Jonathan waited the entire length of the break for the next wave to appear, and it did shortly. He was on wave seven now, more than halfway through. What appeared next was not a monster that he recognized however. It looked almost like a little girl, but its eyes were oddly shaped, and its face was locked into a permanent scowl. In addition, if Jonathan focused harder, he could see claws on her fingertips and the suggestion of leathery wings behind her back. In fact, it hardly looked like a girl at all. Jonathan realized that he was using Divinity to see through the illusion, meaning that it was a System granted skill that the monster was using. That meant that it was sapient.
The actual monster looked nothing more than a short and squat demon, with clawed hands, a forked tail, and leathery red skin. As it realized that Jonathan had seen through its facade, the creature growled in anger, and flapped its wings, racing forwards across the sands. It couldn't really fly, but it could make itself move faster with the aid of its wings, and as it ran, Jonathan got ready.
The creature could move quite fast, now that he could see it properly, and without the obfuscating influence of whatever skill it had been using, he could see clearly just how dangerous it was. The monster could move at about three quarters of his top speed, which was quite impressive, considering the strength of the previous monsters. However, perhaps all it could do was move quickly.
As the monster neared Jonathan, he cocked back his fist and sent out a tentative blow to probe its defense. The creature weaved around his strike, and sent its clawed hand towards his gut. The claws blossomed into flame as they approached him, and Jonathan narrowly ducked to the side as the attack came in. He knew that it would have done some damage if it landed, given by the amount of energy that he had felt off it.
Jonathan grabbed the arm out of the air, but the demon whipped it back, eluding his grasp. Jonathan raised one eyebrow, and summoned his void drills to his hands, creating two orbs of purple light. The demon hissed upon seeing these, and Jonathan surged forwards, moving as quickly as he could. His hands tore through the air, and he drove his fist into the monster’s stomach, driving it off its feet and up into the air. Flesh melted away below his strike, but not that much, considering the amount of damage that his skill should have done. The monster screeched in anger, and flapped its wings, floating off of his fists. It landed lightly about twenty feet away from him, and then burst into flames, the fire spreading across its entire form.
Jonathan could feel the heat from where he was standing, and he knew that if anything, it would be able to burn him. Jonathan began to sink into his Battle Trance Skill, and he watched as the world faded away, leaving only his opponent. He calmly analyzed the demon’s fighting stance and style, and came up with a good counter for what was likely to come next. As the monster began to run, Jonathan stayed still, waiting until the last moment to strike. The monster raised its right hand once more to attack, and it came whistling towards him, looking like a line of fire in the air. Jonathan focused on the incoming attack, and parried it with his gauntlet, sending the strike skidding off to the side. The monster was briefly unbalanced by the strike, and Jonathan took that moment to attack, whipping his left fist forwards and into the demon’s gut.
His barbed gauntlet landed directly into the open wound of the monster, tearing it open further. The creature hissed and lashed out with its claws, drawing a line across his face. The wounds burned more than they should,and Jonathan could feel his flesh withering around the point of impact.
He banished the sensation, and kept fighting, driving his fist into the monster again. The creature kept tearing at him with its curved talons, and the damage started to mount. Eventually he got it into a compromising situation, and was able to seize it by the neck. He lifted it up into the air, and snapped its neck with one mighty heave, killing the creature. He was covered in thin lines that were quickly turning black with necrosis, but the essence that entered him from the monster was enough to heal him up, with another level. If nothing else, this arena was going to boost his level by quite a lot, assuming that the monsters kept growing stronger. The only question was whether he could survive it.
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The next wave appeared momentarily, and Jonathan watched as a trio of strange winged creatures emerged into the air, flying towards him. They looked like raptors that were the size of men, and their feet were tipped with foot long razor sharp talons. Their beaks looked as if they could cut through steel, and they probably could.
As they spotted Jonathan, they shrieked in unison, and dived for him, their beady eyes alight with glee. Jonathan launched himself backwards as they dove, and narrowly avoided their first strike. One of the monsters lashed out at the empty air with its talons, sending a stream of concentrated air towards Jonathan. He took the attack head on, and was driven backwards, a bruise forming on his chest. That strike had packed quite a punch, but luckily it had been too weak to get through his armor.
The monsters swooped down as he landed, and one of them swiped at him with its talons. Jonathan raised his arms to block, and felt something within them crack as the attack landed. No matter how light these monsters were, they packed quite a punch.
He grabbed onto the monster as it tried to fly away, and rather than rooting it in place he was simply taken along for the ride. However, this could be used to his advantage. The cavern wall was not especially high, and there was no risk of injury if he fell. The monster could only go so high, and while he was in this situation, it would be harder for them to attack. The beast whipped at him with its other foot, trying to dislodge him. However, it was unsuccessful, and Jonathan clambered further up its body. As he reached the top, he began to pummel the creature with his fists, breaking its delicate bones in the process. The monster screeched, and the other two tried to aid it by attacking Jonathan. They were unsuccessful however, as he simply made the bird turn in the direction of every attack, forcing the other to abort it.
Soon he was ready to kill the monster and he sent mana rushing to his right fist. He drove it down, and the attack blasted apart the creature’s skull, killing it instantly. Before it melted away, Jonathan leaped off it and onto the nearest of the birds, repeating the same process. He was nearly thrown off by the monster as he landed, but he held on tightly, only taking a bit of damage as a talon smashed into his face in transit. Jonathan’s face was slashed open to the bone, and he shouted in anger as the attack landed.
He tore his way up the monster’s body, quite literally in fact, tearing out chunks of its flesh as he scrambled for a better handhold. He reached the top in no time at all, and set to his bloody work, softening the monster up for an eventual killshot.
The other raptor was screeching widely, trying to aid its companion. Jonathan ignored it, and kept on pummeling, eventually breaking it neck with one of his blows. Soon there was only the final one left, and Jonathan leaped over to it.
However, it had grown wise to his tricks, and it smashed him out of the air as he approached, sending him spiraling down to the ground. Jonathan impacted with a grunt, and he rolled to the side as the monster dived down, and it slammed into the sand beside him, sending up a large drift of the yellow substance.
Jonathan rolled back and grabbed onto the beast, whipping it around himself and into the sand. The creature keened in pain, and Jonathan did not let it rise again, battering it into the ground with his attacks. He broke its wings first so it could not escape, and then finished it off quickly with devastating body blows and mana enhanced strikes. As the monster faded away, he gained enough essence to almost level up. Almost, but not quite. As a result, he was left with quite a few wounds on his body, all of which stung terribly. He gritted his teeth and powered through the pain, keeping his emotions to himself.