A Pit
[[Negative fireball] has been activated]
KABOOM
Bone shrapnels and pieces of monsters were thrown in all directions.
The pest extermination started with a bang.
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 4 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[+41 exp]
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 7 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[+71 exp]
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 6 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
***
'It seems they were spoonfed food like just now so the exp gained from killing them is very negligible.' Aster concluded after skimming through the massive system window popping in front of him.
'Some of them have probably gained some exp due to the infighting.'
'But it is weird tho, how long were there here? There are pretty low leveled compared to the size of the swarm.
They were probably well fed so the infighting happened on a smaller scale.'
With a half-hearted slap, he killed dozens in one go.
Blood and gut spread all over, showering their brethren which they delightfully accepted.
'To be honest, the system notifications are more annoying and require more effort than killing them. So the question is how insane a person has to be to breed these bastards to this scale? Is there a hidden use for those guys?
Will I piss those demons off even further if I eradicate them all?
That reminds me, these guys are not the main threat so I need to finish this fast.
The little gremlins piled on top of each other like zombies to attack Aster.
Out of curiosity, he let one bite him.
The sharp, pointy teeth sank into his sturdy his and drew blood.
'They can injure me at level 5… They are not completely useless after all.'
He quickly squeezed it into a mush and kept attacking while using magic to float.
[The skill [Equilibrium] has been acquired]
[Description: Slightly easier to hold balance]
He gained a skill that would help him.
[[Negative flame stream] has been activated]
A pale flame reinforced by a dark hue spewed out of his right palm while his left hand was used to propel himself from the ground.
Like a river from the underworld, the ghastly flame incinerated everything it touched.
Messages flooded his view and obstructed his view, allowing a few ballsy ones to jump onto him and latch on with their sharp teeth.
The added weight broke his balance and he dropped down.
Surviving gremlins quickly swarmed him.
CRUNCH
SHRIEK
CREAK
CHOMP
It was similar to how ants swarm to an animal carcass and completely devour it within minutes. The scavengers were genuinely restless.
As soon as one died, another replaced it by chomping its way through the corpse.
The saying 'Strength in numbers' was not a joke.
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
But the difference in strength was simply too vast.
The wind picked up its pace. And then without warning, a fountain of blood erupted.
Dozens of wind disks flew around in a circular manner, cutting and dicing whatever they encountered.
Aster stood up and faced the sky. His nose and legs had recovered from the earlier wounds.
He took a deep breath. The smell of the ferocious swarm of goblins was something he grew to despise within one millisecond of knowing it.
He wanted to get rid of the smell at any cost, even if it meant getting showered with blood and smelling its metallic scent.
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 7 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 5 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 6 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[You have killed an Intermediate Lv 6 Ferocious Swarm Goblin]
[You have killed an***]
The voice of the system overlapped, creating a disarray of chaotic melody.
He reveled in this so-called music for a second and it unexpectedly relaxed him.
[[True sight] has been activated]
[[Erase] has been activated]
He completely erased the memory of it and achieved peace for a brief moment.
The smell of blood masked the unholy smell that plagued the ravine so he had no need to burn off his nose again.
"Hmm, the blood fountain is still going strong. It shouldn't be long until the pest extermination is complete.
All I need to do now is to go up and get my payment.
Oh, wait, right.
Those pig demons up there are the reason why I'm down here doing pest control and for free at that." Aster grumbled to himself.
He examined his clothes, now torn and bloody.
"Tch"
'Despite being a butler suit, it was made more expertly than any other clothes I have owned.
The material was a smooth silk, so smooth that it felt like water.
I wore a vampire outfit before but it wasn't made this good. Maybe the bias that the natural demon is better than the newer ones isn't all a lie after all.
Or maybe it is just my enhanced senses noticing the quality better.
*Sigh* Shame it's ripped now. I could have modified it and turned it into my default outfit.'
On the bright side, the gaps in his clothes revealed his muscles, another testament to how much he had changed.
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[Health, Energy, and Mana have been restored]
[All of your attributes rose by one point]
[You have gained 3 attribute points, and 3 skill points]
'Alright, now that I have completely recovered I should get going.'
'The pests have almost been exterminated. The rest isn't worth another level.'
The deadly wind disks dissipated and Aster sprinted away.
For a minute, all he could see was the river of bones.
Then a clearing was visible.
He stopped his momentum and stood at the edge of the small cliff.
In front of him existed a deep pit filled with even more bones. And from the looks of it, more monsters inhabited this pit of death.
The full moon shined its rays and gave Aster a clear view of the pit. He looked around and saw a cylinder-shaped wall extending to the barrier separating it from the sky.
It seems the pit was a volcano and the ravine was a giant crack in the earth that originated from it.
Was the volcano active? The pile of bones down there told him the answer.
'Do I jump into the pit or do I go back?' Aster pondered.
It wasn't much of a question really. A party dedicated to hunting him down might be chasing his trail at any moment now.
The only way was to go forward.
With that thought, he stepped into the pit.