After an unknown amount of time, Eryon finally reached what appeared to be a human settlement. From afar, he could make out something like a village, though it felt strange that such a place could exist in the middle of a swamp like this.
Burning more mana, Eryon increased his speed and, after several breaths, reached the entrance of the village.
To his surprise, what greeted him was a rotting wooden gate and an eerie silence.
"What the hell…?" The confusion in his voice was unmistakable.
"Hmm… should I go in? It looks like a ghost town…" he murmured to himself, unsure of what to do. That was until a familiar sound sent his nerves on edge.
Far behind him, he could hear trees being torn down.
"Shit… something big is coming."
With little choice, he entered the village, looking for shelter in one of the houses.
Once inside, his voice echoed through the empty space.
"Uh… is anyone here? Hello… I got lost and don't know which way to go."
The only answer he received was silence.
"What the hell is wrong with this place…? It's creepy…" A chill ran down his spine.
But he didn't have time to dwell on it. He heard something approaching the village, so Eryon moved quickly and entered one of the houses.
To his surprise, the place that looked merely burned on the outside reeked of rot on the inside.
"Ugh… shit, that's disgusting…" He covered his nose with one hand as he approached a window, trying to see what was knocking down the trees.
Everything trembled as if an earthquake were happening. He watched trees fall one after another, and from among them, a strange creature emerged…
"What the hell did that monkey eat to get that big?!"
Massive in size and heavily built, a huge gorilla stopped at the edge of the village. In its hands, it held something like a large snake, and with a crunching bite, it tore off its head.
Eryon couldn't help but stare in pure astonishment. Suddenly, a beep sounded in his head.
[Function unlocked: Adventurer's Eyes](The ability to quantify and analyze everything the user can see and perceive; values depend on the user's level.)
He hadn't even finished processing the notification when he saw text appear above the great ape.
[Chaotic Silverback Great Ape
Level: ???]
Then, a red alert window flashed before him.
[Additional Information: Apex predator detected in Whispering Abyss, a chaotic and treacherous zone on Floor ??, highly lethal. It is recommended that any below level ??? immediately leave this area.]
The information flooded his vision all at once. Although he wanted to read it, this wasn't the time. He quickly closed the window and looked back at the ape. To his surprise, it simply remained outside the village.
He could have sworn there was something like caution in the beast's expression…
Hesitating slightly, Eryon stepped out of the house and stood in the open, fully exposed.
"GROOOAAAR!"
The roar echoed through the trees as the ape pounded its chest with a thunderous BOMF, making everything around it tremble.
Apparently, seeing him inside the village had enraged it, yet it didn't seem willing to enter. In fact, after a few moments of beating its chest repeatedly, it simply left, abandoning the snake's corpse.
"…I don't understand what's going on. First, a strange creature wipes out Sam's team; then I wake up in an unknown swamp; a giant snake nearly kills me… and now this… a strange village…" Even as he tried to stay calm, it was clear this tower wouldn't make things easy for him.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he decided once more to explore the entire village.
Night had already fallen, and to his surprise, he found absolutely nothing. Well… nothing useful. The only thing he discovered was a strange kind of coal with vein-like patterns running through it.
Aside from that, everything was empty. He tried breaking the coal or writing on the ground with it, but it felt like adamantium—nothing could scratch or damage it.
"It might be something valuable…" he thought, deciding to take it with him.
Looking beyond the village, the night began to swallow everything. With little choice, he walked back to the least foul-smelling house and prepared to spend the night there.
Once settled, he stared at the rotten ceiling… or at least tried to, since the darkness was abyssal, and not even the "moonlight" could pierce it.
"Ahhh…" he sighed, slowly closing his eyes as sleep took over. "Sleeping here probably isn't a good idea…"
It was the last thing he muttered before drifting off.
Rays of light pierced through the cracked roof of the old hut, striking Eryon's face. With a grimace, he tried to move, but the light kept hitting him directly.
Feeling the heat burn against his skin, he finally got up sluggishly. As he stretched and looked around, his senses returned, recalling everything that had happened the previous day.
His expression darkened.
"Damn tower… couldn't you have dropped me at the entrance?"
Grumbling about his situation, he stood up and prepared everything he had before setting out again.
Eryon rolled his eyes when he noticed the coal seemed darker than before. He didn't think much of it. Remembering the idea he had the previous day… he decided to try it.
[Adventurer's Eyes skill activated]
[Analyzing object]
[Analysis complete]
[??: ??
Rank: ???
Description: ???]
A sour expression spread across Eryon's face, as if he had bitten into a rotten lemon.
"What the hell is the point of giving me an appraisal skill that can't appraise anything?!"
He was already fed up with the question marks. Ever since he obtained this new system, it was all he ever saw. Shaking off the dust, he stepped out of the cabin. Once he made sure nothing was out of place, he approached the corpse of the giant snake.
"I wonder what level this thing was…" he muttered as he moved closer. After searching for a while, he found what he was looking for.
A green orb glowed in his hand. According to the brochure, all creatures in the Tower had magical cores, and their quality depended on the beast's level. The explanation of their function had been fairly technical.
Eryon only knew they were valuable… at least to the humans of the Tower, he thought, remembering how that monkey had ignored the rest of the corpse.
Just as he began thinking about how many credits he could get from it, the system's voice echoed in his mind.
(Large energy source detected. Initiating absorption.)
"WHAT?!"
His shock had barely begun when the crystal started to crack, losing all its color.
"No—stop! My money! Damn system, you don't even ask if I agree!"
His complaints were useless. Little by little, the crystal turned to dust as Eryon watched, stunned, as his source of wealth disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Just as he was about to curse the damn system, a window appeared before his eyes, impossible to ignore.
[You have absorbed a life orb. Conversion complete:
+500 attribute points]
"?????"
Shock was written all over his face. He hadn't known the system had that function.
"Shit… can every system do this?" he asked aloud, though he already knew the answer.
If everyone could gain points this easily and boost their stats like this, they'd all be walking gods… though that wasn't what mattered right now.
Almost dancing with excitement, he had completely forgotten the pain of losing his source of income. After all, if he became stronger, he could escape this hellish place.
With an arrogant gesture, he spoke:
"System, open my status window."
A translucent screen unfolded before him.
[Name: Eryon Valen
Age: 17
Rank: B
Class: None
Level: 10
Experience: 300 / 6,000
Attribute Points: 500
Evolution Points: 0]
His status window hadn't changed at all, aside from the 500 points he had gained. However, what mattered most to him was something else. He scrolled down until he reached his physical attributes.
[Physical Attributes
• Strength: Low (High)
• Endurance: Intermediate (Low)
• Agility: Intermediate (Low)
• Reflexes: Intermediate (High)]
"System, use the necessary points to increase strength."
The moment he finished speaking, he saw 10 points deducted from the 500, and the strength section changed.
"Hehehe… it won't be long before I can get my revenge on that snake and that damn creature in the treasure room…"
Grinning like a madman, Eryon ordered the system to invest points into endurance.
His smile quickly froze when he saw 50 points consumed at once.
"…?? System, what just happened? Why did it take so many points?"
The only response he received was the absolute silence of the forest, shattering his freshly formed dreams of becoming unstoppable from the start.
He sighed, trying to keep his composure, and his serious expression returned.
"Well… that killed the mood…" he muttered as he prepared to distribute his points.
A young man could be seen sitting atop the corpse of a massive snake, a wide smile on his face as he stared at something in front of him.
Honestly, he had never been someone with much pride… but at that moment, he felt like the protagonist of some story.
He slowly stood up, stretching his muscles, his bones cracking rhythmically.
If someone had seen him at that moment, they would have been captivated by the balance and harmony of his body, combined with the explosive strength hidden within. But the most striking feature was the young man's face.
Swaying with the wind, his long dark hair, combined with his silver eyes, gave off a strange feeling… something close to the sacred.
As he looked at his updated attribute window, the aura around him changed completely.
[Physical Attributes
• Strength: Intermediate (High)
• Endurance: Intermediate (High)
• Agility: Intermediate (High)
• Reflexes: Intermediate (High)]
Flexing his muscles, his gaze burning, he shouted with pride:
"Alright, you shitty swamp… now it's time for my revenge."
With a leap, he propelled himself forward and plunged back into the swamp forest, searching for a way out.