Return of the Woodcutter

Entranced in a state akin to a calm before a storm, he looked for a way out in the water. The blurry vision didn't help, nor did the darkness. 

Unable to find his torch, he activated Fearless Aura to light the surroundings and search for the hole he had dug previously. 

His lung started to burn, urging him to find a way out. Panic rose once again, stronger with the passing seconds. 

He examined the surroundings, using the goblin knowledge he had just acquired. With what the system had given him, he just realized how amazing goblins were when it came to digging holes. 

Through simple touch, they could sense minute details like sturdy areas that would require a lot of effort to dig through and weaker areas that were easier to dig. 

It didn't mean they knew what they could unearth, though. Otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen for Aito's trap so easily. 

Aito removed his gauntlet, touching the earth, searching for something unusual while forcing back the urge to destroy everything around him for the stupid chance of actually hitting the magically created wall. 

His hand touched rough rocks until it finally felt a smoother surface that didn't match with the rest. It appeared quite sturdy and thick, though.

With his target acquired, he turned off Fearless Aura because it was now useless and only ate up his energy. 

Again in complete darkness, he felt his lungs burning, begging for air as panic grew, threatening to overwhelm his will. Inside his body, because of Fury, muscle fibers were being strained to their limits. Soon they would start to tear apart if he didn't ease his anger. 

Nonetheless, he kept his cool despite the odds playing against him and his boiling rage. 

Trusting in his sense of touch, he finally found what he has been looking for, a weak point in the structure. 

He memorized the location, put back his gauntlet, overloaded Durability into his metallic fist, and overlapped it with Impact. 

'With Fury, it should be possible.'

Lacking enough air to give him time to absorb mana from a mana core in a pouch strapped to his belt, and having used Fearless Aura for too long, Aito only had enough mana for one strike. 

***

A few moments ago.

Juliette looked at her surroundings, breathing in the outside air, enjoying her freedom to the fullest and her soon-to-be deep pockets. 

Life was hard and expensive in the Tower. Prices were unfair, forcing them to risk their lives. After a while, they finally managed to fight off goblins on the fourth floor without much trouble. 

However, a goblin's soul core wasn't worth much. They were five in their teams, sharing those soul cores every day couldn't possibly satisfy their every need or desire. 

Juliette had thought about climbing to the next floor, but killing forty goblins on her own in one day was impossible for her alone. 

Even with her teammates taking care of fifty goblins had been their record until now. There were too many challengers on the fourth floor, increasing the difficulty of hunting goblins every day. 

By the end of the day, there were no more goblins on the surface, mostly because challengers had taken care of them. 

That's why they had tried to brave the tunnels. Goblins proved to be quite the stealthy creatures. Ambushing them out of nowhere, appearing from corners they had already visited. 

'Finally, finally we'll be rich,' she thought looking at the backpacks that for fear of the black challenger's retaliation, no one had yet to open. 

As per what she had seen when rummaging through their contents, those were filled with inventory bags from the goblin's treasury with various gears that could sell for a lot. 

Some bags were also filled with soul cores. She suspected there were humans and goblins' soul cores. And since human ones could fetch for a hefty price…. 

She knew it wasn't all there was to those bags. Juliette had yet to check them all, particularly the dead black challenger's own backpack that would certainly be filled with the most precious items. 

However, Juliette didn't know where it was. Although she knew he had hidden it on the surface but where exactly? 

Juliette looked around her. Trees, bushes, challengers happy to be alive. Taking into account the time the black challenger had spent outside—which she assumed wasn't much—it couldn't be too far. 

"Where is the black challenger?" Xu Chi approached her, followed by Ursula, the teenage girl. 

"Dead," Juliette replied, searching through bushes. 

"Wait… what? Just… what happened? Could it be…," Ursula covered her mouth.

"Did you bury him in there?" Xu Chi sent her a quizzical glare. 

"For some reason, the tunnels were flooded by water. So, I did what I thought was best for us. Do you think he would have shared all the loot from the treasury with us? Killing him was the only option to get us a share of this. Now stop with your questioning guys and help me find his backpack." 

Ursula stared back at the nearby entrance like she didn't know what to do or think about Juliette's wrongdoing. 

"Although I agree with you on the loot share, but didn't you hear the rumors about black challengers? They are said to be unkillable!" Xu Chi said. 

"Don't be stupid. No human is unkillable in the first place. What makes the black challengers different, anyway? They only cleared the black trial. That's it. Are they known to have any cheat powers we don't? No, they are famous for accomplishing feats, that's it. What's a black challenger but a title, anyway? And yeah, there is no denying the current black challenger was strong but unkillable? I don't think so." Juliette said before pulling out a backpack from a bush with a satisfied face. 

Xu Chi paused and sighed. "I hope you're right. Because if you're not, we might all—" 

Suddenly, a loud shattering sound resounded from the tunnel entrance, interrupting his sentence. 

BOOM!

"…die."