Azaroth himself was their natural enemy. At the moment, he had only one fire skill, but it should be up for the job. As the monsters surrounded him and the others fought back, he shouted at them, "Get down!"

Of course, they didn’t obey him. They were fighting for their lives while they were hungry and tired. Azaroth was too, but he was also tired in another way.

He transferred his sword to his left hand and used it to stop a monster from clawing at his face. Then, with the formation solidly in his mind, Azaroth activated.

Fire jetted from his hand like water forced from a hole. A whoosh sounded as his attack slammed into two monsters at once and sent them spinning back.

They were made of dried wood, so they caught fire and started screaming all over the rocky room. Azaroth turned to the others as all the monsters now focused on him. "Get down," he said again, and this time, they obeyed him without any hassle.

The skill was called Fire Spray! It used a combination of fire and the initial combustion to send enemies flying while burning them with fire. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

In the chaos that followed, Azaroth used his chaos skill. He made his thread thin and sharp, then used it to cut off one of the monsters’ heads before anyone knew what was happening.

The other monsters faced his fire and ran as they caught fire. The only problem now was that the room was burning. The ground was alright, but the monsters were passing their fire from one to another.

The temperature was rising fast, and the oxygen in the air was getting low. They had to get out of there now, or they’d regret it. They didn’t warn each other as they began to run.

Azaroth followed them, then stopped and started dragging the wood monster he killed with his chaos core along with him. It was difficult with the already dead monster hanging on him, but he covered himself with as much essence as he could and took off in the tunnel direction.

"What are you doing with that now? Don’t tell me we are going to eat it too," Alex said. They were back in the safety of the tunnel now, and the darkness surrounded them again, broken by the burning light of their skill.

Azaroth said nothing and carried the wood monster on his left shoulder. With his calculations, they should be able to eat in the next room.

Stallus watched Azaroth from the corner of her eyes. "I didn’t know your skill was that powerful."

Azaroth shook his head. "They are dried wood."

"Still, I think even humans will catch fire from your skill, at least normal humans. Though the time is too little to burn something down," she said.

Azaroth twitched that she had already seen the weakness in his skill. Then again, it’s only a low-level one. His Fire Spray skill is made for buying time at most.

Of course, dried things could catch fire, but it’s not a spray that goes on and on. But it’s fire, it’s hot, and you don’t want it near you, long or short.

"You should have used your skills too," Azaroth told her. They all should have. Then again, Kael told them they should not rely on their techniques too much unless their opponents start with a technique too.

He told them to hone their bodies to be the most powerful weapon they could be. Their skills should be secondary, and maybe he was right, but he is their teacher, and they listen to him.

"I would have, but I have no crystal on me," Stallus muttered.

Azaroth raised his brows and adjusted the monster; he had stopped some time ago to chop off its hanging legs, which he gave to them to carry. "You can’t generate crystal?"

She shrugged. "No. It’s a very complex technique. And I’m at the lowest level possible. As I advance, I’ll be able to make crystal out of sand, then maybe from thin air."

Azaroth looked at her. She had a huge disadvantage there, but then again, according to Kael Hound, crystal technique Awakeners are powerful at higher ranks, as the technique is linked directly with another technique.

But what was important right now was that she was at a disadvantage in the crypt. And it was something that could affect Azaroth. He didn’t much like that.

"Then we have to look for a crystal. For you," Azaroth told her. If she was to follow him around, the least she could do was be useful.

Alex and Catena said they hadn’t even thought to use their skills at all. It seemed Kael Hound did his job a little too well. The tunnel this time was short, and soon they reached the new room.

This one was a forest. It was filled with rall trees and thick green undergrowth. Insects called to each other, but as Azaroth expected, he saw no animals or heard their cries.

He picked a spot in a small clearing and dumped the monsters, both the green and the wood one. Then he turned to the others after they had done the same. "Alright! Let’s look!"

They shared a glance with each other.

"Look for what?" Stallus asked.

"Water," Azaroth said. What else were they supposed to look for?

"No offense, Azaroth," Stallus began after she had stopped Alex from speaking. "But this is a forest, and we are here now. We should look for food—fruit or animals to eat."

She pointed at the green fur monsters. "We can’t eat those."

Azaroth nodded slightly. "When you are done looking for your animals and fruit, I’ll still be here waiting so we can look for water."

Azaroth went to sit under the tree and began to harvest the essence in the air. It was not like he couldn’t look for water alone, but based on previous experience, he knew it would be dangerous, so it was better to go with the others.

And he needed to fill his core anyway.