16 Rat men

A pit was created where Ezequiel crashed, making a curtain of dust appear and blocking the apprentices' view. Although neither of them could see the result of the attack, both of them were sure about the outcome. 

After all, any apprentice that received an attack with that much power was supposed to be severely hurt.

"Well done, Robert," Benjamin praised the quick mind of the apprentice. After all, even giving his all, he could not touch Ezequiel, and he was getting hurt due to the lightning whip.

"That brat may be strong, but he was too cocky. He thought he could take care of both of us alone. Just a little spell, and he was finished," Robert laughed, making it seem like it was nothing great.

Although he made it look like it was easy, Robert knew that it was the opposite. When he was making the rocks fall from the sky and distracting Ezequiel, he was also using all his power to liquefy the earth where he landed, just at the right moment to surprise him, using almost all of his energy to make the spell instantaneous.

Benjamin, in his snake form, headed to where Ezequiel was, with his mouth open and spit dripping from it.

"Brat, enjoy being eaten by me!"

He yelled as he threw himself with his jaws open, but instead of a meal, what he got was only a raised hand and two words.

"Abyssal Blast!"

A beam full of concentrated abyss aura was discharged from Ezequiel's hand, and unlike Zatiel's blast that was black, this one had a blue color.

Before Benjamin could react, the blast hit him with such an immense power that it destroyed the upper half of his snake body immediately.

"Benjamin!" 

Robert could not believe what was happening. One moment they were enjoying the feeling of victory, and the next, one of them disintegrated due to the strongest attack he had ever seen in his life.

As the dust settled, Ezequiel walked out of the pit. Although his body looked alright, his left arm was so injured that bones could be seen, and as for his right arm, it was healing with amazing speed due to the Abyss Regeneration.

After waiting a moment and seeing the rest of the corpse of his enemy, Ezequiel's body was covered in lightning, and he disappeared.

'Where has he gone?!' Robert was terrified. His energy reserves were almost depleted, and he could not fight in this state.

Just as Robert was trying to think of a way out of this situation, a lightning-covered hand pierced his body. Shocked, he barely had the strength to see behind him. What appeared in his sight were a couple of cold eyes that even at this moment could still terrify him.

"Ahhhh!" Robert screamed as the lightning destroyed his body and killed him.

Ezequiel was indifferent to the screams of his enemies, and after a moment, he searched for any life close by. As he felt nothing, he left the place.

'I was not careful. Master was right, I have to always be aware of my surroundings, including even the most insignificant detail,' Ezequiel's face was serious as he assessed his performance in the battle.

Actually, Ezequiel wasn't aware of how amazing what he did was. His current Abyss Aura made him only as powerful as a newly advanced Rank 3 Apprentice, and yet he was able to fight 3 people with energy reserves and battle experience way over his own, yet he managed to kill them all, and his only injury was a broken arm that would heal in minutes if he could maintain Abyss Regeneration.

...

"I have finally arrived."

In front of Zatiel, there was a small mountain full of the entrance to underground caves, and as he inspected them, he went through the information of his mission.

"These are the caves of the rat men, according to the information I got, the aim of this mission is to collect some magical herbs that grew in the nest of these creatures. The rat men were supposed to be weak, with Rank 2 Apprentices being able to kill them in a fight, but they lived in packs, and their number could reach a thousand, making them deadly if they cornered you. Although they could be annoying, they were not an actual threat to me with my current power. A.I. Chip, scan me."

[Bip... Analyzing host

Strength: 8.2

Physique:9.3

Speed:7.9

Abyss Aura: 10.7]

Zatiel's physical prowess could make any apprentice green with envy. His stats were even more powerful than a Rank 3 Body-refinement Apprentice, but unlike them, he was not burning his potential to enhance his body. On the contrary, while his body grew stronger, his talent only increased.

'Good. With my current strength, killing the rat men and getting the herbs will be easy. As for Arthur and his group, they will probably attack me when I leave the cave,' As Zatiel was planning, he assessed the mountain, but when he looked at it, he felt that something was off. 

After a moment and with the help of the chip, he identified the reason.

'I am impressed. He knew practically nothing about me, yet he used something really powerful to kill me. Unfortunately for them, these traps are useless against someone like me,' shaking his head at their futile attempt to harm him, he entered the caves.

The cave was full of skeletons and waste. The tunnels looked like they were dug into the earth with the claws of some beast, and from time to time, you could hear the noise of something eating with ferocity and things crawling through the ground. 

It had an ominous vibe, but to Zatiel, this was like a playground. After all, in the Abyss, there were millions of places much more terrifying.

It didn't take long before the noises grew stronger, and the rat men appeared; they had bodies filled with gray hair, long claws, and a height of one meter. Their faces were full of ferocity as they launched themselves at Zatiel.

Zatiel saw how dozens of rat men charged at him, and he started using his Abyss Aura, making Abyssal Chains appear around him.

The chains acted as if they had a mind of their own and attacked the rat men, going through their heads or chests, killing them instantly.