Ten minutes passed since he killed the three soldiers, yet no one came to check what had happened. It seemed that the survivors didn't have spare fighters to dispatch.

'They're probably anxious and afraid. They refuse to leave their safe base and didn't even attempt to go to higher floors. I need to capture one alive to understand how this facility works.'

Since he had been always blindfolded when he was dragged here, Wolfram didn't know how to reach the surface. Was there a hidden elevator or just stairs? In any case, he found nothing that slightly resembled an elevator.

For now, Wolfram didn't intend on raiding their base. There were more paths to explore before heading their way. Since they were still here even after a day or two had passed, then it was safe to assume that the exit was blocked by debris or strong monsters.

After the last fight and the CP he earned, he finally managed to get Cards Speed to 3 points. Now, all he had to do was test the 'might' of his cards. If one of the three stats was lower than the other two, then there would be some kind of compatibility or efficiency problem, so to speak. If his theory weren't erroneous; his overall manoevurability over the deck of cards would have increased.

With the metallic wall facing him, Wolfram took out his cards and fiddled with them while thoughtfully staring at the wall.

It hasn't been long since he received this Card System, however, he was handling the cards as if he was a veteran. From an outsider's perspective, such a skill was useless in the current circumstances, but Wolfram thought otherwise.

The same applied to his physical stats, which allowed him to do things no normal human could.

Wolfram played with the cards for a few minutes before he started throwing them at the wall. As expected, the cards were incapable of piercing metal, still, their sharpness and speed were much better.

Although they were not as fast as bullets, they were still hard to follow with the naked eyes. The world record for the fastest thrown card was 148-kilometer per hour, and such a record was easily broken by Wolfram.

With his stats right now, he had the confidence to kill a human if he was accurate enough when throwing.

'Still, there must be a reason I got this Card System. I don't think I'm that special.. at least not enough to warrant this. Hmm.. whatever.'

Why was he different than the others? Unlike the others, he had to look at the black card to check his System. It was odd and radically different from the System the soldiers had talked about.

Apparently, for the rest of the populace, a blue 'window' would appear before them and it would show them their status. The window was illusory and you could click on it for further details. As for Wolfram, it was a red card when something new was acquired or a skill leveled up. Others didn't seem to see the red card or the stats cards dropped from corpses.

There was one thing in particular that kept bugging Wolfram; Why did he need an outrageous amount of Experience to level up. Also, why wasn't he getting an active skill.

All the skills he got were are passive skills. Sure, they were helpful; but he needed some sort of a trump card... an active skill that could be used in times of urgency with the purpose of turning the tides.

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After experimenting with the cards for a while, Wolfram hid them in his sleeves and returned to where the battle had occurred.

He couldn't hear any noise, which meant he was alone, and once he reached the barricaded turn, he looked to the left, where the path was gloomily dark and eerie. There was a lot of bloodstains and a bone-chilling aura lingering in the air, which made him frown.

He stared at the sign that had an arrow pointing to the left and saw the words '5th floor'. This indicated two things, either he was on the 6th floor or the 4th floor. What made him ponder about the absence of the 'exit' sign. Although that direction might lead to higher floors, it didn't necessarily mean it led to the exit of the facility. Logically, however, ascending to higher floors would, eventually, make him reach the surface.

'I just know it... a delicious prey is waiting for me.'

Whatever was hiding in that darkness, it definitely wasn't a Hobgoblin. From its silence and its non-interference during his clash with the soldiers earlier, the hidden creature was either asleep or waiting for a hapless fool to get closer to its established territory.

Wolfram suspect that it might be a nocturnal creature, hence the lack of illumination in that narrow area.

With cautious and tentative steps, he advanced toward the darkness with a hand holding his knife and the other positioned near the handgun on his waist. Of course, even if he couldn't access the gun in time, he could still make use of his cards, which were hidden under his right sleeve.

Fortunately, he found two stat cards in the way, which added, respectively, 0.09 Strength and 0.1 Speed. A small increase that was nonetheless welcomed.

Very soon, Wolfram felt as if he was literally transported to another dimension. His entire surroundings were covered in an ominous darkness, and the lack of any light made him momentarily think that he had gone blind.

'This is no normal darkness, I have not walked that far from the intersection, yet all signs of light were cut-off. This is definitely a nocturnal monster, most likely something that intensifies or spread darkness. Plus, it's best to think it is strengthened by darkness and weakened by light, hence it's lack of activity outside of this area. The corpses outside had claw and fang marks either on their head or shoulders whereas the rest of the bodies were intact.... so, possibly, it attacks from above. An aerial creature.'

Wolfram analysed everything as he carefully walked forward. Even with his enhanced physical stats, he could barely see in this absolute darkness. It was undoubtedly an disadvantageous place, where he was practically defenseless and unable to see the enemy.

If whatever was lurking here was indeed afraid of light, so afraid to the point of not attacking defenseless targets just outside of this darkness, then it could potentially be very vulnerable to any form of light.

For example, guns produced a small spark that appeared for a split second. The duration was extremely short, but if Wolfram were to continuously shoot, especially with the rifle, then the creature would be slightly affected.

Basically, the fight will be decided after the first attack: If he could safely resist the expected ambush, he'll be able to locate it the target and bombard it with bullets.

Of course, there was the chance that there were more than one beast hiding here.

The goblins stayed on this floor because they didn't feel particularly threatened by whatever was hiding in this darkness. If it was ridiculously strong, they would have relocated elsewhere. Since they stayed, then it was reasonable to assume the creature wasn't that stronger than goblins, or at least Hobgoblins.

This place that had nothing but darkness, though it wasn't that spacious. At most, it covered the area from the barricade to the stairs. 50 Meters, more or less.

Although he was marching at a moderately slow pace, Wolfram soon started seeing the shape of a door amidst the perpetual blackness.

The distance separating him from the stairs was around 15 meters, and if his guess was right, the monster would attack when he was just about to leave. Basically, it was using the same tactic he tended to use; Wait till the target dropped their guard and thought they were safe.

'Attacking from the front is problematic for it.... so it'll attack from behind or above, probably the back of my neck or my head. I don't know how big it is, so I can't predict its range.... this is quite the conundrum'