Chapter 265: Chapter 265 - Stonepierce Fang
Atlas sprinted across the desert, his feet sometimes sinking into the treacherous sand that seemed determined to drag him down. The number of monsters was overwhelming. Far more than he had expected.
Each time he ran forward, another centipede shot out from the sand in front of him, lunging at terrifying speed. He darted to the right, nearly stumbling, but caught his balance and pushed off again, forcing himself to keep moving.
Damn... all he could do was run and dodge these things.
He tried again and again to activate Earthen Pulse to sense their movements, but the skill gave no response when the monsters lay perfectly still. It only triggered once they began moving to strike, and by then, it was often far too late.
Atlas ran, and kept running. Every time another centipede burst from the sand to attack, he had no choice but to evade at the very last second, leaping or twisting away.
Through it all, he kept glancing down at Vienne’s face, shielding her from the flying sand, making sure none of it touched her skin or eyes. To his surprise, the little girl mostly laughed and smiled, though now and then she whimpered softly. But overall, she was safe.
Atlas pulled out a water flask and gently pressed it to her lips.
"Now... drink a little," he whispered tenderly.
He pushed himself to conserve every drop of stamina and mana, forcing Earthen Pulse to activate only when absolutely necessary. Surviving in this environment meant balancing his endurance as carefully as his steps.
Without even realizing it, Atlas had already been running for two full hours. Nothing but sprinting, dodging, and narrowly escaping as the monsters kept bursting from the sand all around him.
Another attack! Atlas shot backward just as another Ashcrawler burst out in front of him.
Dodge!
But the instant he shifted to dash right, a second monster exploded from the sand, lunging straight for him.
It all happened too fast. There was no time to evade. Atlas clenched his fist, ready to strike back at the creature!
No. He couldn’t! He wasn’t allowed to attack them directly.
With razor-thin timing, and never loosening his hold on Vienne, Atlas hurled himself sideways. His momentum faltered. His body twisted into a rough somersault, and he landed hard on his knee, bracing himself with his right hand against the ground.
The two monsters came at him again. Atlas gritted his teeth, drove his legs forward, and launched himself headlong. His jaw tightened as he flipped over their lunging bodies, slamming down onto the sand on the other side.
Run! Keep running!
FUCK!
Atlas couldn’t afford to let his guard down for even a heartbeat. Every step felt like walking across a minefield, where monsters could erupt from the ground at any moment and strike without warning. Worse still, they never strayed far from their hiding spots, able to vanish, lunge, and retreat with terrifying speed.
There had to be a reason why he wasn’t allowed to fight these creatures. Maybe... There was something hidden to learn here. Simply relying on Earthen Pulse wouldn’t be enough to escape them.
He triggered the skill again. His instincts screamed! Something huge was coming from the front.
Atlas leapt backward just as the ground exploded. A colossal creature surged upward, its body wrapped in thick, scaly armor, solid like a monstrous pangolin. Its massive forelimb slammed down with crushing force, as if a single blow could shatter him.
Atlas was still airborne, dodging mid-leap, when the beast swung at him. There was no room to avoid it.
Atlas twisted his body with all the momentum he had, but the blow still crashed into his right side and sent him hurtling violently through the air. He spun uncontrollably, fighting to steady himself, before his back slammed against the jagged cliff wall with a brutal crack.
"ARGH!!!"
The pain shot through him like fire, but even in that moment, his focus stayed on Vienne. He tightened his hold, forcing his body to absorb the impact and lessen the damage so not a trace of it would reach her.
"Ga! Ga! Ga! Ga!"
The baby let out a small protest as Atlas tumbled downward, crashing hard into the sand below.
"Vienne?"
No... she’s fine. She’s fine, he breathed, relief rushing through him.
The massive creature was a Terrascale. That was the monster Atlas was meant to defeat. But he couldn’t face it while the smaller ones still swarmed all around him.
This is bad!
The enormous pangolin-like beast suddenly coiled itself and rolled forward with crushing speed, barreling straight toward Atlas.
Bad. Bad!
Atlas clenched his teeth and dashed away at full speed, narrowly avoiding the Terrascale as it smashed into the jagged cliff beside him. The impact sent Atlas spinning through the air, his arms locked around Vienne, protecting her as best as he could.
He twisted midair and crashed hard into the sand. Only to find himself surrounded. Six Ashcrawlers burst out from every direction, all lunging at once.
No way... no way!
Atlas ground his teeth. Should he break the rules just this once? If he summoned his full armor and the Wavebreaker Spear, he could crush these things easily.
But no. He couldn’t!
The Terrascale had already rolled itself again, speeding straight toward him. And the six Ashcrawlers were closing in at the exact same moment.
Everything happened in a flash, but his desperate mind slowed it all down into a distorted slow motion.
Vienne... give Daddy an idea. Give Daddy a way out!
Wait... Atlas was not allowed to hit these smaller monsters with physical attacks. That did not mean he could not use a skill. He could use one, as long as it used the earth element.
Think, think!
Atlas forced his mind to work and pushed every cell in his body to move. His mana and his core stirred fast and answered.
He slammed his foot into the sand as the mana in his body rushed into his leg. It felt like Earthen Pulse, but he had to change it to control the earth.
Mana was drawn from his core, then condensed and sharpened with the earth element. The energy was pushed through ground contact and released under the target’s position.
Atlas gritted his teeth. He could feel the idea of the wave and the control. The mana reacted with the earth element in a split second. Compressed earth burst upward in a jagged spike.
The spike struck the monster in front of Atlas and hurled it backward in that brief instant!
[You have successfully triggered: Stonepierce Fang.]
[Skill unlocked: Rare - Stonepierce Fang (Active Skill).]
[Summons a sharp stone spike from beneath the target, impaling or launching them. A precise, focused earth attack.]
Yes! Atlas had unlocked a new skill!
He dashed forward toward an opening where he could escape, slamming his foot into the ground again and again as he ran.
[Rare - Stonepierce Fang (Active Skill) Lv. 1 activated.]
[Rare - Stonepierce Fang (Active Skill) Lv. 1 activated.]
Jagged earth spikes erupted around him, striking the Ashcrawlers that leapt at him from all sides.
Atlas sprinted ahead, grinning wide, laughter breaking out of him.
"Yes, Vienne! Daddy did it, Daddy did it! Hahaha!" he said, turning to his daughter’s face, which lit up with joy as she babbled, "Ba ba ba ba."
He had found the answer for the smaller monsters.
But then. A massive shadow surged from his right. The Terrascale rolled with terrifying speed, thundering toward him like a living boulder.
Atlas knew Stonepierce Fang skill would be useless against something that size. But he had grasped the core idea. Now, he only needed to repeat the process again and again... until he discovered the key to killing this oversized pangolin!