What's happening?
Akka felt jittery when she led the way deeper into the darkness.
It had been 24 hours since they entered into 'the crack of hell.'
However, unexpectedly, they hadn't met any enemies so far, no, rather it was like they couldn't detect the enemies.
The world inside 'the crack of hell' that has the devil's energy wasn't the same as the floors of the inheritance site that they traversed before, where the skeletons and goblins continually harassed them. Now, everything appeared to be avoiding them like a plague, or it was like Akka and Van were the only living beings in this dark world.
"Van, do you want to stop for a moment, or should we head back?" Akka stopped walking forward and turned around and asked Van with a whisper.
But Van shook his head while breathing hard. "We should find a way to leave from this place, turning back it's pointless now. We can only continue moving forward!" Van said as he remembered what Akka told him before they decided to enter deeper into this dark place. Akka has told him that going towards the first floor is a suicide, and Van knows that she wasn't too much afraid at the monsters of the higher levels but something else. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen to go inside this world filled with the devil's energy. Van knows that she was only saying all that because of him, but they had already made the decision.
"Ok!" Akka didn't say anything anymore as she used the sneak skill to not make even the slightest noise when she walks. Van was also the same, his sneak skill has leveled up more than once inside 'the crack of hell' and because of that, were they able to walk forward all this time without attracting anything.
Van also found something interesting, and that was that the cane doesn't make the slightest sound when he walks like it used to. But he didn't have time to check it out as he followed Akka while also using the mana sensitivity skill from time to time. Even though the mana sensitivity skill didn't help him too much in this world with dark energy, he still uses it as mental support to concentrate, and it also helps him see Akka better.
"Is it because of the devil's energy that we can't see anything?" Van asked with a whisper while shivering as he hugged the bulge in his stomach so he can warm up a bit.
"Yes, I believe the devil's energy is affecting the environment, and low visibility is just one of the effects." Akka said as she looked at Van while she walked forward. 50 meters, she can only see fifty meters around her, even though she is at the higher levels. And she not only had the night eyes skill but was also born with innate elf vision.
Akka could see the devil's energy affecting Van slowly, but she didn't know what to do so she can only try to find a way to leave this place as fast as possible.
'The devil's energy affects the environment it stays. The low visibility and the cold temperature are the first things you notice. What is next? And it seems that it can't affect those that are at the higher levels. At first, my elemental mana was protecting Van, but why was later able to bypass it? What are you feeling at the moment, Van?' Akka thought to herself as she gave a sideways glance at Van. But even though Akka had too many questions, she didn't let her guard down in the slightest.
But now that isn't the real problem. The real problem now was, where were the threats?
It was quiet to the point it was terrifying. The lack of danger made Akka increasingly nervous, and this panicky sensation wasn't a good feeling at all.
Initially, she thought, because the higher levels monsters were all on the first floor, this place would be filled with weak level monsters that can be butchered at any time she wanted. But now this silence was making her feel and question herself who is going to get butchered first.
Akka didn't know what to do in this kind of scenario. Her sharp senses weren't useful in this situation. The devil's energy was blocking the ability to see, hear, and also to speak as afraid that something might come out of nowhere. They have been walking forward for a day already without eating or resting. If this situation kept up, who knows what would happen? Probably they would tire themselves to death.
"Hmm? What was that?"
Suddenly, rustles sound was heard in the area as the wind caresses their bodies. Both Van and Akka felt a chill crawl towards their backs as they tensed up, and subconsciously they moved closer towards each other.
Looking around, Akka could see multiple shadows around them. But in the next moment, she relaxes a little because she could see that they are not monsters or anything just simple trees.
"Don't worry there are only simple trees." Whispered Akka, but Van wasn't paying attention to Akka at the moment but was looking at something five meters away from him. He didn't know if he was seeing things, but it felt to him like a shadow was crawling closer towards them.
He was about to tell Akka no matter if he was hallucinating or not, but before he could...
A silver light flashed in the darkness and went directly towards the shadow he was seeing. The silver light revealed what that creature was, it looked like a soft mesh, and it was completely disturbing to the eye. Van had to take a step backward as he felt completely uncomfortable.
"Elemental ring fire!" A soft voice echoed in the darkness, and a second later, fire exploded and surrounded Van and Akka. The fire continued to incinerate everything in a radius of a hundred meters around them.
"This is going to be troublesome!" Said Akka while breathing hard as every hair on her body stood on end.
Even though she was at the higher levels, she didn't notice anything until the enemy was five meters away from her. That's why she used the elemental ring fire a tier 5 magic, and she did the best decision in her life. Seeing the fire burning all sorts of creatures, she couldn't help but be fearful as to how good were the creatures in this inheritance site at hiding.
Van sucked in a mouthful of cold air, seeing how close they were at the gates of death. The only way why he noticed it was because he was using the mana sensitivity skill.
He didn't dare to drop his guard as he tightened his hand at the cane and closed his eyes as he used the mana sensitivity skill. Seeing that even Akka's detection skill failed, he can only use the mana sensitivity skill.
"Damn it! How many of these monsters are here?" Akka mumbled to herself, but she wasn't afraid anymore. After all, there is a reason why those that are lower than level 50 are trash compare to the higher levels.
"Roooooaaaaarrr"
"It seems I have to use it and fast." Akka said while she looked at the flames that swallowed the darkness for a hundred meters and the roars of all sorts of monsters that came beyond it.
'Hmm?'
'How can this be?'
'This is impossible how...'
Van was concentrating at those five meters around him and didn't see the ashen face of Akka's otherwise his soul might have flown away.
His concentration was 100%, and his dragon head cane was ready to strike. He knows that Akka will not have time to protect him, and he can only defend himself.
And at that moment, he could see something crawling towards them again. But this time was different, he could see that this monster has red mana, not like the previous monster.
"Akka, there is a monster coming towards you!" Van shouted to Akka as he didn't care anymore for being quiet. Seeing no response from Akka, he didn't think too much about it and waited for the creature to come.
He was preparing to strike it down when a bold idea resurfaced in his mind. Probably this wasn't the ideal place to try this, but he couldn't shake the idea that has rooted itself in his mind.
Without caring anymore, with the left-hand support, he raises his right leg directly towards the incoming creature.
