Astartes quickly activated his [Icicle Blast], shooting several ice blades at the Troll Chieftain. The Catacomb Lord did not bother to dodge the swift and tricky attack and forcefully used its active [Mad Endure] skill to destroy the ice blades. With the massive metal club clenched in its firm grip, the Troll Chieftain launched several powerful swings that destroyed the ice blades, and the destruction created a faint icy mist that dispersed in the surroundings.
Although it was not able to protect itself from all the ice blades and sustained deep slash wounds on its thighs and arms, it successfully managed to protect its vital organs from injury. The slash wounds the Troll Chieftain obtained were also recovering rapidly due to its active [Mad Endure] skill. Had this not been the case, its limbs would have already been dismembered!
The Troll Chieftain stamped its foot on the ground, sending a rupturing tremor throughout the area. The earth split apart and sent several rocks flying within the zone haphazardly and at great speeds! It was the activation of its [Earth Tremor] skill!
It was a powerful skill from a CLASS F Catacomb Lord, no inferior to a RANK E skill!
Astartes was the target of these attacks but had anticipated the attack and levitated in the air using his magic equipment, and avoided getting hit by the tremor had he remained on the ground. But even with his RANK E agility, he was unable to dodge every attack. But before he got crushed by the numerous flying rocks, Astartes activated his [Magic Shield] skill.
A translucent barrier of mana appeared around him and immediately deflected the attacks that hit it, and prevented Astartes from sustaining any harm. Even after the power of the [Magic Shield] he cast was depleted, he almost instantaneously cast it again and remained out of danger.
The Troll Chieftain capitalised on Astartes' preoccupation with defending himself from its [Earth Stomp] skill and smashed its club towards Astartes' head. The heavy swing shook the air wherever it passed, and the overwhelming force behind the attack made it nearly impossible for its target to evade it without severe cost.
However, at this same time, two dark hands emerged beneath the feet of the Troll Chieftain!
[Darkness Hand]
The timing of the attack was such that the Troll Chieftain was unable to do anything about it! The Catacomb Lord was immobilised by the [Darkness Hand] skill right in the middle of its attack and found itself being drained of its vitality!
It roared angrily and unleashed its utmost power to destroy the [Darkness Hand] binding it! Although it was able to do so, the Troll Chieftain was unable to prevent its [Mad Endure] skill from getting obliterated, rending its savage and indomitable fighting style upended.
The consequences of the [Darkness Hand] skill were severe on the Troll Chieftain's movements and endurance, which made it significantly weaker than before.
Astartes stared at the Troll Chieftain coldly as he cast the [Darkness Skill] once again.
But this time, the Troll Chieftain retreated before it could be caught by the ominous abyssal-like hands that chased after it. The Troll Chieftain was prepared this time and smashed his club at the two dark hands and destroyed them.
But how could Astartes let the Troll Chieftain go this easily?
"It is over," Astartes said coolly as he pointed his finger at the Troll Chieftain.
[Icicle Blast]
Ten longswords of ice were fired towards the Troll Chieftain while it dealt with the [Darkness Hand] skill, and unfortunately for the Troll Chieftain, it was too late for it to dodge them.
The blades pierced its body with an unprecedented sharpness, and they not only destroyed its internal organs, but the freezing chill of the ice blades immobilised it further, and the battered Catacomb Lord fell to its knees in defeat.
But even with the Troll Chieftain bleeding out profusely, Astartes showed no mercy despite its death throes and devoured its remaining vitality with his [Darkness Hand], making its death final.
Astartes landed beside the withered corpse of the Troll Chieftain, which burst into white gas, leaving several attribute cores, magic equipment and skill books on the ground. He gathered all his loot within his already full storage bag and entered the teleportation door that appeared before him, reappearing at the entrance of the Snakemen Abode Catacomb.
Astartes quickly made his way back to the RA building and exchanged his loot for money. He had to admit that solo challenging a catacomb was really lucrative. This was because after selling all the loot he had obtained from the Snakemen Abode Catacomb, he earned more than $1,000,000 credits!
He had never been this rich before! Astartes really had a slight smugness on his face right now. However, he quickly regained his composure and immediately focused on his objective this time.
He wanted to buy a storage belt this time. Carrying a heavy load of loot was not only cumbersome and not functional, but it was also quite unattractive. Even during his time that he lived on the streets, Astartes was still kind of a clean freak.
This is so embarrassing...
Astartes quickly shook his head at his vain ideals and quickly bought a beautiful white storage belt for 500,000 credits and immediately equipped it. Although the price made the nouveau riche Astartes wince in his heart, he knew that the price was worth it.
The storage belt was a piece of magic equipment that allowed the user to store nonliving items within a spatial pocket and bring them out at will. This storage belt possessed a storage capacity of a hundred cubic feet. This made this equipment very rare among its kind due to its immense functions.
This should serve my needs for a long time to come.
Astartes wasted no time again and made his way to the last Class F Catacomb on his list, the Stone Golem Abode Catacomb, single-handedly annihilating the dozens of Stone Golem Warriors and finally dispatching the Stone Golem Leader on the final floor, finally completing his solo run of all four Class F Catacombs within Yosemite City.
By this time, the name of the rising star among the rankers of Yosemite City, Infinity or the "Infinity Mage", which was the more popular name on the lips of every F-Ranker and some E-Rankers, became an undeniable and envious title that resonated everywhere.
Everywhere were stories of a young man that single handedly challenged every Class F Catacomb and won, displaying amazing destructive power from his being, achieving what was considered impossible and suicidal!
Although Astartes did not pay much attention to it, he did notice that he was no longer someone who was ignored and disrespected anymore. All it took was a week for his name and status to transform from an utter nobody to that of a revered figure in this city.
How amazing that was!
However, for Astartes, tackling Class F Catacombs was a warmup. Given his current level of power, Class E Catacombs and higher were the real challenge. He only wanted to fulfil his promise to Adele and also repay her and the team for guiding him during his initial entry as a ranker.
Tomorrow, after he finished his raids with Adele and her team, he planned to challenge the two Class E Catacombs in Yosemite City by himself, starting with the Kobold Arena Catacomb!
Although it was much safer to challenge this Class E Catacomb by himself, Astartes decided against it.
The impending calamity that Yosemite City faces is very great. I need to be much more powerful. So powerful that I can resolve such dangers with my own power as much as possible. I need to brave through the huge risks alone if I want to be a powerful ranker.
Having made up his mind, Astartes was decisive and returned to his resting quarters by nightfall at the RA building branch and took the needed rest. It was a long day of catacomb raiding, and he deserved the rest. But even still, as he slept, he could not restrain his thoughts.
He saw the faces of his mother and father, smiling sweetly at him as they shared a warm moment at the dinner table. He saw the faces of his poor orphan friends, Killian and Ember, who took him in after he had lost his parents and everything they left for him, and how they ate dried bread while laughing and teasing each other. He kept seeing several sweet memories of his not-perfect yet happy and peaceful life.
Then he saw the gory figures of his parents that got their organs torn apart by catacomb creatures, the decapitated heads and limbs of Killian and Ember...
He saw their lifeless gazes, the fear in their eyes when they died. He saw it all...
Even though he was in the middle of his sleep, Astartes's fists were clenched tightly, and a tear fell from each of his eyes, even though they were supposed to be tightly shut.
After a few minutes, Astartes opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He did not scream in fear even though he had just experienced a nightmare. He only wiped the tears streaking down his cheeks silently and stood up. There was no sensation of sleepiness in his body, strangely, even though he had only slept for three hours.
But he knew why.
He stared at his face in the mirror silently and turned to walk into the training room to begin his skill training.
"Mom, Dad. Killian, Ember. I vow to destroy them all without fail. I will not rest until then."