Noa's mind was put back into his corpse.
The rebirth brought pain to his brain, but he fought through it, not letting even a single muscle twitch.
As for the undead, it was still observing him.
Yet because it had no teeth, eating Noa was beyond its capabilities.
The zombie couldn't detect an approaching human, but he did, waiting for the situation to unfold with his breath held.
Noa was coated in dirt and blood, his wounds closed, yet he seemed as lifeless as ever.
Soon, the archer moved silently.
The shadows assisted his stealth, and he successfully backstabbed the undead, ending the monster's life in one strike.
He was a mix between a rogue and an archer, wielding double daggers with precision.
Noa wanted to use Inspect on him but held himself back.
The moment the archer killed the zombie, he looted the monster and took the huge orb out of its heart.
Then he moved to Noa.
His objective was to check if the boy had something of value.
'One,' Noa counted.
He felt the footsteps echoing in his ears as the rising temperature made his heartbeat slow.
'Two,' he continued.
Then the touch came, searching through his belongings and taking the orbs he had collected.
Waiting for someone to claim it, his sword had been dropped close to his legs.
Noa had his eyes closed, but he could hear every rustle and gauge what his assailant was doing.
"Three!" he roared, drawing attention to his sudden yell.
As the man was about to take his sword, Noa, eyes still closed, drove his knee into the archer's face with full force.
"Got you, son of a bitch!" he said promptly, scrutinizing his opponent.
[ Human Lv. ??? ]
[ Grade: Evolved ]
The level difference was more than 10, stripping Noa of a chance to gauge his level.
It was the highest-level combatant he had to fight against, and not wasting a breath, Noa took his sword and pounced on him.
Before the man was free from the pain and the blood his broken nose had smeared, Noa attacked again.
It ended earlier than expected.
The archer never got the chance to counterattack.
Noa's sudden offense and the force he used were too strong for the man to overcome in such a short amount of time.
'Easy,' he thought, cleaving the neck mercilessly.
[ You killed an Evolved Human Lv. 15 ]
No EXP or leveling notifications arrived.
Noa didn't look surprised by that, knowing that killing humans in the First Abyss didn't give any points.
Sometimes, this made Velrox even scarier than the Abyss, as there was an additional benefit to murder.
But from the Second Abyss onwards, it was a different matter entirely.
Not minding the lack of system messages, Noa started the looting this time.
He took his orbs back, grinning.
His beheaded enemy was a middle-aged man with dry skin and skinny limbs.
The dead man had no additional orbs, but his two daggers and bow caught Noa's fancy.
[ Wooden Bow ]
[ Grade: Evolved Challenger ]
[ Attack Power: +4 ]
[ Attack Speed: +3 ]
[ Durability: 17/20 ]
"Thanks for such a thoughtful gift," he said, planning on using the weapon.
As he knew a thing or two about classes on Velrox, Noa had tried archery numerous times.
His reasoning had been to be ready if he got the archer class, but he found it useful even without it.
[ Snake Fangs Dagger ]
[ Grade: Evolved Challenger ]
[ Attack Power: +3 ]
[ Attack Speed: +4 ]
[ Durability: 16/20 ]
There were two of them, widening Noa's smile.
Still, his sword was better, and using two weapons simultaneously was beyond his current capabilities.
'Until the system blesses me with sword skills,' he thought playfully, considering selling them.
However, when he had to carry everything he had gained, it quickly became a pain in the ass.
Fortunately, his strength stat was more than enough to handle it.
Yet the blades and bow weren't the only things Noa saw the man utilizing.
"What a nice sweater," he said as he undressed the man.
Gear was so hard to come by that humanity adopted manually crafting and smithing, expending orbs and magical ores from the Abyss.
Noa found such a treasure just now, inspecting it enthusiastically.
[ Thin Chest Armor ]
[ Grade: Evolved Frail ]
[ Defense: +5 ]
[ Movement: +0 ]
[ Durability: 44/50 ]
Though it was an inferior rank, Noa was still content with it.
Even the slightest protection could dictate life and death.
Putting it on under his smelly hoodie, Noa liked that the sweater didn't impede his movement and was so thin that he barely felt like he was wearing anything.
"Time to leave this place. It was good hunting for day one."
He couldn't really estimate how much money he could make by selling everything he hoarded, but it shouldn't have been a small amount.
Noa also changed his collected corpses, extinguishing snakes to gain mana and stamina.
He added zombies and humans to his skill count.
Then he went to the gate.
The cave was cold, its walls dripping wet with tainted liquid.
Its smell assaulted his nostrils, and the sound coming from each drop echoed across the perimeter, creating a chilly ambiance.
Just as he was about to cross the last bridge, the reverberating voice thwarted his ears.
The system made its fourth global announcement, talking to every Ember alive.
[ The gifted thief has been born. A star amongst constellations and a warrior between the ages. He—a mere human—is a light. Find him! As he is the only grace for your salvation. ]
It was a metaphorical speech.
Even the system's robotic voice spoke with emotion, highlighting Arthur and his future.
"What a dumb glazing," Noa said, shaking his head. "So he did it already."
Arthur caused this uproar when he killed a regional boss, cementing his transmigration with the system's approval.
Noa wasn't so lucky, as he got nothing good out of it.
Instead, he became the most targeted foe with a huge bounty on his head.
Now that he saw Arthur wasn't changing his working pattern, Noa smirked evilly.
It was time for him to screw the plot even further and meet the second extra of the world.