Not so long ago, Ace was so distracted by his system that he did not realize a beast was sneaking up on him with an attack. Now, all of a sudden, his system turned off, forcing him to rely more on his senses than the piece of technology.
With no health and energy points showing, he was forced to rely on his senses to know when his energy was getting low and how much health he had left until death. Meanwhile, ahead of him were more goblin-like beasts, most being much bigger than the one that stabbed Ace.
Upon seeing this, Jim stood in front of the others with his blood staff equipped. Anya and Cherry drew their weapons while Ace, for the first time, decided to fight without holding back. Since that’s what his system was indirectly telling him to do, he had no choice but to comply.
Ace turned his hands into claws and dashed at full speed with his claws by his side. Before he got to the first goblin, he stretched out his hand and squeezed his fingers together, forcing the blood out of the closest goblin. The creature’s body shriveled up immediately, devoid of any life. As for Ace, he leaped in the air and turned the blood into long, barbed spikes. With precision, he threw all the spikes and piloted them into the eyes and foreheads of the beasts, killing some on the spot. He landed on his knees for dramatic effect and quickly gathered all the blood towards his body, creating some form of blood armor.
All at once, the remaining beasts leaped for Ace, their claws aimed at his head. Without haste, he immediately turned his blood armor into long spikes, making him look like a sea urchin. The other blood mutants stood back and watched in amazement. Neither had ever seen Ace fight in such a manner, which made it sort of odd and bizarre for them.
As for Ace, he started spinning like a ballerina, using the spikes on his body to slice flesh off the beasts. As their flesh came off, blood would escape their bodies and increase the size and sharpness of the blood mutant’s suit.
"You can stop now," Anya spoke while Ace broke all the spikes into tiny thorns, using them to kill the last beast. "You’re gonna leave nothing for us to feed on, man."
"Jeez, Ace," Cherry sneered cheekily. "You’re hogging all the fun. Are you really that hell-bent on getting revenge because of the last one that hit you?"
"No, no, it’s something else," he said while formulating a believable lie. "One Horn said I should stop holding back and instead fight more, so I’m opting to fight like a real Blood Mutant."
"That’s reasonable," Jim congratulated. "But you must not rush into a fight recklessly. Who knows what type of foes you’ll face if you act so recklessly again?"
"Understandable," Ace answered, sort of feeling a rush within himself. He hadn’t killed creatures that fast with that ease often, so suddenly kicking back into it gave him a new rush. "Let’s keep moving. We’ve wasted enough time here."
Ace rationed the blood he got from the creatures he killed and moved ahead. Now that he had no system to guide him, he relied heavily on his four senses, taste being excluded. For almost four hours straight, the Blood Mutants walked up the mountain. As they did, the winds started to recede, and the sun raged on them.
Despite being thousands of feet high in the air, it was surprisingly hotter in the mountain than it was at its foot. Nonetheless, this didn’t stop the Mutants from moving forward. They pushed through till the sun started to set. In other words, they walked for the whole day.
"We should get some rest," Ace finally spoke while looking for a suitable area to rest. "How about I take the first watch this time? Who knows, maybe more of those beasts will come attacking."
"Or maybe larger, more dangerous ones instead," Cherry sheepishly responded and fell on the ground, snoring as quickly as she hit the ground. Anya and Jim carried her while Ace pointed out at a boulder protruding from a flat surface. It wasn’t ideal, but it would guarantee a nice and dry place for them to sleep in.
"I’ll dig a hole large enough; I’ll be able to create some room for you guys," Ace spoke and quickly used his claws to dig an even larger hole under the boulder. By the time he was finished, the planet’s sun was almost all the way set, with only one-fourth of it protruding.
"Are you sure you don’t mind keeping watch?" Jim asked, surprised by Ace’s sudden change in character. "I can take the first watch. Besides, I now know how long a night is. Approximately twenty-four hours long."
"That’s twice as long as ours back on Earth," Anya gasped in amazement. "And you know this how?" Dıscover more novels at novel•fire.net
"Using a sundial method. Well, to be more specific, I set a small protrusion last night on the boulder we were on and monitored how long it would take for the shadow cast to turn until the sun rose."
"It’s fine, Jim," Ace responded while preparing a new blood sword. He no longer had his system inventory skill, so there was no way he could access the weapons in his inventory. "I’ll take the first six hours; you’ll take the rest if it makes you happy."
With a fake grin on his face, Ace sat on top of the boulder and waited for the sun to set fully. A few minutes passed and it was finally nightfall. The sky was completely dark, void of any stars in the distance. The only visible things were the dark clouds floating in the air. It was thanks to the Blood Mutant’s night vision that they were able to see such.
"No system, right?" Ace spoke to himself while sneaking off the boulder. "Then I guess I should practice my own tracking and hunting skills. Besides, it’s nightfall. I expect to see more creatures outside at this time.
**********************
"THAT’S IT!! I’M TIRED."
"I’VE BEEN FIGHTING ALL DAY AND KEEPING THAT DAMN THING OFF THE GROUND FOR FAR TOO LONG."
Skyler complained, her exhausted body dropping to the ground. Her face was drenched in sweat. Her clothing was darkened with her sweat, and her arms were bruised and dirty, just like the rest of her body. For the whole day, Lord Grania had increased the amount of pressure he placed on her. Whenever she would manage to keep the object off the ground, the Granian emperor would increase the number of aura clones and severely attack Skyler, forcing her to transform into multiple forms while making sure not to let the object touch the ground.
Through the cold winds, blazing sun, and cool evening winds, Skyler had been training intensely, having only failed twice due to being preoccupied with a clone or two. Now that the sun had set, she completely gave up and dropped to the ground.
"I’m sorry...Lord Grania...but I’m...exhausted....I have no strength left in me." She apologized, her head hung from her exhaustion. The Granian emperor walked to the object, looked at it, and lifted it in his hands. "I see," he responded.
"I understand your exhaustion. You did well for your first time, HUMAN!!"
Out of nowhere, Grania threw the heavy object at Skyler who, at the very last moment, transformed her left hand into her strongest beast form and punched the object in half.
The object snapped in half, one half falling to her left side and the other falling to her right, but that wasn’t the only thing that broke.
"AHHHH, DAMN IT!!" She cursed while pressing her arm as hard as she possibly could. Her knuckles, swollen and bleeding, ached terribly, forcing her to grunt angrily while staring at Grania who had a look of amazement on his face. He wasn’t the only one amazed by the incredible feat exhibited by Skyler. Grim, One Horn, and Helda, who were forced to watch their emperor train Skyler all day, looked at the object and then the woman’s hand with astonishment.
"What the freaking hell was that for?" Skyler questioned, forcing every inch within herself to avoid fighting Lord Grania. "Have you lost your freaking mind?"
"No, but you, on the other hand, have done this." Grania approached Skyler and gathered the objects in her hands. He then presented them before her, urging her to carry them. ’Here, carry them. This will be your last exercise for the day."
Hesitant for a while, Skyler grunted and painfully lifted both halves of the object. However, this time, they were heavy, so heavy that she was having an even more difficult time standing.
"Did you freaking increase the weight of these things?" She questioned and then threw them on the ground. "What’s wrong with you? Is this the type of bullshi....."
"Notice how you punched an object that heavy in half with such a tremendous burst of energy," Lord Grania shouted, immediately shutting Skyler up. She took the time to notice this tremendous feature she displayed. Before she knew it, a smile was creeping its way on her face.
"At that moment, when you were in danger, you tapped into your energy, your aura." Grania explained. "For that short second, you channeled all of that strength into your arm for that one punch. We’re making great progress."