[Class: Venomblade]

[Class Traits: (Poison Master) (Walking Antidote) (Withering Kiss)]

Poison Master – Grants complete control over venom and toxins. The user can alter their density, spread, and potency at will, weaponizing poison as both offense and defense.

Walking Antidote – The user's body evolves to resist all natural poisons. Their blood naturally transforms into an antidote capable of neutralizing toxins, whether within themselves or others.

Withering Kiss – Attacks infused with venom leave a lingering curse of decay, continuing to erode vitality long after impact. Untreated victims suffer progressive deterioration that can lead to death.

According to Jessie, a Class wasn't something limited by skills. It was meant to be a framework that bent to one's instincts and creativity, not a cage of defined abilities. But still, every class had its vague traits defining its essence.

For example, Poison Master was a trait that enabled him to create and manipulate poison. He could condense the toxin, shape it into a ball for precise attacks, or disperse it as a mist to increase the area of effect.

This trait also allowed him to coat his blade or bullets with venom.

In concise terms, it all came down to one's creativity in using it. He was still learning new ways to wield it.

Then there was Walking Antidote. It granted him resistance to poisonous effects—not all, but those that were not exceptionally potent. It also enabled his blood to become an antidote to lower-level poisons.

And Withering Kiss was the perfect name for its effect.

Ash ignored everything else and focused on his level.

---

[Level: 10]

[7240 / 10000 Exp]

---

Ash felt movement beneath his feet—

"Watch out!" he shouted, leaping backward.

The sand erupted—a scorpion burst out, its tail snapping like a whip. The impact sent a spray of sand and venom into the air.

Ash's eyes narrowed. The world around him slowed as his instincts kicked in. He twisted mid-air, raising his pistol.

"Bang—Bang—Bang!"

Each bullet struck with deadly precision. Venom coated the bullet as they shot. The creature's tough hide cracked under the impact making its legs sink into the sand.

The scorpion shrieked, its body convulsing. Ash landed rolling to one knee and fired another shot.

"Bang!"

This time its already weakened carapace gave away under the impact ending its life instantly.

Two more emerged—one from the left another behind Jessie.

She tried to defend, but she hadn't had anything significant for close-range combat. But her armor saved her life.

Ash switched the gun to his other hand, emptying three more bullets into the scorpion. The force knocked it onto its back, legs twitching before collapsing into the sand.

"Stay low!" he called out keeping his voice calm despite the chaos.

Jessie ducked as another scorpion lunged at her. Ash sidestepped firing multiple rounds.

BANG!

The sound caused more scorpions to emerge, but Jessie dealt with them swiftly using her fire spells.

He checked his interface—

[+80 Exp]

[+65 Exp]

[+95 Exp]

…..

Still not enough.

Ash exhaled sharply, eyes gleaming. "Fine... we'll clear the nest."

He crouched reloading his gun with a D-rank mana core. It had become instinctive for him to reload the weapon using beast cores.

Then he pressed his palm against the sand.

A faint green mist began seeping through the cracks—thin at start, then spread widely like smoke in water.

He manipulated it to spread across the area.

Dozens of smaller scorpions hidden beneath began emerging violently, their movements slowing. But they had enough resistance to survive—these were D-rank beasts with innate poison affinity, naturally resistant to toxins.

But Ash had different plans. The poison wasn't meant to kill them—it was meant to make them agitated, uncomfortable enough to crawl out of their habitat.

Jessie's eyes widened. "You—you're suffocating them underground?"

"No. Just trying to lure them out."

Ash stood, holding the gun firmly in his hands. "No need to waste time."

Notifications blinked rapidly across his screen as he shot bullet after bullet, killing them down instantly.

[+70 Exp]

[+60 Exp]

[+60 Exp]

...

Level Up!

[Level: 11]

Ash smirked holding the pistol. The air still reeked of acid and metal, but his expression was composed. "Let's see how many to go."

Jessie sighed shaking her head, half impressed and half annoyed. "You really don't know when to stop, do you?"

She charged ahead igniting the sand until it boiled like molten glass.

Ash looked at her with a faint smile. "You're competing with me?"

"See... I don't need them to come out. I'll suffocate them."

Though she said that but it was difficult for her to keep up with Ash. To her, it seemed as if his weapon didn't consume any mana—or at least not a significant amount. Even if it did, Ash was feeding it cores constantly—non-stop.

In her eyes it was a cheat considering the sheer amount of damage the weapon caused.

Jessie kept replenishing her MP with the help of D-rank crystals. Her new ring helped her resist the toxic effects of the cores.

They kept moving forward as the scorpions died around them. As she cast another spell, making the sand boil, the ground shook violently. A giant scorpion—far larger than any before, with three tails swinging wildly in the air—emerged.

Ash felt his luck warning, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"Why did it come so early?!" Jessie shouted, sprinting backward at full speed, leaving Ash right in front of the monstrosity.

Ash looked over his shoulder, spotting her far behind.

"Haha... stop running like a dog—no, like a bitch!" Ash yelled, also retreating rapidly.

He remembered the day of the dungeon break—she was the first one to flee. Not that he hadn't done the same, but his hypocrisy refused to let it slide.

It was reality—no one liked those who retreated at the brink of danger. Yet, ironically, only such people were the ones who often survived.

"We're both good at running, but it won't help if we do it together. Let's fight—we can take it down!" Ash said, positioning himself beside her.

Jessie looked at him, amused. "If I was the first one to run, you were no later than second. And I need some distance to use my spells effectively." She smirked, proud of her reasoning.

"Of course, you're not a bitch—" Ash paused as the ground began to shake again. More smaller scorpions emerged, swarming around as if responding to their leader's command.

The smaller ones weren't truly small, but compared to their leader, they seemed minuscule.

"You're a sly bitch," Ash finished, his mouth agape as he watched the army of scorpions form an impregnable wall.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.