[Hell-Mode Analysis]
[Description: Your very consciousness connects with the fabric of this world to bring you the information you seek.]
[This skill adds a special "Hell-Mode Analysis" section in addition to the usual description of monsters, items, skills, and awakeners, giving you extra insight specific to Hell-Mode.]
---
"Oh wow," Sam muttered with a grin, eyes glinting as the panel faded. "That's actually… really good."
In a game-mode where a single mistake could mean instant death, any extra information, even if vague, was invaluable.
It wasn't just a typical [Appraisal]-type skill.
It tapped into the deeper mechanics of this world, almost like it was reading danger from the world's own memory and whispering warnings into his mind.
Sam instinctively knew it was different from the others.
Like his [Primordial Evolution] or [Spatial Inventory], this skill didn't have a rank listed.
That usually meant one of two things: it would either evolve directly alongside him or function based on circumstances.
Either way, it was now part of his toolkit. A guide to help him stay alive.
He looked back at the monsters still crawling toward him, some goblins hissing through their crude weapons, and four slimes wobbling forward in that unsettling, glistening way.
As he glanced at them, fresh text appeared next to their name and level.
---
[Ruin Goblins]
[Level: 2]
[Description: The most basic goblins you can find. Weak alone, but annoying in large groups.]
[Hell-Mode Analysis: Honestly, just don't get hit. You can kill them in one or two strikes.]
---
[Ruin Slimes]
[Level: 2]
[Description: Can absorb monsters and awakeners to grow stronger. Nearly invincible unless you destroy their core.]
[Hell-Mode Analysis: If you get touched, it's going to be a painful game over. Avoid them.]
---
Sam let out a breathless chuckle.
It wasn't that the panels told him anything groundbreaking, he could've guessed this much from experience.
But there was something comforting about having a second mind confirm it for him.
It was like the skill was reminding him: This world is real now, and it wants you dead.
"Alright then," he whispered, raising his blade.
The [Primordial Sword] pulsed faintly in his grip, its surface dark and smooth, almost as if it were alive.
And in a way, Sam was beginning to believe that it was.
The goblins screeched, raising their weapons.
The slimes followed, their gelatinous bodies twitching with stored magic.
"Let's go, you bastards," Sam growled, planting his foot and charging.
His body moved faster than most novices could follow.
The months of attempts, the way his [Primordial] class strengthened his base stats, he could feel all of it kicking in.
Fwish!
His blade carved the first goblin in half before it could react, its body collapsing into two with a wet smack.
'Still goes down in one hit. Good,' Sam thought.
The moment the blade finished its arc, Sam pivoted and spun, using the momentum to cut through another three goblins that had closed in from the left.
Fwish! Slash! Thunk!
Their bodies hit the ground as blood pooled around him.
The fifth goblin tried to jab a spear at him, but Sam knocked it aside and countered with a brutal slice that split the goblin from shoulder to hip.
Five down in seconds.
But as he turned, Sam caught the motion, something glimmering in the corner of his eye: a slime.
Fwish!
One of the blue slimes was trembling violently, its inner core pulsing, magic gathering.
"Crap," Sam cursed.
He dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding a blue orb the size of his head.
It zipped past where he'd just been and slammed into one of the goblin corpses behind him.
BAM!
The goblin's body melted on the spot, flesh disintegrating as a foul steam rose.
A chilling sound like sizzling acid filled the hallway.
'Right. Don't get touched.'
The [Hell-Mode Analysis] hadn't exaggerated.
More slimes began to tremble, preparing their attacks.
But Sam wasn't going to let them finish.
Shadow Bullets!
He extended a hand, gathering his soul power.
Three thin tendrils of darkness twisted into bullets and launched forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each one found its mark, crashing through the slimes' translucent forms and hitting their glowing cores dead-on.
They cracked and shattered like glass, and the creatures immediately lost form, collapsing into pools of lifeless gel.
Sam exhaled but didn't slow down. Another goblin was already swinging.
He ducked, swept its legs with a kick, and while the creature was airborne, slashed upward, cleaving it cleanly.
The last slime tried to fire again.
Sam dove forward, rolled under the shot, and as he rose, pointed his finger.
Bang!
Another [Shadow Bullet] ripped through the core. The slime died on the spot.
He had done all of this without letting a single drop of sweat.
'This is... exciting,' he thought, a grin creeping onto his face.
The thrill of battle, of moving with purpose, of using everything he had to survive, it was addictive.
And yet, in the middle of that feeling…
Slash!
Sam swung his sword at one of the two remaining goblins, but for the first time, it actually managed to block it.
And then, before he could react...
Slash!
A blade caught his back.
"Argh—!"
Sam grunted in pain, stumbling forward.
The last of the two goblins had flanked him.
Blood trickled down his back, warmth spreading under his shirt.
Sam didn't hesitate.
He turned with a snarl and decapitated the one behind him in a clean stroke.
Then he stepped forward and slammed his foot into the last goblin's chest, knocking it to the floor.
Thunk!
Before it could recover, he drove the [Primordial Sword] down into its body, pinning it to the stone ground.
"Fucking little shits," he muttered, standing tall even with blood dripping down his back.
That was Hell-Mode. That was this world. Even the weakest monsters could kill you if you lost focus.
Sam stood still, watching as the blood ran down the blade.
Then he raised the [Primordial Sword].
Its surface rippled, and the mouth returned, jagged teeth opening wide.
Dozens of black tendrils shot out, snaking toward the corpses of both goblins and slimes.
They pierced the monsters, extracted their cores and pulled them back.
[Absorbing...]
Sam felt it instantly.
The moment the cores were devoured, the aura around his sword pulsed stronger, and more importantly, the pain in his back started to vanish.
He turned his head, lifting his shirt slightly to glance over his shoulder.
Where the wound had been, there was now only a fading dark flame.
"What the hell…" he blinked.
[As a Primordial, absorbing will heal you.]
"Oh," he said aloud. "That's… actually good to know."
He straightened, no longer bleeding, and swung the blood off his blade.
"Alright," Sam said, voice firm. "Time to get out of the [Novice Ruins]. Can't slack off now."
He broke into a sprint, rushing through the stone hallways.
More monsters appeared from time to time, but none of them could slow him.
His reflexes were sharper, movements cleaner, and his attacks faster.
Each time he killed, he absorbed.
The tendrils would return, the cores would vanish into the blade, and the power would seep into him.
And then finally...
Ding!
[Congratulations to Sam Walker for leveling up to Level 2 of the Novice Rank!]
Sam didn't stop moving, but he grinned at the notification.
'Finally. Took long enough.'
He glanced at his hand. He didn't feel much different, but something had shifted.
His grip was firmer. His steps were lighter. His aura darker.
Still, it had taken a lot of monsters just to reach level 2.
'Guess it's because of my class. Probably takes more to grow.'
But he wasn't complaining.
His class, after all, was powerful. Even at the lowest level, he could fight on par with monsters two or three levels above him.
He kept going, deeper into the ruins.
And then, just as he turned a corner—
He heard it. Voices.
Not growls or howls. Not goblin shrieks or monster cries.
But human voices. Clear. Familiar.
"…Someone's nearby," Sam muttered, slowing down, gripping his blade tighter.