Ace Underwood, along with his blood clones, was currently surrounding a severely injured Ethisian with the intent to end its life. The Blood Bishop had grown accustomed to his Blood Controlling skills, hence the reason for him fighting the Ethisian with his clones with little challenges.
At the moment, Ace and his clones were a safe distance away from the Ethisian. In as much as it tried calling for reinforcements, the Blood Bishop made sure to keep it as far away as possible, allowing him to just focus on one being. The Ethisian was weak, its body aching and sore with certain parts of its scales either missing, broken, or torn off. As for Ace, he was moving around swiftly, his blood pumping as he anticipated continuing the fight with the Ethisian.
"Even though you are a clone," he spoke to the Ethisian, knowing well that it was incapable of responding. "You certainly have strength and potential to kill me. Yet again...."
[Blood Weapon Skill: Activated.]
Summoning his Blood Clones towards him, Ace turned them into a long and uneven sword with a rather interesting shape. The weapon, unlike traditional double-edged swords, did not have a streamlined shape or structure. Instead, it was shaped like a pine tree with its upper half slowly widening as it got to the hilt. In the middle of the blade were holes and crates large enough for a small human to jump through with ease. The sword looked heavy and difficult to yield, so Ace, using his brain instead of brute force, fused the sword into his hand, making it an extension of his body.
[New Combo Aspect Acquired.]
[Aspect: BodyxWeapon Fusion.]
[An aspect that allows you to fuse your body with weapons you created. This aspect is limited to your arms and legs, for you can only fuse weapons on those body parts. Once fused, the weapons will become an extension of your body and will, therefore, become easier to use.]
"Excellent," Ace grunted in his Blood Bishop form as he prepared to launch a final attack on the Ethisian. "LET’S FINISH THIS!!"
The Ethisian, still having some fight left in it, lifted its heavy weapon and swung at Ace. The Blood Bishop lifted his blood sword and slammed it against the Ethisian’s weapon, turning the battle into a durability contest. The Blood Bishop, being slightly smaller than the Ethisian in terms of mass, struggled a little bit to keep its body balanced. The Ethisian started to take a few steps forward, its cockiness getting the very best of it.
The Blood Bishop gave one final push, sending the Ethisian a few feet back. This created an opening that allowed Ace to evade the next incoming attack from the Ethisian, an axe swing to his head.
"Well, well, well," Ace chuckled while raising his sword above his head. More blood covered the blade, causing it to grow in size. "You stupidly struck your weapon and now it’s stuck. Even now, you remain focused on removing your weapon instead of defending yourself. Time to die."
*SLASH* Content orıginally comes from 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁
In an instant, Ace cleanly sliced off the Ethisian’s head using the weight and sharpness of his Blood Sword. A great amount of blood gushed out of the creature’s body as it fell. The head rolled towards Ace’s feet, and the Ethisian stared at him one last time before finally giving in to death’s cold embrace.
{Subject Ace Underwood has completed the Second Phase.}
[You have successfully killed an Ethisian compared to your first time.]
[Reward: Instant Level Up.]
[Level: 46 >>> Level: 47]
[A few hours later....]
{Subject Jim has completed the Second Phase.}
{Subject Cherry Underwood has completed the Second Phase.]
[Subject Skyler Parkson has completed the Second Phase.]
After Ace killed the Ethisian, he sat down on a large boulder and observed how his comrades fought. Jim and Cherry opted to help each other indirectly by offering each other assistance in subtle ways. This included giving extra blood, blood weapons, and occasionally stepping in to help. While those two worked together, Ace paid more attention to Skyler and her newly learned ability, Eneraflux. After consuming the flesh of the mimicker creature and later absorbing its DNA, Skyler was able to mimic the forms, body shapes, and even fighting abilities of the Ethisians she dealt with.
At first, she found it hard to control her newly transformed body due to the new size and strength difference. However, after a few moments of trial and error, she was able to stabilize and control herself enough to fight the Ethisian.
"This is better," She grinned, her eyes fixated on the Ethisian as she folded her fists. Letting out one deep breath, Skyler’s body started to emit an orange glow that outlined her entire form. Her ruby red hair flowed gently, even though there wasn’t much of a draft. Her body felt lighter and energized at the same moment, allowing her to begin her attacks.
Ace marveled as he witnessed Skyler take on an Ethisian on her own. The woman punched, kicked, grabbed, and choked her enemy while at the same time dodging, blocking, evading severe attacks that would have been fatal to the ordinary Gifted individual. While fighting, the young woman would incorporate her other beastly forms, allowing her to inflict even more damage on the Ethisian.
Punch, kick, uppercut, dodge, jab, and stomp.
Scratch, grab, lift, and throw.
Pull, bite, rip, and gouge.
’Interesting patterns,’ Ace thought to himself while observing Skyler’s unique fighting style. Unlike him, who relied on lethal attacks aimed to kill, Skyler relied more on her brute strength and wits to affect the Ethisian. ’By using her other beast forms, she’s inflicting more damage to the Ethisian while also protecting herself. That Eneraflux ability is something else. Quite powerful too...I wonder if I can learn it as well.’
"Finally," Skyler sighed heavily while reverting to normal. Her body was bruised and sore, but the reward of her successfully taking down an Ethisian was far more satisfying. "I did it...without anyone’s help..."
"That Eneraflux ability of yours is something else," Ace praised while standing next to Skyler. The woman fell to the ground and breathed heavily as she recuperated. In as much as she killed an Ethisian, she still had a long way to go if she wanted to kill the real ones. "I would like for you to teach me."
"I cannot," Skyler dejected. "The Granians are the ones who taught me, and I think I remember Lord Grania mentioning something about him never teaching you Eneraflux."
’That confirms my suspicion,’ he thought to himself. ’Eneraflux will make us too powerful for them to control if we learn it. Very well, I’ll find someone else to teach me.’