Bob’s POV:
The fist was coming to my face, but as it was about to hit me I pushed forwards and punched Kar’Runat in the guts, sending him flying against a tree. Unfortunately he was experienced enough to somehow make up the difference in strength, and so he stabilized himself and landed quite swiftly.
I didn’t stay still, though, I rampaged forwards even before he started landing, and by the time he was about to come at me, I punched his jaw from below, sending him flying again. This time he landed on a tree instead of the ground, allowing himself to prepare.
“I see you have improved, but that won’t suffice against me!” – Just as I was nearing the tree, he jumped on the site, making the branch to crack and fall down, Kar’Runat in tail. As soon as he hit the ground, he grabbed the branch, which was as thick as my arm, and swung it at me.
*BOOOM!*
I impacted on a tree, quite a few meters away from him, and saw him dashing towards me. A smirk appeared on my face, as I embraced the tree and summoned the Berserk energy a bit more. I felt dizzy, but I knew I could handle this much without losing control. I lifted up the tree, uprooting it and leaving everyone astonished, followed by a swing that propelled Kar’Runat a hundred meters away.
He fell down quite steadily, and ran at me again, as if nothing had happened, so I swung again, yet this time I didn’t feel an impact. Suddenly I felt how the air escaped my lungs as I was thrust backwards from his punch. That bastard had dodged the tree?!
He was right, I wasn’t experienced enough; he had so much more fighting experience than me that the difference in strength didn’t make that much of a difference. It might not matter against unintelligent beasts, but against him? It let me at a disadvantage. Unfortunately for him, though, I had been fighting with master, and he was much more experienced than Runat, so I had gained some practice.
I stood again and dashed towards him, this time though, when he dodged he found himself in front of my fist.
*Crack* He was launched upwards, towards the trees, together with the sound of bones breaking. Thanks to master I had learned to feint, which was something I wouldn’t have even thought of doing before. It had seemed to me like cheating, but it was not, it was a different type of fighting experience, I was using my strength, even if it was a different type of strength, against my foe.
*GRAAA!*
“Hmpf, it seems I pissed him off.” – I didn’t have much of a window to prepare because as soon as he made contact with the ground he ran at me with his arms on the floor! I had never seen one of us running like this, but he seemed comfortable with it, and he was definitely faster than before.
He arrived at me in seconds and punched me with his left fist. I managed to block it using two of my arms, and the force behind the punch was astounding. But what I didn’t see was his right punch grabbing my leg, and by the time I noticed it, I was lifted off the ground and swung like the branch. I found myself on the ground, upside down, and with an angry ape running at me like a madman.
I used my four arms and jumped while upside down, and then grabbed the tree branch I had closer, so I wouldn’t fall to the ground again. I cleared my head and took a deep breath, preparing for the confusion that would soon invade me.
The world turned red as I let the berserk energy loose around my body. I jumped down while showing my fangs, and as he hit me I did not attempt to dodge, but took it with my body and simply hit back. Kar’Runat, that didn’t expect me to not dodge, flew up in the sky by my punch. And then, something happened that none of us expected. Something grabbed him in the air, and just flew away.
***
Lyon’s POV:
Following the connection in my mind, I ran as fast as I could; infusing my legs in energy and propelling myself forwards, I was running faster than most cars. The trees around me felt like bullets coming at me that I had to dodge. I was sure that if I was to collide, I wouldn’t escape completely unscathed, not at the speed I was running. I ran and ran, not slowing down, and giving thanks to my regeneration, as I was feeling the pain on my legs, and I was sure I had overdone it with the energy infusion, and I had probably ripped some muscles and tendons.
Since I had discovered the soft infusion I had been practicing, allowing me to infuse huge amounts of energy inside of my body, and still remain in one piece, but due to the stress and hurry I was on, I had probably lost control over it, and it had dispersed violently around my body, ripping it in the process.
If only I hadn’t overused the Shadow Dimension I wouldn’t be having this problem right now, I would have to make sure not to repeat the same mistake again.
I kept running for twenty minutes before I saw a glimpse of Bob, and up in the sky I could catch a shadow flying away. I immediately thought of a solution and told Bob what he had to do.
He sped up using the berserk energy, even at the risk of losing control; he dashed forward, trying to catch the Gryphon. After barely 3 minutes, he had gotten pretty close, and I sent him the signal. He suddenly turned around and bended his knees, also putting his four arms in a stair position. I dashed even faster and stepped on his first pair of arms, then on the second, and at the same time I jumped from there, he lifted me as hard as he could.
*Creak!*
I was flying at an amazing speed, but I was sure I had heard Bob’s bones crack under my strength; I would have to help him heal. I was getting close, but sadly I couldn’t change my directions or anything, so I could only pray the Gryphon wouldn’t turn to the side, or I would find myself flying to the ground.
Once I was close enough, and before he decided it was better to fly sideways and let me fall, I took one my roped javelins, and infused some energy into it so it would have enough power to pierce the Gryphon, then I immediately threw. I was immediately destabilized, because sadly, life was different from anime, and launching something with such strength while in the air, caused the laws of physics to throw me back.
Luckily I hit the Gryphon, so by grabbing the rope I was able to tag along. I climbed the rope and reached the Gryphon that was trying hard not to fall. Once I did I hit him as hard as I could on its neck, and the pain made him let go of the Alpha Ape, making him fall through the trees, luckily, after the trees slowed down his fall, the damage wouldn’t be too much.
Now the only thing missing was me getting down. Damn…
“GET DOWN YOU STUPID PIGEON!”
I tried to force Gryphon to go down, but it resisted, obviously, so I drew my claws and carefully pierced it below the neck. It screeched, and after a little struggle, it started to go down. I took the opportunity to feel the wind as I flew. It really was a wonderful feeling, flying, even if only mounted on a Gryphon.
I was soaring through the sky, as so many humans had dreamt before, and it felt amazing. The wind on my hair, caressing my back… nothing I knew could compare to this feeling. Well, maybe I could think of a few.
The point being, I enjoyed it, and that meant I wanted it, so…
“Fly, Gryf!” – Why couldn’t I enjoy the flying a little more? I had already helped Bob’s old Alpha.
“Hahahaha” – The Gryphon was seemingly getting annoyed, and it dove down, trying to scare me, but I pulled him back, making him stop midair…
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*CRASH!*
…
Why didn’t I consider the speed I was going at…? Whatever, I was down, and I heard the System alerting me, but before I could do something about it. The Gryphon took another dove and tried to grab me with his claws.
Well, he asked for it, didn’t he? I grabbed another one of my roped javelins, the last one I had carried, and shot the Gryphon. Without even looking if I had hit it, I ran with the rope towards a tree, and circled it. Making sure the rope was tensed. The Gryphon screeched, so I assumed I hit it, and then the rope tensed even more. And then…
*BOOM!*
Well, it worked; one pigeon down. I ran towards it and stabbed its head, making sure it didn’t survive, and then I untangled the rope and used it to carry the body. No reason at all to waste meat, no?
After some walking, I found Bob, with two arms mangled and bent weirdly sitting down next to the Alpha Ape, which was looking at me in awe, well, at my package.
“Hey, Bob! Why don’t you introduce me?” – I really needed to talk with him about manners.
“Alpha, he’s Lyon, my master.” – Wow, so that’s his voice, it sounds strange, as until now we were communicating in a non-verbal way I only understood the word Lyon, though. – [Master, he’s Kar’Runat, the Alpha of my community.] – He was smiling like a dummy, ha! I liked that moron.
“What do you mean, master?! You’re a Berserker Ape! You should feel ashamed to be under someone else who’s not your Alpha!” – The Alpha just went ahead and said something rude. I know I don’t understand a word of what he says, but I just feel it.
“Hmph, what do you know, he’s clearly stronger than you, don’t you see that Gryphon? He hunted it alone!” – Bob was clearly angry at its words, and he rebuked him, but nothing more than that. Then it turned towards me.
[Master, let’s go, he clearly doesn’t appreciate you saving its life.] – He turned around and started walking towards the cave. Wow, that’s some pretty good orientation.
Just as I was about to start dragging the Gryphon and follow him, the Alpha stood up and raised its arm in a punching motion. It launched its fist, going straight for Bob’s head, and a hit so sudden and without alert would be able to seriously hurt him. But, just as the fist was about to connect, it stopped.
I had to drop the rope, but I arrived in front of Bob in an instant, and was holding the fist with my hand. Kar’Runat was clearly pushing forwards as hard as he could, but he wasn’t moving an inch. I breathed in and started generating Berserk Mist. Then after a cycle, when the Alpha was about to raise its other arm, I crushed his right fist.
“KRAAAAAAAAAA!” – Wow, that hurt my ears. – “YOU DAMN LITTLE SHIT! I’LL KILL YOU!” – No idea what he’s saying, but clearly not an apologize, so…
“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” – A little more strength to make the Ape sing, and now he’s on his knees, trying to resist the pain.
“Bob, tell him that if he moves or shouts again, the next thing I’ll crush will be his head.” – I nonchalantly say that, and then I release him and go towards the Gryphon.
“Kakakaka! He’s beat you to the ground, kakakaka! Runat, Master says you don’t move or shout, or he’ll crush your head, kakakaka!
[Let’s go Master] – Bob says this, and turns around again, and this time the Alpha doesn’t move.
***
After I taught Bob the new way of handling the energy, its arms healed by themselves quite fast, saving me of a lot of trouble. And for the last few months, we’ve been training in the cave. It’s good that Bob didn’t have the patience I have, and so couldn’t stay still all day, which let me take advantage and make him hunt for the both of us. I’ve been mostly training in the Berserk**** and kinetic energy, but I used the weekly hunts I did to practice the WF, which is a most apt fighting style for me. I’ve also tried to merge both styles, unsuccessfully for the time being, and this is how the system looks right now.
Status X-System Status Name: Lyon Ironblood Soul Points: 632.781 Mutations: 4 Powers: 3 Mutations Acquired: Wolverine Locked Deadpool Locked Gambit Unlocked Angel 72 % Nightcrawler Unlocked ----- ----- Powers: Power origin: Fenrir, the Immortal Wolf E mid tier Wolverine + Deadpool Kinetic conversion and acceleration F mid tier Gambit Shadow Dimension F mid tier Nightcrawler
Werewolf Fury G mid tier Progress: 99.7 %
Preys devoured (Naming acording to knowledge):
- Iron Elk ( x46 ) : Improves agility and bone durability.
- Scorpion Panther ( x34 ) : Improves poison and acid resistance, stealth and agility.
- Spiked Lion ( x7 ) : Improves strength and bone durability.
- Draconic Wolf ( x86 ) : Improves speed and agility, and also skin durability.
- Fiery Ape (x5) : Improves balance and coordination, small improvement in strength.
- Gryphon (x27) : Improves eyesight, hearing, balance, speed and strength. (+54% at Angel's powers)
Berserk Rage A mid tier Progress: 48.7 %
A style vastly extended around the universe, practised by all kind of races, not only races resembling humans, but also by fierce beasts like Apes, Gorillas and other beasts that count with manipulable and dexterous front arms.
Its focus is on its offensive, and though it decreases the user's deffensive capabilities, it has an amazingly great increase in strength and speed.
Mirror Strength G mid tier Progress: 14.9 %
A style practiced by those less doted in physical aspects, Mirror Strength uses technique to go around the need for strength.
It focuses on observing the oponent, analize it's abilities and thus be able to counteract them without the need for overwhelming physical capabilities.
I guess it’s time to test myself against that damned Elk, now that I have access to the shadow step again.
I strapped my weapons to my belt, and took my… let’s call it sword? Well, whatever, it actually was a fang from a giant Anaconda. It probably had a different name, but I didn’t know any other way to describe it. And even though I have its fang, I didn’t get to kill it. That damned thing was tough as hell, but what saved it was its ability to dive inside the water, avoiding thus my wrath.
During that fight, I had been trying to adapt to fight huge opponents, to prepare for the Dragon, in case I ever crossed paths with it, and I somehow had the chance to resist. And so, I didn’t even use weapons during that fight. A weapon would do little damage against a creature so big the size of the weapon was like a needle to me. True, it may hurt, but I wouldn’t do actual damage, so why bother. Instead, concussive damage derived from my now increased strength would do more serious damage.
Sadly for me, snakes are quite tenacious, and quite flexible, so most of the damage, even though I hit the Anaconda way stronger than I had ever hit anything, dispersed and left me hanging without means to kill it.
During a moment of rage, I drew my claws at it and gashed its flesh, accomplishing a painful hiss from it. Not knowing if I would have a better chance, I launched myself at its mouth, to try and crush it, only to be eaten. Okay, maybe not eaten, I wasn’t swallowed, but the Anaconda was big enough to fit my whole body in its mouth, and it did so.
Once inside, it tried to crush me, but I did the only thing I could think of, stab its tongue, and the hellish reaction it got was the whole reason I have a new sword.
It tried to stab me with its fangs, and obviously, I hit it. But instead of breaking, the fang got dislocated. That meant it was tougher than stone! I couldn’t reject such a gift, and so I grabbed with all my strength, and pulled it. It was tough, but I got it out, and the pain I caused the snake made it spit me and immediately swim away.
So a year and a half after arriving this world here we are, ready to test myself to the first milestone. If I accomplished it, I had plans for my system. I needed a power up.