Sam tore through the local monsters over the course of the next few hours, reaping many bodies, but few rewards. At this point, he was just too strong to get anything but the most paltry of rewards from monsters even five or ten levels above him. He suspected that he was being penalized for his atypical strength for his level, and he was being forced to gain more essence to level up. It made sense in any case, as he was gaining far more stat points than most others at his level, which logically would require more essence to create.
As he drifted, he started to move closer and closer to the canyon. Over a few hours, he began to feel the stench of Death elemental energy coming from that direction, and he remembered the slumbering Corpse Titan waiting outside. It was clearly at work, or perhaps one of its minions was loose, and the smell was coming closer to Sam over time. Sensing something that would provide an actual challenge for him, Sam picked up the pace, ignoring the weaker monsters for now. None of them tried to attack him once he blasted them with his aura.
As he reached the outskirts of the forest, he began to hear a rhythmic stomping noise coming from nearby, as if something gigantic was moving in the vicinity. Sam could not see anything between the trees, but he knew that it was there. A moment later, a keening cry echoed through the forest, and something strange happened. A transparent, ethereal leg stepped through the trees in front of Sam, landing with a cracking noise, but no actual physical impact. Another leg quickly followed, and Sam got a look at the monster in its entirety. It was a cyclops, or rather, the ghost of one. The creature was completely intangible, and Sam quickly scanned it.
Juvenile Cyclops Wraith
Level 77
It was high level, but as far as Sam could tell, it was mostly harmless. As its leg drifted towards him, Sam barely tried to get out of the way.However, as the leg approached, a chill entered the air, a chill that quickly turned to a biting cold.
Sam rolled out of the way just in time, noting that the tree that the monster had passed through was dead, turned to a pile of frozen wood. It seemed that it was dangerous after all. Even worse, it was heading towards the city. Sam gritted his teeth and began to imbue his hammer with energy, hoping that it would be able to damage the monster. He swung with all of his might, projecting his Dao energy in a cone before his weapon. It slammed into the cyclops’ leg, and there was a dull noise as the leg briefly turned corporeal, taking damage from the strike.
The creature bellowed in rage, at a strangely high pitched note. When Sam withdrew his hammer, the monster was visibly damaged, with a strange black fluid dripping down from its injured leg and evaporating as soon as it hit the ground. It raised its other leg and stomped down, impacting the ground with a loud thud. A wave of ice spikes raced outwards from the impact point, threatening to skewer Sam. He beat at them with his hammer, shattering the ones that came near him, but they just kept on coming.
Sam started to weave backwards, and gradually left the area of effect, making his way towards the safety of the nearby trees. The cyclops wraith paused for a moment, and started to wave its foot around, as if trying to catch Sam with it. He raced forwards as the leg came near, and slammed his hammer into it once more.
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The monster cried out in rage and stomped again, this time nearer to Sam. He braced himself and was quickly covered in ice. The ice was supernaturally cold, but he resisted it well enough. Using his enhancement skills, Sam quickly shattered the ice around himself and broke free.
With a roar, he charged the wraith, and brought his hammer whistling towards the weakened spot on its leg. The leg cracked like a pane of glass, exuding a profound cold into the air around it. The chill was on a conceptual level, directly assaulting Sam’s Dao. He quickly imbued himself with his Dao, beating back the damage, and made his way toward the monster’s leg once more. It was damaged, but still operational, and it seemed to be gradually regrowing as it stood there. It was annoying that he was unable to see most of the monster, but it was the way it was. In any case, he was sure that he could at least weaken it by attacking its leg.
Sam struck once more, this time shattering the weakened area completely, sending shards of a strange transparent material scattering everywhere. The monster stumbled, and Sam saw its head passing through the tree cover, falling down towards him. Despite its ethereal state, it seemed that the monster still relied on normal physics to function.
However, its body was still quite large, and it was falling directly towards Sam. He began to run, trying to get out of the way in time. However, it was too late. The monster’s head landed on Sam, and he was immediately beset with a fierce cold, one that began to damage even him. His joints started to freeze within him, and he tried to run, only managing a slow walk. Pieces of light began to drift off of him and into the monster, seeming to empower it. It was devouring his energy, and Sam did not want to know what would happen when it was entirely gone.
Sam began to cycle his Dao within him, feeling as if it was being suppressed by some outside force. He had been able to fully resist the cold before, but now that he was inside the monster, God that sounded wrong, he was unable to do so. Sam began to add in his mana and elemental energy as well, cloaking himself in a nimbus of light. The cold started to lose a bit of its effect, but it still was there, and he was losing health at a rapid rate.
Sam screamed as he forced himself to move forwards, tearing apart his body in the process. His frozen muscles and skin cracked as he moved, and he could feel his power steadily being siphoned away by the monster. Sam was nearing the edge of its head however, and with one last, herculean effort, he exited the monster and emerged into the air. It was below freezing, but to Sam it felt positively scorching. He had been just basking in near absolute zero temperatures, and his skin was almost completely turned to ice. In addition, he could barely move his arms and legs, as his muscles had turned to solid ice. All of the water in his body had been frozen, and if not for his immense strength, he would have been dead by now, or at least immobilized. As it was, he still had enough in the tank to finish off the monster. Behind him, the creature tried to get to its feet, failing miserably.
Sam turned around, and started to radiate his Dao energy, clearing away the ice from his veins. The fiery heat of Righteous Anger warmed his blood within his veins, turning it into a fiery liquid that raced through his frozen limbs, heating them up. His body temperature slowly went from sub zero to normal, and as it did so, he began to move, gathering up power for his next strike. His hammer started to blaze with light, and he slowly moved towards the monster, bringing it crashing down on its transparent head.