In this situation not even the slippery suit he created before would work, Neil could only stare as the walls closed in, turning his body into minced meat.
Again, a quick death.
[You died.]
[Analyzer Activated.]
Haa...
This was just the perfect run, everything went rather smoothly and he was actually so close to killing a Diamond class beast.
But now Neil was no longer sure if there was even a chance, and if he should just give up.
But as his dimmed gaze moved to the messages, he was surprised to find an additional option present there.
[Would you like to restart/ continue?]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
’This...’ He couldn’t understand why this change occurred. Was it because he had a chance of surviving this time unlike before?
Maybe he reached a check point or something?
But he didn’t waste any time pondering, thankfully things worked out for the best.
Neil wasn’t really sure if he could have survived against this beast or even killed it in any other way.
’CONTINUE!!’
...
Instantly, his body appeared back at the same place as before, the walls of the belly were slowly stretching back.
Neil looked down at himself, he was perfectly fine. Even his helmet and suit weren’t damaged, as if he had just skipped that tiny frame of time.
Filled with excitement, intense motivation and adrenaline, Neil poured out more and more toxins into its body, not sparing any effort to take his revenge.
And just like he hoped, a few hours later, just as they had entered the nineteenth day, the creature died.
As various messages popped in front of Neil.
[You have slain 1st Origin Diamond Class Magma Bima!]
[Calculating rewards based on the power difference.]
[Would you like to collect your loot?]
"Yes." Neil said, the personal assistances were directly connected to the world consciousness, or so he had heard.
That’s how such messages directly popped in front of everyone.
There was so much he needed to learn, but couldn’t because he got kidnapped at nearly the last moment.
If Neil could still manage to escape, he could no longer trust anyone back among the humans.
Instantly the enormous creature’s body began to disintegrate, and Neil fell down to the ground, landing softly.
The slippery fluid he had created completely wet with acid and sticky juices.
Within moments, a glowing white orb appeared in front of him.
"Haa haa How do I open this?" Neil got to his feet and picked the orb.
He had heard that upon killing Phaged, beasts, and other creatures, one could receive various sorts of rewards.
"You can only use it once becoming a lord, you have to first take control of the domain here." Nemo replied, feeling bad with 1 other.
"Sigh store it away, and search where is the so called domain. Also, do you know what comes above the Diamond rank?" Neil questioned, finding himself far away from the place where he got eaten.
A couple of drones instantly flew out of his battle suit, observing the surroundings from all the sky.
"No, there has not yet appeared any creature outside of the diamond rank, at least not on the Zoratian planet." Nemo replied before adding:
"I have prepared a map for you. Following it, you can reach the unknown territory within around ten or so hours while avoiding all other creatures here."
Neil took in a deep breath, finally breathing outside of that helmet.
Soon, the drones returned.
He ate some food and drank a lot of water.
Finally, he headed towards the domain, this would be the final step before he could obtain his territory and become a lord.
[Aquamorph Activated.]
Using his skill he removed all the fluids from around his body, though the disgusting scent still lingered.
He didn’t want to think for a moment of his experience in the past few days.
Following Nemo’s guidance, Neil headed towards the territory that he needed to claim.
There were other beasts and Phaged still lurking around the place, but none of them were at the Diamond rank, and probably one or two at the Gold rank.
He travelled carefully, passing through the forest and pausing when the sky darkened.
The air was filled with spores, distant sounds of beasts ringing out and a lot of insects.
This was the first time he was in a dangerous setting, and all alone, the whole place turned really scary at night.
Neil just talked to Nemo, trying to remain sane, but still a little nervous about the challenges ahead.
***
Neil was extra careful not to alert any beasts or Phaged present in the forest, but he also made makeshift weapons and traps like Molotovs, highly compressed poison in a fuel that would explode on impact, and a few other things.
His Aquamorph skill was a lot more useful and dangerous than he initially expected.
Though it was only going to get stronger as he evolves.
With the help of drones that silently scanned the whole place, Neil arrived in front of the domain in nearly eleven hours.
’Is that how an initial level domain looks like?’ Neil gazed at the building that was surrounded by a small lawn in the midst of the forest.
It seemed to be made of some sort of black wood, and probably had three or four rooms, a well built house that seemed quite sturdy.
The territory covered an area of approximately 800 to 900 square meters, with each side measuring around 30 meters.
"Well that’s a lot better in comparison to all the other initial domains, even Diamond ranked ones aren’t half as good."
Nemo said, her sweet melodic voice directly ringing into his ears.
’We can think about all that later, but first I have to become the lord of this territory and to do that I have to touch the core of the territory.’
He thought about the basics he got to know back in the academy.
But between him and the domain stood only one hinderance. The guardian of the domain, whose strength matched the class of the domain itself.
Or in other words someone even stronger than Magma Bima, at a class higher than Diamond.
"And to do that, you don’t necessarily have to fight the guardian.
If we can somehow find and enter the core room inside the domain, we can get the core." Nemo spoke.
The guardian was a strong entity, who was programmed to protect the core, otherwise to just follow a particular routine daily.
They could be said to be mindless, and could be present in any shapes and sizes.
’Yeah, even with analyzer, there is no chance of defeating the guardian, so let’s wait and see if I can find a way to enter.’
Neil thought before climbing onto a tree in front of the domain entrance.
His body was surrounded by a scent that repelled any insects from getting closer, and so, Neil began to camp.
...
Neil camped outside the territory for nearly two days and properly observed the patterns of the guardians and the beasts around.
The guardian of this domain had a human like form and was covered in a black armor, its physique similar to that of a female.
But it didn’t really have a gender, heck it wasn’t even a living entity.
’Anyway, in around ten minutes, the guardian would come out to roam around the domain like usual and that would be my chance to start my plan.’
Neil thought, holding a bottle with a brownish fluid.
It had the scent of blood and was highly volatile, or in other words, it would spread in the surroundings very quickly.
After waiting for nine minutes and thirty seconds, Neil threw the bottle towards the entrance.
BOOM
Right at impact, the bottle exploded and the brownish fluid quickly evaporated in all directions.
The guardian rushed outside upon hearing the sound and observed the pieces of the bottle.
The guardian would usually roam in the lawn for half an hour, doing absolutely nothing.
It picked a piece of glass and smelled the strong scent of blood in the air, turning its head towards the distant noises.
’This is my chance, Nemo, keep watch over it and inform me of its movement.’
Neil thought, looking up at the drone hidden above the tree.
In the midst of the forest only the territory area wasn’t covered by trees.
As the howling of beasts and Phaged got louder, getting closer to the territory, Neil climbed the tree as discreetly as possible.
Using fluids to remove his own scent and make his presence as low as possible.
Thankfully, there was no boundary around the lawn, allowing Neil to easily enter while the guardian was busy with the intruding creatures.
’Hoo Let’s do this without any death this time.’ He thought, crawling forward slowly, holding his breath and making absolutely no sound.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...