MMORPG: Ascension of the Strongest Spirit Master
Chapter 37: Nightmare

Chapter 37: Nightmare

Vlad slowly moved deeper, quickly realizing that the bloody scene was not the doing of an adventurer party, not only because he was the first to discover it but because every Bear had died of claw marks.

So that meant a powerful beast, likely a bear judging by the claw marks, had forced its way into the mountain bears’ den and butchered everything in its path.

The Nightmare difficulty made it clear that while the dungeon only housed creatures of up to peak first rank, their strength surpassed any normal Awakened Beast.

While dead and rotting, Vlad could see that every other Bear was a greater beast, so he did not doubt the dungeon boss was a Beast Lord and, from the dungeon description, one with a King’s bloodline.

So if a creature had attacked the Bear Den and butchered his way inside with what looked like ease, he must be a third Rank creature.

It was unlikely that a Third Rank creature would wander so far away from the core area of the forest since, in the outer area, the beasts he could hunt would never satiate his hunger.

Still, this scenario was possible because the Dungeon boss was a holder of a Beast King’s bloodline, but there was another possibility.

The spirit he had been searching for, the one that escaped from the Realm Tear, could very well be responsible for this slaughter, as it may have possessed the dungeon master’s body, slaughtered its cohort, and claimed the den for itself.

The deeper Vlad ventured, the stronger the stench of blood and death became, thick, metallic, and clinging to the back of his throat. The bodies grew in number, some left whole, others torn beyond recognition.

He moved through the long tunnel with practiced caution, his Inhuman Instincts guiding each step as he followed the trail of blood deeper into the dark.

’Let’s see who is responsible for this bloody mess,’ Vlad muttered, eyes narrowing as the blood trail ended and the passage opened into a vast chamber swallowed by darkness.

As Vlad drew closer to the chamber, his heightened senses picked up a rhythmic, low thudding, like the heartbeat of a slumbering giant, slow and heavy, echoing faintly through the air.

Vlad stopped at the entrance of the giant chamber, his eyes immediately drawn to the tear suspended at its center, a jagged, shifting scar in the air, as if invisible claws had torn apart reality itself.

Its jagged, flickering edges distorted the space around them like heatwaves. At its center was a swirling void of black and white filled with raw, cosmic energies of two planes of existence that constantly clashed and burst out in waves.

Right beneath the Real tear, small crystals of muddy black and pale white color, as large as a hand, jutted from the ground, pulsing faintly with an ethereal glow.

"A Third Rank Realm Tear," Vlad muttered softly, his eyes widening as he spotted over three dozen crystals on the ground. Their colors gave away their purity, and the system window that flickered to life before him only confirmed his assumption.

However, Vlad was only given a moment to examine the window before another much larger system window appeared before him. Through the transparent window, he could see the monstrosity to whom it belonged.

[Unique Beast Lord - Dungeon Boss] [Spirit Possessed]

Name: Eclipseborn

Title: (Eclipse-Born) (Rare Breed) (Kin of Colossus)

Race: Shadow Bear Colossus

Rank: First Rank

Level: 99

Health: 88,500

Mana: 21,400

Skills:

Eclipse Maul, Coat of Night, Shadow Lunge, Eclipsed Maw, Strength of the Colossus, Shroud of the Eclipse.

Veilpiercer, Shadow Bind, Hollow Crown.

Description:

A rare bear born beneath a total eclipse. Marked by the celestial omen, it transcended its mundane mountain bear lineage to awaken the dormant blood of its ancient ancestors.

Seven distinct grades were used to classify the nature of a being, whether human or beast, each representing a leap in power, potential, and rarity.

For humans and other intelligent species, the progression was: Common, Rare, Rare Epic, Unique, Legendary, and Mythical.

For beasts, the scale followed a more primal path: Feral Beast, Greater Beast, Beast Lord, Beast King, Nightmare, Calamity Class, and Apocalypse Class.

The monstrosity before him was a creature of both worlds and so was its nature, as it was not only unique but also a Beast Lord.

Vlad was also not hallucinating when he saw two lines of skills, each one pushing the limits of the first Rank, and that was not all, as while still a first Rank creature, its stats easily rivaled a peak second Rank creature of rare and terrible nature.

It was expected to find a great challenge inside an Instance Dungeon of Nightmare Difficulty, but even then, the monstrosity before him did not belong in this dungeon.

Vlad closed the system windows with a mental command and looked ahead at the towering beast, who was glaring down at him with dark obsidian eyes.

The creature stood over three meters tall, even on all fours. Its hulking frame was a monstrous blend of raw muscle and dark majesty. Its fur coat was as dark as night, with heavy and dense muscles visible beneath it.

Obsidian Dark blades that easily cut into stone adorned his claws, and his eyes were twin embers of hate and bestial hunger. Its slightly open jaw exposed a gaping maw of pure darkness, lined with fangs glistening like obsidian knives.

A cloak of darkness oozed from its body like thick, living smoke, and the presence it radiated was so oppressive that even Vlad doubted if he could defeat him.

But he only doubted for a moment before he steeled his resolve.

Vlad knew he could encounter such a situation, so he had come prepared with explosives, poison, and even fire potions to help him kill a peak second-rank creature.

But even though he had grown to level 56 and had made decent preparations, this battle would be extremely challenging, as a single mistake could kill him.

He knew his chances of victory were low, but he had to fight the creature before him because, in a few hours, the spirit could harvest the mature crystal and only grow stronger.

’Vel still hasn’t awakened, and I could really use her help right now,’ Vlad thought, knowing that Spirit Convergence would have granted him a 20 to 30 percent stat boost, a significant edge in a fight like this.

’Let’s get this show started,’ Vlad muttered, flexing his fingers beneath the Gauntlets of Sovereign Will.

The gauntlets were already transformed, cloaked in the shadowy fur of Duskstalker, rippling with dark energy, and at the fingertips ended in sleek, onyx-colored claws, gleaming like obsidian knives in the dim light of the cave.

The Eclipseborn, a hulking giant, stepped before the massive crystal formation like a beast guarding its kill.

To his left, a mass of writhing shadows surged and coalesced into a spear. In the next instant, the spear moved in a streak of pure shadow, tearing through the air with lethal intent.

’Essence Embodiment’

Vlad used ghost weave to step aside, easily avoiding the spear at the last moment; all the while, he activated the transformation ability of his gauntlets.

As the skill activated, a thick and unnatural dark aura began to bleed from Vlad’s body. His blood felt like it was boiling, the stored essence igniting within him, reshaping his very form from the inside out.

The midnight-black skin that once stopped at his elbows began to creep upward, spreading over his pale flesh like ink in water. His muscles swelled and convulsed, shifting in unnatural pulses as if something alive writhed beneath the surface of his skin.

Agony followed.

A searing, consuming pain pierced through every nerve as if his body were being eaten from within, but that was the price he had to pay to gain the boost of strength.

The transformation reached his face. His once ash-grey eyes darkened into a cold void while darkness bled around his eyes, and even his canines elongated into sharp, bestial fangs, besides the improvement of other senses.

Vlad halted the process once two-thirds of the stored essence had been consumed. His vision turned muddled, and his thoughts blurred, but with a deep breath and the calming grip of Warrior’s Focus skill, the fog in his mind and eyes began to clear.

This was the first time Vlad had used the skill after ascending to the first Rank, and he couldn’t believe how much of an enhancement it offered.

All his stats were up by 25%, but his speed, thanks to the agile nature of the Duskstalker, was up by 40%, a staggering number, and combined with sharp senses, the improvements were just amazing.

But these gains came at the cost of altering his nature, both physical and mental.

The Eclipseborn, seeing his attack fail and the intruder still standing, now radiating the scent of a powerful beast, let out a low, guttural growl through clenched teeth.

Without hesitation, his massive frame became cloaked in deep, writhing shadows, and in the next instant, he launched forward with terrifying speed, a living missile of darkness, using his Shadow Lunge to close the distance like a predator striking from the void.

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