???

Every single island thus far was some habitat. The first one had been a simple jungle type but the next ones had gotten stranger with toxic lands, fiery pits, icy hell, and even an underwater space.

However, the place which Liam was currently standing on was truly different. It was like he was in a black and white movie. It was as if he was standing on the surface of the moon or some other planet like Mars.

There were craters and barren landscapes stretching out as far as the eye could see, with a sky that was a tapestry of unfamiliar constellations, hinting at the otherworldliness of this place.

Liam's senses were on high alert. The quietness of this moon-like island was unsettling, and the lack of any visible creature made him wary.

In all his previous encounters, the challenge had been straightforward - see the beast, fight the beast. But now, there was nothing and no one. Just silence and the feeling of being watched.

He took cautious steps, aware that the terrain could hold hidden dangers. His sword was ready, and his body tensed for any sudden movements. He knew better than to let the silence lull him into a false sense of security.

Minutes passed by silently. Then, without warning, the ground beneath him shuddered. Rocks and dust were thrown into the air as a familiar creature erupted from beneath the surface.

At first glance, it seemed like a slime as it was distorted in a weird shape. More specifically an earth attribute slime considering the way it looked but the single shining core at the center of the creature gave away its identity.

Liam knew he was correct because the system's inspection skill also came to the same consensus.



[Level ???, Voidling]

The question marks before the creature's name were disturbing but Liam knew that this was not because the voidling was at a higher level than him. It was probably because the system had no way of accurately assessing the strength of these strange creatures.

Voidlings were known to be elusive, their true strength hidden behind the enigmatic core that powered them. They were beings that could potentially manipulate the very fabric of space, and Liam couldn't afford to take any chances.

And then there was the other annoying characteristic of the voidling. They were never alone. Before Liam could move a muscle to deal with the thing, three more popped up in the blink of an eye and the four voidlings instantly bound together to form a cluster.

Liam knew it was only a matter of time before more joined these four. So he did not hesitate and immediately attacked the cluster while it was still on the weaker side.

[Arctic Bind]

Liam used a skill that he had learned recently from the ice elves. It froze the ground around the voidlings, attempting to encase them in a prison of ice. The cold tendrils snaked toward the creatures, aiming to immobilize them before they could merge further.

The voidlings seemed to sense the danger, their movements becoming frantic as they tried to avoid the creeping frost.

However, Liam's casting was precise, and the ice swiftly climbed up their forms, locking them in place with a resounding crackle.

This should have in fact taken care of them completely but he had no idea if this was the case because they did not give experience points like the other creatures.

They also did not have any presence which made it hard for anyone to sense them. These creatures bordered between the living and nonliving, making other rules obsolete when it came to them. They did not even have a soul for him to get a sense of.

With the voidlings restrained and possibly dead, Liam took the opportunity to look around to check if there were more of these voidlings. Was this test about dealing with these pesky things? If so, it was going to be troublesome.

Liam searched for other signs of the voidlings but nothing was popping out at the moment. He scanned the barren landscape as he continued moving around. The test was not yet over as he was still standing here.

The desolate landscape of this moon-like island seemed to stretch into infinity, a monochrome world where the only color was the dull gray of the ground and the inky blackness of the sky above.

Liam's senses remained stretched to their limits, every nerve in his body tuned to pick up the faintest hint of movement, the smallest whiff of danger as he wandered the cratered terrain.

Minutes turned to hours as he combed through the landscape, his vigilance never waning. The silence of the place was a heavy, tangible thing, pressing down on him from all sides. It was oppressive, almost suffocating.

Then, he felt it... a disturbance in the air, a vibration so subtle that it might have been missed by anyone who wasn't as attuned to their environment as he was. It was a ripple, a wave of something that brushed against the very edges of his perception.

Liam halted, casting his gaze around the barren landscape. He turned around to see a few more voidlings show up. This time there were more than just a couple of them.

The new wave of voidlings emerged from the stark landscape, their forms oozing from the craters and crevices like shadows given life.

Liam immediately sent another attack to deal with them just like he had done before. However, all of a sudden, the voidlings glowed brightly. Before his attack could reach, they burst with power but did not attack him. They unexpectedly scattered away.

Hmmm? Liam was confused.

However, it was only for a second. The next moment he understood why the voidlings disappeared or rather what had caused them to run away in all directions.

Right in front of him, a huge creature materialized.

Towering and imposing, its body seemed to be carved from the very darkness of space around them. It was a hulking mass of shifting shadows, with eyes that glowed with an eerie, otherworldly light.action

[???]