East

Noah's eyebrows furrowed as he thought of the situation he was currently in.

Two months had passed since he and Alyssa had arrived in the land of the dead Grandmaster Battlesoul master. The two of them had quickly adjusted to their situation, they had faced multiple waves of beasts and undergone tempering within these lands, and Noah had even advanced to Level 8 of the Novice Stage. But they were pressured by the fact that they had not discovered any way of leaving this mysterious realm.

The two currently sat within a cave quietly looking at the grilling meat before them. In these months, they had become more familiar with each other. Of course by familiarity, it meant that now they didn't feel awkward with the silence between them. They both rarely conversed with each other, but the sense of camaraderie, albeit a little, was still there.

Noah's mind was practically smoking with the speed he was using to think. At this point, they could not head north, west or south. For some reason, a terrifying wave of Essence beasts plagued all those locations. With only two of them, it was basically fantasy to go there and hope to fight back such a large amount. He currently spent multiple nights trying to deduce any method that could allow him escape from his current crisis.

Something deep within him told him that the east was no better than the rest, perhaps even worse. If Noah had learnt one thing in his past life, it was to trust his intuition. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly as he discovered no way to avoid moving east. At the very least, he had to see what he was facing to know the next action to take.

He cut out a part of the meat for himself and stood up, eating as he left, and heading to his personal abode within the cave. He shook his head, throwing away all the useless thoughts clouding his mind. These two months had been more or less a blessing to his training. With the countless tempering from the beasts, his Violent Storm Sword had advanced to the second sword move but it seemed his Void Steps had come to a grinding halt, his teleportation range had only increased to 13 meters. But he could tell that it was his strength that was an issue, basically he didn't have enough strength to go more than that. He would have to reach the Intermediate Stage to increase his range and even higher to advance to the second Step. But that didn't stop him from training.

Noah's control of Gravity force and his physical body had increased in the past months. Now he could easily increase his attack's strength at point blank with exceptional control. He was certain that if he had this much control when he fought Jason at that time, it would have been child's play to defeat him.

Soon, Noah's internal clock indicated that night had arrived. Chuckling, he equipped his worn out armor and weapons as he felt that he had turned into some kind of nocturnal animal.

Exiting his abode, he met with Alyssa at the cave entrance. Tonight was the night they would head back into that damned desert!

***

Looking at the trees which slowly disappeared while the grass vanished revealing only yellow sand, Noah and Alyssa shuddered, recalling the pain they had experienced on their first dawn here.

Taking a deep breath, determination appeared in their eyes as they threw away their fearful expressions and walked forward.

Although the desert seemed devoid of beasts, the two would never take that chance. They moved slowly while trudging towards the east. If they could not see anything within the next 6 hours, they would turn tail and run back, as unlike the 18 hours of day, there were only 8 hours of night.

Suddenly, Noah felt things weren't right. He glanced at the ground and felt tiny and barely noticeable vibrations. Sweat drenched his back as his mind fed on what Silver Dragon Eyes fed him. He immediately held onto Alyssa's hand and dragged her back! Immediately a large sound rang out as the sand where they stood erupted. The dust cloud cleared to reveal a terrifying figure under the moon.

Astonishingly large pincers that boosted massive strength, a drooling mandible that clicked to produce a grating sound that numbed one's mind, thick glossy exoskeleton that shined with the moons reflection, at its end was a tail with a stinger attached to it, dripping with a dose of terrifyingly potent poison and a pair blood red eyes that exuded berserk hunger and murderous intent. Worst of all was the aura that radiated strength at the peak of the Adept Stage.

He cursed, something he rarely did. "Shit!"

As if to answer him, the creature screeched. "Screeee!" It attacked with its pincers in a bid to crush its prey.

Noah reacted rather quickly. He pulled Alyssa with him and dodged to the side of the attack. He shook the girl in his arms, waking her from her reverie. "Stay above to look for its weak points, I'll distract it."

The girl glanced at him with a concerned look, but nodded anyway. Her wings unfurled as she launched herself into the sky and out of the beast's reach.

Or so he thought.

Noah watched in shock as the beast rose its head and spat out a fireball! Yes, the motherfreaking beast could launch elemental attacks. This dumbfounded him as he had only seen beasts enhance their body with their elements. But it made sense a bit as at the Adept Stage, the beast ought to have gained intellect, albeit a tiny bit.

Noah was stunned but Alyssa wasn't. She had probably been taught in school or maybe she had hunted her share of Adept Stage beasts in the past but she seemed to have expected this.

Seeing her okay, he sighed in relief as if this girl died, he would most probably follow. Regaining his calm, he approached the beast with his two swords while moving at high speed.

But it was unfortunate, he only managed to create a 'clank' sound when his sword hit its shell. The defense of its carapace was to die for, to be able to block the attack augmented by Gravity Force and a Rank 3 sword. His attack had only left a mark on the beast.

The scorpion's pincer attacked once more, forcing Noah to Flicker away, but he hadn't expected that the beast was waiting for this. It immediately attacked with his second pincer once he reappeared.

Noah cursed internally. He wished to Flicker, yet the distance was already too close. Dragon Guard!

A loud thud resounded as Noah knocked into a tree far back. Luckily, he was still alive, his Dragon Guard had kept him safe from the jaws of death that were the scorpion's pincers. Still disoriented, he watched as a torrent of flame attempted to fry him alive.

Luckily they never reached him. Alyssa descended with frightening speed, unleashing her sword upon the flame powered attack. Dark Angel Sword: Aura Burst!

A wave of Dark essence exploded forth to disperse the attack. A few inch deep scars had even appeared on the beast's pincer!

This brought some hope to Noah. Indeed, the beast wasn't invincible! It could be brought down!

With a thought, his Essence reserves plunged like a waterfall. Silver Dragon Eyes released bright silver light as he used his soul skill to search for the scorpion's weak points. Even while doing this, Noah still charged forth. He and Alyssa battled the beast with terrifying cooperation.

"Vertical Cleave!" Noah slashed upward with the Azure Dragon Art running. Gritting his teeth, he was able to block the attack launched at him, by then his eyes caught a glimpse at the scorpion's underside. Silver Dragon Eyes flashed. 'Finally!' He quickly rolled backwards, dodging the stream of fire that attacked his original position. He cursed as his internal clock warned him of the soon coming dawn, yet they didn't dare turn their back to the beast behind them as that was just seeking death. "Alyssa! It's underside! I'll give you a chance to attack it, don't bother with me and just attack."

Noah was already upon the beast when he finished his sentence. He executed Flicker to dodge the scorpion tail that attacked him. Seeing its attack fail, the beast opted to smash at him with both its pincers! Shockingly, he didn't dodge.

Noah gritted his teeth as he executed Dragon Guard with his two swords crossed above him. The pincers descended on him a second later.

A bang sound rang out as waves of residue Essence burst out, making Noah's bones creak with cracks appearing on them. Alyssa watched with shock as he took on the scorpion's attack, vomiting multiple mouthfuls of blood. Yet a spark of resolve was lit in his eyes.

Forbidden Technique: Limit Break!

Suddenly, a burst of tremendous strength flowed within Noah's body. His muscles tensed as he initiated his next attack.

Rebound Strike! Vertical Cleave!

The combination of these two strikes actually gave Noah enough strength to throw the scorpion backwards! And yet he wasn't done!

A whirl of Essence was conjured above his sword acting like a layer, rotating with tremendous speed. Pointing forward, he struck the underside of the flying beast. This was the Second move of the Violent Storm Sword: Drill Thrust!

Seeing this opportunity, Alyssa struck fast. She had been charging up this attack throughout Noah's bout with the beast.

Dark Angel Sword: Hell's Judgment!

An aura coated her sword, making it appear 10 meters large as she pierced through the scorpion's underside, with her Dark Essence ravaging its body inside out! Finally, the beast wailed with anguish as it weakly fell to the ground. It was dead!

Noah looked at this with a calm look as blood repeatedly seeped out of his lips. They had won.