No more talks… no more bullshit.
Jered's eyes blazed with fury as he stared down the blind ape monster. Though it couldn't see him, thanks to Kaelen's earlier attack; it still snarled, responding to the sound of Jered's voice with raw instinct.
Jered took a battle stance, positioning himself squarely in front of Kaelen. He faced the three monsters, his blue-flame swords burning brighter than ever.
Ten minutes. That was all the time he had left. He had to finish the fight before the buff ran out, or they'd both die.
Without waiting for the monsters to charge, he dashed forward, closing the gap in a flash. He couldn't afford to be passive.
He had studied them during the earlier skirmishes. The ape-like brute was big and strong, but now blind and slow, barely a threat on its own. The bird-like creature launched razor-sharp feathers but needed a minute to reload after each barrage. Plus, it never dived to attack, meaning it was fragile in close combat.
But the scaled feline...
That one was a nightmare. Covered in dense black scales, it moved like a phantom. Jered hated it the most, it reminded him too much of a certain cocky bastard now lying half-dead behind him.
The ape heard him coming and hurled a punch with inhuman strength.
Jered ducked low making the fist missed and obliterated a tree behind him. Jered spun into a full-body 360 slash with blue flames trailing in an arc and severed the ape's leg off clean. A geyser of blood erupted as the beast toppled over.
Just as Jered raised his blade to finish it, chaos struck; both the bird and feline abandoned the ape and lunged for Kaelen, trading comrade for kill.
"Shit!" Jered cursed, forced to use CHARGE, targeting Kaelen.
But before he could reach him, the feline struck.
"STOP IT, YOU BEASTS!" Jered roared.
The panther aimed for Kaelen's neck. Just as the jaws closed in, LIFE VEIL activated again, shielding Kaelen with a faint glow. It bought precious seconds, enough for Jered to intercept.
Jered slashed in a cross-motion, but the panther too was fast, dodging enough that the blow only scraped its scales.
Then feathers whistled through the air.
The bird unleashed its next volley, it was only three or four this time, but far more accurate.
Jered grunted, deflecting them was not that since even Kaelen had done it before . They weren't deadly, not now but the distraction was brutal.
Suddenly another rock came flying.
The ape, still alive, had flung a boulder while screaming in rage. Jered could have dodged, but Kaelen would have been crushed.
So, he took it head-on.
"IRON SKIN!"
"FLAME BURST!"
His body hardened, his defense spiked, and his fire sword ignited with higher intensity as he cleaved the boulder mid-air. It exploded on contact, flames bursting outward, debris showering the forest.
Dust. Smoke. Silence.
Then, movement. In the haze, Jered activated DETECTION, then CHARGE, sprinting through the fog toward the feline.
He struck with full force.
But because of the light that his sword emits, the sneak attack was unsuccessful , the feline had enough time to react.
But still the fire-enhanced blade tore off the panther's tail. It screeched in agony and, driven by instinct, lunged straight at him, claws out, jaws wide.
But at this moment the feline knew it fucked up.
"JERED, WATCH OUT!" Kaelen shouted.
Too close. No time to dodge.
Jered gritted his teeth and sacrificed his left arm .
The panther's fangs ripped it off. Blood sprayed. Jered screamed, pain flooding every nerve, but he didn't stop.
"DIEEEEEE!" he howled.
He drove his sword through the beast's skull, pinning it to the ground.
SYSTEM
You have killed Level 18 Scaled Panther
Rewards +1000 PXP, +200 SXP
No time to process. Jered snatched the sword from his left arm on the ground and hurled it with every ounce of strength.
The blade spun through the air, cutting clean through one of the bird monster's wings. It shrieked, spiraling down from the sky and crashing into the dirt.
Jered retrieved his sword from the panther's skull, and turned to finish the ape, but as he turned.
Something was off.
His survival instinct told him to run.
Two massive stones came hurtling toward him at breakneck speed.
He dodged one.
The second hit his legs.
There was a horrific sound, bone shattered, flesh ripped.
His legs were gone.
"NOOOOOO!" Kaelen screamed.
Jered collapsed, writhing in his own blood. He tried to scream, but only a strangled croak escaped. His vision blurred.
The ape eyes had already been healed. It looks at him with mocking eyes.
Kaelen froze. Pain. Anger. Helplessness.
He couldn't let this happen.
Adrenaline rushed at peak and before his mind could think.
He blinked.
One instant beside Jered.
Next instant.in front of the ape.
He grabbed Jered's sword and blinked again, reappearing above the ape mid swing.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!!!" Kaelen screamed.
Slash after slash rained down, until the ape's head was unrecognizable pulp.
SYSTEM
You have killed Level 23 Skipper
Rewards +2000 PXP, +1000 SXP
None of that mattered.
Kaelen blinked back to Jered's side. Without hesitation, he used LIFE BLOOM and LIFE VEIL, pouring everything into keeping him alive.
The bleeding stopped. Jered's face relaxed, eyes clearing just enough to see Kaelen.