Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent

Alex took a deep breath, pocketing his hard-earned reward from defeating the first [Shadow Dire Wolf].

He was still basking in the afterglow of victory when—

Grrrowl!

Another [Shadow Dire Wolf] leaped out from the darkness, fangs gleaming under the faint light.

It pounced before Alex could react.

"Ah—!"

The wolf tore into him with a ferocity that left no room for resistance.

[You have died.]

[Respawning in 5 seconds...]

As the respawn timer ticked down, Alphox's laughter echoed mockingly in Alex's head.

"HAHAHAHAH!" Alphox wheezed. "I could watch this all day, human!"

"Yeah, yeah, enjoy the show," Alex muttered as his form reappeared at the last checkpoint.

He quickly checked his surroundings.

Thankfully, the monsters didn't respawn until a while, which meant he wouldn't have to face the first boss again.

Instead, Alex retraced his steps and found the wolf that had just killed him.

"Your turn," Alex growled, narrowing his eyes.

He repeated the same strategy he had used on the first boss, exploiting the wolf's weaknesses.

This time, he swiftly killed it, earning another rare reward.

Yet again, he selected the [Attributes Points Pack], increasing every one of his stats by 20 points and leveling up 6 times thanks to the experience.

Alex grinned as he reviewed his gains. "This place is insane for grinding."

Normally, it would be annoying to deal with all these monsters, but the experience amount and stat gains were more than anything he had gotten this far.

Seems like being Arceus' student already revealed itself to be a blessing before he was even accepted!

Alphox snorted. "Don't let it go to your head. You've barely scratched the surface, kid."

With newfound confidence, Alex ventured deeper into the cave, encountering more [Shadow Dire Wolves].

At first, he fought them one at a time, slowly gaining levels and attribute points.

[+Level]

[+Level]

[+20 Points to All Stats!]

The grind was relentless but rewarding.

Alex's stats skyrocketed as he spent hours fighting hordes of wolves.

And so by the time he encountered new monsters, he was already stacked.

[Level: 189 (4,084,284/27,000,000)]

By the way, it was now an additional 500,000 experience points after each level.

[+1140 Attribute Points to All Stats!]

And he kept slaying and slaying.

Over and over.

By the time two wolves attacked him simultaneously, Alex was ready.

"Fury of Thunder!"

Zap! Zap! Zap!

Bolts of lightning struck both wolves, stunning them momentarily.

[Enemies stunned!]

"Go, my undead!"

Summoning his skeletal allies, Alex directed them to attack the stunned wolves while he prepared his other spells and dagger.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Fire Meteor!"

CRASH!

A massive meteor of fire slammed into the ground, damaging the wolves and leaving scorched craters in its wake.

But that wasn't the best thing Alex had found from this.

While experimenting, he actually figured out something very interesting.

"Let's try again," he mumbled.

Blood Blades!

He couldn't withstand more than the two attacks from the wolves currently, meaning it was difficult using the blood from being attacked.

So instead, Alex would simply slash his own palm, sending the blood blades flying at the monsters, hitting them directly!

[Weakness hit, dealing 500% damage!]

-3,694,700!

The results were devastating, but that makes sense as there indeed was a condition to use them.

"This art is insane," Alex muttered, wiping the blood from his palm as the last wolf fell. "But I need to use it wisely."

Eventually, Alex killed every monster in the cave of oblivion he could find, reaching the final chamber.

It was vast and empty, save for a single pedestal at its center.

Sitting atop the pedestal was the [Heart of Calamity], a pulsating, radiant artifact that seemed to hum with raw power.

"..."

Alphox sighed, clearly bored. "Come on, grab it and let's get out of here."

"You enjoy my suffering, don't you?" Alex said, narrowing his eyes.

"I enjoy watching fun things. And guess what? Your suffering is very entertaining."

Alex shook his head and approached the pedestal cautiously.

He remembered he couldn't touch this artifact directly if he didn't want to apparently "implode", which were Arceus' words.

So instead, he simply opened up his system inventory and pulled out the [Artifact Container] he was given.

As he did, instructions appeared on a translucent panel before him.

[Simply make the container touch the artifact, and it will automatically transfer inside.]

Alex followed the steps carefully, approaching the crystal slowly, and making sure not to directly interact with the heart, he simply tapped it with the item.

The artifact shimmered as it was sealed inside the container.

[Heart of Calamity has been secured.]

[Heart of Calamity: ???]

Even with his [Cursed Eyes of the King], Alex couldn't see the artifact's full description.

Inside the [Artifact Container] crystal was the image of the [Heart of Calamity], meaning that Alex had successfully managed to complete the task.

"Probably didn't expect that, heh?" he spoke to himself, imagining Arceus' reaction once seeing that he was back.

"That's it," Alex finally said with a relieved sigh, turning to leave.

But then—

Grrr...

Dozens of glowing eyes emerged from the shadows.

A pack of [Shadow Dire Wolves] stepped into the chamber, their snarls echoing ominously.

"Oh..."

[Warning! If you die right now, the artifact will be brought back to its original spot: on top of the pedestal.]

"Ah, shit," Alex muttered, gripping his weapons tightly, there were no chances he could take care of all these monsters alone, "Alphox, if you want to be a hero, now would be the time."

The Primordial Shadow Dragon sighed but finally stepped in, casting a shadowy flame that illuminated the chamber.

But it wasn't just wolves anymore.

Emerging from the darkness were [Shadow Great Serpents] and [Scorpions of Oblivion], each of them elite monsters at level 400.

They surrounded Alex and Alphox, their numbers seemingly ranging in the hundreds.

This was definitely a trap, but one that the primordial dragon wasn't scared of.

But in retrospective, that wasn't the worst of it.

Because right now, with Alphox's help it was completely possible Alex could win and leave this cave, successfully completing his task.

But then, what did Arceus even warn him about?

He looked extremely confident that Alex wouldn't be able to complete the quest for some reason, and he spoke about soul attacks too.

But as said before, only monsters at level 500 and above can have a chance of getting soul attacks, and even then it was still quite rare.

"Mere level 400 beings trying to oppose me, how laughable!" Alphox laughed.

Shadow Flames!

Alphox unleashed his signature attack, incinerating several enemies in a wave of black fire.

"Nice one," Alex said, preparing to follow up with a spell of his own.

But before he could act, something unexpected happened.

A massive head came down from the ceiling, biting into Alphox's neck in one swift motion.

"?!?" Alphox froze, his body trembling.

"What the hell—" Alex stared in horror as Alphox was forcibly recalled to his [Shadow Pet Space], where he would need to rest for a while.

"Watch out, kid," Alphox groaned, "That thing instantly killed me."

If it could kill a Primordial Shadow Dragon so effortlessly, its power was far beyond anything Alex had faced before.

And it was at that moment that Alex realized why Arceus warned him about this quest and cave.

Everything made sense as a panel appeared in front of him.

[Heart of Calamity has been taken without permission.]

[The Guardian of the Heart has been summoned to retrieve it.]

The ground shook violently.

From the ceiling, a massive figure dropped into the chamber, crushing dozens of monsters beneath its weight.

The remaining creatures scattered, fleeing in terror.

Alex gulped as the dust settled, revealing the newcomer.

It was a towering, three-headed hydra.

Each head was covered in dark, scaly skin, and its glowing red eyes stared down at Alex with murderous intent.

[Three-Headed Hydra, Guardian of the Heart of Calamity, Tier 7 Level 700 Mythical Boss.]

"...Oh no," Alex whispered.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, the hydra roared, shaking the chamber.

There was absolutely no chance Alex could win this.