16 Awakened (1)

Lorian once again entered the instances, but this time, he would face much greater dangers...

[ Defeat 3 snow wolves to clear the floor

Normal mode (Enemies have 100% of original attributes) ]

Lorian's expression was grim as he faced 3 snow wolves. He knew this wouldn't be easy.

[ Snow Wolf

Mortal (500/10,000)

Skills: Evasion, Frostbite ]

Being encircled by three hungry beasts was nerve-wracking.

- WOOO~

- Grrr!~

The three of them struck simultaneously.

Lorian slashed at one, which jumped back. He ran in the direction of an opened up path, but in mid-sprint, he realized his leg was caught.

He fell in the snow and three hungry beasts started gnawing at his flesh, drinking his blood. Though no pain could be felt, it was traumatizing.

He started attacking like a crazed person, but soon he felt there was no more strength remaining to him.

- Exit! Out!

Lorian yelled in panic, but there was no response.

- NOOOOOOOOOO~

Sometime later, he lost his consciousness.

...

- AAAAAAHHHHHHH~huff, huff...huff, I'm alive...huff...

Lorian jumped up in his cave with an ashen face.

Good thing was that he was alive and the death in instances meant no death in real life. It was a lesson learned the hard way. The bad thing was...

- Never, never again!

Lorian was mumbling to himself like a madman.

Today's instances attempt was lost, but Lorian couldn't care less. It took him quite some time to calm himself. The psychological impact this death had left would definitely fuel his obsession to become stronger.

...

- Achoo...

Lorian was faintly shivering as he was sharpening his sword with a whetstone.

Having no other choice, Lorian went out to find some wood to light a fire. Where would he find a dry wood in such a crazy snowstorm? He could only bring random branches. When there was enough he used the lighter to make some fire. Unfortunately, the wood was too wet to catch fire.

- Fuck!

He could only sacrifice some piece of second-hand clothing from his bag to start the fire and warm himself up.

Having ventured outside several times, his clothes were wet and he was worried he would catch cold, hence he changed his inner clothes, but donned the same brown robes.

Lorian didn't dare venture deep inside the cave. It was dark and who knows which monster was living there. These days he couldn't sleep well due to being fearful of an unknown that might be residing deep inside the cave. Fortunately, the cave was quiet, seemingly empty, but it wasn't completely certain.

Lorian gritted his teeth and decided to find out what's inside.

- I'm so thoughtful.

Lorian thought self-satisfied, as he took out a torch and lighter. Soon, oil started burning on the torch, illuminating the cave.

Taking a deep breath, Lorian kept the sword in the right-hand while torch in his left and slowly disappeared inside the cave.

There was nothing spectacular inside, just some uneven cave walls and stray bats here and there. Of course, Lorian wouldn't feel safe until he explored until the end of the tunnel.

Wolf mask that he kept on his face was another layer of reassurance as his 5 senses were stained to the max. Even the smallest of movements wouldn't escape his perception.

- A dead end?

Lorian heaved a sigh of relief as he stared at the end of the cave.

As he was about to turn around, Lorian noticed a box near the dark corner of the cave. Frowning, he approached slowly and took it in his hands.

Suddenly, a burst of coldness invaded his body. This was no simple cold, but chilling, eerie coldness radiating evil aura.

- Aaah~

Lorian dropped the box in panic and took a step back...nothing else happened.

With a fast-beating heart, Lorian observed the box. It was intricate looking with strange runic patterns engraved on top of it.

Lorian felt conflicted, unsure of what to do. Should he just walk away or take the box? It would be safe as long as he kept this thing in inventory, but was it worth the risk?

In the end, after some deliberating, Lorian decided it's better to take than to leave it.

He commanded system to keep it in inventory, but the result...scared him.

[ The item contains a living creature, unable to be stored ]

Living creature?! This thing is dangerous!

Alarms rang in Lorian's head as he hurriedly went back, leaving the box in the original place.

After several minutes of his departure, the small cracking sound went off at the end of the cave.

A cold gust of wind blew, bringing chills to the heart, foretelling the beginning of the restless night.