Chapter 102

Portals began materializing all around him, each hovering about a foot above the rooftop. Jake did a quick scan to assess the number of mystical rifts unfurling around him. To his surprise, there were far more rift gates tearing open than he’d anticipated, and more continued to appear.

He also noticed a bluish, semi-transparent barrier surrounding the roof on all sides. Jake figured the barrier marked the boundaries of the challenge. He had to stay within this area. If he were to leap to another building, the transparent barrier likely wouldn’t stop him physically, but the challenge would fail.

From some of the portals, mutants were already crawling out. Each of the ex-humans emerging from the portals was a walker, but Jake was aware that more dangerous mutants would appear later on.

Wave 1 has started!

Targets killed: 0 out of 25

Jake charged at the walker that was the first to fully climb out of a portal. With a quick and powerful swipe of his claws, he severed the mutant’s head, sending it flying to the side. Before it even dropped to the floor, Jake was already dealing with another walker.

While he was greatly outnumbered, it didn’t take him much effort to defeat all the mutants. They were all walkers, posing little danger to him. To him, they were slow and weak, and even their numbers provided little advantage to them.

Multiple enemies killed! +750 XP

Wave 1 complete!

Wave 2 will begin in 59 seconds.

Jake quickly looked around. Not a single mutant remained alive. The mutilated bodies of the walkers he’d slain were scattered across the rooftop, slowly vanishing as if melting into the air. He quickly accessed his current experience bar.

XP: 805/3250

Not bad. For defeating the group of walkers, he’d received three times more XP than usual. He would surely be able to level up several times during the challenge. The expensive XP booster he’d acquired a few minutes earlier was definitely worth the cost.

He summoned the status of the challenge, and the info instantly materialized in his head.

Survival Challenge

Waves: 1/10

Remaining Time: 54 minutes, 27 seconds

New portals began to materialize all around him. Some of the mutants emerging from them were walkers, while others were leapers. The number of enemies in this wave was slightly higher than in the first wave. Not that it mattered. He charged at the new group of mutants, confident that he would kill them all just as easily as the previous group.

Jake sailed through the next several waves. At some point, he leveled up to 26, gaining a skill point to allocate. When the wave he engaged in at that moment ended, he quickly accessed his stats and allocated the skill point to Mind, increasing it to 5. The next two would go into Body.

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At some point, more powerful enemies began to materialize—shamblers and whippers. Jake dealt with all the weaker mutants first—walkers and leapers—before turning his full attention to the stronger foes. He was constantly moving, never lingering in one spot for more than a second. He took care of the weaker ex-humans as he moved, running past them and slashing their throats with his claws.

When it was time to face a shambler or whipper, he focused his full attention on these mutants. The organic growth covering their bodies could quickly heal the wounds he inflicted on them. That was why when he chose to target a shambler or whipper, he couldn’t afford to get distracted. Once he began slashing at the selected mutant, he unleashed a relentless onslaught of brutal swings, making sure the organic growth couldn’t heal their wounds fast enough, continuing to attack his enemy until it was dead.

Shamblers and whippers were powerful but rather slow. However, every so often, the shamblers would charge at him with remarkable speed. As for the whippers, although they moved slowly, they could swiftly lash out with their tentacles. Dodging these attacks was not always possible, and when a tentacle struck him, while not causing significant damage, the blow stunned him for a second. For that reason, when Jake spotted a whipper, he made it a priority to sever its tentacle as quickly as possible to prevent potential complications.

Other than that, the tougher mutants didn’t trouble him much. However, there was a time when a shambler charged at him, but he noticed it a bit too late. The powerful mutant collided with him like a freight train, sending him flying backward. He then found himself propelling through an open door and tumbling down the staircase. When the impact against the wall brought his momentum to a sudden halt, Jake instantly sprang to his feet.

He found himself standing on a half-landing. A shrill cry from above prompted him to look up the steps. He saw a leaper appear in the doorway. It instantaneously leaped toward him, soaring through the air with the speed of a released spring. Jake instinctively jumped to the side and descended a few steps down the next flight of stairs. As he did so, a system message flashed through his mind.

Please return to the designated area, or the challenge will be considered a failure.

After that, a countdown starting from ten began. So descending the first flight of stairs to the first half-landing was fine, but he wasn’t allowed to go any further down. Jake leaped back up to the half-landing, and the countdown immediately ceased. It took him no more than a second to deal with the leaper with one quick, powerful swipe of his claws. Having dealt with the mutant, he immediately returned to the rooftop.

From then on, he made sure not to let shamblers collide with him anymore. If one of them managed to push him off the roof, causing him to plummet ten stories down to the street, he would fail the challenge since he wouldn’t be able to make it back to the rooftop within ten seconds.

In the later waves, slashers began to materialize. They were armed with long and sharp bony appendages. Upon spotting them, he extended blades from his wrists. The slashers were really fast, and Jake had had a hard time when he encountered this type of mutant for the very first time. However, now that he had Enhanced Reflexes, his ability to dodge enemy attacks was greatly improved. Once he dealt with the slashers, he switched back to his claws and shifted his attention to other mutants.

Finally, he reached the tenth and final wave. During the brief respite, he checked the status of the challenge to see how much time remained.

Survival Challenge

Waves: 9/10

Remaining Time: 6 minutes, 38 seconds

Just a few minutes were left. He would have to give it his best to complete the challenge on time. After a few more seconds, vertical tears began to rip open. Since it was the final wave, Jake expected to face quite a lot of mutants. To his surprise, only three portals appeared, each releasing a single mutant.

Wave 10 has started!

Targets killed: 0 out of 3

Despite it being the final wave, he found himself up against just three mutants. However, as soon as he glanced at them, Jake quickly realized why the enemy count was so low for this wave—all three new mutants were chasers!