CHAPTER 319: A THIEF

Damon grinned and continued. Naturally, he made sure to stay away from the tall mountain in the distance.

Somewhere high above, the jagged peak of that distant mountain caught the sickly light filtering through the haze. Damon’s grin lingered as he cut down another plagueforged dwarf, venom hissing from the corpse.

He knew exactly what was sleeping up there. He also knew the moment he woke it, this little "vacation" would turn into a warzone. But for now? The big boss could keep dreaming. Damon still had plenty of chests to loot, monsters to butcher, and poisons to claim. The real fun hadn’t even started yet.

Meanwhile...

Inside the same mountain, something stirred.

Deep within the cavernous heart of the mountain, past walls slick with black resin and veins of luminous green crystal, a single eye cracked open. It was not the eye of any normal beast. It was a vertical slit, the iris glowing with the molten green-yellow of toxic flame.

The corruption here was a lot stronger than the one outside, but it did not seem to matter to the being. In fact, wisps of strongly corrupted air surged out of its body every second, filling the cavern with even more poisonous miasma.

The haze coiled and twisted, seeping into cracks in the stone and pulsing in rhythm with the creature’s slow, deliberate breaths. A massive tail shifted in the darkness, scales glistening wetly with a blend of venom and abyssal ichor.

Each movement scraped against the cavern floor, sending out a low, grating echo like stone being ground to dust. A forked tongue flickered briefly from the shadows, tasting the air, and the beast’s eye narrowed.

"A new commotion in my territory? Who dares to create chaos in my area?"

The next moment, the being closed its eyes and spread out its senses. A normal awakener’s senses were merely limited to a few meters, maybe a few hundred if they were talented.

But this creature’s perception stretched far beyond that, threading through the rock, the air, even the poisoned roots of long-dead trees. It slithered effortlessly through the corrupted lines of the land, tasting every drop of venom in the wind.

It finally understood who was causing all of this ruckus. A presence. Not one of its plagueforged minions, not some mindless beast, but something sharp, deliberate, and disturbingly alive. Even worse... it was somehow sucking in all the corruption? How was it doing this?

A low rumble echoed through the chamber, and the green crystals overhead quivered as if in fear. The beast’s tail lashed again, harder this time, gouging deep scars into the cavern floor. "A thief," it hissed, the word dripping with poisonous contempt. "A little thief fattening itself on my breath."

For a long moment, the creature merely listened, senses brushing over Damon’s position like the touch of a phantom hand, before it retracted its awareness. Its coils shifted, settling once again into the darkness.

"Grow, little thief," it whispered, a cruel amusement threading through its tone. "When you are ripe enough, I will make you my new puppet."

And just like that, the mountain fell silent again. Outside, Damon kept killing, looting, and stacking skills, utterly unaware that his "vacation" had just earned him the attention of the one thing he did not want to wake up.

Another chest clinked open under his hands, spilling gold and a silver dagger. He smirked, tossing it into his inventory without a second thought. "I could get used to this," he muttered, already stepping over a heap of plagueforged corpses to reach his next target.

Damon slashed at the first one and sucked in its blood essence when a new notification popped up in front of him.

[Ding! You have extracted the ability ’Minor Mental Corruption’.]

Minor Mental Corruption: Your presence seeps a subtle venom into the minds of nearby enemies. Their decision-making slows, instincts dull, and susceptibility to fear effects increases. The corruption strengthens when you are within a highly toxic environment.

Damon’s brow arched. This was a very unique and rare skill. It wasn’t a direct damage skill, but it could turn aggressive mobs into sluggish, confused targets, softening up players before they even realized what was wrong.

In the right fight, a moment of hesitation was all it took to land a killing blow. When upgraded to a high enough level, he might even be capable of controlling their minds.

Damon had a feeling that maybe it was because of this skill that the abominations here were able to corrupt the others who stepped into this place and wandered long enough.

He tried using it on the next plagueforged goblin that came charging at him, and the creature stumbled mid-swing. Its eyes momentarily glazed over as if it had forgotten why it was attacking. Damon ended the monster the next moment, extracting its blood.

[Ding! You have gained +1 Mental Resistance]

[Ding! You have gained experience points]

Damon was once again surprised. He had once again received a new notification, and he couldn’t believe that it was mental resistance.

Attributes like mental damage resistance and soul damage resistance were a lot harder to improve when compared to physical damage resistance. And he was easily gaining such an attribute in this place.

Damon thought about it and looked at where he was currently standing. He was no longer on the outskirts of the territory. He had already ventured into the inner areas. Perhaps this was why he was encountering differently mutated beasts. After all, the air here wasn’t merely poisonous. It was corrupted.

There was a component of mental corruption in the poisonous, corrupted air, which made the creatures who entered here essentially mindless zombies. Even in his last life, he had never come this far.

After hearing about the treasure chests here, he had come to this place to try his luck, but he was only able to stick to the outer regions, and luckily, he had somehow managed to stumble onto a treasure chest.

However, now things were different. He was able to, and so he was already in the depths of these plaguelands. Damon looked up at the mountain, which was still quite far from him. He couldn’t help but wonder just how far he should go today.