Chapter 150: Falling
Novus just kept looking up at the familiar ceiling as he let his body rest, his eyes, focused on just a single floating screen hanging right on top of him.
[Detected debilitating damage that will render the system user's existence within the Evolution Domain pointless. Forced ejection executed.]
[Bodily regeneration is currently in progress (0.01 %). Estimated completion time: 6 days, 22 hours.]
[Access to the Evolution Domain currently denied.]
Two hours had passed ever since he was kicked out of the Evolution Domain, however, the final experience he went through before he returned back to his dormitory room is still fresh to him, body and mind.
He can still clearly see it whenever he closes his eyes, the collapse of the ground forcing even those towering trees to lean in, the panicked expression on both the Goblins and the Ebony Direwolves faces, that gradually accelerating tug downwards as they all lose their footing on the ground.
Just as quick as these events unfold, they were also quickly wrapped around the darkness of down below, hot, humid air coming from the hole they are falling into tickling their skin, making everyone wonder what is it that they are falling into.
All wouldn't have enough time to think about all these things though as every single living being within the darkness instinctively felt it all, their hairs standing on their very end as another development were delivered to them by their senses.
A development that basically spells their doom.
Pungent, no, putrid smell assaults their noses as their limbs came into contact with something, the walls, linings that wrap around them feeling a little soft, and paired with the slimy sensation, Novus, who finally saw some parts of this hole through Sensory Expansion, finally have an idea to what happened.
It was never a structure that they fall inside of, but rather, a being, a living, breathing one.
And right now, they are currently inside its mouth, the sharp, jagged objects growing as large as an adult's arm surrounding them, sticking to the flesh.
Some of the gaps between these "teeth" are squeezed with soft decay of flesh and course ground of bones, creating the putrid smell.
All of this drove Novus to a single conclusion, that he is in for a hell of pain.
And a hell of pain he felt as he heard something rumbling from deeper underneath them, moments later a flood starting to drown them inside this colossal creature's mouth.
The worst part of it all is that the liquid drowning them felt all too familiar, like he had already seen it before.
The crimson tint that he can barely make out from the minuscule light that peers through this massive mouth instantly brought back the memory of the spear back to him, the hellish suffering from just some couple of minutes of internal bleeding returning back altogether, as if he is experiencing it once again.
He is, in fact, under the process of experiencing that torturous toxin once more, only this time, it is far stronger than what hit him before.
[Immortal Energy: 1,000/7,500]
The lethality of this liquid shows, as not even a minute has passed and his remaining Immortal Energy had already fallen by the hundreds, the rate of consumption unceasing, no, in fact, increasing as his body was submerged deeper into the crimson liquid.
[Immortal Energy 500/7,500]
"Cough!!!" he coughed blood once more, but this time, it wasn't just him, but all else around him does, the liquid tearing every living organism from the inside, making any attempt of retaliation impossible.
[Immortal Energy: 0/7,500]
And the fact that he is far more durable than anyone else made it the worst experience for Novus and himself alone, as when the Goblins and Ebony Direwolves are already dead, insides molten into nothing but blood and matter by the crimson liquid, he still stands.
Granting him the opportunity to experience this monster's devouring.
The teeth once stationary began to move, trembling, shaking, then eventually grinding before it starts slipping where it was rooted.
It was like a whirlwind surrounding one's own being, except rather than wind, it is tough, hard, sharp and toxin-laced teeth that are grazing one's body, guaranteeing not only heightened damage, but heightened pain as well.
The only silver lining Novus got from the experience is that despite its massive size, the creature seems to end the life of its meal early, as despite the pain of having his flesh and bone torn bit by bit, the fast-moving appendages for teeth took his life in no time at all, ending with him blacking out as he felt a sharp, grinding teeth gradually tearing his head away from his neck.
'Even Vital Sense failed to gather information on it…' looking at the screen given to him by his newest ability after scanning the creature, he couldn't help but feel in awe.
[???]
[Combat Rating: C]
[Talent: ???]
[Strength: ???]
[Agility: ???]
[Vitality: ???]
[Arcane: ???]
[Harmony: ???]
[Skills]
[???]
[???]
[???]
It was just a C Tier creature, which made it all the more terrifying the more Novus thinks about it.
'After all, Vital Sense should've been capable of accurately measuring the strength of anyone as long as they are within two tiers above my strength…'
'That means that it is far stronger than any C Tier, even considering the standards of the Evolution Domain, or at least, it's status is higher…'
He thought to himself, the idea causing his mind to drift around as he formed a lot of theories regarding the existence of this monster, eventually leading him to an answer that even he can settle with.
'Perhaps it is some kind of special creature like the Golden Slime?'
He asked himself before he pushed the idea to the back of his mind, thinking that it might be too crazy to compare such monstrous creature to one that he can already deal with easily now, yet the very idea of this monster being the equivalent of what the Golden Slime is to the rest of the slimes never truly left his mind.
'Well, there's no use thinking too much about it…'
As he continues trying to deduce the colossal monster's existence, he also begins opening the notifications he got from hunting down numerous creatures during his time in the domain.
[Defeated: D Tier Golden Slime (62). Rewards: D Tier Evolution Crystal (144), Slime Substrate (501), Slimy Gold Dust (143)]
[Defeated: Goblin (134). Rewards: D Tier Evolution Crystal (717), Goblin's Eye (513), Goblin's Heart (132)]
[Defeated: Ebony Direwolf (211). Rewards: D Tier Evolution Crystal (921), Wolf Fang (899), Dark Claw (279)]
Those notifications greeted him, making him realize that he really gathered a whole lot of resources during his hunt.
This, in turn, made him feel even more pity as he felt like he could've gotten a bit more had it not been for the colossal monster that took everyone out, making his attention return back to this mysterious being once more.
He eventually ended his mulling over this new opponent looming over him like mountain, forcing the thought out of his mind as he starts paying attention to the matters he can deal with right now, a faint, excited smile appearing on his face as he opened his Storage Space.