2 The Tower. (2)

As Erik walked into the Shinsu barrier, he instantly felt the high concentration of the powerful energy around him. When he was back in the hall, he was able to feel it but not to the degree that he could now. The difference was like night and day.

'Although the Shinsu is weighing down on me a bit, I can feel my resistance building up quickly. Probably a perk of that one skill, Eternal Evolution. Now, since I'm a teen again, my reach will be slightly shorter making it harder to fight the way I'm used to. But with how I'm feeling right now, I doubt it'll be much of a problem. Maybe I should try out that Niko style...'

Even as Erik was thinking about what he would do, two of the white steel eels immediately rushed him, causing him to take off in a fast horizontal sprint.

'Two of them rushing fast, the other one isn't doing much yet but I can feel its aggressive gaze locked on me. Alright, Erik focus!'

SCRZZZZ!

One of the eels let off an incredibly strange but fear-inducing screech as it attacked Erik. As soon as it opened its mouth to eat him, Erik stopped running immediately and crouched down, causing the muscles on his legs to expand drastically.

BOOM!

Just like a missile soaring through the air, Erik boosted into the mouth of the eel and immediately concentrated on everything around him. He was looking for any organ that he could strike to cause immediate fatal damage to the eel. He had even hoped that if he jumped in the mouth of one eel, another would attack and damage it but it seems that they weren't that stupid even though they were hungry.

Feeling the intruder rushing through its body like a bullet, the eel started to shake rapidly. But, almost as if he was standing on solid ground, Erik remained steadfast as he continued traversing the creature's insides.

'There's something there!'

Erik located a large purple-hued organ that was beating loudly, reverberating throughout the entire space. There was no doubt; this was the creature's heart.

Erik jumped directly onto its heart and gripped onto it with his left hand while pummeling it with his right.

SCRZZZZ! SCRZZZZ!

The eel screeched and writhed everywhere in agony as Erik continued his assault while ripping/tearing at every artery he came in contact with using his claws. He could feel the creature falling to the ground and as he was about to land the finishing blow, he suddenly felt an incredible force weighing down on him.

'Is this...? What the?! Another eel's jaws?!'

It turns out that when the other eels noticed that this one was about to die, one of them charged at its body with reckless abandon in hopes of killing the perpetrator. It was biting and gnashing crazily on the weakened eel's body. Although Erik was well versed in combat and had almost defeated the first eel, he didn't take this battle lightly. One mistake meant death.

'Damn! I'll have to take a risk if I'm to survive!'

Instead of immediately blocking, Eric clenched his teeth and dealt the final blow to the heart of the dying eel.

SCRZZZ!

It let out one last blood-curdling screech before its lifeless body started falling to the ground. Like a floodgate being forced open, Erik felt a vigorous rush of power coursing through him, strengthening every part of his body considerably.

Although it would be nice to stop and inspect his body thoroughly to see exactly how much he gained, Eric immediately found the easiest technique he could employ from the Niko Style without much practice. Tightening/tensing the muscles in his limbs, Erik pushed off the dead eel's insides and broke through its body, his eyes focused on the other eel closing in for a bite.

'Niko Style, Adamantine Kata: Ironbreaker!'

BOOOOOM!

Using the same reckless strategy as before, Erik rushed into its mouth with his fist extended and landed a powerful punch on its heart that sent booming shockwaves rolling through the surrounding Shinsu. The beast didn't even get to screech before its bodily functions completely ceased.

Now that he wasn't in a life-threatening situation, for the time being, Erik could clearly see a black mist rising from the eel's body to enter his.

'This must be how the death ability looks in action. Ahhh... it feels like my muscles are being massaged by the softest hands ever. Yesss...this feeling is addicting. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if the people who had this ability became addicted to murder. Well, now that I've killed two eels, the last one should be on its way...'

Erik tightened the muscles in his fingers and gripped onto the flesh of the dead eel he was currently in, ripping it in two as if it was nothing. He then jumped out of its body and stood on top of it, looking at the last eel with a focused gaze.

Outside of the barrier, both Evan and Yuri were shocked at what just happened. Even Headon couldn't help but let out a small whistle when he saw the exchange. Evan then said in a low tone, "Princess, I've heard about irregulars being monsters but this...this is crazy! He's not even an E-rank Regular yet and he's already able to kill White Steel Eels! Not to mention how easily he's able to move around in such a highly dense Shinsu environment. It's like it's not even there!"

Princess Yuri laughed loudly and responded, "The title irregular truly fits people like that! Even though his methods were reckless, they were indeed the only way he could bypass the eel's steel-like skin. If he had tried to do that by just punching it, he would've died before he even knew what happened!"

Turning to Headon with a triumphant look on her face, she continued, "I bet you didn't see that coming did you, Mr.Headon?"

"Oh, I had a feeling that this would've happened. It's nothing out of expectations for someone even an A-rank guide couldn't "see." But, because he has this much potential, only great misfortune will follow him..."

Seeming to have an idea of exactly what Headon was talking about, Yuri's smile instantly disappeared. She already knew of the kind of place the Tower was. With Erik's show of strength, he would attract allies but countless enemies. Tragedy would follow him around like a hunter stalking its prey.

Sighing, Yuri murmured, "Let's see if he has the will to overcome those trials. Maybe he would become a fun opponent for me in the future...."

"Princess, let's go. He's about done killing the last eel so we're sure to meet him again. We have that boy to find! Who knows what will happen if someone important discovers you gave him the Black March?!"

Erik was currently unaware of the conversation playing out outside of the barrier. He was waiting for his reward as he had just killed the last eel. Although this one was faster and stronger than the other two, he managed to kill it with a moderate amount of effort. He was sure that if he didn't gain the physical ability increase from killing the last two eels, he would've been the one lying dead on the ground.

Unfortunately, though, the last eel had managed to injure him when he tried to kill it with the same method as he did the other two. 'Damn! That last eel was watching how I killed the other two and was prepared. A few of its teeth are lodged in my body and if it weren't for my quick reaction time, I would've been a goner. Wait..this is...'

As Erik removed the teeth from his shoulder, a sudden column of light appeared around him and sent him to the next floor, The Floor Of Tests.

When Headon confirmed that Erik and the other duo left, he turned around, looking in a certain direction with a mysterious smile on his face. "Girl, I'm sure you saw how fearlessly both of them took this test. They were determined to achieve their goals without complaint or excuse. They both went up. Now, what will you do, miss?"

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