A Strong One

Souta dashed forward and the figure also charged at him.

Swoosh!!

Souta ducked down to avoid the hands of the figure before he delivered a blow to the stomach of the figure.

Bang!

The figure flew away and Souta chased after it. He chopped the neck of the figure, knocking it down.

"It's harder to hold back against this kind of people," Souta said in a low voice while looking at the unconscious man.

He won't kill anyone in this place. It's not that he's against killing someone. It's just that he still retained a part of his humanity and wanted to avoid killing as much as possible. If it comes to the situation that he needed to kill someone then he won't hesitate and he will do what he needs to do. Also, the quest this time was asking him to save them from the possession of the [Vajra Sword Saya], not to kill them. Help them regain their senses and clarity. Release them from the grasp of the Vajra Sword.

"I wonder if the Vajra Sword can possess me," Souta grumbled as he turned to face the dark path.

There was some grass on the floor but this was not the Evening Grass. Evening grass looks like ordinary grass but it has a different color. There were blue dots across the leaves of the grass.

The unusual energy here was getting thicker the more he got deeper in the underground.

"Then, I will turn here and..." Souta stopped as he saw five figures with gleaming red eyes.

"Here they come..." He clenched his fist and charged straight to the five figures.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

...

"Hu~ really, they attack anyone who enters this place," Souta said as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead.

There were locked rooms everywhere. This place was really an underground base built for sheltering people but who knows how long people abandoned this place.

He walked to the end of the corridor, and he found that one of the rooms was not locked. The door had been left half-open, and the lock was broken.

He noticed some scratch marks on the door. He reached out his palm and traced the scratch marks.

"There's no dust..." Souta muttered. Just from seeing the marks, he could guess that someone made this recently. Maybe a few days ago.

He slightly pushed the door open, only to find rows of tables placed in the corner of the room. Transparent bottles with an unknown liquid were neatly arranged on top of the tables along with strange devices. Opposite of it was a cabinet full of books which were covered in dust.

Picking up one of the transparent bottles, he shook it a few times. The orange liquid inside the bottle emitted a dim light. The light wasn't that bright but in this dark room, it was extremely noticeable.

"A monster potion, huh?"

A monster potion is a potion that will let someone borrow the power of a monster. But it comes with a side effect due to harnessing the beast's energy.

Beast energy or also called Best feram by ancient people. Powerful and destructive energy that monsters use. A monster that could harness beast energy was a dangerous individual and countries would use forces to eliminate those monsters when it appeared in their territory.

Only level 40 monsters have this kind of power. Once he reached level 40 he would be able to use beast energy or best feram. But that's far in the future.

"The side effect of this potion is something I don't want to experience," Souta said as he placed the bottles in his bag. He could sell or use these potions in an emergency.

He then walked towards the books. 

The books were covered in thick dust. He reached out his hand to pick one book.

He used his other hand to wipe the dust off the cover of the book. He saw the characters that he couldn't understand.

"It's not a Nurman language, huh?" He said in a low voice and opened the book.

He noticed a humanoid creature. A man with a horn protruding from one side of his head. He has crimson hair and deep red eyes. The pupils were red and the sclera was black. The man's forehead was covered in black stigmata.

If he wasn't wrong this was one of the ancient races, the Vajra race. But even when he spent more than ten years playing the Battle World Online, he still hasn't met one Vajra race.

Souta frowned and he closed the book. He placed it inside the small bag that Mark gave him. He will have time to study it later after he finishes the quests here.

He exited the room and a thick stench hit Souta.

"What's this smell?" Souta said as he pinched his nose. He walked forward and saw two pathways. One on his left side and one on his right side. And behind him was a path going straight to the surface.

Souta looked at his left side and said, "If I'm not wrong there's Evening Grass in this direction."

He walked forward while looking around. When he looked at the walls, his gaze was attracted by something. The walls were filled with scratch marks. It looks scary like some beast was rampaging here recently.

Soon, he reached the end of the path. There's another path on the right side, and there's a half-opened door on the left side. The wooden door was slightly twisted and it was also full of scratch marks.

He approached the door and pushed it open without hesitation. Inside it was a wide room filled with grass. At the center of the room, he could see grass with blue dots. At the back, he could see a figure with crimson eyes.

The man was exuding a very dangerous aura. This man was clearly different from those abnormal people.

"Of course, I wouldn't get the Evening Grass so easily, and it wouldn't give me such a reward if those weaklings were guarding it," Souta smirked. He took a step forward and revealed himself to the man.

Souta attracted the attention of the man as soon as he walked forward. Souta clenched his fist as his magical energy started rising at a fast rate.

The man gritted his teeth and veins popped up on his arms. Souta didn't stop as he continued to walk forward with a smirk on his face.

Boom!

A gust of wind swept out the whole room as both of them collided against each other in an instant.

Souta smiled and he once again dashed towards the man. He coated both of his fists with mana.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He launched a barrage of powerful punches containing great force behind it. But it only causes the man to stagger backward.

The nails of the man grew longer and sharper. He swung it towards Souta.

Swoosh!

Souta slightly bent his body backward and the sharp nails passed in front of his face. He twisted his body and took a distance away from the man.

But when he looked up, he already saw the man was rushing straight at him.

[Shadow Bind]

The shadow beneath the man moved. It emerged from the floor and strangled the man.

Souta opened both of his palms and casted [Fireball] and [Ice Shot] simultaneously.

Boom!

He then placed his palm on the floor before looking at the man covered in smoke. He knew that he would not be able to defeat that man with just that. [Fireball] and [Ice Shot] were just a level 1 spell.

"Graaa!!"

The man roared loudly and it swept the smoke and dust around him. His aura was continuously rising. It also snapped the shadow that was binding him.

"You're finally getting serious, huh? Then allow me to show you a little of my power," Souta smiled. He then buffs him up with [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost].

[Agility Boost] was a spell that could raise the target agility by 10. It has a time limit of ten minutes. During this time his agility attribute would increase by ten points. It was still a level 1 spell so the increase in attribute was quite low. If he levels it up the added attribute and time limit would increase.

[Strength Boost] spell was the same as the [Agility Boost] spell. The only difference was that it increased the target strength instead of agility.

He cannot stack up these spells. Even if he used it on himself once again the added stat wouldn't increase. These two spells consumed ten points of his mana.

"Good, this is enough."

Souta looked at the man, and the man also looked at Souta.

After a few seconds, the man rushed straight at Souta. But before he reached Souta he stopped. He looked down and saw his foot was sinking in mud. He was confused. He knew that there's no mud in this grassy room.

[Mud Slide]

"I've already prepared it before," Souta said before dashing towards the man.

In just a second, he arrived in front of the man and pulled back his fist. Souta poured his mana on his fist and threw it on the stomach of the man.

Bang!

Pulling back his other fist, he threw another powerful punch.

Bang!

"Argh!"

The man groaned and he raised both of his hands.

"I won't let you!"

[Shadow Bind]

Once again the shadow emerges and strangles the man. It restrained his movements.

"Good, let me finish this," Souta smirked as he clenched both of his fists.