Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 902

Chapter 902 Homing

'Yes. This is the second challenge.'

Atticus's gaze narrowed. He wasn't surprised, he had already suspected that the next trial would be the second challenge. His question had only been for confirmation.

And as soon as he received it, his actions were immediate.

His mind spun with speed, his lips parting as he bombarded the spirit with a rapid series of pointed questions.

"Tell me everything about these beasts."

"They're called Abyssal Worms. They typically live underground in healing grounds like this. They hunt by tracking the life signatures of their prey, then tearing them apart."

The information hit Atticus like a hammer, his mind processing every word with lightning speed.

"What are their weaknesses? How do I kill them?"

"There are no set weaknesses. You just have to be fast enough, in any case."

"What are the cases?"

"You kill them when they burst from the ground or in their domain, the ground itself."

Atticus's brows furrowed as his sharp eyes tracked the beasts, observing their movements as they erupted from the ground and shot back inside.

'They're too fast,' he noted coldly.

At their speed, catching them seemed inconceivable. Atticus was confident that his passive strength and speed alone surpassed even grandmaster+ ranks, and yet, these small creatures outpaced him?

'If I had my elements, this would be easy,' his thoughts briefly drifted, but his expression hardened in the next moment. 'There's no point lamenting the impossible. I'll use what I have.'

He darted forward, a streak of blue trailing behind him.

A beast erupted beneath him, its jagged teeth snapping shut.

But it only bit into empty air, Atticus was already gone.

Another burst upward as he landed, even faster this time.

SNAP!

Its jaws narrowly missed as Atticus twisted midair, landing silently once again.

He moved. Faster. Sharper.

Everywhere his feet touched, the ground cracked, and beasts lunged, relentless in their pursuit.

But Atticus was already gone before they could reach him.

His movements were surgical. Minimal. Elite.

His piercing gaze flicked side to side, tracking every beast as they burst from the ground.

A pattern. He needed a pattern.

The first challenge had followed this same rule, there had been a hidden method to their attack. If Atticus had realized the swirling nature of invisible wolves assaults earlier, he could have passed that trial with far less effort.

'The katana always leaves clues. I just have to find them.'

The beasts attacked in waves. Spiraling. Coordinated chaos.

Atticus evaded them without fail, but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever. Running blindly or flying across the platform was futile; his mana reserves would deplete before he reached the end.

Which meant there was something here he was missing. A clue embedded within the challenge.

'Is it footwork?' His thoughts spun like a storm.

It made sense. After learning how to move his mana in the first challenge, the next logical progression would be learning how to move his body.

The beasts, constantly forcing him to adapt and adjust his movements, were an obvious indication.

Yet, no matter how he scrutinized their erratic lunges and burrowing retreats, Atticus couldn't find a discernible pattern.

'Let's try to kill one and see.'

Atticus's eyes sharpened, scrutinizing every detail of the beasts, their shape, weight, speed, and trajectory.

Luckily, they were all more or less similar, so Atticus didn't need to analyze each one individually. In less than a nanosecond, he was finished, his gaze turning cold.

He would test his theory.

The ground beneath him trembled.

In the next instant, two beasts erupted from below, their jagged teeth snapping toward his legs.

WHOOSH!

Atticus shifted. No wasted motion.

He twisted just enough, leaving barely an inch between his body and their fangs.

His piercing gaze locked onto them, movements sharper than ever.

The air around his fingers coiled as swirling mana wrapped tightly around them.

He turned sharply, his arm shooting forward like a whip.

CRACK!

Swirling mana shot toward the beasts with unrelenting speed, tearing through the air like a spear.

But before the attack landed, the ground shifted beneath him again.

Two more beasts burst forth, their teeth snapping at the spot where his feet had been just moments before.

But they caught nothing but empty air.

Atticus was already gone.

His figure shot upward like a bullet, the force of his movement cracking the hard platform beneath him.

High above, he twisted midair, his hands still moving toward the earlier beasts. Swirling mana coiled into deadly arcs.

His eyes sharpened.

At the last moment, the beasts veered sharply to the side, as if propelled by an invisible burst of air, evading his strike.

THUD!

They dove back into the ground, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared.

Atticus's expression darkened. "What the hell…"