Chapter 278
Another roar came as a shape appeared through the trees.
Max saw the head first, reaching forward as its body shoulder-checked smaller trees, ripping them from the ground.
A dinosaur?
He knew the creature from the stories of ancient times, and this one looked like one of the apex predators in the books they had studied as kids.
Thirty-plus feet of solid muscle and thick hide was barreling toward him, a gaping maw filled with teeth as two large eyes locked on to him.
“Ogre shite,” Max cursed as he shifted his feet into the soil.
Digging the tree into the ground, he set it like a lance, hoping the creature might impale itself on it from the charge.
Tiny arms with claws looked comically out of place on the beast’s chest as the thick and powerful legs strode through the trees.
On open terrain this thing would be a lot faster…
Not having a weapon, Max knew his options to win against something like this would have to depend on his own abilities and not the tree he hadn’t tested yet. In hindsight, he should have swung at a different tree at some point, testing how strong the wood really was.
The beast came within his Sonar range and in four strides was almost on top of him, head bent down, mouth spread wide, preparing to bite both Max and the tree.
Already, a large spear of ice was hovering in midair behind him, waiting for the moment as he poured mana into the spell, letting it grow in size.
[ Demonic Teleportation ]
As the dinosaur’s teeth chomped on the wooden spike he had tried to set, snapping it in half, Max appeared above it, aiming for the spinal cord on its neck.
Thick skulls… be smart!
[ Power Strike ]
[ Weakness ]
[ Festering Touch ]
His fist hit the creature's neck as the dinosaur began to rise from its bite, tiny hand meeting thick hide.
A crack came, and Max felt his own hand shatter upon impact.
[ Regeneration ]
At the same time the ice spear shot toward the lizard, piercing its throat.
When it opened its mouth to roar, pieces of wood and blood came out as Max grabbed onto the small hole he had created with his punch with his left hand.
It was barely wide enough to get his whole hand in, but it gave him a place to hold on to while the dinosaur flung itself around.
Bones popped, and his skin started to cover the twisted lump of flesh that once been his right hand.
The dinosaur flashed red, turned its head toward Max, and tried to bite the piece of flesh hanging on to the open wound.
It turned and twisted, slamming into trees, moving faster as its mouth opened and closed with blazing speed.
Max held on for dear life, feeling like one of those performers who held onto bucking animals.
Another ice spear began to form as he waited out this ability, counting the seconds till almost twenty seconds had passed and the dinosaur flashed red again, slowing down and letting out another roar.
More blood was spewed across the trees and dark soil, as the beast tried to attack again.
When it did, Max sent the spear of ice at his next target, striking the right eye.
Thankfully his right hand had finally healed, and he was able to now get a grip and squeeze his legs around the thick neck as the dinosaur began to thrash, roaring as it lifted its head upward, blood squirting from the eye Max had just taken out.
Grunting, he began to try to tear apart the hole with both hands, feeling the hide fight him as both sets of fingers were thrust deeper.
For what felt like days but was only eight or nine seconds, the sound of tearing could be heard over the wailing of the beast.
Its hide began to part, and the hole grew wider. Each inch seemed to upset the beast, and it started slamming its body against a thick tree, trying to rub Max off.
Moving quickly to the other side, Max continued his assault, widening the hole until he could get both hands in it. He forced his arms in, where they slid along the hide, between the muscle and protective layer.
Smiling, Max began to pour mana into his hands.
Flames grew around them, and the dinosaur began to run through the jungle, smashing into every tree it could, trying to shake the pest it had picked up.
Max poured more mana into the spell as he moved from side to side, trusting his Sonar to tell him which way to move as the beast tried to dislodge him.
Finally with the power built up, Max unleashed it, and the spell erupted under the skin.
A gout of flame erupted from the hole as flesh and hide was burned, and the dinosaur stumbled, crashing forward into the dirt and forcing Max to jump clear of the twisting and turning body.
The scent of moist soil mixed with burnt flesh and meat.
A pitiful whine came from the creature as it lay on its side, unable to stand as Max’s spell had done what he had hoped.
Its spine had been severed, with a focused fire attack directed downward at the bones not far beneath Max’s hands.
Moving to where the dinosaur lay, Max heard the sounds of more roars and cries coming from different parts of the jungle.
Blood… they have to be responding to the blood.
Summoning another ice spear, he moved to where the beast was, lining the attack up as the dinosaur tried to snap a few more times, its jaw collecting dirt each time it did.
Unable to lift its head, it was stuck and soon would be food for whatever came to claim its corpse.
The spear penetrated the damaged eye socket, sliding through the hole in the skull and then reached the place Max had hoped it would.
Cold power filled him as the creature shuddered and stopped moving.
[ 10 Strength Consumed ]
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[ 10 Constitution Consumed ]
[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill]
[ Skill does not match being’s body type ]
[ Consume is adjusting skill ]
[ Consume has Consumed a Higher Rank Skill ]
[ Berserker - Rare has been upgraded to Berserker - Epic ]
As he read that notification, the skill he had come to know and love became stronger.
The sound of the jungle broke Max from his shock, and he took off running in the direction he had originally set out, trying to put distance between him and that corpse.
For a full ten minutes he ran, blazing a path through bushes, surprising different creatures as he flew past them.
Without that tree this is much faster, and honestly I don’t think it would have done anything to that dinosaur.
Slowing down, Max started to walk, making sure he was aware of what surrounded him. Twice he had almost run into another fight, but his appearance had shocked the large cat and whatever the other thing had been, both racing up a tree as he moved by them.
[ Skill Description - Berserker ]
*****
Berserker - Epic Skill: When activated, your strength and attack speed will triple for twenty seconds, but you will be consumed by a controlled rage. If the target is killed before the effect ends, the duration will reset, and the closest enemy will be chosen as the new target. There is no limit to the number of times the duration can be reset. May only be activated once every twelve hours.
*****
“Holy elf tits!”
Cursing, Max winced at the words, realizing how much he missed Fowl and the others.
Seeing the fact that now the strength was tripled and lasted longer as well as having a shorter cooldown, the pain of being alone was lessened.
Glancing upward, Max tried to determine how much time was left in the day but didn’t have a clue.
Jogging, he set off, unsure what he was going to find.
***
His fist ached, and no damage had been done to the snake that was only slightly slower than he was.
Without Sonar he would have been caught as the snake fell from the branches overhead.
It was over a hundred feet long and easily six feet wide, yet it coiled and moved with a speed that was surprisingly fast.
Its hide changed colors, morphing based on what it was against, blending in to the tree one section was wrapped around, as well as the dirt for the parts that slithered along it.
Jumping back, and darting between an opening of its coils, Max avoided the strike that came from the open mouth, following his movement as if a string was tied to him.
Green liquid dripped from the fangs longer than his arm.
At least my Poison Resist should help if I do get bit.
Another strike came as the snake reset for a second, changing directions and coming around after coils created a wall to block Max.
Fire had bounced off its hide, and ice had barely scratched it. The earth attacks had almost melted as the snake rubbed against the spikes.
Lightning crackled and arced from the spell he was forming above. He hoped that something might finally work on this snake.
He was barely staying ahead, and while Max had considered running, the truth was, he couldn’t run from every fight. Learning what he could do against these things was the only way he would survive in the long run.
A clearing was a little bit away, and Max sent his lightning ball at the snake, watching it race toward its armored body. The lightning struck the snake, causing the creature to jerk a few times, halting its pursuit.
Jogging toward it, he looked back, seeing what had to be one pissed off black snake, its purple eyes locked on him, a black tongue flicking from its mouth as it chased after him.
Max had spotted it a while ago through the slightly less dense trees and now hoped the clearing would work better at what he hoped to do.
It was covered with small ferns, and as he ran through them, insects went airborne, filling the air with shimmering wings as the light of the two suns reflected off them.
The snake came, coiling around the twenty-foot clearing, drawing all of its length into the space, winding itself around and around, gaining height as it slowly started to surround Max.
Grinning, Max stood still, poised and ready as he channeled a lightning bolt in his hands. Sparks arced between his hands growing thicker and brighter, absorbing more and more mana as he fed it.
No attack came as half a minute passed, that black tongue darting out of the snake’s mouth as it watched Max.
He didn’t turn, didn’t follow its eyes, leaving himself open from behind.
His Sonar skill told Max everything he needed to know about the creature.
Closing his eyes, he waited, knowing what would come.
The snake passed his face once more, and Max could feel it speed up at seeing how Max had his eyes closed.
From behind it lunged, mouth open wide.
Spinning at the last moment Max reached out with both hands, grabbing the top and bottom of the snake’s jaw, unleashing all the power he had summoned of his lightning spell.
Convulsions started the moment his hands locked on to the flesh, the softer, not as armored inside of the mouth touching his thumb.
Mana continued to flow from him, feeding the spell that was surging through the snake.
It tried pulling back, tried closing its mouth but all it did was lift Max off the ground, unable to overcome the strength Max had.
Smoke started to rise through the plates of its skin, and its head began to glow as more lightning poured into the creature.
Black blood seeped from its nose and eyes as the tongue slapped against Max’s face and chest, leaving a trail of green that tingled.
[ Poison Resisted ]
Fighting back the laughter that he wanted to unleash, Max could tell the snake hoped this poison it had would do something, and yet it wasn’t strong enough to compete with the skill he had gained from the gorgon.
It tried to coil him up, but the electricity made its body not work right, and instead all it did was rub Max’s body against the rough armor, ripping off flesh and skin that was quickly replaced.
[ Regeneration ]
Finally he couldn’t hold back.
Max roared with laughter, bringing the jaws closer together and staring in the snake’s bleeding eyes.
“Time to die,” he growled, increasing the flow of lightning that came from his touch.
***
“Tastes like goblin’s arse,” Max muttered as he chewed some of the flesh he had heated with fire. Two large armored pieces were in his left hand as he ran. His mind was creating potential things that they could be turned into, armor-wise, if he got the right tools. In his right was one of the fangs.
He had packed dirt in the end that he had ripped out of the gums and stuck some flesh into the tip, keeping the green poison safely inside.
Smiling, he looked once more at the notifications that had come when the snake died.
[ 10 Constitution Consumed ]
[ 10 Dexterity Consumed ]
Seven days… I need to get stronger as I run… whatever these creatures are, they’re strong, but I’m stronger.
Chuckling, Max kept his senses peeled, looking for his next victim.