Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely - Chapter 308

Chapter 308: Valley Bear Horde, The Blue Flame Arrow
Sam stared all around him as the ground shook beneath his feet, and the scent of power drifting through the air was so strong it almost felt physical, as if invisible threads of energy were brushing against his skin with every breath he took.

Ding!

—

[You are currently in the “Soul Valley”]

[Recommended level: 150.]

—

“Hm.”

He let out a slow exhale as he studied the panel, because now that he had stepped into the deeper parts of the [Soul Realm], he wasn’t surprised that even the environment itself felt dangerous.

The [Soul Realm] also had zones scattered across it, though unlike all the other times where zones were separated by portals or massive boundaries, this place did not require him to move through any specific gate or crossing in order to enter the danger.

Instead, the zones were simply placed all around the landscape without warning, which meant that any challenger could step straight inside them without even meaning to do so.

It also meant that, unlike dungeons or special trials, these zones didn’t trap their challengers.

If Sam encountered something too powerful, he still had the chance to escape, at least in theory.

[Coward.]

“Whatever.”

He muttered the word under his breath and kept waiting, his hand resting on his sword as the rumbling around him slowly grew more frequent.

He stayed still for several seconds, bracing himself, expecting something to emerge from the shifting ground or to appear from the misty horizon.

[If you kill all those monsters, your “Hatred Bar” won’t fill up.]

“Oh,” Sam said as he lowered his stance and let the tip of his sword rest lightly against the ground, “That’s right.”

The reminder was annoying, but accurate.

One might say that it didn’t matter whether his [Hatred Bar] increased or not, since killing monsters and quickly reaching the next rank would give him tremendous strength, but Sam didn’t see it that way.

To him, every single skill he possessed was important, especially the ones that had the potential to evolve into something devastating like [Supernova] or [Primordial Lightning].

Losing the chance to strengthen skills just to level up faster wasn’t a trade he wanted to make recklessly.

He knew too well how much power a single evolved skill could bring.

But at that moment, the rumbling of the ground became heavier, the vibrations growing stronger and deeper, and from every direction around him he saw movement.

It was a horde.

A swarm of giant beasts charged toward him all at once, their massive bodies shaking the earth under their combined weight.

—

[Valley Bear]

[Level: 150]

[Skills: Soul Claws, Bite, Call]

[Description: A bear that lives with his tribe in the “Soul Valley”]

—

Sam narrowed his eyes at the sight of the first information panel hovering above one of the creatures.

Beside that one bear were dozens, maybe even over a hundred, all looking exactly the same and all clearly the primary inhabitants of this valley.

But then among them, there was a boss.

—

[Soul Bear Leader (Boss)]

[Level: 150]

[Skills: Buffing Roar, Flames of Soul, Valley’s Rumble]

[Description: Leader of the “Valley Bears”, killing him is going to disrupt them all.]

[Hell-Mode Analysis: Too many of them, doesn’t seem doable without leveling up.]

—

The [Hell-Mode Analysis] panel didn’t even consider that failure was possible in the sense of losing.

It simply said that getting the skill would be unlikely.

Sam didn’t have his [Primordial Barrier] anymore, since it had been destroyed earlier and the cooldown still wasn’t over.

Meaning that if a bear killed him even once, they could potentially spawn kill him repeatedly if they kept surrounding his respawn point.

His clone was also unavailable since it had died inside the [Colossal Space], making it impossible to summon.

‘Well…’ Sam thought, ‘If there’s really no other choice…’

He lifted his gaze toward the sky, and above him the giant timer hovered silently, reminding him that he had around a day left before entering another [Colossal Beam] and being thrown into another deadly battle.

Sam knew he needed power.

Not just strength for the sake of winning fights, but raw, overwhelming power to help him survive this realm long enough to conquer it.

He was now stuck in a situation where he had to choose between building up his skills or leveling as fast as possible.

And so…

‘I need my sword to become sharp enough to cut through them all,’ Sam thought, his gaze narrowing with renewed focus, ‘And for that… I need more power and affinities.’

There were only two ways to achieve that, and both required leveling up.

No matter how much he tried to find alternate routes, the path always circled back to the same destination.

He needed levels, power and affinites.

He tightened his grip on his sword, ready to fight.

Plus, if he was going to do this, he would at least use the chance to “train” and test a few things.

For example, he wanted to know if his sword could cut through these monsters with minimal effort, or if his other skills could actually deal damage to high-level enemies.

Take [Primordial Barrage] for instance.

He needed to know if its bullets could pierce through beasts of this level, and if so, which mode would be most effective.

Or [Primordial Tendrils], were they strong enough to restrain these creatures, or did he need to find a way to strengthen them?

A hundred questions formed in Sam’s mind, and if there weren’t so many enemies coming at him at once, this valley would have been the perfect training ground.

[Not gonna really work with so many of them.]

Sam saw the panel and sighed under his breath because the voice was right.

Fighting a massive horde was not the ideal way to test things one by one.

That was why Sam wanted the [Dimension of Time] so badly, because training abilities in isolation was far easier in controlled environments.

But he didn’t have that now. He only had himself.

ROOOOAR!

The [Soul Bear Leader] suddenly let out a thunderous roar that shook dust off the broken stones around the valley, casting [Buffing Roar] on every bear present, and then the entire army charged at Sam at once.

Primordial Wings!

Sam released his glowing black wings and shot upward into the sky with incredible speed, rising in the air just as the bears collided in the spot where he had been standing seconds before.

If they had reached him even a moment sooner, it would have been instant death.

Luckily, these creatures couldn’t fly, and so he had safety in the air.

Sam spread his wings wider, preparing to unleash [Primordial Barrage] so that he could test how his bullets worked from above.

But as he raised his hand…

Fwoosh!

He heard a whistle-like sound coming from above him, sharp and sudden, and his instincts immediately screamed that something unexpected was happening.

[You have a bad feeling about this.]

“…?”

Sam turned sharply, fully expecting a giant flying monster to emerge from the clouds and strike him down mid-air.

But instead…

He saw nothing but an arrow. A single arrow.

“Huh.”

It wasn’t even especially large. but it glowed with a deep, powerful blue flame.

And the moment Sam sensed the sheer amount of power flowing from that arrow, his eyes widened, and his expression hardened.

He dodged instantly as the arrow rushed past him, flying downward instead.

He didn’t know if it was aimed at him or the bears, but it didn’t matter.

And the world slowed down as the arrow continued downward, its flame growing brighter as it descended.

[What the hell?]

Then the arrow hit the ground.

Fwoosh… BOOM!

The blue flames erupted outward in a massive explosion that swallowed a huge chunk of the valley in an instant, fire spreading like a wave, devouring everything in its path.

The blast radius extended for hundreds of meters, obliterating every single monster in sight as their bodies disintegrated under the sheer force of the explosion.

And Sam—

He didn’t escape either. The flames consumed him completely before he could even react.

Ding!

[You have died.]

[Too many things are happening at once, this realm is cursed.]