Ding!
[Congratulations to Sam Walker for leveling up to Level 6 of the Novice Rank!]
Ding!
[Congratulations to Sam Walker for leveling up to Level 7 of the Novice Rank!]
After learning his new skill, Sam continued pressing forward, cutting down every undead creature in his path.
The result was immediate. With each swing of his [Primordial Sword], he cleared groups of monsters, and in return, the experience kept flowing in like a river.
Two more levels, just like that.
It turned out that the rift was perfect for him, not just because the monsters were all high-level, but because there were so many of them.
The deeper he pushed into the graveyard, the more undead appeared to stop him. And yet none of them could even slow him down.
The sheer quantity of enemies might have overwhelmed any other novice awakener, but not Sam.
With the raw power of his sword and his [Forsaken] rank skills, he carved through them effortlessly.
If anything, the flood of monsters only helped. The Primordial class required him to fight enemies technically stronger than him in order to evolve further, and this rift was handing them to him on a silver platter.
Slash!
Another clean strike. The sword carved through bone like butter, the shockwave from the swing rattling the undead nearby and shaking the dirt under his feet.
Sam kept moving, undeterred. The cathedral was getting closer. Based on how many monsters he'd already cut down, he figured he could maybe gain one or two more levels before reaching the final area.
'If I want to reach level 10 before advancing, I'll probably need to do something else after this,' Sam thought.
Still, he couldn't complain. Every kill made him stronger.
And each time he absorbed a monster's essence, the same thought would echo in his mind.
'More.'
It was an addictive feeling, power surging into him with each enemy slain. The corrupted undead were perfect fuel.
He didn't stop until—
Swish! BAM!
Suddenly, a faint flash appeared around him, and an invisible dome shimmered briefly in the air, just for a second. His [Eternal Barrier] had triggered.
'It's been hit.'
Sam immediately froze. His eyes narrowed. He turned in place, searching. But nothing.
He scanned the area again. There were no enemies nearby. Nothing in the fog. No monsters. No threats in sight.
That could only mean one thing.
"A boss," Sam muttered, instantly switching into a combat stance.
He knew he still had 49 hits left before the barrier shattered, but he didn't want to waste even one of them.
If the boss could bypass his line of sight and land a clean strike on him without even revealing itself, that meant it was dangerous. And maybe worse, it was smart.
Sam stood still for a few minutes, eyes sharp, breathing quiet. He waited, prepared for anything.
But before the boss showed itself again… he heard something else.
Footsteps. Distant, staggering, uneven.
Sam turned. And there they were, the squad of ten novice awakeners who had entered the rift earlier. Except now… there were only seven.
"This was... our worst mistake..." one of them mumbled.
"As soon as we get out of here, I'm going through with my advancement task. Screw being weak..." another groaned.
"Ah shit... we're the only ones left now. Please tell me the boss isn't worse than the rest..."
Three of them had already died.
And that was with Sam unintentionally helping them by wiping out the undead ahead. Without him, they might've all been wiped out before making it halfway through.
"Look, it's that kid," one of them pointed ahead. "He's still alive."
"What the hell? Wasn't he level 4? How?!"
Sam could feel their [Inspect] skills being used on him.
"He's level 7 now?! That doesn't explain how he made it this far while we lost three people..."
"Who cares, maybe we cleared most of the way and he just got lucky."
Sam raised an eyebrow at that.
He was ahead of them. Logically, that should mean he was the one clearing the path, not the other way around. But he didn't spend too long trying to understand their logic, it didn't matter.
Instead, he turned his attention back to the real problem: the boss.
"Why's he just standing there?"
"Too scared to move, maybe?" another chuckled. "I love seeing cocky newbies get what they deserve."
Sam's eyes darted again, carefully checking every angle.
And then—
Fwish! Slash!
A dark aura surged behind the group. A figure suddenly appeared, floating just above the ground, holding a massive curved scythe. Silent and ominous.
Sam saw it before anyone else.
"Damn," he muttered.
SWASH!
The reaper swung its scythe with one fluid motion, cleanly decapitating two of the remaining awakeners.
"HOLY SHIT?!"
"OH MY GOD!"
Screams erupted. Panic followed. The group backed away in terror.
Sam, however, saw his chance.
---
[Grave Reaper (Corrupted Boss)]
[Level: 10]
[Description: A reaper that oversees all undead in this cemetery. Killing it will stop the undead from rising.]
[Hell-Mode Analysis: It can become invisible. Keep it in your sight at all times.]
---
He didn't hesitate.
Sam dashed forward like a blur, sword drawn, eyes locked on the reaper as it tried to vanish again.
Fwish!
The reaper raised its scythe, attempting to deflect, but—
BAM!
The sheer force of Sam's strike released a wave of energy, knocking the nearby awakeners backward and stunning the reaper mid-motion.
It staggered for just a second. That was enough.
"You're a boss," Sam grinned, "But you're still not strong enough."
He swung again—faster, sharper—and the reaper's head was gone before it could vanish.
The body fell silently to the ground.
A fight that could have taken an entire party over half an hour ended in less than five seconds.
Fwish!
Sam absorbed the reaper's core. Energy surged inside of him… but no level up.
'Tch. Figures.'
Still, he wasn't bothered.
He picked up the reaper's weapon, a jagged black scythe, and tossed it casually into his [Spatial Inventory].
Then, without sparing a second glance at the shaken awakeners behind him, he kept walking toward the cathedral, quietly humming to himself.
At this point, killing monsters felt normal.
Even seeing other awakeners die… didn't faze him much. If he didn't kill them, he couldn't absorb them. So why waste time thinking about it?
"This kid is strong," one of the remaining awakeners whispered, pale-faced.
"Doesn't matter," their leader growled, "The Inferno Guild counts on us. We'll finish this rift. He's not taking all the glory."
"Y-Yeah..." the others mumbled, clearly shaken.
They'd seen how dangerous the monsters in this rift were—far beyond what they were used to in novice-level zones.
And yet this so-called level 7 beginner had just soloed the boss like it was nothing.
No way they'd let him take all the credit.
But Sam didn't care. He walked forward without looking back.
The description had made it clear: killing the [Grave Reaper] would stop the undead from rising. Which meant his grinding time was over, but so were the distractions.
He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Letting the boss live could've meant more XP. But letting it roam freely was a mistake he didn't want to make.
Either way, it was too late to change that now.
After ten minutes of silent walking, Sam finally arrived at the steps of the cathedral.
As expected, a towering wall of mist blocked the entrance—an obvious transition point. Beyond it lay the final boss. The true end of the rift.
Sam stepped forward, stopping just before the wall of mist.
And then—
[You have a bad feeling about this.]
Sam stared at the message.
"Ah shit, here we go again."