Infinite Realm

Even though he had some apprehension towards the abyss, Sato still proceeded. Previously, when Sato was still at the entrance of the hall, the stone bridge didn't look that long and he had estimated it to be about 20-30 metres long. However, when he stood before it, Sato realised that he was wrong; the stone bridge was at least 100 metres long.

*Step*

Sato took his first step onto the bridge, resolving himself to see the trial to the end and make it to the top of the altar.

'Ugh!' Heavy.'

Sato had just taken the first step onto the stone bridge when he felt the gravity around him suddenly increase by at least a quarter. It almost felt like he was submerged in the depths of the ocean. Apart from that, Sato also noticed that the chilly wind that blew around the place had increased in tenacity and intensity. Since he had left the premises of the metallic ground and had arrived above the abyss, Sato was able to feel the devastating** might of the wind. If before the wind was like a gentle breeze that made one feel a chill across their body, the current breeze was now close to a gale and made one shiver.

Luckily for Sato, his defence was quite high especially after he had leveled up quite a bit. While he hadn't yet allocated his main attribute points, his body's physique had improved quite considerably after going past level 10. In this wind that could cripple a level 5's fighting ability, Sato was still able to proceed without much of a hassle.

'However, this is just the edge of the abyss. It's quite possible that the wind would get worse at the centre.'

Sato had a grim look on his face as he stared in front of him. If just the edge of the abyss could make a level 5 player lose their fighting ability, the wind at the centre of the abyss would even be worse and maybe the other edge of the abyss would be capable of affecting a level 10 player severely.

With 5 metres he walked, Sato began to feel that the wind was steadily increasing in intensity. The gravity was also increasing though at a much slower rate than the wind. 

  After Sato had walked almost 30 metres, the wind changed colour and had a black hue to it, making the direction of the gale visible at first sight. It became difficult for Sato to see further ahead of him. From his current position, Sato discovered that he could barely make out what was 10 metres in front of him. After that was total darkness brought about by the black wind.

'Strange.' Sato frowned when he realised this. 

This was because right before he had accepted the mission when he was still at the entrance of the hall, the stone bridge was extremely visible and there was no form of hindrance or obstruction to his vision back then. He could easily see from the beginning to the end of the stone bridge.

Just a few metres away from him, the black winds gathered in front of Sato before coalescing to form a humanoid black phantom. The black phantom was devoid of any facial features apart from two deep red beads which were where its eyes were supposed to be. It had two arms and two legs like an average human but its form was misty. This was because the phantom was created from the black winds that blew forth from the bottom of the abyss. Apart from the creepy ghost-like look, the black phantom had a pair of horns on its head, giving it a demonic look.

'An opponent huh? I knew this wouldn't be a trial without one.'

Sato unsheathed his sword and stood opposite the black phantom in a composed manner. While he wasn't afraid of a battle, the current environment didn't favour him any one bit. On the contrary, it was extremely disadvantageous to Sato. There was the pressure from the increased gravity that severely affected his movements as well as the chilling breeze from the abyss that weakened his fighting will and body movement.

"Even so, you're still no match for me."

This wasn't Sato being overly conceited but a fact. From the aura the black phantom exuded, Sato surmised that while a level 10 player would experience a bit of difficulty, they would still be able to handle the monster. Even though he had yet to distribute his main attributes, based on his improved physique alone, Sato was capable of suppressing any player below level 10 and was able to tie with an average level 10 or even level 11 player. This was the advantage of crossing the level 10 checkpoint as well as gaining a bunch of power-ups from his rewards, especially his new titles. Though the title, [The Precursor] was most effective against players, it still improved his avatar's physique considerably, making it so that Sato could fight on par with a level 10 player even with his level 9 stats. This was the legendary boost of jumping levels.

"I haven't had the time to test out my new strength so come on. I will take you on without using my attribute points. If you can force me to use them all, you have my respects." Sato smiled at the black phantom as he pointed his sword at it.

The mindless creature couldn't understand his words, but Sato's taunting pose seemed to irk it as the red colour within its eyes deepened. Long claws grew out from the hands of the creature as it rushed at him with the intent to kill.

"Too slow." Sato smiled before dodging the creature's charge without much stress.

'Die.'

-135 (???/??? ???)

Sato hacked right at it with his sword, creating a horrifying scar that went across its body. Due to the state and composition of its body, the black phantom didn't bleed put any blood or similar liquid. However, black mist seeped out of the injury in large quantities as the black phantom seemed to have shrunk a bit in size.

Despite receiving such a wound on its body, the black phantom acted as if it didn't feel a thing, lunging towards Sato and attacking without regard for itself.

'A mindless monster?' Sato thought.

One of the dangerous kinds of opponents to face wasn't an extremely powerful foe but one who had no regard for their well-being, in simpler terms, a mad man. In Sato's eyes, the black phantom was nothing more than a mad man and wanted to take him down even if it meant dying together with him. Nonetheless, it didn't mean that Sato was afraid of confronting the creature but rather, he had to do so with caution.

-127

-132

-132 (???/??? ???)

With his improved physique and strength, Sato easily dodged all the attacks of the creature as well as made his own attacks, which all hit the creature without fail. Every one of Sato's moves dealt a devastating hit to the monster as they all contained astounding power, surpassing a majority of what other players could achieve. If it were a level 7 or 8 monster in the black phantom's shoes and the battle was held elsewhere, it would have died long ago. This was because every one of Sato's attacks was very powerful and on par with a blow from a level 10 player. 

One should know that the level 10 checkpoint was a really important checkpoint for players; crossing it would result in an augmentation of a player's abilities and capabilities within the game. The only reason the black phantom held out this long was that it was much stronger than level 7 or 8 monsters and the current environment was hindering Sato's movements, otherwise, the damage he would be able to deal to the creature would be much more than was displayed by the system interface. Despite all these though, the black phantom's end was inevitable and close at hand.

"You're such a tough guy. Still don't want to go down huh?"

-125

-127

Sato slashed out twice, forcing the black phantom back by a few steps as black mist leaked from its injuries.

'[Inspect]'

Originally, Sato was never planning to use this skill as he felt no need of checking the creature's attributes. In the face of absolute power, all manner of trickery is useless. Because of this, Sato lost interest in checking its stats as he knew that it wasn't even a worthy opponent for a warm-up much less a battle. However, despite dealing so much damage to the monster, it had yet to fall. 

One should know that the level 9 Elite Kobold guards only had 900 Hp, even the Nightmare Devil had the same amount of HP. The total damage Sato had dealt to the creature in front of him was enough to bring the HP of those two to the red zone or even send them into a coma, yet, apart from the slight reduction in size due to its loss of the black mist that formed its body, the black phantom was pretty much okay. Unless the creature had equivalent HP to that of the boss monster, Blood king Varg, it should at least have entered its [Enraged] state by now. 

[[ System interface :

Shadow Phantom (Common)

Level : 10

HP : 722/1500 

Physical Attack Power : 120 

Magical attack power : 0

Physical Defense : 15

Magical Defense : 20

Attack Speed : 39

Movement Speed : 26

Attributes 

Strength : 30

Endurance : 15

Vitality : 150

Agility : 13

Dexterity : 13

Intelligence : 0

Willpower : 20

Skills :

… ]]

In terms of pure stats, the Shadow Phantom surpassed Sato in everything. However, thanks to both the boost from his physique and his Upper-tier Mortal rank [Astral Blade], Sato was not only able to catch up to it but even surpass it.

"So it's 1500 huh?" Sato sighed at the sight of the HP bar. The average monster would barely reach the 100 points mark in terms of HP whereas players were very far from that.

"It doesn't matter. You will still die under my blade."

Without any hesitation or second thoughts, Sato charged at the creature, intending to finally bring the battle to an end.

'Die.'