TF Chapter 60 Backed To A Wall

The moment the aggressive wind sailed above me, I applied force underneath my palms, raising myself up hastily. Staying down for too long was the equivalent of signing your own death warrant in a battle. The pungent mud had managed to stick to my face like a mildly powerful glue, with the only light at the end of the tunnel being that I had managed to close my eyes when my face had eaten the mud, so I could see very well, if only barely due to the dark forest floor, with the canopies only intermittently allowing only a few beams of light through to the forest floor.

I regarded my assailant, who was now blocking the way right in front of me, having recollected itself even faster than me and was in the middle of tearing a strange plant into shreds. The plant appeared to have been one of those carnivorous species that we had been warned about.

Though the light was sparse and the space a bit dark, I still made out the fact that the creature was humanoid, a fact that caused me to wonder whether it was one of that aboriginals, considering the fact that it had tried to communicate with me through the spirit.

But, I had seen some of the aboriginals in the videos, and this wasn't how they were supposed to look like. Its build was similar to that of us humans. It was about four meters tall, bulky, with well pronounced muscles that appeared to be well regulated. Everything about its body screamed absolute strength!

Fighting or running away was going to be hard considering its physical specs. My own body was already screaming at me from just that small exertion. Getting used to the gravity here was going to be very important if I wanted to survive as I had already consumed way too much energy than intended already.

There was a vertical line on the face of the creature, probably the mouth which was currently closed tightly, giving the impression that it didn't exist, but I knew that the creatures here only opened it upon a successful hunt, where the prey would already be dead to even see what the insides looked like.

Its spiritual pressure was still acting upon mine. Even when it had missed its previous attack, the spiritual pressure hadn't let up one bit. I breathed in deeply, inhaling whatever organisms were in this planet's atmosphere along with the air.

I hardened my heart and prepared for a grueling battle...no, a grueling escape. There was no way I could even manage to be capable of exchanging moves with this creature. The hand I had damaged was showing signs of regeneration, the flesh fibers knitting themselves back and that black bone looking thing within also regrowing itself.

My spiritual shield was very effective in shrouding me from the beast's senses only making me appear like an egg shaped spiritual entity to it. But I knew one very important fact! The creatures on this planet had had many generations to develop and reproduce new offspring, with their evolutionary path granting them greater mastery over their spiritual powers than us, who had simply awakened them using a solution.

It had probably already compiled basic information about me by tracing the vibrations in the air particles outside my spiritual shield. That's how scary this planet was!

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There was a way for me to escape its clutches, and that was to damage it to the point that it withdrew its spiritual powers, which would give me a chance to bolt for it or hide.

A deep breath cleansed my thoughts, and with that clarity, I sharpened every sense of mine. Running away had just become an obsolete option as this creature was probably better than me in every physical activity.

Mud scattered as I entered battle mode, my body moving with less thought, more instinct. Holding that sword and training while using it had allowed me to acquire an ability to make my body move without conscious thought.

I sped towards the creature with evey sense of mine heightened, while also using my spiritual sense to connect with the cells on the surface of my skin to better react to any changes in the air particles.

Its muscles twitched at my advance, a sign that it was about to launch an attack. Specifically, it was the muscles in its right arm.

When I entered within its range, a fist enlarged within my vision, but I had already noticed the telltale signs, dodging even before the punch was thrown. This was the only advantage I had since it only relied on its spiritual senses, it couldn't predict my movements because of the fact that I had a spiritual shield around me. Though I was passively defending with my spiritual powers, my eyes were still in good working order, even within the darkness, I was still capable of seeing well.

I ducked under, preparing a punch of my own which I directed directly beneath its armpit, a feat I could only perform by leaping up slightly, due to the difference in our heights.

It hit, but as I had expected, the creature didn't budge, but my body moved with grace as I slid behind it, its spiritual domain also eclipsing its body to protect it from my spiritual powers, though, they were essentially useless at this stage, but it was cautious, a trait probably attained after numerous bloody battles.

Before I could even launch an assault at its back, it spun around with such speed that for a moment its body blurred... And by the time I had regained myself, the right arm was performing a backhanded strike which was going to be very hard for me to avoid, so I galvanised the spirit core that had been gaining momentum while rotating around me and slammed it into the forearm. My plan was to try and see if I could atleast disable it temporarily, only for a metallic sheen to abruptly appear and a clang to ring out when it made contact.

Though, I managed to stall it for a moment for me to leap away and scrutinize the new feature. It must have underestimated me before, allowing me to make it suffer a loss, but now, it seemed that it had thrown away that mentality.

My eyes narrowed while my heart pounded forcefully against my chest at the danger level that had just risen. The metallic glean didn't give me the impression of scales, only that it appeared as if its skin had instantly transitioned from being weak and soft to hard like metal. What made me mildly impressed was the fact that it still appeared flexible even having taken on metallic properties!

Before I could even process the despair that was about to engulf me, the creature kicked at the mud, explosively launching itself towards me. The hairs at the back of my neck rose up as it appeared just a few inches away instantly, but I also hadn't been slow as I had already pumped force into my feet and jumped sideways, away from its path. My eyes were allowing me to move before it moved! I thanked my lucky stars that I had eyes and it didn't, because I was 100% sure that I would have most definitely lost on our first encounter if it had had some sort of visual prowess!

Even with I leaping out of the way a millisecond earlier, I was almost torn to shreds as its arms passed mere inches away from my shoulder, a testament to its physical might and speed! Having a weak body and being new to the gravity here were proving to be massive disadvantages here!