Julius didn't know if he was excited or bothered when he found himself getting swarmed by even more goblins. He liked that there were enough to at least get his blood pumping, but they smelled horrible, much worse than the Flowering Ginkons in his opinion.

There were enough of them that he was beginning to suspect there was some kind of encampment or rift nearby.

However, they weren't too much of a threat. Despite him primarily using kinetic energy to attack with, the goblins weren't that difficult to take care of. Unlike more advanced variations, these goblins seemed quite weak, and he was more worried about their stench than their actual threat to his health.

Luckily for him, kinetic energy had always been very efficient to use. Unlike his fire or life affinities, kinetic energy had the amazing benefit of being quite low-cost. Add that to his ability to siphon kinetic energy from other targets, and it was even more so.

He could likely continue to use it all day without getting tired. It was more likely that his mind would be the first to get weary.

After he pummeled another group, he looked around at the surrounding area. He then used [Absolute Spatial Perception] and narrowed his view toward the location where the goblins had been coming from.

Only then did he spot where he believed they were coming from. It was a small cave hidden on the side of a rocky hill, not too far away.

He ultimately decided not to go after the encampment. He had other things he still wanted to do today and honestly, he could sell this information to the guild. They hated goblins as well and he would likely be rewarded well for the information.

Who knows, he might even be able to rank up again in the near future.

The fact that he wanted something a little more interesting to fight played a large part in his decision as well. It definitely wasn't because he could smell the goblins all the way from here.

That would be silly.

He noted down the location on a map he had gotten from Terus the night before. He doubted it was the most accurate map and Julius doubted he knew exactly where he was in relation to it, but it was better than nothing.

He then gave one last look at the encampment and continued searching for a rift.

***

Fortunately, it didn't take him too long to find what he believed to be a rift. However, it would appear that he wasn't the only one who had found it either. There was a group of young men and women huddled around the rift as they prepared to delve into it.

He suspected they were around Lily's and the others' age. Perhaps, they were also preparing for the Inter-School Tournament. He sensed that their auras were quite powerful for their age, and they did a good job of keeping them controlled.

He wasn't exactly hiding his presence, so it didn't come as a surprise when one of them noticed him standing off in the distance. The girl who had sensed him alerted her teammates and they all stood up at the ready.

He gave a cheery wave to them, trying to let them know that he wasn't a bad person. But this seemed to only make them more wary for some reason. It was only when they got a clear view of his face that they settled down.

"Just so you know, we already have dibs on this rift, kid," One of the guys called out to him with a little abrasiveness.

"Calm down, Cage," the girl who had sensed him rebuked her teammate.

"What? I was just letting him know," Cage argued.

Julius put both of his hands up. "No worries. I was just walking around when I noticed this rift. I don't have any plans of interrupting your plans or anything like that," he assured them, already walking in the other direction without saying another word to this group.

They all watched him walk off and didn't relax until he disappeared from their sight. He didn't blame them for their wariness. The forest was a dangerous place, and there was no need to take chances.

While a part of him wished to just enter the rift regardless, he reminded himself to stay patient. He was certain that he would be able to find another rift eventually. The deeper he went in the forest, the more likely rifts became.

However, he was curious whether or not he would come across a safe zone before he found another rift.

Safe zones were quite common in the Endless Forest. With how large the forest was, it was inevitable that people had to establish a base here and there. Terus was nice enough to mention where he and his team had been staying while they had been delving into rifts for the past week.

It shouldn't be that far ahead. He said that it was hard to miss since it was placed in one of the larger clearings in the forest. He also said that if he were to follow the map, it would take him there.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Julius was hoping that he would find something before that. He wasn't looking to stay the night in the forest. He just wanted a place to delve and train some of his skills.

***

He got lucky and, not long afterward, found a rift. It was even better because he didn't sense anyone around it. He wasn't surprised nobody had found it either. This rift was tucked deep in a section with very thick foliage. It was only thanks to his perception skill that he was able to sense the rift as he walked by.

He cut his way through the thick brush and eventually stood in front of the swirling blue rift. From what he was able to sense, it was a Tier 3 rift.

Much to his pleasure, it didn't feel as weak as some of the other Tier 3 rifts he had come across. Perhaps it was because it had been hidden away for a while or for some other reason, but this rift reminded him of the labyrinth rift he had been trapped in with Reinera. Not only did it have a similar powerful feel to it, but it also had this eerie feeling of death and decay.

Undead rifts were decently common to find, so it wasn't that surprising to come across one.

Julius took stock of everything, and he made sure that he was full of mana before he finally reached out to touch the blue swirling gate in front of him.

Unlike the previous times he had gone through a rift, this time felt different. He was much more aware of what was happening around him. The spatial ripples were everywhere and he almost got lost with how much his senses were being overloaded with.

He also noticed how similar these rifts were to his own skill. They were connected in some way to chaotic space. He didn't know how exactly, but he would make sure that he investigated this sensation in further detail.

Upon opening his eyes, he found himself standing in a massive cavern. The stench of rotting flesh and stale air permeated all around him. He didn't hesitate, and before he did anything else, he sent a quick pulse in a large sphere around him.

The concentrated mana in the air had him wince as his perception skill picked all of it up, but he was able to locate a large group of monsters in the near distance. Not seeing a reason to wait around and waste time, he immediately dashed toward them with a quick use of kinetic energy.

He wasn't shocked when he observed the crowd of undead in front of him. Like the ones he had fought with Reinera in the labyrinth rift, these ones were humanoid creatures with decaying flesh dangling from their blackened bones.

It didn't bother him, though, and it certainly didn't stop him from slamming his fist into the nearest one with a loud crack. He then turned and crushed his foot into the chest of the next one. He detonated his kinetic energy and blew a chunk of flesh from its chest.

However, unlike a living monster, this didn't seem to bother the undead all that much. It continued to try to swing at him with its chipped, rusty sword. There was a faint layer of sickly green energy surrounding the blade, and Julius was smart enough to avoid it.

He used [Void Step] to reposition a few feet away and ripped the head off of another undead. This seemed to do the trick.

He sensed that there was some kind of core of mana inside the chest of the undead. It was very likely that if he targeted this, it would also kill them for good. Not seeing a reason not to try out his idea, he sidestepped the attack of an undead who swung at him from behind and slammed his palm into its chest.

He made sure to concentrate all of the kinetic energy into a narrow point. However, he made the mistake of making it too narrow, and he lost control of the kinetic energy before it could pierce the core. For his error, he found himself swarmed by multiple attacks from undead from all sides.

He made sure that he only used kinetic energy but that also meant he wasn't able to create a barrier of mana to protect himself.

He had to rely on his kinetic affinity to siphon the force of the blows, which didn't go all that well. It wasn't like absorbing the force of a punch, a sword was sharp so even if there wasn't a lot of kinetic energy behind it, the blade could still cut him.

The other annoying part of these undead was that they were pretty strong. While they were slower than average Tier 3s, their physical strength was alarmingly high. And their blades cut deeply into his unenhanced skin. However, the bigger issue was the green energy that slipped into his flesh.

It was like acid and started to eat away at his skin and his mana. There was also a weird effect that heightened the pain he experienced, but thankfully, [Sage of Savagery] prevented it from affecting him too badly. He didn't wish to, but he was forced to use [Phoenix Renewal] and heal himself.

Using a burst of kinetic energy, he threw the undead, which had been swarming him, away from him. He mentally reset. He had been severely underestimating these undead and reminded himself that if not for his healing skill, he would have been in trouble.

He took one calming breath and actually focused. He then started to collect kinetic energy and began to channel it through his body. He took some inspiration from his mana control and used his kinetic energy to cover his fists like gauntlets.

Then, as the undead reconverged on him, he began to unload this kinetic energy into their skulls. He didn't know why he had been trying to be all delicate and try to force his kinetic energy into a tiny little cone. He was a brute force kind of guy, and he needed to lean into it, especially when kinetic energy was already so good for that type of fighting.

He laughed amusedly to himself as he continued to dance through their sickly green blades and slammed strike after strike into the closest undead. He didn't need to be elegant. He just needed to be more brutal.

And so with an enthusiastic grin on his face, he continued to push his way through the enemies. He didn't pay any heed to the small injuries. He just made sure that he didn't take any large or impeding ones. He didn't like to rely on [Phoenix Renewal], and the fact that he already had to use it to save himself frustrated him.

However, he used this frustration to power his swings and used generous pulses of vicious kinetic energy to wipe out this massive group of undead. He made sure to practice [Void Step] and got used to being very efficient with that skill. He had the mana to spare since he was using kinetic energy, but that didn't mean he wanted to build bad habits. He would mainly use the skill to reposition if he felt he was being corralled into a corner. Otherwise, he would use kinetic energy through his feet to dash forward with swift and abrupt movements.

He continued this until there wasn't a single one left standing and he was surrounded by silent corpses that he finally relaxed his shoulders. A large bright smile appeared on his face. It had been a great warmup and he couldn't wait to see what was deeper in the rift.

Things were finally getting more interesting.