Demons Within: I level up endlessly-Chapter 33: Demonized Beast!

Inside the cave, it was darker than night. Daniel stood just inside the entrance. He did not move. He waited. He needed his eyes to see, but not his normal eyes.

He needed his special sight. His skill, [Omnivision], was still cooling down.

Finally, he felt the heat in his mind go away. He took a deep breath. "Active," he whispered. [Omnivision] turned on. The darkness went away in his mind. The cave lit up with lines and shapes.

He could see the walls. He could see the floor. He could see the path ahead. Daniel started to walk. He moved slowly. He did not want to make a sound. His boots were soft on the stone floor. He walked deeper into the cave. He walked for about seventy seconds.

The tunnel opened up into a large room. The room was not empty. There were piles of things on the floor. Daniel looked closer with his special sight. They were not rocks.

They were bones. Piles and piles of bones. Some were small, like animals. Some were large, like the monsters outside. And some... some looked like people.

Daniel felt a cold shiver run down his spine. This was a graveyard. In the middle of the room, there was something else.

It was a large stone box. It was a Sarcophagus. It looked ancient. It was covered in dust and webs. Daniel focused his [Omnivision] on the stone box, but he couldn’t get anything.

He walked closer to the stone box. He stood right in front of it. "what could be in here?," Daniel thought.

He thought about the risk. Opening a tomb in a monster cave was a bad idea. It was usually a death trap. But then, he thought about the reward.

If he opened it and finds a treasure that can boost him, that would be a great win for him.

He put his hands on the heavy stone lid. He tried to push it. It did not move. It was sealed tight.

"Fine," Daniel grunted. "We do it the hard way." He stepped back. He focused energy into his hand. He activated his skill. "[Forceburst]!"

He slammed his palm onto the lid.

BOOM!

The sound was loud. It echoed off the walls like thunder. The stone seal cracked. The heavy lid was blasted off.

It flew through the air and crashed onto the floor. Dust filled the air.

Daniel waved his hand to clear the dust. He looked into the stone box.It wasn’t a herb or treasure. It was bones. A huge skeleton lay inside. Daniel stepped back, his D-Grade knife ready in his hand.

It stayed still. Completely dead.

Daniel was surprised. "Just a corpse," he muttered. "Good." He raised his left arm, bringing his Databand up to scan the remains.

He wanted to see if there was any lingering essence he could assimilate or if there was loot hidden beneath the bones.

The blue light of the scanner washed over the skeleton.

[Wraithfire Fenrir – Level 5 (Demonized Elite)]

[Stats: Extremely High Strength, High Vitality (Undead Resilience), High Agility, Very High Spirit.]

[Abilities: Ghostly Howl (Fear/Paralysis), Soulfire Breath, Bone Claws (Armor Piercing), Demonized Resilience (Resists Physical/Holy, Weak to Potent Elemental/Spirit)]

[Threat Assessment: Apex Level 1 Zone Predator. Extremely Dangerous. Do not attempt to pet.]

Daniel stared at the screen. His mouth went dry. "Level 5?" he whispered. "And it’s an Elite?" This was bad. This was very bad. A Level 5 monster was already strong.

An Elite was even stronger. And "Demonized" meant it had dark magic. This was a boss monster.

He was still reading the threat assessment, his mind trying to process the danger, when he felt a sudden shift in the air pressure.

A cold wind brushed against his face. Daniel raised his head up from the Databand.

His heart stopped. The coffin was empty.

Standing directly in front of him, looming over him like a tower of darkness, was the beast. It had moved without a sound. It had moved faster than his eyes could track.

It wasn’t just bones anymore. Violet fire burned inside its ribcage, acting as a heart. Two green flames ignited in its empty eye sockets, staring directly into Daniel’s soul.

He was shocked. He was terrified. He was standing in the shadow of death itself.

The beast opened its jaws. It didn’t roar. It unleashed a soundless scream that rippled through the air like a physical wave.

[Ghostly Howl]

The sound slammed into Daniel’s mind.

CRACK!

His low F-grade [Mental Fortitude] shattered instantly. The resistance was useless against a Level 5 Elite.

[Status Effect: Paralysis]

Daniel stood there, frozen. He couldn’t move his legs to run. He couldn’t lift his knife to defend himself. He couldn’t even blink.

He was a statue made of flesh and fear.

The Wraithfire Fenrir didn’t hesitate. It lunged immediately. Its [Bone Claws], sharp enough to pierce armor, swiped horizontally at Daniel’s midsection.

It was a blow meant to disembowel him. A blow meant to cut him in half.

"NO!" Daniel screamed inside his own mind.

"MOVE!"

He poured every ounce of his High Spirit attribute, boosted by the souls he had consumed into breaking the hold.

He fought the fear. He fought the cold grip on his nerves.

SNAP!

The paralysis broke. He had only a split second. The claws were inches from his stomach.

[Shadowsteps]!

ZHOOM!

His agility tripled instantly. Daniel blurred out of existence. The claws swiped through the space where his body had been a microsecond ago.

The wind from the attack cut his uniform, drawing a thin line of blood on his skin. Daniel rolled across the floor and sprang to his feet on the other side of the room.

He was panting, sweat pouring down his face.

The battle had begun. Daniel didn’t wait. He dashed forward, trying to get behind the beast. He slashed his D-grade knife against the monster’s leg.

CLANG!

Sparks flew. The knife bounced off the elite’s bones as if he had struck a steel beam. There was not even a scratch.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Daniel hissed.

He tried [Venomous Strike]. Green energy coated his blade. He struck again, aiming for a joint.

The acid burned into the bone, but the beast didn’t even flinch. It had no blood to poison. It had no veins.

The Fenrir spun around, its tail whipping through the air like a wrecking ball.

Daniel jumped over it, his heart pounding in his ears. This was a desperate struggle against a superior foe. He couldn’t hurt it.

The Fenrir opened its mouth again.h It shot invisible arrows out of thin air.

THWIP! THWIP!

Daniel couldn’t see them, but his [Mental Echo] helped him.

Danger! Left!

Danger! Low!

He trusted the skill. He twisted his body mid-air, dodging an invisible projectile that smashed a hole into the stone wall behind him.

"I can’t hit it," Daniel realized. "And I can’t tank it. I have to outsmart it." He switched tactics.

He stopped trying to close the distance. He began to run. He ran circles around the chamber, using [Shadowsteps] to blur his movements.

He was kiting the monster, making it chase him. The Fenrir roared, a sound of rattling bones, and charged.

It was fast, gaining on him with every stride. Daniel watched its movements. He watched how it placed its paws.

He saw a patch of uneven ground near the shattered coffin.

"Come on, you bag of bones," Daniel shouted.

The monster lunged. Daniel stopped abruptly. He didn’t dodge away. He punched the ground.

[Forceburst]!

A shockwave rippled through the stone floor. It wasn’t aimed at the monster, it was aimed at the ground beneath its front feet.

CRACK!

The stone shattered. The charging beast’s front leg slipped into the hole Daniel had created.

The sudden stop disrupted its momentum. The massive skeleton tripped, crashing face-first into the floor with a sound like a building collapsing.

The ground shook violently. Dust filled the air. Outside the cave, Bran sat up straight. He could feel the vibrations through the ground.

He heard the muffled booms and the shrieking of wind.

Back inside, Daniel knew this was his only chance. The beast was down, struggling to pull its leg free.

"Now!" Daniel seized the moment of chaos. He dashed inside the creature’s guard, right under its massive ribcage.

He didn’t slash. Slashing was useless. He gripped his Vibro-Knife with both hands, pointing the tip directly upward, straight inside the ribs.

"Burn in hell!" He thrust upward with everything he had.

At the moment of impact, he activated two of his skills simultaneously .

[Venomous Strike]! [Forceburst]!

He channeled the kinetic explosion directly through the tip of the blade, deep into the creature’s essence.

BOOOOM!

The explosion wasn’t ordinary. The magic holding the bones together vanished. The massive skeleton collapsed.

It didn’t fall like a body, it fell like a tower of blocks.

Bones rained down around Daniel, piling over him in a heap of blackened remains.

Silence returned to the cave. Daniel pushed a heavy rib bone off his chest and sat up. He coughed, spitting out dust.

He was bruised, bleeding, and exhausted, but he was alive.

A notification window floated in the darkness, glowing with the most beautiful blue light he had ever seen.

[You have slain: Wraithfire Fenrir– (Level 5 - Demonized Elite).]

[EXP Gained: 270 EXP]

[+50% High-level Kill bonus : 180 EXP]

[Total EXP Gained: 450 EXP]

[Level 3: 590/700 EXP]

Daniel stared at the numbers. He was so close to Level 4. But more importantly, the corpse was right there.

He quickly scrambled out of the pile of bones. He knelt beside the skull of the beast.

The violet fire was gone, but he could still feel the immense power lingering in the bones. He placed his hand on the cold skull.

<Assimilate> Yes.

A rush of power hit him. It wasn’t like the other souls. It burned, but it made him feel invincible.

[Soul Assimilation successful on Creature: Wraithfire Fenrir– (Level 5 - Demonized Elite).]

[Gain: Strength +8]

[Gain: Agility +8]

[Gain: Spirit +10]

[Gain: Vitality +7]

[New Skill Acquired: Mana Bolt (C-Grade): Create and shoot a bolt of pure magic energy. Does medium Spirit damage.]

[New Item Obtained: Skyreaver bow (C-grade): Arrows fired from this bow gain enhanced trajectory and piercing power the higher they travel. Optimized for open skies, it automatically adjusts draw tension for maximum speed and accuracy.]

[Assimilation charges consumed (12/15 remaining)]

Daniel fell back against the stone platform, laughing breathlessly. He felt the new stats rewriting his body. His muscles grew denser. His mind felt sharper than a razor.

He looked at the new bow that had materialized next to him. It was beautiful, made of a white wood that felt light as air.

"Bran," Daniel whispered, standing up. "We’re going to make it." He grabbed the bow and his knife. He felt stronger than ever.