Chapter 72

The slasher launched a ferocious assault on him, unleashing its special ability right away. Its bone appendages swung violently toward him, compelling him to go on the defensive. Jake raised his sword, deflecting one of the creature’s blades, then swiftly ducked as the mutant immediately swung the other one at him. Unfazed by missing its target, the slasher persisted in its aggressive onslaught, forcing Jake to retreat.

He swiftly swung his sword upward, meeting one of the bone blades with a dull clang, successfully blocking the mutant’s strike. The slasher advanced, bringing the other blade down in a sweeping motion. Reacting on instinct, Jake raised his claws in a last-ditch effort to intercept the blade. He was confident that his iron-like talons would be able to withstand the attack. To his astonishment, the blade sliced through two of his talons, severing them, and continued its downward trajectory, hacking deep into his shoulder.

His sensory receptors signaled that he had sustained significant damage in that area of his body. He felt no pain whatsoever, though. The little and ring finger-talons on his right hand dropped to the floor, but Jake had no time to dwell on the possible consequences of the injury. He had to solely focus on dealing with the slasher, otherwise the next thing to be chopped off might easily be his head.

Deflecting the slasher’s onslaught with just one sword was challenging, especially since his claws proved to be ineffective for defense. Realizing this, Jake mentally instructed a blade to extend from his right wrist. While the transformation from fingers to claws was nearly instantaneous, thanks to an upgrade he had acquired some time ago, extending a blade from his wrist was a much slower process. While the blade was in the process of extending from his right wrist, he continued to defend himself against the slasher’s relentless attacks. He blocked some of its strikes with his left blade and dodged others while retreating down the corridor as the mutant continued its relentless onslaught.

Reflecting on his past encounter during the Hunt quest, Jake remembered facing an elite walker with a lightning-fast ability similar to the slasher’s, which had forced him into a defensive stance. This time, however, he had the advantage of Sharpened Reflexes, an upgrade for Enhanced Agility that he had recently obtained. This upgrade improved his reactions in combat, allowing him to execute agile dodges, quick maneuvers, and swift counterattacks. With Sharpened Reflexes, he found it much easier to evade the slasher’s attacks compared to how challenging it would have been without it.

Finally, the blade fully extended from his right wrist, letting him tackle the slasher in full force now. Despite the elite mutant’s relentless assault with its sharp appendages, he effectively blocked each attack with the two swords of his own. When the slasher’s special ability, Flurry of Swings, finally wore off, the mutant’s movements slowed down. Immediately seizing the opportunity, he shifted from the defensive to the offensive.

Jake quickly delivered a powerful swing with his right sword toward the mutant. Despite the mutant’s attempt to block the strike with one of its blades, its slowed movements, due to the expiration of its special ability, left it vulnerable and unable to counter effectively. His blade sliced through muscle and bone with ease, severing the mutant’s arm at the elbow. The lower arm with the bone blade extending from it dropped to the floor, leaving the mutant with only one blade in its possession. The vile creature briefly glanced at the stump of its arm but showed little reaction to the unfortunate turn of events.

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The slasher’s evil eyes fixed on him once more, but before the mutant could do anything, Jake swiftly swung both blades in a scissoring motion toward the sides of its neck, beheading the mutant.

Enemy killed. +250 XP

Defeating the slasher had yielded a significant amount of experience points for a single enemy. But before he could savor his small victory, a familiar piercing shriek echoed from behind him, accompanied by two others. Whirling around, Jake saw three more slashers emerging from newly materialized magical rifts.

Fuck.

Two of them immediately employed their special abilities, launching vicious attacks from different angles. It didn’t take long for the third slasher to join the fray. He evaded and blocked their assaults, using all of his agility and speed to defend himself. Once more, he was grateful for having acquired Sharpened Reflexes. Without this upgrade, the three slashers would likely have cut him into pieces by now.

At some point, Jake activated his Bladed Tentacle ability, feeling a long appendage sprouting from his shoulder blade. Focused on deflecting enemy strikes with both his swords, he was unable to use them for offense at that moment. Luckily, he had more than one type of weapon at his disposal. The tentacle took two seconds to fully grow, which seemed like an eternity in the midst of the fierce battle.

Once the tentacle was fully developed, Jake took control of the appendage, sending it zipping through the air toward one of the slashers attacking him. The blade at the tip of the tentacle stabbed the mutant right into an eye, turning it into a pulp. The mutant froze for a moment as if taken aback by such a turn of events. Jake used the moment of its confusion to thrust one of his swords into the mutant through its chest, shattering several ribs in the process.

The bladed tentacle detached from his body, but Jake immediately grew another one, using up a certain amount of mana for the action. Obeying his mental commands, the long appendage streaked through the air with lightning speed, slicing through the throat of another slasher, killing it in mere seconds. Bladed Tentacle was undeniably an impressive and deadly ability. Jake made a mental note to obtain some upgrades for it in the future, such as reducing the time needed to form a tentacle and growing numerous tentacles at the same time.

With the first two slashers dealt with, dispatching the third was relatively easy. However, the battle was far from over. New ex-humans continued to emerge from portals, ready to join the fray. In contrast to the superior slashers, the other known types of ex-humans were significantly weaker. Jake took on multiple walkers at once, eliminating one group of them only to confront the next one without delay.

After what felt like an eternity, the battle on floor 7 came to an end. When Jake checked the status of the challenge, he saw the battle had lasted about fifty minutes. With less than two hours left to clear the remaining three floors and defeat the boss on the rooftop, Jake began to seriously doubt his ability to complete the challenge within the remaining time frame.

This challenge was designed for users with levels ranging from 10 to 15. Since he had been at level 10 at that time, he had barely met the minimum requirement, explaining why the challenge felt overly difficult for him. It would have been better for him to increase his level before attempting the challenge. On the other hand, leveling up more than once a day was difficult, so it would have taken him several days to level up a few times. Jake couldn’t have afforded to spend multiple days leveling up, because the challenge would probably have disappeared the following day due to the System resetting the world at the start of each new day.

In any case, if Jake wished to finish the Tower Climb challenge on time, he really needed to find a solution promptly.