Apex Star

Chapter 10: Tenth Floor,Strange Boss and Unexpected Reward

Two hours later, Nova finally arrived at the tenth floor. In this dungeon he already killed hundreds of beasts.

Unfortunately, the last mountains were of fire, water, air, earth elements, etc.

This one too seemed to be of nature element, not something he could absorb anyway.

What surprised Nova though, was the fact that this floor didn't contain the old monster formation of 15 Rank 2 and 1 Rank 3, but a single monster a Giant Predatory Mantis of Rank 4.

Of course Nova wasn't afraid of it, but rather excited to face off against an insect the scientists on Earth said if it was as big as a dog it could probably be one of the most dangerous things walking the lands.

The Mantis was about 2 meters in height, was greener than the weed, and had 2 blue colored scythes. It was currently looking at Nova like it was a predator ready to pounce on his prey.

Without an ounce of fear, Nova approached the Predatory Mantis and used 'Speeding' on himself.

Barely a few seconds later the 50 meters between them was reduced by half, the mantis also approached him with green liquid pouring from his mouth.

The mantis was clearly excited to have his first good meal in a while. He was trapped in this dungeon and only got to eat something when a new prey made his way to him.

That's if the prey could even reach the mantis, as in most cases not many people could even pass the first floors that are easier. Maybe only a team would be capable of doing so.

When there were about 5 meters between them, Nova smirked and thought,'One of the best predators on land? Let's see about this after I smash his head.'

The Mantis jumped forward and tried to stab Nova in the chest with his scythe of an arm, but when it was a few centimeters from his chest, it suddenly flew back two or three meters thanks to Nova's 'Repel'.

It wasn't enough for the mantis to be heavily injured, but enough to make room for Nova to punch it with his 'Space fist'.

BOOM! CRACK! The mantis arm almost shattered when Nova fully hit it with his fist.

The Predatory Mantis tried to stab Nova before he retreated, only to suddenly become frozen for a few moments, giving enough time for Nova to coat his index and middle finger in space energy making them like a blade. And with a 'swoop', the mantis head fell to the side with a clean cut.

It was such an easy moment for Nova, but so hard for the mantis to perceive how this 'weak' prey of his could end him in only a few seconds. The mantis didn't even have time to think why or how it was frozen before Nova killed it.

What Nova just used was a newly created technique he used on the 9th Floor Boss called 'Space-Time Stop', it's a powerful and very energy consuming technique. In fact, only half of Nova's energy is left in his body.

This is a great technique for a single enemy but useless against hordes of enemies. It had a limited range and the consume was enormous. Even with Nova's energy reserves being increased from his Limitless Ability, he couldn't sustain it for more than two attacks.

Two may be a big number, considering what could happen to one if he overestimated the problem of losing all the energy in his body.

In a happy case, one could pass out and then be eaten by the beasts around or killed by his enemies. In the worst case, one could instantly cripple himself by not being capable of absorbing any more energy.

Of course Nova didn't care about this and didn't even consider the worst case. He got that much confidence in him, confidence that may as well the reason he will suffer in the near future...

Nova's thoughts are occupied currently by the thought of creating a new technique for himself. As he is pretty much prepared better in some areas and discovered in others. For example an area of attack technique to help him in clearing mobs faster.

He will need an AOE technique later. Now, he is only focusing on the mantis head from where he retrieved a beast core.

After absorbing the Rank 4 beast core and the ones from the previous floors, Nova felt that he was getting so much stronger. His energy bank increased by about 50% just from the mantis beast core. Now he could use 'Space-Time Stop' for about 3 times before being drained.

After 15 minutes of resting, Nova stood up and continued down the road. What surprised him is the fact that barely entering the nature element mountain, he saw a beautiful silver sword with a green hilt standing in the middle of the path.

As if feeling attracted to its thin body like a man not seeing a beauty in decades, he slowly got closer and put his hand on its hilt, and felt a lot of information enter his mind.

The sword was called 'Green Inksword', why Inksword? That was its special ability. You could channel your element in the sword, and it will amplify it by 5 times.

Nova's mind was again working as if receiving an epiphany. He instantly knew how he should channel his space element in the sword, so he could create an attack he dreamed for years.

And that's what he did. After he succeeded in channeling his space element in the sword, it became a gray color, and he swung it down.

Creak!! The earth 5 meters ahead of him was perfectly cut from the middle.

"Okay, I'll call you 'Space Cut'."

After doing that, Nova felt great. He put about 5% of his space energy in the sword, but the attack was as if he put 25% into it. It's truly amazing that 5 times multiplier. What if he put 50% or even 100% in a desperate situation? Nova was excited just thinking about it.

He was more relaxed than when he first entered the dungeon, and it wasn't a misconception, but a real thing brought by confidence in his overall power.

Right now, compared to when he entered the dungeon at first, no, even compared to before he cleared the 10th floor Nova felt that he could beat his previous self with a hand tied behind his back. That was how much improvement he made in a short time.

He was one of a kind boy with a great future, so how could he not be at least this good?