Levi lay on the floor, panting for air, the corpse of the goblin not far away from him. Its face was completely messed up from the beating and the spear still remained stuck in its shoulder.

"Fuck…ing Hell"

He cursed the goblin as he struggled to stand, his right leg still numb from the paralysis poison- he hadn't noticed it due to the rush of adrenaline but now that he was calm - he realized that he could no longer feel his right leg.

"This is bad," he muttered, trying to stand with the wall's support.

"If I face another Essence Monster..."

He had somehow killed the goblin due to luck but he knew that it would definitely not end well if he met another essence monster.

But he couldn't dwell on it. He needed to keep moving. With a bit of struggle, he stood up.

First, he freed his spear from the goblin's shoulder, and then, without hesitation, he stabbed the goblin in the chest and reached inside with his hand.

After a few seconds of searching, he pulled out a small, blackish-looking stone from the goblin's corpse— It was the Demonic Essence Crystal.

"Got it," Levi said, inspecting the crystal.

Essence Monsters like this goblin carried these crystals, which contained their corrupted essence. Humans couldn't use them directly, but at altars, they could be purified and used to enhance power.

Even though purification would lead to losing most of the essence energy, it was safer than using it raw, which would cause demonic energy to rampage inside the body of the user.

Levi pocketed the crystal after cleaning the blood on it with his shirt. He didn't have a way to use it now, but it could be valuable later. Many rich people would spend a lot of money just to buy a few essence crystals and increase their power.

Nonetheless, pushing those thoughts aside for now, he moved forward, dragging his right leg.

***

As Levi was moving through the maze, trying to find the exist. He suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Should I just use it?"

Levi recognized the voice and without even seeing, he understood what was happening.

The fat boy had the magical bell!

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He carefully approached, moving closely along the wall without making any noise, and observed - Seeing if the tall boy was with him. But noticing that the fat boy was alone and even injured - Levi had a daring thought!

'It's not impossible.'

He thought for a moment and then, without hesitation, stepped forward from the darkness.

"So, you are the one who has the bell," Levi said with a menacing smile.

The fat boy jumped, taken aback, and quickly hid the bell in his pocket. "You! You commoner!"

Levi was getting tired of hearing the same words from him to the point that he was no longer offended.

With narrowed eyes, Levi directly revealed his intention. "Hand over the bell."

It was a daring thing to say—especially when you are just a slum boy and your opponent has been trained in schools to fight monsters. But Levi decided to take this gamble for two reasons.

First, the fat boy was injured. Like Levi, he seemed to have stepped on a trap and was limping. Though Levi was also in a similar condition, the fat boy's situation was worse because of his body proportions.

Secondly, it was because of his weapon. The fat boy used a bow, which could have been very advantageous if they were hunting a monster or if someone was protecting him, but being alone, there was hardly anything he could do with a bow.

But the fat boy didn't seem to understand that.

"Why should I?" he retorted. "You filthy commoner dare command me? Do you think I don't see you're injured?"

The fat boy had also noticed Levi's leg and realized that his right leg had been paralyzed. More than that, his pride wouldn't allow him to follow the commoner's words.

Levi, however, tightened his grip on the spear. "I'm warning you one last time. Hand it over."

The fat boy smirked, stepping back and reaching for his weapon. "Go fuck yourself!"

In a flash, the fat boy drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Levi, expecting this, deflected the shot with his spear, but his injured leg buckled, and he fell to one knee.

"Got you now!" the fat boy sneered, drawing another arrow and aiming for Levi's neck.

However, Levi rolled to the side, barely avoiding the arrow, and threw something at the fat boy's leg. It was the demonic crystal! The crystal hit the fat boy's other leg, making him stumble.

Seizing the moment, Levi pushed himself up with the spear and charged. The fat boy was not a pushover. He dodged and slashed at Levi's side with an arrow, grazing his ribs. Levi winced but didn't back down. He feinted with the spear, then punched the fat boy in the face, sending him reeling.

"You're dead!" the fat boy yelled, wiping blood from his nose. He rushed at Levi again, this time with his bow raised to strike.

Levi parried the bow with his spear and kicked the fat boy's knee, making him collapse. The bow fell from his grasp. Levi knocked the arrow out of his hand and pressed the spear tip to his throat.

"Give up and hand over the bell," Levi demanded.

"In your dreams!" The fat boy spat at Levi and tried to grab the spear, but Levi thrust it forward, piercing his throat.

The fat boy's eyes widened in shock. He gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth, and then fell limp.

Levi pulled out the spear and took a deep breath. "I warned you," he said softly, looking down at the fat boy's body.

This was the second time he was killing someone and just as he thought—it didn't feel good at all!

---***---

Lore Snippet 06 - Demonic Essence Crystal

A Demonic Essence Crystal is a stone that contains the essence of a monster, but it is corrupted by demonic energy. These crystals are very dangerous to use in their raw form, as the demonic energy can cause havoc within the human body. However, they can be purified at altars, allowing humans to absorb and increase their own essence. Demonic Essence Crystals are highly valued by humans. The higher the rank of the crystal, the larger its size and the more valuable it becomes.