Chương 111

Rudra stood at the edge of the giant dirt hole. It went straight down into pitch-black darkness.

"Stay close, buddy," Rudra told Kratos. He gripped his staff and jumped. He fell for a solid three seconds. His boots hit the ground hard, shaking his knees. A twelve-meter drop. The air down here was cold, damp, and smelled strongly of old pennies. [You have entered the 13th Vampire City.] [Contact with the outside world is blocked. You cannot escape until you die or kill the boss.] [Vision is severely restricted. Mobility is reduced.]"Well, that's welcoming," Rudra muttered. He couldn't even see his own hands.

Screech! Hundreds of tiny red eyes snapped open in the dark. Then, larger yellow eyes appeared below them. The sound of flapping wings and low growls echoed off the cave walls. A massive swarm of vampire bats and giant wolves rushed him all at once.

"At least it isn't ants," Rudra sighed. A wolf the size of a bear lunged at his face. Rudra didn't flinch. He just planted his feet, gripped his staff with both hands, and swung it like a baseball bat. CRACK! The heavy bone smashed into the wolf's jaw. The monster turned into grey ash before it even hit the ground. Rudra didn't stop. He dropped into a low crouch as the bat swarm descended.

"[Sweeping Gale]." The staff blurred in a wide, horizontal arc. An explosion of orange fire erupted from the wood, briefly lighting up the cavern. The shockwave swatted dozens of bats out of the air and slammed the remaining wolves into the dirt walls. With the immediate threat gone, Rudra pushed deeper into the underground city. The dirt tunnels slowly changed into paved roads and old, gothic stone buildings. That was when the actual residents showed up.

Three pale men in expensive-looking tailcoats stepped out of an alleyway. They moved ridiculously fast. One of them lunged forward, thrusting a thin rapier right at Rudra's chest. Rudra swatted the blade aside and slammed the blunt end of his staff right into the vampire's ribs. Swish. There was no impact. The vampire just laughed. His body instantly dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, letting the heavy ironwood pass harmlessly through the empty air.

A second later, the vampire reformed behind Rudra, thrusting his rapier at Rudra's back. Clang! The blade sparked against Rudra's black trench coat, doing zero damage. Rudra spun around and frowned.

"Smoke. Great," Rudra grunted. He pointed his left hand at his staff.

"[Divine Infusion]." [500 Mana and 50 Divine Energy consumed.] Holy light wrapped around the dark bone. Rudra stepped forward and swung again. The vampire tried to turn into smoke, but the holy energy burned right through the defense. The vampire screamed, completely unable to phase, and took a brutal Crushing Strike directly to the chest. He instantly turned to ash. The other two vampires hissed and backed away. They started casting blood magic from a distance.

Rudra had to chase them down, constantly keeping Divine Infusion active so his basic attacks would actually connect. It turned into a frustrating, messy game of tag across the rooftops. By the time he finally crushed the last vampire, Rudra was panting. He ducked into an empty stone house and checked his resource bars. He had burned over two thousand mana just to clear three random mobs.

"This is a terrible ROI," Rudra muttered, leaning against a wall.

"If I have to burn magic just to land a basic hit, I'll run totally dry before I even find the boss room." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He opened his inventory. He pulled out the stack of Forgotten Skill Fragments he had hoarded. He had 31 fragments in total. He only needed 25 to craft a Legendary skill.

"System. Synthesize twenty-five fragments." The weathered parchments floated into the air. They dissolved into a blinding sphere of silver light that shot directly into his chest. [Synthesizing 'Forgotten Skill Fragments' (x25)...] [A lost piece of ancient history has been restored!] [Skill Learned: Atlas's Rebound (Legendary)] [Atlas's Rebound (Lv. 1)] [Rating: Legendary] [An ancient technique once practiced by the forgotten Titan Race. It channels the titan who holds the sky to absorb the heavy weight of any attack and heave it back. - You can catch any attack. As long as you keep swinging your weapon, you can absorb the damage of any incoming attack and store it in your weapon. - You can unleash this stored power all at once in a single massive strike, or spread it out over multiple attacks. Each redirected strike deals your normal damage plus the stored damage. - The maximum amount of damage you can store at one time is your (Level x Strength). - If you stop swinging your weapon before all the accumulated power is redirected, the remaining power will explode inside you, causing catastrophic damage. Resource Consumption: 500 Mana and 50 Staff Energy per second while active. Skill Cooldown: 10 Minutes.] Rudra stared at the floating blue text. He tilted his head.

"The Titan Race?" Rudra whispered to himself. It was the second time a system prompt had mentioned them. The first time was when he unlocked his Mana Heart passive. That description mentioned a forgotten tribe of Barbarians creating a technique to match the mythical Titans who once fought the Gods. And now, these skill fragments—which he had looted directly from the ancient temples of Asterion, the Ocean God—were also linked to them.

"Wait. Did the Ocean God fight the Titans?" Rudra rubbed his chin.

"Or did Asterion just steal their martial arts? Is there a whole hidden lore tree about Gods and Titans beating each other up?" He looked down at Kratos. The cub just yawned, completely uninterested in ancient mythology.

"Yeah, you're right. Lore is for later," Rudra agreed.

"Right now, I need to not blow myself up." He re-read the skill description. It was a massive cheat code. He could catch their spells, supercharge his staff, and hit them back with their own magic. But it cost 500 Mana and 50 Staff Energy for every single second it was turned on.

"So it's a split-second parry," Rudra concluded.

"Turn it on, catch the hit, swing, and turn it off." He stepped back out into the main street. A group of five True Blood vampires spotted him immediately. They raised their hands, chanting rapidly. Five glowing red spheres of blood magic shot through the air, aimed right at his head. Rudra didn't dodge. He waited until the red spheres were inches from his face.

"[Atlas's Rebound]!" He spun the Staff of the Fire Lord in a tight, rapid circle. His mana dropped instantly. The blood magic slammed into the spinning bone. There was no explosion. The red energy just sank directly into the weapon. The staff instantly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"Die, human!" a vampire yelled, rushing forward with a drawn sword. Rudra didn't stop his spin. He rode the momentum, stepping forward and bringing the supercharged staff down in a vicious, overhead arc. BOOM! The redirected damage was absurd. The stored blood magic detonated alongside Rudra's normal attack power. The charging vampires were vaporized so fast they didn't even leave ash behind. But Rudra had absorbed five spells, and that strike only used three.

The staff was still glowing bright red and humming violently. He could feel the heavy, dangerous pressure threatening to explode in his hands.

"Can't stop!" Rudra yelled to himself. He couldn't find another target fast enough. He just spun on his heel, let the staff loop around his shoulders, and smashed it directly into a nearby stone wall. KABOOM! The rest of the banked damage safely discharged into the environment, blowing a massive hole right through the building. Rudra let out a sharp breath and canceled the skill.

"Okay," Rudra coughed, waving away the brick dust.

"That works perfectly." The 13th Vampire City wasn't just a few streets. It was a sprawling, massive underground metropolis. It took time to clear. For two straight days, Rudra fought block by block. It was a grueling, non-stop grind. When his health or stamina dipped, he locked himself in an empty building, cooked a massive pot of spicy boar stew, and slept on the floor while Kratos kept watch. He treated the entire city like a training ground for his new skill.

He got incredibly good at timing the one-second parry window. When he stepped into a trapped hallway and triggered a pressure plate, sending twenty poisoned spears flying out of the dark, he just activated Atlas's Rebound. He caught the spears on his spinning staff, banked the damage, and immediately smashed his weapon into a locked iron gate at the end of the hall, tearing it completely off its hinges. By the end of the second day, the city was dead quiet. Rudra stood at the end of the main district.

His boots were covered in grey ash. At the top of a wide set of stone stairs stood a massive set of ornate double doors. He checked his status window. His health and mana were completely full from his last meal. His Staff Energy was maxed out. He walked up the stairs. He didn't bother looking for a key or knocking. He just lifted his heavy boot and kicked the doors open.

"Room service," Rudra announced, walking into the cathedral.