claws to prove to the guild I completed the mission,'' he muttered while approaching the first monster.

With that, he started pulling the claws of the Tidebreaker's corpses before sending them to his storage. It took him some time to find more, but he cut off a lot of meat from the still-intact crabs once he found enough.

Then, Atlas headed southeast to collect the Blue Seawood for the last quest. He soon made it to a road toward the street the inn was on. he started traveling down and saw dozens of merchants traveling along it while minding their own business.

It took him thirty minutes to reach where the seawood was, and the beauty and eeriness of the landscape took him aback. Atlas glanced at the beach, covered in hundreds of tidepools with the waves lapping nearby; the whole scene was nice but soon started to give him an eery feeling.

Atlas shook his head before stepping onto the soft sand. He felt himself sink slightly into the ground with each step but maintained a steady pace, careful not to linger in one place for too long.

His eyes sharpened as he approached the first pool of water. 'This should be easy,' he mused.

Activating his Void Sight, he thoroughly scanned the area, ensuring no hidden threats. Satisfied with nothing, he quickly stepped into the water and pulled the seaweed. It was a dark blue and smelt sweet, confusing Atlas, but he ignored it and stored it before collecting the rest.

It took him minutes to collect a heap of seaweed, meaning he only had to gather a little more. While doing that, Atlas heard a horrifying scream that belonged in a horror movie, which made him jump out of his skin.

He spun around to see a creepy humanoid figure crawling out from one of the tidepools. 'What the hell are these things? Why is it always me finding the creepy monsters?'

The creature was taller than him and had long black seaweed-like hair that obscured its face. Atlas was spooked, but he scrambled out of the tide pool as it approached. He noticed its sickly blue skin, which looked rotten, and some parts were covered in fish scales.

That's when Atlas spotted the creature's claws flexing like it was getting ready to attack, which caused him to use Void Sight on the monster to find its strength.

[Sea Hag]

[Rank: D - 300 Exp]

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'Oh god,' he thought before casting a Void Blast at it.

The thing raised its hand and blocked the spell with a wall of water that appeared out of nowhere, taking him by surprise. Atlas rushed forward, wanting to catch the creature off guard, which he did.

As he closed in on it, he cast Void Step and vanished; the Sea Hag was bewildered, frantically scanning the surroundings. Confused, the creature failed to see the azure arrow streaking through the air just as it struck its torso with a forceful impact.

The spell burrowed through its scaled body and flew out of the other side, causing blood to splatter the sand below. Atlas managed to kill the Sea Hag, but then a powerful spell hit him, violently crashing across the ground and skidding across the sand until he collided with a dune.

'Aghhh! What was that,' he thought while sitting up and rubbing his head, only to see a second Sea Hag creeping its way over to him while making a bizarre chittering noise. As it got closer, Atlas saw the creature's red eyes full of malice and cruelty that sent chills down his spine.

Atlas cast a Void Blast, anticipating the beast would block it. That's when he sent a dozen Void Arrows behind the first spell him, surprising the creature, 'Try to defend against this!'

When the Sea Hag brought up its water wall, which blocked the Void Blast, when the spell vanished, it instantly dropped the shield, only to be peppered with several azure arrows that punctured its body, causing it to let out a death screech.

Atlas exhaled while standing on wobbly legs, making him feel like a baby giraffe. He stretched his body before approaching the Sea Hag to find its Monster Core, but with no knife, he couldn't loot them, so he left them behind.

With an achy body, he collected even more Blue Seaweed before returning to the nearby road that led back to the guild. While walking, Atlas pulled out the paper Estelle gave him to look at the weapon store's address and decided to buy something new as he had enough gold coins.

Following that, he walked toward the city's main square and spotted a street where the weapon shop was. Atlas walked down it and finally saw the generic fantasy store that would be found in any novel or anime.

Atlas paused to observe the entrance, which featured two large windows flanking a central door. People were constantly going in and out. 'It looks busy; hopefully, they have what I need,' he thought as he approached the door.

After a couple had left, he entered the shop and was amazed by the inside, where racks of countless weapons, including swords, spears, and many others, were displayed. Atlas started looking around for short swords and knives that he could use.

While searching, Atlas glimpsed a group of adventurers a little bit older than him looking at one of the displays, excitement radiating. He shook his head before finding the section with the short swords and saw a dozen blades on the weapon rack.

Atlas started searching for something he'd like and found nothing; he continued to look for ten minutes until a woman's voice said, ''What are ya looking for, boy?''

He spun around and noticed a dwarf standing there who was taller and more muscular than him even though she was a woman; this sight shocked him and showed on his face, causing the woman to chuckle, ''First time seeing a dwarf, ay? Ya been living under a rock, elf?''

She had short brown hair and yellow eyes; he noticed the woman was wearing overalls and was covered in soot. 'They look exactly like the ones from all the media on Earth, but she didn't have a beard,'

Atlas thought before shaking his head and answering. ''I'm looking for a short sword I could use.''

The woman nodded with a smile, ''I see. Why do ya want one of those? Dual-wielding?''

''Yes. I also want to use a knife, and I'm not an elf despite the ears,'' Atlas replied.

She didn't answer and stared at him with narrowed eyes before commenting, ''Your eyes are unique. I've never seen a glow like that.''

Atlas was baffled as that statement came out of nowhere, but the dwarf woman continued, ''What race are you then? Half-elf?''

''Voidborn, I've been told it's rare,'' he answered.

The woman looked confused as she spoke, ''I've never heard of it, but I know there is a combination I could recommend. It would be a good fit for ya, boy.''

Atlas nodded, prompting the dwarf to head to a rack and select a sword resembling a gladius. He watched as she moved to another rack filled with knives, chose a longer blade, and walked back to Atlas.

She handed over the weapons, saying, ''These will be useful to ya as they are built to endure and fit perfectly with someone who uses speed like I assume ya do little one.''

When Atlas examined the weapons, one in particular caught his attention: a Gladius with a bone handle. What intrigued him most was its blade—a beautiful blue shade that seemed to glow under sunlight, adding to its appeal.

Next was the knife that resembled a bayonet combat knife with the same bone handle and a blue similar to the Gladius, which caused him to ask the dwarf, ''What's with the blue metal and bone handle? They are beautiful.''

She beamed before explaining, ''Star Metal and the bone is from an elder dragon. Ma Grandfather was a renowned Blacksmith in the Wildheart Kingdom, ya know, but he saw the writing on the wall many years ago and left to settle here in Volantis.''

Atlas nodded before looking at the two weapons in his hands and felt something just as a blue glow radiated off them, shocking the dwarf woman as the blades connected with him somehow.

The bright glow caught everyone's attention, including an older dwarf man who shouted, ''Darla! Bring the boy to the backroom.''

''Come on,'' Darla said while grabbing his arm and dragging him across the shop floor as he couldn't keep his eyes off the blades.

Soon, he found himself standing in a stockroom with stacks of crates as the older dwarf man pointed at him with narrowed eyes, ''Ya have the Voidwalkers Class, don't ya boy?''

Atlas stared at the old man before nodding, ''Yes. How did you know?''