One More Family

After an hour, Atlas found what he was looking for and saw a store selling clothing. He stopped walking to examine the gloomy building, noticing the smashed windows, and kept his guard up while approaching.

When entering the quiet and dark shop, Atlas noticed it was dark but saw everything as if a light was overhead. His gaze swept over the store, but he didn't see anything that would threaten him.

Afterward, he went shopping and started studying the clothing that resembled the ones from Earth but had a medieval touch. Coats, tunics, pants, and boots lined the walls, causing Atlas to gather enough for weeks on the road.

The space bag gave him enough room to carry a lot of clothes, so he started dumping everything in it before changing into fresh clothes and covering the space bag with a thick jacket, which made him feel much better.

Once he was ready to travel, he left the store and was going to head back to the guard tower. While traveling down the quiet road searching for more stores to loot, roars started around him.

Atlas stopped walking and looked around, realizing the monsters were passing through the city again. This caused him to flee the way he had come. He left Wildwood City behind and rushed toward the forest he had come from.

When he had gotten far enough, he turned around while hiding behind a tree, only to see a massive dust cloud approaching the city. "Another monster wave? This can't be right. The memories implied they're rare," he pondered silently as he went north.

Atlas trekked through the forest, only encountering a group of three wolves. He quickly dispatched them by rushing at them and using Void Arrows, catching the monsters off guard and leveraging his upgraded stamina to move fast.

Once he killed them, he grabbed the three white cores that the wolves dropped, which pleased Atlas as he loved the feeling of earning stuff from his kills. While journeying, Atlas realized he couldn't rely solely on magic and would need to use weapons, perhaps even his fists.

With that in mind, he decided to wield his Battle Staff the next time he encountered a monster. Continuing his trek through the forest, he decided to look at the map he had looted from Wildwood City.

Retrieving it from his bag, he studied it, feeling a sense of dread when he finally came across the name of the forest he was in. 'The Wailing Woods? Why such a sinister name?' He panicked, his nervousness mounting as he thought he heard something nearby.

Atlas looked up from the map and scanned his surroundings to distract himself but found nothing. Then, all of a sudden, he heard the distant cries of men and women, their twisted screams echoing through the forest, sending shivers down his spine.

'Why do they sound so strange?'

Atlas shook his head while choosing to ignore the screams. He turned his attention back to the map and found the route he needed to take: through the Wailing Woods to Deadwood Pass, which would take him through the Dead Mountains.

He would have to travel to the far north and then double back south on a thin strip of land that led to the Frostmark Kingdom and the first town he would see, Avalanche Hollow. After doing so, Atlas heard a twig snap from behind him.

His heart began to race as he swiftly turned around, hand ready to cast a spell, only to pause abruptly at the sight of a man and woman standing before him. Seeing the two of them, Atlas felt a wave of confusion wash over him.

Though the couple appeared ordinary, they had an unexplainable strangeness and stared at him like he was their prey. That's when the woman stepped forward with an eerie smile and spoke weirdly: ''Elf boy. Come to camp. Have food, we do.''

Atlas's eyebrow raised, but he didn't move an inch as he readied his Battle Staff and Dagger as the man spoke, ''Cold here, our home hot.''

'Where is their white van? Do they have candy?' Atlas thought while scanning his surroundings.

''Come, little elf,'' the woman motioned with her hand. ''We'll get you dinner.''

The man approached, drawing Atlas's attention. He aimed his hand at the stranger and questioned suspiciously, ''Who are you? And where did you come from?''

''Not far,'' the strange woman spoke as she jerkily pointed behind them. ''Home.''

Atlas decided to scrutinize them further because something seemed off.

[Female Changeling]

[Rank: F]

[Male Changeling]

[Rank: E]

'Changelings!' Atlas realized, his mind immediately conjuring tales of these creatures from Earth folklore. 

Now that he had identified them, he could quickly tell the differences: Their eyes were lifeless, their skin had a sickly gray shade, and their movements were jerky.

''Is there more people in your village?'' Atlas asked as his heart started to race with excitement and nervousness.

''Yes,'' the female Changeling said in a robotic tone. ''One more family.''

Atlas nodded and replied with a fake smile, ''Lead the way. I'm cold and hungry.''

As the monsters' expressions shifted, they ventured into the forest. Observing their movements, Atlas trailed behind, preparing to unleash a barrage of Void Arrows at the opportune moment.

For twenty minutes, they walked until they reached a clearing dotted with several tents. However, it wasn't those that caught his attention, but the sinister smell of death and decay that made him gag, prompting the two Changelings to whirl around and fix their gaze on him.

''Hungry,'' Atlas said, trying to play it off.

The woman smiled creepily before pointing at the largest tent. When they got close, he noticed another group of Changlings in human forms but speaking a language that he didn't understand.

Atlas spotted a bulkier monster sitting in the middle and scanned him.

[Changeling]

[Rank D]

'He's strong, but if I kill him the experience will be worth it,' he thought while sizing up the Changling leader as the creature stared at him with cruel eyes.

Atlas cast several Void Arrows and bullets without wasting a second thought before sending them at the weaker Changelings. He lunged at the leader while swinging his Battle Staff, which connected with the monster's head and didn't do anything.

With lightning reflexes, the leader snatched his weapon and effortlessly shattered it with a single hand, leaving Atlas stunned. Before he could react, the leader seized him by the neck, hoisting him into the air while applying a crushing grip.

A series of strikes rained down on his body, eliciting audible cracks. When Atlas felt that, he screamed in agony while hearing noises from the other creatures behind him and had to act now.

He reached behind his back and pulled out the dagger before plunging it into the Changeling's head. After his sudden attack, the leader made a strange gurgling noise as its grip on his neck weakened, allowing Atlas to cast four Void Bullets into its head and chest.

When the spells connected, the leader was blown away along with the tent just as the woman he met grabbed him and spun him around. But Atlas instantly struck and stabbed her in the heart with his dagger as the Changeling's sharp nails dug into his shoulder.

The creature let out a painful shriek as it dropped dead. Once Atlas was free, he scanned his surroundings and saw two monsters still moving. He approached them and aimed a hand at it before sending a Void Bullet through its head.

Then, he did the same to the other creatures before sitting on a nearby crate. 'Why can I kill these things without feeling much? It's horrible, but not as bad as I expected.' Atlas thought to himself while admiring the sky above.

After a moment of contemplation, he shrugged, unable to come up with a solution, and decided to check his status since he had leveled up during the battle. 

[Level Up: 3→5]

[Experience: 300/1000]

[Experience Gained: 1600]

[Health: 76→80]

[Mana: 570→580]

[Strength: 76→80]

[Stamina: 77→81]

[Intelligence: 75→78]

[Core Points: 2050→3350]

[Core Points Gained: 1300]

[Dagger Mastery Learned]

After checking his status, Atlas wanted to see where the experience came from and how much each monster gave him.

[Rank F Icefang Wolf x 3 - 300 Experience - 300 Core Points]

[Rank F Changeling x 2 - 200 Experience - 200 Core Points]

[Rank E Changeling x 4 - 800 Experience - 600 Core Points]

[Rank D Changeling - 300 Experience - 200 Core Points]

'Interesting, each rank gives me a different amount of experience,' he internally mused. 'I must say I'm doing good, but I don't know what the average status looks like.'

Afterward, Atlas started searching for anything of value and found nothing apart from two white cores, four orange, and one beautiful green core from the Rank D Changeling.

Once gathering the seven cores, Atlas continued through the Wailing Woods, where the screams were still present, which he chose to ignore before spotting the Dead Mountains that pierced the clouds.

They were dark and gloomy, and a feeling of evil radiated. Atlas spotted a group of flying monsters circling the peak. He continued his trek while watching his surroundings in case anything ambushed him.

Atlas walked for an hour until the forest started to thin out as he reached the bottom of the Dead Mountains. 'This place belongs in a horror movie.'

The area he was in was dark even though it was daytime, thanks to the mountains blocking the sunlight. Atlas continued walking until he came across the Deadwood Pass, covered in a thin layer of mist.

With a gulp, he stepped down the pathway and made his way carefully. While doing that, he heard a whistling noise, causing him to look around and be hit in the shoulder by a shabby arrow.