Level Up: Voidwalker

Atlas stared at the piles of bones, the sight hitting him harder than he expected. 'What sort of sick shit went on in this place?' a wave of unease washed over him.

His hand instinctively reached out to pick up one of the bones—a small arm bone. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he realized it once belonged to a child. Atlas quickly placed it back, feeling a deep chill in his chest.

'This place is a graveyard, it seems.'

Following that, he checked the other metal boxes only to see more of the same before moving on. The other room was empty except for a group of skeletons in one corner that looked like they had died a brutal death.

'It must have been horrible for them.'

Atlas left the unsettling room behind and cautiously approached the third door. As it creaked open, he found a staircase leading to the next floor. His grip tightened on his blades as he ascended, ready for any Deepsea Crawlers that might lunge from the shadows.

He was met with nothing but a thick layer of dust when he reached the top. The eerie silence was unnerving, but then he spotted something—a faint trail cutting across the dusty floor. Something had passed through recently, leaving its mark.

'Deepsea Crawlers, maybe?' Atlas pondered as he studied the markings.

Following that, he continued walking down the corridor, only to hear a door slam from nearby, making him yelp while spinning in its direction. He saw a dust cloud come from one of the doors.

'What was that?' Atlas glanced around.

His skill Light lit up the corridor, only to see the marks leading toward a door, which creeped him out. Atlas approached it as he readied to strike at whatever it was. He opened the metal door only to receive a bunk room.

While stepping inside, something suddenly lunged at him from the shadows, causing him to yelp in fright as he crossed his blades, causing sparks to fly as one of the Crawlers tried to bite down, but the metal blocked it.

'Ahhh damn spiders!' he mused with annoyance while hearing the more skittering that was heading in his direction.

Atlas skidded backward before casting Void Infusion as he struck the creature, causing it to explode into chunks of chitin as more monsters appeared. He bobbed and weaved around the spider attacks while stabbing them.

As the battle erupted, the room was small, and everything was covered in blood, but soon enough, they stopped appearing from a nearby vent that Atlas blasted with Void Bullets, blocking their way in.

The remaining monsters were confined in the room with him, allowing him to defeat them all before taking a break. Atlas pulled out one of the Horned Rabbit Kebabs and took a bite, wincing as the spices set his mouth ablaze.

'Hot, hot, hot,' he internally complained as his tongue was burning.

After grabbing a water bottle, he sipped to soothe the heat. He settled in and enjoyed his meal once he could taste the kebab's full flavor. While eating, another bang rang out, but this time, it sounded close.

'I swear this ship will make me shit myself before long,' he thought while glancing around.

More banging rang out, making Atlas's skin crawl, but He ignored it while eating. Once done, he left the room and went down the dark corridor. He quickly activated the skill Light, which lit up the quiet hallway.

Atlas continued his search, moving through the remaining rooms, only to find them empty. This discovery puzzled him. 'Has someone been here before me?'

He wondered as he closed the door behind him. Suddenly, a shuffling noise echoed through the hallway. Startled, he spun around, raising Nightblade in a defensive stance, but saw nothing.

The eerie silence deepened his unease. When he finally reached the deck where the survivors should have been, he was met with a grim scene: scattered broken furniture and disturbing bloodstains smeared across the walls.

'It seems like the people were attacked while the ship was sailing, but what could have done it?' Atlas thought while glancing around.

He guessed it was the Deepsea Crawlers invading the ship and shrugged. Atlas continued walking, only to find nothing.

Atlas's footsteps echoed through the dimly lit corridor, each step intensifying the unsettling silence around him. The ship creaked and groaned as if protesting his intrusion. Shadows danced menacingly along the wall thanks to his skill Light.

A low, guttural sound drifted through the air, causing him to freeze. He tightened his grip on his blades, his breath quickening. The noise came from behind a rusted metal door to his right, causing his nerves to soar.

'What is lurking around? That was not a spider.'

He approached cautiously, the faint squeak of the hinges making him flinch as he slowly pushed it open. The room beyond was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the narrow beam of his skill.

The floor was littered with debris and what looked like fragments of old, tattered uniforms. Atlas scanned the room, his heart pounding. A sudden skittering noise from above made him jerk his head up.

'I should get out of here but I need that Arcane Ember for the blade,'

His flashlight beam swept across the ceiling, revealing only the room's emptiness and the remnants of what once might have been a ventilation system. But the noise grew louder, like the scratching of numerous tiny claws.

With a shiver running down his spine, Atlas moved further into the room. He stumbled over something soft and squishy hidden beneath the rubble, and a sickening squelch echoed in the stillness.

As he turned to steady himself, a series of sharp, scraping noises erupted from the shadows, accompanied by an eerie, high-pitched whine that seemed to pierce the air. The sound grew louder, now a cacophony of scuttling and faint whispers.

Atlas's pulse quickened as a sharp clang echoed through the room. His breath hitched as his blood ran cold. ''What the fuck,'' he muttered under his breath.

The ship's eerie silence seemed to close in on him, each sound growing louder, more menacing. He whipped his head around just in time to see something fall from the shadows, hitting the metal floor with a sickening thud.

'There's something in here with me; I can feel their eyes on me.'

When Atlas heard the harsh noise, it sent a jolt of terror through him, making the hairs on his neck bristle. He backed away slowly and couldn't shake the feeling of unseen eyes lingering on his every move.

Just then, Medusa's panicked voice shattered the quiet in his mind, causing him to jump out of his skin, 'Master! You're not alone, and it's not spiders! Get to the captain's quarters now!'

As Medusa's voice echoed in his mind, an instinct flared inside Atlas. He had no time to think—only react. He crossed his blades with lightning reflexes just as a massive creature lunged from the shadows, its claws slashing toward him.

The force of the impact sent his swords clattering across the floor as the beast gripped his throat, lifting him off the ground. Atlas gasped for breath, heart pounding in his chest like a war drum.

'What monster is this?' He was looking into the creature's malice-filled eyes.

Its skin was a ghastly shade of grey, exuding an aura of death that sent a shiver down his spine. The creature's horrifying teeth glinted menacingly in the dim light, poised to strike. A surge of fear gripped him, but just as panic threatened to overwhelm him, a powerful voice echoed in his mind—his father's, resolute and commanding.

'Fight, Atlas! Fight to live, boy!'

A wave of determination surged through him as he unleashed Void Infusion, his fist crackling with ominous dark energy before he launched a thunderous punch straight into the creature's chest, and the impact exploded with an explosive roar that shook the air around them.

The impact sent the monster staggering back, its massive form crashing into the walls. But there was no time to rest. More creatures lunged at him from all sides. Atlas's azure eyes blazed with fury, and his fists lit up with the same glowing power.

He moved like a storm, delivering a flurry of brutal combos that shattered bones and decimated his attackers. Every strike was deadly and filled with raw power, 'Master!' Medusa's voice rang out in his mind, tinged with panic. 'Don't fight too much! This power is too much for you right now!'

Atlas faced the looming threat with unwavering resolve, unleashing a primal roar that resonated with fierce defiance. His voice reverberated through the air as he locked his gaze on the largest of the beasts.

He charged forward in a blaze of speed, Void mana crackling around his fist as he hurled himself at the monstrous foe. His punch collided with the creature's jaw in a thunderous explosion reverberating through the chamber, sending the beast crashing into the wall with a bone-shaking impact.

After that, Atlas started punching the other creatures while scanning the bigger one to check out its rank, only to have his heart drop.

[Fleshfiends]

[Leader]

[Tainted]

[Rank: S - 10000 Exp]

[Strong, fast, and sneaky. You have to be better than them]

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