[Level 43>>>Level 44]
A strong, loud gushing sound echoed in the forest area as Ace cut open the beast he had just killed using his Blood Control Skill. A great amount of blood rushed out of the beast’s body, and as it did, Ace instructed the others to gather as much as they could.
Anya and Cherry were able to gather larger amounts while Jim struggled to gather nearly as much as them. The Golden Blood Mutant, upon noticing this for himself, started to see the need to strengthen his own abilities. He may have been the most pleasant to look at of all the Mutants, but he most certainly wasn’t the strongest or nearly coming close to calling himself the strongest.
"Jim, for now, I’d like for you to focus on creating two clones just as you did on the Mountain. Cherry and Anya, you two must create four clones each AND they are the ones that will fight for you today. The next beast we see will be killed by them, got it?"
"Got it, but don’t you think that’s a little extreme for us newbies?" Anya asked and then got interrupted by Cherry who nudged her in her ribs.
"Don’t mind her," she said, smiling eerily with her hands raised above her head. Standing before her were four clones made in her image. The clones, once created, were completely solid, almost as hard as a rock. Anya did the same, and just like Cherry, her clones were identical to her.
"Good, you’ve gotten the hang of solidifying them," Ace spoke. "Now all you need to do is make them move. What I do is focus my mind on whatever position I want them to move in and then I make them move, but I would not recommend either of you to do so. It’s an incredibly tough skill to easily pick up, and I haven’t gotten used to it."
The expedition through the forest continued with Ace taking the lead as the others followed closely behind with their blood clones following their move. Anya and Cherry were finding it easier to control their four clones while Jim effortlessly controlled his two clones.
At this point, he was able to even change their shapes from humanoid clones to crawling beasts. He may have been slow to growing, but he certainly was catching up at an incredible speed.
"Good. Now that you’ve learned how to control blood into definite shapes, it’s time to show you what to do with it," Ace directed. He raised his hands, borrowed blood from Cherry, and started to spin it around his body. The liquid changed into a thick, sticky substance, then back into a liquid, then a sticky substance once more.
"To coagulate blood, you will have to keep it between a liquid and solid state. Kind of like gelatin." The blood around Ace took the form of thick gelatin with a slight bit of transparency in it. "Before you get to do it inside a body, you’ll have to do it in the current states you three are all in. Please start now as we keep walking."
The three Blood Mutants continued doing as Ace instructed. While doing so, Ace took it upon himself to clear a path for them while also taking out random creatures that would hinder their progress.
[System Scan Skill: Activated.]
[Scan Complete. Dangerous life forms ahead.]
"Okay, Mutants," Ace spoke once more, feeling a small sense of pride while giving instructions to the other Mutants. "We’ve got company a few feet ahead of us. We will hide on the trees’ high branches while your clones do all the work. Does that sound reasonable enough for all of you?" T
he others nodded in agreement and did as Ace said. Standing high enough, the Mutants got a good view of everything happening below them. There were five of the same beasts they fought not so long ago, and judging by their activity, they seemed to be doing some form of mating ritual.
"They’re ousting each other for a chance to mate?" Cherry wondered, clearly fascinated by the scene unfolding before her. The males, larger beasts with longer tails and bone plates, slammed their foreheads into each other to see whose was strongest. The females, on the other hand, watched while shaking their tails.
"Now’s a good time to practice what you’ve learned."
"Understood." Ten blood clones quickly stood before the beasts, interrupting their mating rituals. The males quickly roared in anger while swinging their tails at the clones.
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The impact from the tails destroyed the clones into tiny, red shards. As quickly as they were destroyed, the shards reattached themselves to each other while growing long blades for hands. Quickly and suddenly, the clones surrounded two of the three males and struck as hard as they could.
The beasts put up a fight, swinging and slamming their tails at the clones in hopes of damaging them. However, thanks to the coagulation presentation Ace showed, the Mutants would separate or soften the texture of their clones, keeping them in perfect condition while keeping them from getting damaged.
Both males were stabbed on the sides, causing them to let out mighty loud screams. Meanwhile, the three Mutants controlling their clones focused as hard as they could. Cherry, upon seeing an opening, pierced her fingertips and sent some of her blood to the clones. With her blood lacing the tips of their weapons, Cherry’s clones would deliver explosive hits on the beasts.
"It’s not working!!" Anya started to panic. No matter how many times they fought and cut, the beasts would simply regenerate back to normal, although their strength would grow less.
"You’re not fighting to kill; you’re fighting to increase your blood control skill," Ace explained. "Before you get to do what I did, you must be able to control blood easily and smoothly."
After noticing the improvement the three had made, Ace thought for a moment about what to do next. It was clear that the clones wouldn’t do any significant damage to the beasts so instead, he decided to let them attempt the coagulation skill for themselves.
"All three of you will go for one beast," he spoke while transforming. "I’ll handle the rest until you’re done with one beast. STRICTLY ONE!!"
"Understood." They answered while transforming as well.