Azaroth was amused. The boss threw two of its zombies out of the way as it reached for Alex, claws unfolding. The boss’s face was nothing more than a skeletal skull covered in dried brown flesh.

The monster sped towards Alex, dirty brown hair blowing behind it. Alex was surprised but managed to get his sword up in time. Still, the monster’s attack sent him stumbling back.

He regained his balance quickly and swung his sword in a low arc that the creature dodged. Zombies weren’t usually this fast, but this one was the boss.

Even as the boss fought, more monsters crawled from the ground and faced the rest of the team, leaving only Alex and the boss to face each other.

Alex gritted his teeth. He wanted to unleash his skill, but the zombie was too close and wouldn’t give him the space he needed. Changing tactics, Alex ran at the monster and then, at the last minute, jerked back, leaving the monster unbalanced enough that he was able to cut its leg off.

The monster fell forward, and Alex didn’t waste the chance. He was on it in a flash, and his sword took its head off. Essence settled on him, and he smiled.

All the other zombies also fell and died.

Stallus shook her head. "Zombies. Nasty creatures. They will infect you with a disease that will have you dead before you know it should they manage to get their claws on you."

"Nice then. I’m the one that killed the first boss of the first stage of training!" Alex shouted, lifting his sword up.

Azaroth frowned as he looked around. A shame that it was zombies and they couldn’t keep the meat. Still, he got what he wanted: essence.

He folded himself and started absorbing it. The others followed his move, and they sat there in the middle of the monsters and harvested.

When they were done, they traced their way back to the place where the portal was and went back to the training crypt.

"Should we hunt another crypt?" Alex asked.

Stallus shook her head. "Weren’t you listening? The whole reason for this first stage of training is to hunt monsters. So apart from sleeping, that’s what we will be doing. Hunting monsters. Crypts."

Azaroth led them to their next crypt. They entered the portal. This one led them into a building. It was as if they were in any other building outside.

In the room where the portal left them, it looked like an inn, according to Alex.

"Hmm," Alex said as he looked around. "This looks like an inn. I’ve seen a picture of it before. They were quite common before the apocalypse, but now only wandering Awakeners who have the power to build such things for their fellow wandering Awakeners still operate them."

They are now too expensive; only the rich can afford them because they now double as shelters for wandering Hunters. The inn was big, and the first floor was filled with chairs and round tables.

The counter, which was in the right corner, was covered in cups and jugs and broken bottles.

"What type of crypt is this?" Alex asked. They all stood in front of the portal. They felt no monster’s aura, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be hiding.

"Crypts can take any form," Stallus reminded him.

Indeed, crypts often take the form of normal places. Sometimes they take on forms that are familiar, like a forest or just empty space.

The fact was that crypts are unpredictable.

Alex snorted and went to a table as if he were a guest wanting to take a swig from a cup. As his hand went forward, the cup grew fangs and snapped at him.

Alex withdrew his hand quickly and hacked the cup with his sword. Blood spilled on the table, and essence settled on him. He drew back. "I... I think the cup is a monster."

Stallus rolled her eyes. "Of course it is. It just tried to take your fingers off, and you killed it." She drew her sword too, and with Azaroth in the lead, they formed around him.

Azaroth knew that to clear the crypt, they needed to kill the boss. To get there, they needed to climb the stairs that stood opposite them. The problem was that there were several tables and chairs in between them.

Tables and chairs they now suspected were monsters in disguise.

As Azaroth walked slowly forward to test his theory, the knives that were hanging on the wall shuddered free and attacked them, shrieking.

They smashed the knives out of the air, but this brought them closer to the tables. The furniture unfolded, its biggest parts quickly growing fangs.

Azaroth brought his sword in an overhead chop and hacked into the tough wood. But it was too hard, and his sword got stuck. The chair flung itself at him, and Azaroth rested his weight on his sword to throw the monster off.

At the same time, he touched the back of the chair and fired off his skill attack. With the small distance between them, Azaroth managed to smash the monster to bits.

But the time he spent on just that one was too much. By the time he straightened, more monsters had surrounded him. With his whole body forged with essence, he jumped up and used Fire Spray, sending fire jetting down in waves.

The monsters ran back, but where the fire should have burned the wood, all it did was scare them. They must have fire resistance or something.

Azaroth frowned. He debated whether he should use his chaos core and smash the monsters away with his thread, but he held himself back and continued to use his sword and fire blast if he got close enough.

He turned and saw Stallus about to be eaten by a table monster.

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Author’s note.

Cheers for reading 100 Chapters. Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to gift. Thank you!!!