72 Inhabitants of the sewers [1]

What a crazy day it was I got kissed by someone younger than me I haven't got arrested and I uncovered the reason for the noise. if I have some time left on my hand im gonna teach Kyo a lesson for setting me up with Esther. that brat played me like a fiddle, at least he learned a thing or two about deceiving others, goes to show that if I teach him one thing he'll learn another

[System: You've been afflicted by the Black smoke, your vision is getting darker, you receive the status effect, Black out]

"This is the reason why most of the players that gambled their lives, speak of their warnings. I was expecting something a little scarier than a little Blind effect,"

[System: the player Esther Lander has activated the skill Fighting spirit, which boosts her power along with the ability to resist any sort of Crowd control]

The monsters attack her at her side, yet their footsteps made it clear where they were dwelling, which made her thrust her sword at her back after that she swings it to her right and clashes with the other monsters. her vision was just a fraction of her sense the Black smoke wasn't able to block off her sense of hearing nor sense of smell. every step they take she could predict their next move and with their smell, she could discern whether her enemies are close or distant by the magnitude of their scent

"Basic sword arts, Rapid thrust," Esther adjusted her footwork to adapt to her situation where one of her senses was blocked in the stance she had taken she could easily move her arms along with her legs to strike from every side of her body. that releases a barrage of thrust that encircled her position while the monsters that tried to attack her were filled with a dozen holes making them unidentifiable

"Graaah," Without a second to react she didn't notice that one of them stayed behind to strike when she was at her most vulnerable state. she would have suffered a vital injury if it weren't for a dagger striking the monster at its head that was infused with a spell that later activated sending a powerful shock to the monster

[Youre learning to delay the activation of your spells, I thought it would've taken you a long time. but you surprise me when I least expect it, anyway are you not going to use your other spells?]

'After the Colosseum incident, I've become more cautious about casting a powerful spell in a restricted area. I never thought I'd learn why the 2nd tier and above skills are forbidden. if that building wasn't armed with the deities seal I would've caused an explosion that can blow up, half of the city, the forbidden tier skills are game-changing,'

"I had that under control," Esther boldly replied to his act of assistance

"I begged to differ, that blade would've struck your leg and within its positioning and momentum. will result in your incapability to function one of your legs, I don't want to carry you like a princess in this situation that we placed ourselves," Morris gave her a bottle of water to quench her thirst after their long and tiring trip in the Foul and Blinding sewer system

"Im a little curious about their origin, normally a monster would inhabit a place field with a ton of resources and land for them to cultivate yet their living in the sewers,"

"They don't have a choice, it's either death or adapting to a new environment, these monsters are strong enough to fend for themselves. but what if a much larger number invaded their homes,"

Morris punctured a nearby mutated rat that was twice his size, the rodent wasn't agile enough to even make him dodge which made him sever its head from its bloody corpse after he was done he threw the head into a hole where there was a bunch of mutated rats that were smaller and weaker than the one he killed. their hunger made them lose their reasonings and committed cannibalism upon their fallen kin, they never expected Morris's next move that set the rest of them on fire, their squeal echoed throughout the sewers while their bodies were burnt to crisp

"Do you mean that they were invaded by a monster that was stronger and had a ton of forces to overwhelm this kind of monster that gets stronger as long as they stay in the Black smoke? wait don't tell me that it was infected right, it's the only thing I could have guessed, the Npc that I met along the way inside the Safe zone turned into one of them,"

"Bingo, those monsters were overwhelmed by the infected, the Book that I acquired inside the Aries workshop contained a lot of things relating to the infected. not only could they increase their numbers from a bite, but they can also regenerate their missing limbs as long as they eat the required amount of flesh. they have no interest in fruits and vegetables, they are pure carnivorous monsters that would eat anything that contains meat. monsters aren't an exception which leads a few of them to reside in these sewers lowering their numbers that stretching from thousands to a mere hundred they hunt the mutated animals that originated from the toxic chemicals that were discarded from the top,"

"If some of them have emerged from the sewers, does that mean their supplies are running low?"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing it's a little odd that they've emerged after lurking kn the sewers for a year. if they wanted to start a war then they wouldn't have waited for a year, their numbers will diminish over time, and there's the part where they can speak the human tongue. Ageris was just a mini-boss then we might have to prepare for everything that might assault us, Mirage make a clone of yourself and scout the tunnels," Morris created five Mirage that ran towards the other remaining tunnels

[Don't tell me that you're going to use that staff you've been hiding for so long]

"I thought that thing was for a display," Sun manifested her body from within his chest along with Moon that followed her lead

"Owner do you need our help? we've been waiting for your next orders after our long-term break," Moon licks his fur after he landed on the mutated rat's corpse which fancied his taste and even made Sun aroused by its delicious smell until they couldn't resist their urges and ate the corpses till they were full

[System: The player Christopher Morris has activated the skill Concurrent flow Hearing enhancement, you can now use the skill Chi detection]

Morris splashes a ton of his Chi in the tunnel they were carelessly wandering around his Chi showed him every turn and every monster that was lurking around the Black smoke waiting for their prey to enter. without any further delay, he halted his skill after learning about their twist and turns with just a simple glance

'Uggghh, it feels like my brain is turning into a piece of jelly once I try to overuse Remembrance, apart from the Mirage I sent to the other routes they haven't seen anything unusual. waiting here won't solve my circumstance Esther and I need to move if we want to solve this problem, if things turned out to be disastrous then I might have a use for that staff. I wonder why Jin was a little nervous when I said I'll use this right away, he might be afraid that I'll break it before I can use it,'

"Morris Im kind of curious about your survivability when we first met you didn't look like a person that came from a World where Magic was commonly known as a tool," Esther asked him a question while they walk the tunnel

"Oh that you could say I have a problem in my world we were called weird, some of my people wear an eye patch without a missing eye and a ton of bandages. if I can remember, I think we're called Chuunis a small number of people that dabble with otherworldly arts, we strike a pose that summons demons and we can unlock a world-breaking when our eyes fully awaken. but the more we try to further develop the power we acquired our minds would slowly break, I've seen my comrades die from corruption and in the end, I was the only one left along with Jin," Morris told the horrors of his past in the most accurate way he could think of

[That place is incredible it makes me want to explore when this whole trial is over]

"That must have been a lot to take in, is that the reason why you agreed with the invitation you want to learn more about Magic and how to perfectly wield it,"

"That's why I walked this path I've set myself, but I never thought I'd share this story with someone else. it was hard to speak of the horrors I witnessed,"

The two of them kept walking around their chosen tunnel while the other Mirages either died from a monster or simply vanished as their fleeting life slowly faded away within the Black smoke. their lives were only a few minutes yet they've accomplished their goals in every tunnel they entered the noise that echoes every once in a while weren't heard from the other tunnels which reassured Morris and they continued their journey