It was the truth, he didn’t need to say it but he said it anyway, the monsters let out a scream like thousands of bats and fell on them like rain.

Azaroth swung his sword upward and it caught the one closest to him in the side, cutting off a large chunk. It didn’t kill it, though, and the monster bite down on his shoulder but was met with his forged body.

The monster’s surprise with its inability to tear into flesh didn’t last long because a quick slash and its neck fell.

Azaroth realized immediately that to fight these monsters without getting overwhelmed then, there’s only one thing he can do. "Stallus! Clear our immediate area; Alex, help her."

They moved as one; Stallus brought out four big chunks of blue crystals from her ring, which had already made the formation in her mind, so all she did was pump it full of essence. The crystals glowed and she threw them up high into the mass of falling monsters.

All this took just a few seconds and Alex also fired at the same time as her. "Lightning Arrow!"

Kaboom! Blue-white sparking lightning and an explosion of sharpened crystals blew the monsters above them away. Flesh and blood rained down as the monsters were cut into pieces, some not more than black stains.

Azaroth nodded in satisfaction; now they just had to face the monsters that surrounded them. They don’t have to care about any falling on them. "A ring formation, don’t use any wide range skills that will get in others way. Kill."

The monsters had recovered from their surprise, and now they ran at them. Azaroth and the others waited, not making any move towards them.

Once the monsters get within striking distance, they strike!

Azaroth was already holding a formation in his mind, and once the monsters tried to attack him, he simply powered it with essence, and fire jetted out in scorching waves. But it didn’t harm the monsters because of their slimy skin.

Azaroth knew this, and that was why the fire was just a distraction; the monsters flinched as the fire wave fell on them; they didn’t quite react to the boy who followed with his sword.

Bodies fell like grass as Azaroth danced among them, his sword moving like quicksilver as his essence-forged legs increased his speed.

Meanwhile, small, controlled explosion blew flesh from behind him as Stallus got to work. Crystals in her left hand and sword in her right she cut into them, targeting heads and hearts while lighting sparked around them as Alex grinned and fought.

Catena was at a bit of a disadvantage because the ship wasn’t Earth, but he made do with the rocks he stored in his ring by draining the power in them.

Before long, they reduced the amount of the monsters to zero, and the air was thick with the essence that they took in. Alex grinned. "The monsters are so weak! Are they Initiate rank?"

Azaroth looked at the monsters and frowned slightly. He thought to himself. ’The monsters are Initiate rank, and they are strong, but it is us that are stronger. Even among the Initiate rank, we have those who are powerful. Like me’

He looked at the others and grudgingly admitted. ’Maybe they become powerful too,’ which made his red eyes narrow. ’This will be a problem later’

"We will wait here for ten minutes to soak in the rest of the monsters’ essence. Then we will move and clear this Crypt." With that said Azaroth sat and began to mediate without putting his sword away. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The crypt Master told them that once they advance they’ll be able to take more essence from the monsters without having to wait for meditation. And the higher they go, the better it’ll become on how they process essence; the problem lies in the amount they would need.

Azaroth opened his eyes once he was done, and then he stood; his cold eyes surveyed the monsters, but nothing was interesting with them. They carried no weapons he could add to his collection or anything. "Let’s go."

The others grumbled that it was too fast and that Azaroth was able to process and absorb the essence faster, that he should give them time, but under his expressionless gaze, they stood up and followed him.

"Just how big is this thing again?" Alex said they had been walking for close to forty minutes now with the fireball light shining bright above them.

But even with all that, all they saw were doors and more doors, some opened, and some didn’t, but the surprising thing was that there was nothing in those doors that opened.

’Is there something I’ve missed?’ Azaroth thought to himself. ’A clue? Because why are we just walking and waking?’

They continued to walk. One hour, two, and yet all they did was walk. Finally, Azaroth couldn’t handle anyone, and he stopped. "We will take a short break."

They stopped and each brought out water to drink while they thought about what was going on. This has never happened before; crypts are straightforward. Why all this? Or is the crypt Master interfering? Azaroth doubted that.

"Monsters at this level can’t use skills and their intelligence is low," Azaroth said as if he expected his word to make meaning to the others just like that.

But Stallus catch on. "No, they can’t. But maybe it’s a form of poison or hallucinations? But if it’s poison..."

"Then it won’t affect us collectively," Catena said. He was the one more tired of this than anyone. He’s stressed and just wanted to sleep. "Hallucinations as well."

Azaroth nodded, then he turned to Alex and stared at him. "What type of monster can do this?"

Alex twitched as everyone turned to him and he grimaced. "Well, I can’t say for sure. Indeed, monsters at the Initiate rank can’t use skill but they might have some defensive ability or offensive that mimic skills."