I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World-Chapter 198: Level 2: Obsidian Stalker

That was what it looked like to him at least.

'The next 90 seconds…' Zephyr narrowed his eyes, watching the party as they increased their efforts. 'Are they going to make it?' He glanced at the panel where the Voice of The World displayed a time countdown and the current kill count.

[75 seconds remaining. Kill count: 11.]

'They're quick… but they won't make it,' Zephyr concluded.

They would still be short by twenty-four kills even at their current increased kill rate. Zephyr pondered whether or not to chip in, considering the Voice of The World didn't give any specifics on how the 3x multiplier would be disbursed.

Logic dictated that it was most likely to be a general bonus, but taking the goal of the trial into mind, the reward could also be given to the person who made the last kill.

'Also… just the next twenty kills?' Zephyr frowned.

Except his next twenty kills were powerful beasts that were worth a lot of points, then the reward wasn't really worth his time.

'C'mon VoTW, you'd have to try harder than that…' he turned and continued his jog out of the Level 1 chamber and further down into the dungeon.

"Okay, so I have about…" he glanced at the remaining 63 seconds on his panel for the fight in the level one chamber to be done, and added another thirty seconds at the very least for them to recuperate afterwards.

"...93 seconds to clear this level," he concluded just as he crossed into the next chamber.

[Level 2 Chamber. Obsidian Stalker Den]

The voice of the world informed him immediately he entered. The air here was drier, the stone walls smoother, and most importantly, the monsters looked faster and far more reactive.

He was sure they could neither see nor hear him, but maybe because of the nature of the dungeon itself — probably something to do with the Voice of The World — the monsters here sensed his arrival immediately when the name of the den was announced to him.

These (Obsidian stalkers) went into a frenzy immediately, like a pot of ants had been stirred. They started milling about, flashing and whizzing across the room at alert.

They had gaunt, shadowy-black humanoid figures with obsidian claws that moved with unsettling, non-linear speed.

Zephyr could've taken his time to hone his skills, as he could tell that was the aim of chambers like these; Places meant for champions to refine their skills.

The last chamber's challenge was one of resilience, while this was more in regards to battle intelligence, and to an extent, speed.

But Zephyr had no time to indulge. He was running against the clock, so all that this was going to be to him, was a speed run. This was afterall a [Descent Race] as the Voice of The World had called it…

Zephyr took a short second to analyze their agitated movements and came up with the fastest plan of action, along with the most time/cost efficient spell given the surrounding elements.

The fire arrow spell.

Sometimes all it took was the most simple spell, well placed to achieve the best effect.

And Zephyr, based on visual cues only, had figured out what might be the weakest point on the bodies — the points for a well placed shot.

Surprisingly, it was the left side of their abdomen. It seemed that despite their humanoid figures, they differed in where their vital most organ lay.

The visible thumping movement against the skin there, and the subconscious movements of the monsters to protect that section of their body as they mulled about told Zephyr all he needed to know.

He kicked his visualization into full gear, and his mana nodes went into action executing the fire arrow spells.

He was in the midst of about twenty of the (Obsidian Stalkers), which were sat relatively still compared to their companions who milled about the entrance like sniffing dogs.

With a short time interval of sub 0.4 seconds between each spell, Zephyr activated a fiery barrage on his immediate surroundings, startling the monsters into a panic, which was short-lived as they dropped like flies.

The fire arrows seared right through their soft vital organ, leaving a sizzling hole and cutting their cries short immediately.

There was a short bit of delay from other (Obsidian Stalkers) in the cavern, where confusion reigned at the abruptness of the attack. The monsters were still processing what had actually happened.

But Zephyr kept moving like a reaper, unhesitant and unfazed. He capitalized on their short lull and reaped another twenty monster lives before they finally reacted.

They dashed towards the area where glowing lights of spells like a fireshow seemed to be spawning from, fully frenzied with thick slavers of saliva scattering from their mouths.

But Zephyr had moved, dancing through them like a real wraith. A phantom unseen and unheard.

By the time he sends a barrage, he was already gone from there, already in the midst of another group.

And his spells did not miss.

His ALU ensured that the fire arrows homed in like heat seeking missiles to the monsters' vital organ. It was poetry in motion, unforced, fluid, and delicate.

Nearly everything was factored into the flight path by his ALU.

Sometimes it might seem like the target was one monster, which would leap out of the way, or protect its vital organ better, only for the fire arrows to change direction like a curveball, and land on another monster right next to it, catching it unexpectedly.

It was a symbiosis of Zephyr's intuition and intent, polished by the precision of his ALU that ensured such a poetic display.

A peak nano-enhanced human with senses fast enough to pick out each individual monster among the throng of them moving about wildly, and his mana nodes' arithmetic and logic unit building upon that.

It was a one-sided affair.

The monsters were running about like headless chickens, dying in dozens each time Zephyr unleashed another attack.

But as their numbers dwindled, even the monsters began to pick up some patterns.

They started being tactical in their approach, showing their differing level of intelligence compared to the previous level 1 chamber.

It seemed they had given up on individual survival… or maybe perhaps they were simply driven by the anger of not even sensing a single trace of their assailant, because after each of Zephyr's attacks, they would clump together as fast as possible, closing every space between themselves and attempt a flanking maneuver, moving around corners to cut off any logical path Zephyr could follow after his attack.

'Ohh?' Zephyr hummed in his mind. 'Their smartness should place them as Tier 3 equivalents at least…' he noted, as he dispatched another dozen of them with surgical precision, proving that the monsters' new tactic, while good, did nothing to hold him down.

Zephyr turned immediately, dashing in-between another group of the (Obsidian Stalkers) before they could close up their ranks again. But contrary to his expectations, they didn't. Instead, they turned on their tails and ran, scattering deeper into the dungeon.

"Eh?" Zephyr paused and stared dumbly. He didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. The monsters he was supposed to kill to get the clear confirmation for this level were running away 'from the said level!'

"Like hell I'm gonna let you!" He burst right after them, reaping the trailers from behind as they fled further into the dungeon.

"Y'all are just making this easier for me!" Zephyr yelled, though his {Silent Mirage} spell cancelled the sound he made.

"Keep runni…" his voice suddenly trailed off, the excitement from pruning their numbers even faster dying out immediately.

'They were not simply running away…' Zephyr's eyes widened at the spectacle before him. 'This is a strategic retreat!'

Before Zephyr, up ahead, a large wall blocked the entirety of the large cavern tunnel. The only path forward being the black holes that dotted the stone wall like openings on a beehive.

The Stalkers were disappearing into the holes en masse, making Zephyr halt his chase.

"Damn!" He stared at the different paths, like black holes that branches to who-knows-where.

At the moment, the Stalkers had taken a second seat in his priorities. The number of kills he had made, and the short amount of time — 133 kills in just past a minute mark now — made him sure he'd earned a benefit or two towards his overall points at least, even though he'd not cleared the whole floor and gotten an announcement…

'My kills should already count for some bonuses…' he concluded before focusing on his new main priority — Finding the right path forward.

Zephyr could do nothing about the other Stalkers that had escaped, his only choice now was to move forward… but through which path?

He did not have the time to find out by trial; the party just seconds behind him would catch up and he'd be exposed.

In fact, soon enough, they'd realize there was someone ahead of them in the dungeon already, but he'd wanted to put enough of a gap ahead of them that they never caught up to him at all.

'...But hey, looking at this from another angle…' Zephyr suddenly paused in realization. 'These scattered paths could work in my favour if played right…'

He still hadn't figured out which was the right way, despite already analyzing to the best extent he could just visually as he paced across the breadth of the stone wall.

Already, he'd discarded some paths. Mostly those that looked too narrow and some for other minor reasons.

He hadn't figured the correct path… but he knew someone… or something that could help him out.

Thought you'd never ask, host.