Jonathan resisted the temptation to open his eyes, and he followed the disturbed air towards the hole in the wall, getting ready to strike once more. The monster rose to its feet, and hissed at Jonathan. He could not see its face, but he could tell that it was furious. No more words were spoken, and it seemed as if the monster had simply devolved into animalistic rage. That suited him just fine in any case.
Jonathan walked forwards, keeping a supercilious grin on his features. He knew that he was better than the medusa, deprived of all its tricks, and it knew it as well. The monster would have been an almost impossible challenge without his enhanced senses, but he was apparently a natural counter to its abilities. However, he remained wary. He had already theorized about the presence of other abilities within the monster’s roster of power.
One of those abilities suddenly came to the fore now, and he heard a ripping noise coming from the direction of the medusa. Straining his perception to the utmost, he got a vague picture of the creature expanding in size, growing until it was almost double his height. No longer was it a small, almost petite creature. Now it was a true monster.
Jonathan ducked to the side as he heard a punch come whistling in, and he realized that his senses were even more developed than he had expected. He could sense things almost as well as if his eyes were open, even with them shut. It was like there was a field of perception around himself that he could use to fight with. It only extended out for about ten feet, but it was interesting to discover anyway.
The monster roared in anger and swiped out with its hand once more, trying to catch him. Jonathan narrowed his eyes, in order to focus more effectively, and tried to pinpoint the position of the creature's hand. He lashed out, and brushed against the flesh, almost catching on to it. However, he was a bit too imprecise, and the monster managed to slam its hand into the side of his face, sending him rolling across the ground. It had hit with immense force, but Jonathan was surprisingly alright, the benefit of his extended multiplier from his titles.
He got to his feet slowly, and heard another whistle of air coming from his front, signaling something that seemed to be a flying kick. Jonathan pushed off the ground and landed ten feet away, hearing something crash into the stone, cracking it. He got to his feet, and rushed forwards, punching towards where he had heard the sound last. The monster was fast, but its body was quite large, and Jonathan managed to land a hit, sinking his fist into flesh. He pulsed his mana out through his fist as he did so, atomizing a small section of the creature’ flesh.
The monster roared and reached out with its massive hand, grabbing him by the throat. Jonathan struggled, managing to pry the monster’s fingers loose with his immense strength. As he dropped down to the ground however, a fist caught him in his stomach, driving the air out of him and rupturing something within his abdomen. Jonathan spat up blood as he flew, landing in the middle of the cottage’s wreckage. He spat out more blood as he rose, a bit disorientated.
The monster charged him, its footsteps echoing across the ground as it ran. It did not seem to care for stealth, now that it had tasted blood. He might have been able to fight against the monster somewhat with his enhanced senses, but he was unable to use his more developed martial skill, which needed him to be able to see.
Jonathan waited until he could hear the monster coming near, and then jumped straight up, avoiding a strike from below. He came down with his fist at the ready, coated in Void aspected mana.The purple attack slammed into the monster’s face, and knocked it to the ground, drawing blood. The creature hissed, and Jonathan felt something latch onto his arm, biting into it. His arm started to go numb from the attack, and he realized that he had just been bitten by a snake.
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He groaned, and withdrew, holding his arm, which was starting to become unresponsive. The medusa laughed at him, and padded forwards, trying to come bear enough to strike. Jonathan closed his eyes, and began to focus on his mana pool within him, seeing an orb of purplish light within the center of his chest. He took a tendril out of it, and then thrust it into his arm. A terrible burning sensation spread throughout the limb, and Jonathan screamed. Steam rose up from the air, carrying away the poison with it. The mana was quite literally burning it out of his body. His numbness stopped spreading, and then left, leaving him in full command.
Jonathan stepped forward, and raced toward the site where he had last heard the monster, driving his fist outwards as he did so. It seemed that the monster had been shocked at this recovery, as the strike hit home. Jonathan felt blood spurt up beneath his fist, and he smiled grimly, sending his energy out through his fist, and evaporating the flesh. The monster screamed in pain, and Jonathan struck again and again, pulping its flesh.
The medusa pushed him off of itself, and slammed its hands into his chest, knocking him off his feet. Jonathan spat up more blood, and caught himself on the side of a nearby statue, pushing off it with an explosion of breaking stone. He reached the medusa moments later, managing to keep on the same trajectory that he had been sent flying off on. He cocked back his fist, and sent his Divinity into it, causing it to light up with a solemn red glow. The mana orb came next, and when the attack landed, it landed with devastating force. Jonathan could not see its effects, but he could certainly feel them.
Flesh exploded under the force of his power, and the medusa shot backwards, slamming into the far wall a few hundred feet away. Jonathan pulled back his fist, and waited for the monster to make its move, unable to detect it from this far away. The creature screeched in pain, and it seemed to be on its last legs from what Jonathan could hear. It came charging towards him regardless, much slower than it had previously done. It was seriously injured at this point, and Jonathan was comparatively unscathed. Sure, he had some injuries, but he could mitigate their effect.
He waited for the creature to come to him, and when he heard its labored pants in front of him, he struck out. The monster tried to dodge, but it was too inhibited by its injuries, and Jonathan’s strike hit home, breaking the creature’s left arm. It roared at him, and a sudden light burned through his eyelids, forcing him to look at the world in front of him. The medusa had one hand outstretched, with a faint glow quickly fading around it. The monster was in terrible shape, but there was a grim smile on its face. Jonathan tried to move, but he realized that his legs were completely unresponsive. Looking down, he saw that they were slowly turning to gray stone. He tried to move, but he was unable to, and all that happened was that he fell over. The medusa shifted back into its normal form, and laughed.
“Part of your body will be ruined by this, but I will still savor the taste of your flesh,” it said, as it bent over to bite him.
Jonathan had other plans though. He pulsed his Divinity through his body, burning away the stone with an application of his Smite skill. Jonathan slowly rose, his body burning with Divine light as he did so.The medusa took a step backwards, and in Jonathan’s eyes, it saw its own death. He could feel its power trying to take ahold of him, and petrify his body, but it could gain no purchase on his ironclad defenses.
Jonathan rushed forwards, so fast that it almost seemed like teleportation, and smashed his right hands into the medusa’s face. Bones shattered and its brain burst beneath his strike, causing the monster’s head to explode. Essence entered him, and he gritted his teeth, using the healing to ride out the damage from his use of his Smite skill. He had leveled up twice from that kill, which was a bit less than he had been expecting. It seemed like he was starting to be able to deal with the damage better than before.