He instinctively crouched down to present as small a target as possible. However, he immediately realized he wasn’t being fired at. The smattering of gunfire echoed from a location somewhere northeast of his current position, though he couldn’t tell exactly where or how far away it was. He was able to discern several firearms being discharged, which meant it was a group of survivors shooting at mutants. Or they could be shooting it out among themselves. Just because the world had collapsed and most of the people had been turned into mutants didn’t mean hostilities among the remaining humans ended. Jake thought he heard someone shout something, but whoever was shouting was too far away for him to discern the exact words, even with his sharpened hearing.
The gunfire lasted for about half a minute more, and then silence descended. Jake waited, still crouching down with his palms resting on the ground in front of him. He suddenly found this sitting position quite comfortable and relaxing. His anatomy had definitely changed more than he’d thought before. As a human, he wouldn’t have been able to sit in such a pose for long without experiencing muscle cramps. Now, as a mutant, he found he could remain in that position for an extended period without any discomfort. It had a soothing and relaxing effect on him.
Jake waited for a few more minutes, but no additional sounds of gunfire reached his ears. Remaining in the same crouching position as still as a statue, he scanned the streets with his nonhuman eyes, searching for any threats, be they human or mutant. There was no sign of the people involved in the recent gunfight.
That was probably for the best. Jake wasn’t eager to encounter any survivors. The only result would be to spook them. He recalled catching a glimpse of his own reflection for the first time a few minutes earlier. It had frightened him a great deal, even though he was already somewhat aware of what his new body looked like. To others, he would undoubtedly appear absolutely terrifying. When others looked at him, they wouldn’t even consider that he could be a sentient being. He couldn’t speak, and despite being a magical creature, he wasn’t a telepath either. Trying to communicate with survivors through gestures would also be a foolish idea. Being mistaken for another mutant, they would likely open fire on him long before he could have a chance to somehow persuade them that he wasn’t a mindless monster.
Hell, even if he somehow found a way to communicate effectively with humans, it didn’t guarantee he would get along with them. Making friends had been difficult even as a survivor, as many of the people he’d encountered resorted to violence, trying to kill him for loot. Now that he was a mutant, he had even fewer chances of making friends with survivors. Besides, he didn’t have any reason to do so. His needs and goals no longer aligned with those of the survivors.
Finally, Jake got to his feet. Picking a direction away from the recent gunfire, he slipped into a brisk jog, continuing to explore the city.
For the next several hours, he battled groups of mutants, earning chunks of XP for slaying them. At some point, he leveled up to 6, gaining another skill point, bringing his total to 2. Unwilling to slow down, he postponed allocating them. By the time the sun began to set, Jake had reached level 7, with 3 skill points now at his disposal. He was currently in a ten-story building overrun by mutants, systematically clearing out one floor after another. He decided to defeat the remaining mutants before assigning his skill points.
Eventually, Jake made his way to the very top of the building, emerging onto the roof where he encountered a single mutant—a whipper. As a survivor, he’d once had a mission to deal with an elite mutant, which happened to be a whipper. Elite mutants were basically beefed-up versions of regular ones. Later on, he had encountered regular whippers as well. They were slightly more powerful than shamblers, which was why Jake hadn’t been keen on encountering them, even though a regular whipper went for 75 XP.
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Being a morphus now, Jake had no doubts about his ability to take down the whipper before him without much trouble. He quickly assessed the monster. The massive mutant stood in the center of the roof, facing away from him. It was tall and bulky, resembling a shambler with its protective growth covering most of its body. Standing over six feet tall, it had a muscular build. Its right arm extended into a long tentacle below the elbow, hanging at its side and moving through the air in a sinuous manner like a snake.
Jake lurched toward the huge mutant. It heard him and spun around, displaying unexpected agility for its size. Its arm-tentacle lunged toward him with an intent to wrap around his neck. It was fast, but Jake was faster. Still, running rashly toward the enemy, he wasn’t able to dodge the attack completely. He twisted to the side to absorb the blow on his shoulder. The tentacle turned out to be stronger than it looked, the impact staggering him. The tentacle coiled back toward the whipper’s body. Before Jake could recover from the blow, the mutant struck out again, sending the tentacle flying back toward him. It unfurled with exceptional speed, zipping through the air.
This time, Jake was ready. He dodged to the left, and the tip of the tentacle shot past him. A fraction of a second later, he realized his mistake—the tentacle hadn’t intended to strike him directly. The end of the tentacle curled down, approaching him from behind, and wrapped around his ankle. The whipper quickly retracted its arm, pulling back the tentacle and sweeping Jake’s leg out from beneath him, causing him to collapse onto his side. Had he still been a human, such a harsh fall would surely have resulted in a broken rib or two. Being a morphus, he didn’t even get a scratch.
Jake attempted to free his leg from the tentacle’s grip, but the coils wrapped around his limb were too tight. The whipper started to pull him closer. This situation would have been terrifying for Jake when he was human, but as a mutant now, he simply allowed the monster to drag him across the roof. With his talons, he could easily have severed the tentacle, but he chose not to. After all, the arm-tentacle served as the whipper’s primary weapon, and now that the mutant was using it to hold on to him, the whipper was defenseless. Well, maybe not exactly defenseless since it still possessed sharp teeth and claws on its other hand, but while the mutant was preoccupied with using its tentacle to restrain Jake, it was vulnerable and less dangerous. Besides, the whipper was pulling him closer, and Jake’s original plan was to close the distance between them anyway, albeit perhaps not in such a direct and submissive manner.
The whipper dragged him toward itself, then lifted Jake into the air. He dangled upside-down for a second before the monster raised him even higher until his face was at the same level as the whipper’s. And that was when Jake’s hand shot out, his talons slicing deeply into the mutant’s exposed throat. The whipper’s eyes registered a hint of surprise when he tore a huge chunk of flesh out of its throat.
He felt a shudder pass through the coils around his leg, and the pressure slightly lessened. Pulling his upper body up, he reached for the coils with his clawed hands and began working to remove them from his leg. As he tumbled to the ground, he twisted in midair and skillfully landed on his feet. Glancing at his enemy, he saw a ragged hole in its throat, blood gushing freely from the wound. However, the adjacent masses of organic growth had already initiated the process of regenerating the mutant’s damaged flesh, mending it with surprising speed.
Only Jake wasn’t going to let them heal the wound. When the tentacle reached for him, he lashed out with his claws, severing it in half. Blood sprayed everywhere from the stump as what was left of the tentacle flailed in the air chaotically. The whipper reached for him with its other hand, but Jake danced behind his enemy, swiping at its neck, tearing to shreds both the organic growth and the flesh beneath.
Claws reached 100%. You can now increase it to Rank II.
The whipper tried to turn around, but Jake also moved, constantly staying out of its line of sight and raking the mutant’s neck with his claws nonstop. It didn’t take long for him to finish off the monster. When its huge body collapsed to the roof with a solid thud, another system notification emerged in his mind.
Enemy killed. +75 XP
Jake surveyed his surroundings. He had successfully eliminated all the mutants within the high-rise building. With no more enemies around him, it was time to begin assigning his skill points.