"Ambrosia is out." The cute voice said.
Varian climbed out of the stream and clothed himself. His body turned leaner after advancing, betraying the incredible strength each muscle packed.
In a few seconds, he reached the area he landed and gazed up.
The mist clouded his vision, but he already knew climbing the cliff was not an option.
"Do you have any other routes to get to the center?" He asked.
"Yes, but…" It trailed off.
"Hm?"
"There are a few magic beasts in every way." the voice said. "they aren't fighting for ambrosia. Only the strongest are going at it. The rest are waiting."
"Just tell me." Varian was eager to test out his strength.
He already accustomed himself to his new strength. Now all that left was to actually fight.
"The cliff bottom has a tunnel up the mountain. But it is filled with lightning snakes."
Varian circled around and found the tunnel.
As he shot up the tunnel, he could see two large snakes in meditation.
Whoosh!
He dashed to them.
His speed was much higher than it ever was. So even though they had Level 4 Lightning sense, since they weren't on alert, he caught them off guard.
Swish!
Boom!
Varian swung his fist at the snake head, breaking the lightning barrier it hurriedly set up.
Splatter.
Without resistance, its head exploded, and it died a gruesome death.
'Even though I ambushed it, it is still a Level 4.' Varian smiled and kicked behind.
Boom!
Crackle!
His kick, covered by his lightning mana, broke through the lightning shield of the snake and killed it clean.
As he was about to bend and take their beast cores, he asked. "How is the situation there?"
"It's crazy. Every beast is fighting. No beast died, but the intensity is rising every second."
Varian stopped in his tracks and ran up the tunnel.
"Hey, aren't you going to take the beast cores?"
"I will need to get there at the right time." Varian sped up.
"But why? You can just enter the center after the fight is over." The voice sounded puzzled.
The ambrosia wasn't even a mature one. So taking it wouldn't have great benefits either.
The beasts didn't know, so they fought. But Varian did the same despite knowing. Why?
"Why just center? I want that ambrosia." He grinned and punched out.
Crackle!
His fist, covered with lightning, smashed the snake head to pulp.
"At the last moment, all the other magic beasts will also be eager to snatch it." The voice said.
"I am taking it." Varian jumped and dodged a lightning arc.
Boom!
The cave shook heavily. The rocks fell on him and cracked apart.
Varian wasn't bothered and before the snake stuck him with a lightning whip, he tore it in two.
"It's a very immature Ambrosia. It won't even help you much." The cute voice tried to talk him out of it.
"Hehe." Varian chuckled and continued to sprint. The tunnel was very long and with the fights in between, he would take quite a few minutes of sprint.
"I want to get as strong as I can." He grinned and crushed a snake's skull before resuming his run.
"It can't be helped." The cute voice gave up.
Varian didn't bother.
If he got the ambrosia, his chances of beating the Abyssals, if they really come, would increase.
In case if everything was a ploy by this voice owner, more strength would mean his chance of protecting himself would increase.
On top of that, with most of the strongest beasts in the core zone injured, he could easily clear them and reduce the variables for the danger.
Boom!
Crackle!
Whoosh!
There were only three sounds in the tunnel.
The whistling of the wind as a fist cut through the air.
The rumble of lightning.
The gales as a body moved at a high speed.
As he got closer to the surface, the voice updated him on the latest event.
"One beast was killed."
"Three were killed."
"A few beasts that don't reside in center jumped into the fight."
Varian continued to run.
"A peak Level 4 beast killed two more when it was about to die."
"A beast approached the ambrosia!" The cute voice yelled.
Varian's breath paused for a moment, but he continued running.
"Phew. The rest attacked it together." It heaved a sigh of relief.
"Now…" It was about to continue when Varian suddenly said.
"Finally." He rushed out of the tunnel and the warm light of day shone on his face.
"The few extra beasts tried to approach ambrosia, but they were swatted to death."
Rumble!
Boom!
"Tsk. " Varian clicked his tongue and saw huge lightning clouds in the distance.
'I don't even need to ask the directions.' He shook his head and shot towards the battlefield.
As he inched closer, an intoxicating smell assaulted him and the chi, mana, and space power in his body all cheered in joy.
"How did these high Level 4 beasts survive so long?" He asked on the way.
There were several High Level 4 Beasts that were hiding in their nest. But there were also quite a few of them that were slowly moving towards the center. They, too, wanted to try their luck.
Rumble!
From a few miles, lightning arcs shot out in all directions.
Varian dodged them with ease and slowed down.
"High Level 4… they were neglected by the peak Level 4. But when they moved past a certain threshold, they were killed."
"I see." Varian stopped in front of a huge crater.
Below, green, blue, and purple blood dyed the ground. Broken limbs, crushed heads and torn bodies littered the battlefield.
Crackle!
"Roar!"
"Mooo!"
"Hiss!"
From crowned snakes to shaded lions, from purple rabbits to red rats, a lot of magic beasts were fighting it out.
Right in the center, there was a small mountain. Or rather, that was the original ground. Due to the fight, the ground was hollowed out into a crater.
'System, hide my aura to early Level 4.'
[Yes, host.]
The beasts that were checking him took a slight glance and turned back to fighting.
'Being ignored is also useful.' He grinned and ran down the slope.
Boom!
"Roar!"
Rumble!
Amidst the dense fighting, he carefully dodged a few serious attacks and purposefully took a few light ones.
He approached the line beyond which peak Level 4s would take notice and attack.
The same thing happened to the high Level 4s before him.
However, he had less attention due to his low power level. The magic beasts thought they could kill him if he tried to get closer.
"But…" Varian grinned and dodged a lightning arc. He focused his strength on his legs and took a deep breath.
Boom!
Whoosh!
He shot to the ambrosia at his full speed.
"Roar!"
It was so sudden and unexpected that the magic beasts were taken aback.
As Varian caught the floating green droplet, the lighting attacks rained on him.
Even if he was a Level 4 now, he wouldn't be able to take them all head on.
'I never planned on fighting you head on..' He shrugged and jumped out.