It was difficult to see inside the dark building with the bright sun shining overhead, but as Chad stared into the darkness, he could just barely make out the large mound. With that recognition, he was able to trigger his Identify Skill.
Cholla Beast
Body Rank 5
HP: 144/144
SP: 288/288
Ki: 175/175
He checked to make sure everyone was ready. Carlos had his Soul-Bound machete out and it was already coated in the shifting purple mist that was so dark that it was nearly black. Javier’s own machete’s edge glimmered with sparkling light reminiscent of the stars at night. Mei Ling held her Jian sword loosely in her grip, a faint shimmer of light rippling over the blade. His own hands gripped the matched pair of Drakutaur bone Kopis. He still hadn’t had the chance to enhance them with Ki formations yet, but he was planning on taking care of that very soon. The edges were still wickedly sharp and he had no doubts that he would be able to slice through the monster’s hide.
With a deep breath, Chad activated his newest technique. It was the most complicated thing he had done yet with his Ki. it required Ki moving through two of his meridians, and the concentration needed to create the technique had left him with a headache that lasted half a day. Thirty Points worth of Ki seeped out of his pours and hardened into armored plates that covered his entire body. He took the first step inside, but froze before he could take his second step. The best snorted and shifted. After waiting for a few seconds, he went to take a second step, but stopped before he could even shift his weight. Welling up from deep within, where his Voidwalker Bloodline resided, a warning of danger echoed through his entire being.
Javier stepped inside, probably thinking that the monster had just shifted in its sleep, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. If it wasn’t for the boy’s own bloodline ability increasing his agility, combined with his own movement technique, he might have died in that instant.
With the crack of breaking the sound barrier, a whiplike tentacle covered in long spines had lashed out from the monster’s back and tore through the wall, right where Javier had just been standing. The boy managed lean backwards at the last possible moment, flexing his body beyond what a normal person should have been able to do, spin around and come back up over five feet from where he was.
Activating Void Step, Chad disappeared in a puff of black smoke, and instantly reappeared in another puff, right behind the beast. Before it could fully lumber to its massive feet, he brought both of his blades around and slashed into the backs of its legs, right where its tendons should be.
The beast bellowed in pain and rage. Chad could now see patches of spines all over its body, and just as he noticed them, they started shaking, and he knew it was going to be bad. “Clear the room!” he shouted as he triggered his Void step for a second time.
Mei Ling screamed in pain, having been the only person who hadn’t managed to find cover in the second of warning they’d gotten. Chad turned and saw that she’s somehow managed to catch her foot on a piece of rubble. Her foot was twisted unnaturally, and she had several long spines sticking out of her body. Several had managed to pierce all the way through her and were sticking out of her back.
“Get her out of here!” Chad yelled, then had to duck a spined tentacle before he then had to deflect a second one with his Kopis. He could feel Mei-Ling and Javier moving farther away, so he knew the boy had acted. Carlos was coming up quickly to the other side of the beast, but Chad could not sense Connor anywhere. He knew that was the downside of the rogue using Fade, it even obscured him from detection using Spiritual Sense.
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A third tentacle appeared out of nowhere and managed to catch Chad in the ankle while he’d been distracted for just a second. The hard spines managed to gouge their way through his Ki armor, but his reinforced skin resisted penetration and he managed to avoid taking any damage, but that didn’t stop him from having his feet taken out from under him as the whip-like appendages managed to wrap around his feet and slam into one wall, only to be smashed into another wall before being released and crashing onto the floor. He could feel his Armor technique shudder under the impacts and it nearly broke apart from the strain. Chad managed to clamp down on the hardened Ki and managed to stabilize his technique with an extra infusion of Ki.
The Cholla beast bellowed in pain again and Chad saw Carlos get sent flying by a kick from the beast, through the trailing purple miasma from the man’s blade was already being drawn into the scratch he’d managed to inflict.
* * *
Connor watched over the fight from his perch in the building’s rafters. From his vantage, he saw Mei Ling get taken down from the monster’s AOE attack. He knew others saw him as an unrepentant asshole, and they weren’t wrong, but he still felt a pang of empathy for the woman. He’d seen one of those spines pierce her in the eye. It was a miracle that it didn’t kill her. When he saw Javier drag her out of harm’s way, Connor turned his attention back to the Cholla beast. He saw Carlos barely nick the monster, but it was enough to inflict the D.O.T. though just one stack wouldn’t do much. He knew it would only deal one point of damage every two seconds for a minute.
Connor already had both of his personal buff spells activated, giving him a twelve percent luck bonus to his next critical attack and to avoid the first strike from the monster. So, he was waiting, out of immediate combat, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. His Blood Fang dagger thirsted for the monster’s blood. The blade felt eager through his Soul-Bond, ready to seek out the heart of his enemy and make its blood pour out.
Javier managed to rejoin the fight, and between him, Chad, and Carlos, they were finally starting to make headway. The progress they made was short-lived, however. After Carlos managed to nick the beast again, adding a second stack of Miasma, the beast shuddered and its entire body grew short, thick spines that seemed to increase its armor. After it activated its defensive technique, even the minor cuts Carlos managed weren’t enough anymore. Connor couldn’t wait for much longer. He’d been hoping the others would soften it up more, but it was looking like it was now or never.
Cholla Beast
Body Rank 5
HP: 59/144
SP: 166/288
Ki: 85/175
As Connor checked its stats, he saw the Ki draining rapidly, dropping between five to ten points per second, and he noticed the longer spines it had launched off earlier were growing back. Without waiting any longer, he moved into position. With a quick prayer, he dropped from the beam and fell dagger first. Mid drop, Connor triggered the weapon’s special abilities, Seek the Heart’s Blood and Blood to Blood. One hundred fifty Mana drained out of the weapon’s reserves and the crimson color of the blade rippled. the tip of his blade slid between the spines and slid into the beast's flesh with barely any resistance. As the rest of his body followed, Conner felt the spines digging into his hands and legs, and a scream of pain ripped itself from his mouth.
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
The Cholla best reared back and managed to throw Connor free, but the damage had been done already. As his dagger was ripped away, blood began pouring out of the wound. A thin stream of it stayed connected to his blade’s tip and he could feel the Blood to Blood’s ability to transform bleeding damage into healing energy for him.
+8
+8
+8
+8
The Cholla beast staggered around, between the blood gushing from all of its wounds, and the miasma still wreaking havoc on its internal organs, it quickly slumped to the ground. In less than a minute, the creature rattled its last breath, and Connor got the Experience award notification.
Congratulations, you have aided in the slaying of a Rare—Body Rank 5—Spirit Beast
You have received: 144 Experience Points.