Chapter 90

Jake had never encountered a mutant as fast as the chaser. He had struggled against the elite mutant’s normal attacks, but now that it had unleashed its special ability, he found it nearly impossible to dodge its slashes. Almost every second attack left a deep gash in his obsidian-black body. He was heavily out-leveled. Before facing such a formidable opponent, he should’ve gained a few more levels to increase Body and upgrade Enhanced Agility multiple times. This would’ve made his body more resilient to damage and improved his speed and agility. Unfortunately, the system had never bothered to warn him he would have to face an elite enemy who surpassed him by so many levels.

Feeling frustrated was of no use, though. Instead, he needed to find a way to defeat the skinless enemy or consider fleeing. However, escaping would mean forgoing the challenge’s reward, and all the effort he had put into clearing the floors would be in vain.

So, no, he wasn’t going to flee, that was for damn sure. Not only because he didn’t want the reward to slip through his fingers. The chaser was surprisingly strong, and at first glance, it seemed there was nothing he could do to defeat his opponent. Jake felt challenged by the situation, and his sole desire at that moment was to defeat the chaser. As the apex predator of this world, he wanted to prove that even monsters that out-leveled him heavily were no match for him.

Unfortunately, while the chaser was using Flurry of Swings, there was little Jake could do except try his best to block and dodge his foe’s lightning-fast attacks. As soon as the elite mutant slowed down, reverting to its normal state, he would strike back. Despite surpassing him by eight levels, the chaser was just an unintelligent creature. He was confident he could outsmart it. The only problem was to stay alive long enough for the mutant to stop using its special ability.

In his broad peripheral vision, Jake spotted the two survivors who had just emerged onto the rooftop. Judging by the expressions on their faces, it was clear they had never encountered such a fast and agile mutant as the chaser either. Frank raised his assault rifle and took aim. However, he never fired a shot. Both the chaser and Jake moved way too fast for him to take careful aim. He was clearly unwilling to shoot Jake by accident. It was obvious he still hoped for some reward for assisting Jake in completing the challenge. Judging by Isra’s expression, however, she didn’t share her companion’s sentiment. The intensity of her gaze betrayed her desire to witness Jake meet a gruesome end at the hands of the chaser.

Not gonna happen, Jake thought to himself.

Finally, the chaser’s movements slowed down to normal, its special ability worn off. Without hesitation, he switched to the offensive, striking out at his foe with speed and ferocity. Initially, the chaser attempted to hold its ground, but soon realized it was impossible under the relentless assault. It began to retreat while attempting to block Jake’s slashes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the two survivors gaping at him in bewilderment. Jake and his foe moved so swiftly that Frank and Isra appeared unable to comprehend what was happening, their inferior vision failing them and possibly rendering the two mutants as blurred spots.

Jake managed to score a few hits, but the wounds he inflicted on his opponent quickly sealed shut with remarkable speed. The elite mutant’s regenerative abilities were really impressive. He would need to cause significant damage to the mutant before it finally kicked the bucket. Unfortunately, time was not on his side. By his estimation, he had about five minutes left to complete the challenge.

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Moreover, there was another pressing reason he needed to end the fight as quickly as possible. He was losing mana from the numerous wounds inflicted by the chaser at a rapid rate. He needed to rest to allow his body to focus solely on healing. By engaging in such active combat, he was hindering his body’s healing process. Instead, mana was draining rapidly from the open wounds. If he didn’t conclude the fight quickly, he would soon die from mana depletion. Though he was aware that his health points were dwindling rapidly, he couldn’t spare even a fraction of a second to check how many HP he had remaining.

While maintaining the relentless assault on the chaser, Jake mentally commanded a bladed tentacle to grow from his back. The long appendage didn’t grow immediately. Instead, it took a couple of seconds to form. While it was still growing, he continued his assault on the chaser, compelling it to retreat and leaving it with no opportunity to strike back. Finally, the tentacle reached its full length, undulating behind him as he exerted his will over it. Jake once again marveled at his remarkable ability to manipulate the tentacle, maintaining critical thinking and constantly strategizing his offensive maneuvers while watching his enemy and analyzing its defensive moves all at the same time. His Enhanced Intelligence wasn’t even working in overdrive at that moment. He could only imagine what his mind would be capable of when this skill was at the top level, operating at its maximum potential.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Frank and Isra staring at him in shock. It was the very first time he had used Bladed Tentacles during the tower-climbing challenge, so until that moment, they’d been unaware he was capable of something like that. Not that he was trying to hide this ability from them; rather, there had been no real need to utilize it before. But now was the perfect moment to make good use of it.

Responding to his mental command, the bladed tentacle arced over his shoulder and surged through the air toward his opponent. Before the mutant could react, the pointed end of the tentacle pierced through one of the chaser’s eyes. The mutant froze for a moment, shocked by the sudden loss of half its vision. The tentacle, having served its purpose, detached itself from Jake’s body, dangling from the chaser’s eyeball.

Without giving his opponent a chance to recover, he pierced its throat with his claws and tore out a huge chunk of flesh, causing a fountain of blood to pour from the large ragged hole. Even the chaser’s remarkable regenerative ability was unable to heal such a severe wound quickly enough. Jake unleashed an onslaught of swings on the mutant’s stomach, ripping it open and causing the coils of intestines to spill out. The chaser took a couple of unsteady steps forward before collapsing to the ground. Its body twitched for a few seconds in its final death throes before the elite mutant finally died.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the two survivors staring at him in shock, clearly taken aback by the brutality of the killing.

Challenge complete! The Boost Menu has been unlocked.

He made it. He successfully completed the tower-climbing challenge with only a few minutes to spare, securing the reward. If he had been even slightly late, all his hard work would have been for nothing. Despite being significantly under-leveled for the challenge, he managed to reach the finish line just in time. It was no small feat, that was for damn sure.

Rather than rushing to claim his reward, however, Jake remained in place, taking a moment to rest. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from behind him.

“Is it over?” Frank questioned. “Where’s our reward then?”