The creatures shrieked as they swarmed through the void like a plague of darkness, converging on Solwyn's position. Though their movements were aggressive, they were still far, at least several kilometers away. None posed an immediate threat.
Solwyn hovered calmly, arms crossed, watching their advance with detached amusement.
"Let them come, they will all die the same." He murmured.
But in the very next instant, one of the creatures flickered and disappeared entirely.
Solwyn's eyes narrowed. Without warning, his arm shot out to the side with lightning speed.
"Scriee!"
A horrific screech burst out beside him.
His claws had clamped down on a massive beast that had materialized at his flank. It resembled a centipede, but its many legs were jagged and curved like a mantis's scythes. The creature writhed violently, its chitinous hide creaking and pulsing with malevolent energy.
Solwyn tilted his head, inspecting the monstrosity.
"Just what are you, exactly?" he asked, more curious than concerned. "I can't even tell if I'm choking your neck or your torso. And more importantly… how did you appear next to me? Space magic shouldn't work here."
The creature didn't respond. It thrashed in his grip and screeched again before spitting a glob of corrosive black mucus at him.
But before it could even make contact, a vortex of flame spontaneously formed around Solwyn's body, swirling outward in a tornado of searing heat. The black mucus evaporated midair, and the creature itself let out a final, shrill cry before it was engulfed in fire and burnt to a crisp.
Upon its death, multiple status messages appeared in his vision.
[You have slain a Lv 154 ???! Gained 6,108,317,417 Exp (670%)]
[User currently has [D-3AT4], experience gain has been disabled.]
[New entry detected.]
[Permission level 2 confirmed.]
[Name the new race.]
Solwyn frowned at the first few messages.
'So part of the disabled functions includes experience gain?'
Needless to say, he was a little disappointed, especially because the experience he could have gained from just one of them would've brought him halfway to leveling up. Still, he had somewhat expected this ever since reading [D-3AT4]'s description, so it wasn't a complete surprise. And besides, there was something else he could still gain.
Even though they were outside the range of the system, the creature he killed still had tethers.
[Learned [???] Lv 7!]
[Learned [???] Lv 8!]
[Learned [???] Lv 7!]
[Learned [???] Lv 9!]
As the creature's tethers became his own, multiple unknown skills were registered, and with his permission level, the system requested that he name them as well.
Having siphoned the skills, the void that was still actively trying to erase him, suddenly ceased its assault.
Solwyn smirked as he felt the changes ripple through his body. "I see now. So that's how it works here."
The void no longer attacked him because one of the acquired skills had increased his affinity with it. He now gave off a somewhat similar feeling as the other creatures drifting in this abyss though. He turned to the creatures to gauge their reaction and see if they would also cease their attacks, but all he received was hostility.
"Scree!"
Multiple creatures flickered into place around him. While the void itself no longer harmed him, the creatures still didn't recognize him as one of their own. This was because while Sol gave off a somewhat familiar feeling, they could tell it wasn't as authentic which aggravated them more.
They attacked.
Before they could even touch him, Solwyn flickered, vanishing and reappearing above the cluster of enemies. Having siphoned their movement skill, he understood that while the void didn't have the concept of space, it followed a different set of rules, ones that were more lax. With a slight manipulation of the void around him he could easily appear anywhere he wanted.
"Good! More skills for me!" He exclaimed as his hands extended outward, releasing a fiery twister that descended upon the voidlings, incinerating them in one sweeping attack.
[You have slain a Lv 158 ???! Gained…]
[You have slain a Lv 145 ???! Gained…]
[You have slain a Lv 153 ???! Gained…]
[Learned [???] Lv 5!]
[[???] leveled up! (6 -> 7)]
[[???] leveled up! (7 -> 8)]
[Learned [???] Lv 7!]
"It's unfortunate none of these things have law techniques." Sol commented, "But I can't expect too much from mindless beasts."
He took all the skills from the group, though naming them would have to wait, more were coming. In the distance, he could already see the next wave cutting through the void.
"I'll name them later. But for now, how about I give these things a name? They're somewhat cute, in a hideous and monstrous kind of way… how about..."
[Voidling. Confirm name?]
"Yes."
As he confirmed it, one that resembled a spiked jellyfish flickered behind him, its tendrils reaching to ensnare him, but with a single swipe of his claws, it was cut clean in half.
[You have slain a Lv 155 Voidling! Gained…]
"That's better."
Satisfied with the name, Solwyn siphoned its skills and turned his attention back to the others. Using the very same abilities he had taken from them, he began his assault.
The voidlings rushed him from all directions, but they couldn't keep up.
Solwyn flickered through the battlefield, reappearing from place to place like a phantom. With the void movement skill he'd stolen from the earlier centipede-like voidling, he wove through the swarm with deadly precision. His claws sliced through the grotesque masses like paper.
Each strike was laced with scorching flame. With every kill, more skills leveled up or were added to his arsenal.
One voidling tried to wrap him in its rib-like wings, but Solwyn vanished from its grasp, reappearing above it. He dropped down, delivering a devastating kick that cleaved the creature in two.
[Learned [???] Lv 6!]
[Learned [???] Lv 4!]
A delighted grin spread across his draconic face. "These things are practically handing me their skills on a silver platter."
As another horde closed in, his body shimmered with streaks of white lightning. Activating [Descent of White Lightning], Solwyn became a blur of red and white. Even without Thorwyn's cooperation, he could still access all of his abilities. Every movement was amplified, his speed approached instantaneously as he zipped through the voidlings in brilliant flashes of light.
Not holding back against the voidling, he used another law technique, [Swift End]. Slayer aura enveloped his claws, extending outward with each swipe and cutting through multiple voidlings in a single motion.
Claws met flesh, if it could even be called that. They didn't bleed or appear to have organs and he wasn't too interested in finding out what they were really made of. But regardless, they were torn apart in violent bursts of lightning and fire. Solwyn left behind only disintegrating scraps and shrieks of fading monstrosities.
And yet, no matter how many fell… more came.
Another wave surged from the endless dark, followed by another. Dozens became hundreds. The voidlings were mindless, but they were drawn to conflict—and to Solwyn, who they still recognized as an outsider.
And to the endless wave of voidlings, he welcomed them with open arms.