Dark Nym Lord

Upon returning to the abyss, the first layer had completely transformed. Every passage was covered with enormous spider webs, and bats, stuck in them, flapped their wings but could not escape.

Shadow Spinner hung upside down, resting, but crawled over as soon as it saw Orion.

"Nice work," Orion gave Shadow Spinner a thumbs up and began slaughtering the bats.

Shadow Spinner used its limbs to roll up the webs, bringing them to Orion.

All Orion had to do was raise his greatsword and smash down, instantly wiping out dozens of bats.

Their teamwork was seamless, greatly increasing efficiency. In just two hours, they had killed two thousand bats. The first layer was nearly cleared of bats. 

Orion not only gained some attribute boosts but also collected a lot of low-grade cores, though there were hardly any C-grade or higher.

During this time, Orion had been trying to contact Arthas, but the other party remained aloof, with no response.

Interestingly, the latest prompt indicated the other party was in a soul-wandering state, unable to reply.

"Could he be dead? Or maybe he's an undead?" Orion wondered.

"There's nothing left to do on the first layer; it's time to check out the second layer." Orion had nearly explored the entire first layer of the Abyss and had found the entrance to the second layer. But at the time, he hesitated due to insufficient strength and lack of necessity. Now it was time to proceed.

"Baseball, be cautious in the second layer. You're the only elite creature on the first layer, but there will be more on the second. Be careful." Orion patted Shadow Spinner's head, advising it.

With that, they both entered the second layer of the Abyss.

The environment of the second layer was similar to the first, but Orion remained vigilant, wary of encountering more powerful hero-level creatures.

Orion quickly devised a plan: he would lure isolated Abyssal creatures, and Shadow Spinner would use web traps to control them, then they would work together to kill them.

The creatures on the second layer were generally stronger than those on the first, and the cores they dropped were of higher quality.

An hour later, Orion and Baseball had hunted over a dozen Abyssal creatures, finally gathering 10 B-grade cores.

With enough cores, Orion immediately accessed the Survivor Trading Platform and purchased the [Bone War Trident].

A bright silver trident appeared in his hand, its sharp prongs long and spear-like, with a strong piercing feel.

The panel displayed a prompt:

[Newbie quest triggered: Swing the trident 100 times to gain Basic Trident Mastery]

Perhaps due to its high compatibility, the trident's newbie quest was ten times harder than usual, but swinging it 100 times was still simple.

Orion quickly swinging the trident, and soon completed the 100 swings.

[Basic Trident Mastery: Base attack damage +20%, weak point hit damage +40%, adds bleeding effect on hit; very low chance to instantly kill bleeding enemies]

[Bleeding: Continuous physical damage, stackable once.]

[Description: You know it like an old friend returning.]

"Pretty strong..." Orion's eyes widened.

Though he knew the trident was highly compatible with him, its strength was surprising. Bleeding and instant kill, and this was just basic mastery!

Despite the increased difficulty of the newbie quest, the effect was powerful.

The newbie quest refreshed again.

[Newbie quest triggered: Hit targets 500 times with the trident to gain Intermediate Trident Mastery]

500 times... Orion sighed, the task was heavy and not easily completed.

But thinking of the tribe's crisis, Orion steeled himself, determined to accelerate his growth to provide timely support!

Suddenly, Orion saw the ground crack beneath him and leaped away!

A massive black tentacle burst from the ground, whipping toward Orion! Unable to dodge in time, he was struck and sent flying.

Shadow Spinner reacted quickly, spitting webs to entangle the tentacle.

"Watch your back, Baseball!" Orion shouted as he got up.

Another tentacle burst from the ground behind Shadow Spinner, wrapping around it and slamming it into the mountainside, scattering rocks.

"Damn, we've got a big one!" Orion gritted his teeth, opening the panel to check the creature's information:

[Creature: Dark Nym Lord]

[Level: Elite]

[Weight: 18,000 pounds]

[Strength: 88]

[Agility: 1]

[Defense: 20]

[Skills: Nym's Tentacles, Rapid Regeneration]

[Nym's Tentacles: Nym has no true physical form; all actions and attacks are performed by tentacles. As long as the tentacles exist, Nym cannot die.]

[Rapid Regeneration: Nym is a special creature, with severed parts healing at an incomprehensible speed.]

Like Shadow Spinner, this creature was also a boss, the second layer's lord, a massive entity lurking underground.

But Orion didn't need to be overly afraid; against an elite creature, he and Shadow Spinner were enough.

Orion twisted his body, dodging a new tentacle from the ground, then drove the trident in with all his might, slicing the tentacle horizontally!

However, the severed tentacle stuck together like clay, and within seconds, the cut was nearly gone.

The fully healed tentacle attacked Orion again!

"Healed so fast?!" Orion couldn't dodge in time, but a web shot from afar, wrapping around the tentacle.

"Nice one, Baseball." Orion turned to praise, only to be shocked by the sight of webs filling the space, binding all the tentacles. "Wow, impressive!"

As expected of an elite boss, Shadow Spinner's skills had quickly suppressed the Dark Nym.

But the suppression was temporary, and time was of the essence.

"Leave it to me!" Orion began a frenzied assault on the tentacles.

However, the rapid regeneration exceeded expectations. No matter how he attacked, even severing ten tentacles at once, they would quickly retract underground and regrow from the stumps.

Orion felt frustrated; while he could understand not winning, this was the first time he faced an opponent he couldn't defeat completely.

Amidst the relentless attacks, he completed the newbie quest, gaining Intermediate Trident Mastery!

[Intermediate Trident Mastery: Base attack damage +25%, weak point hit damage +50%, adds bleeding and healing prohibition effects on hit; very low chance to instantly kill bleeding enemies]

[Bleeding: Continuous physical damage, stackable twice.]

[Healing Prohibition: Damage continuously triggers "bleeding," preventing the target from healing, reviving, or being treated. (Ineffective on hero-level and above creatures)]

[Description: You know it like an old friend returning.]

"Nice!" Orion shouted, wielding the trident, leaping high, and descending like a meteor. The falling trident sliced through the air, vertically severing a tentacle!

The severed tentacle trembled violently, still sticking together but unable to heal as quickly as before.

"It's working!"

Orion focused, locking onto all the tentacles bound by the giant web.

The next moment, he swung the trident with force, slicing through everything around him.

A wail echoed from underground, and after a moment of agony, there was silence. All of Dark Nym's tentacles were severed, losing their vitality.

Orion searched the massive corpse, finding an A-grade core and another Survivor's Chest.

"Sweet, another mystery box to open." Orion stowed the chest and core, leaving the Abyss.