The sounds of heavy chains, grunting, and intense struggling slowly grew louder as eight Granians dragged along with them two captured Ethisian soldiers, real Ethisians and clones this time.
The two Blood Mutants, Ace and Jim, looked with terror as their eyes beheld the colossal terror of the Ethisians. Unlike the clones, these two looked more experienced in fighting, given that their bodies were covered in scars further accented by dented and chipped scales, and a few dried blood stains mainly on their hands and legs.
Large chains, covering their bodies, constricted their movements, and metallic masks were locked on their mouths to limit their speech, but this didn’t stop them from grunting in anger.
"The two of you, your training now involves killing real Ethisians,"
Grim looked at Ace and Jim with a stern facial expression. "It is important to know that these Ethisians are fighting for their freedom. We promised to set them free as long as they kill you. That is the Ultimatum we gave them and that is what you’ll have to fight against."
"You’re kidding!!" Jim refuted the claims fearfully as he felt his heart pound in his chest. "This is some kind of joke, right?"
As much as he did not want to believe it, Jim could tell that Grim wasn’t joking, given the nonchalant facial expression he wore. The dark-scaled Granian narrowed his eyes and looked at Jim, judging whether the Blood Mutant had the strength to take on real Ethisians or not.
As for Ace, he was already visualizing how he’d defeat the creatures. By the looks of their bodies, he deduced that their scales would be much tougher to penetrate than the clones he previously killed. To counter this, he mentally devised many ways he’d use to defeat the thing.
’They’re different than the ones we killed with Grim, Huntress, and the others.’ He thought to himself while scoping out the weakest points on the Ethisians. ’Could these Ethisians be equivalent to bodybuilders back on Earth?’
Using the same logic of comparing a normal man to a dedicated bodybuilder, Ace was able to differentiate between the two Ethisians before him and the ones he, along with his comrades and the Granians, defeated when the Granians reclaimed their lost planet.
Unlike the ones they killed then, these ones were larger and looked more violent for only one reason. According to Ace, these Ethisians were ’Warrior class Ethisians’. ’
The others were simply guarding the place but they weren’t warriors. Their movements and actions didn’t show any signs of combat knowledge or experience. That’s why it was so easy to defeat them. I doubt if it’ll be the same with these ones.’
[You are at the Sixth Phase.]
[Kill the Ethisian to complete the Quest, receive Blood Coins, and an extra reward.]
"You’ve been awfully quiet, Ace," Grim mumbled. "you’re not going to object like your friend did?"
"No." the Blood Bishop responded and focused fully on the goal ahead. "Let’s start, shall we?"
’Tsk. He’s staging me up again,’ Jim complained, thinking that Ace was deliberately taunting him. ’Can’t he see that I’m frightened by those things? Doesn’t matter, I’ll kill them myself and prove that I can get stronger than him much faster.’
Empowered with seething rage, the two Ethisians, equipped with heavy battle axes, swung their heavy weapons at the two Blood Mutants with the intention of killing.
For the Mutants, they were fighting to complete their training phases and for the Ethisians, they were fighting for their freedom. With these high stakes, it was definitely going to be an interesting fight for Grim and the others to witness.
[Translation Complete: You may now communicate with this being.]
’Even their language is different than the others.’
"Stop moving around, human!!" A few feet away from Jim and his Ethisian, Ace and his own Ethisian exchanged words while he constantly kept dodging its attacks.
"Stop moving so slow, Ethisian." Ace grinned, his eyes constantly locked on the Ethisian. Still in his human form, Ace decided to use his Pulse Breaker Skill to easily and painfully kill the Ethisian without exerting too much of his own strength. However, for that to work, he needed to touch the Ethisian’s chest for more than three seconds so he had to find a way of doing so.
So far, the Blood Bishop wasn’t able to get within a five-foot radius of the Ethisian, thanks to it swinging its weapon around.
"We have to get rid of this," he smiled while holding the Ethisian’s axe blade in his hand, stopping the weapon from reaching his head. The Ethisian, shocked by the human’s strength, pushed down as hard as it could, turning the fight into an endurance test.
"Your tiny body, CANNOT BEST MY OWN!!" Giving a final downward thrust, the Ethisian thrust its axe down and scratched a patch of Ace’s shoulder.
The Blood Bishop quickly leaped backward a few times while his wounds healed. Having no choice but to fight, he decided to use his skills to turn the odds in his favor.
[Transformation begun.]
"How’s this for size?" he questioned with his deep, monstrous Blood Bishop voice.
’A Blood Mutant?’ the Ethisian shuddered in fear and then grunted in anger. Angry that it was being pestered by a mere human, it decided to finish Ace off once and for all.
"We’re now at the same height, Ethisian," Ace taunted as they both circled each other. The Ethisian dragged its axe behind it as Ace turned his right arm into a long Blood Sword. "And look, I have a big blade just like y...."
"RWAAAHHH!!!" Not giving the Mutant another chance to speak, the Ethisian lifted its axe over its head and slammed it in Ace’s direction. Content orıginally comes from novel•fire.net
With agility and speed on his side, Ace swiftly dodged the creature’s attack and counteracted it with his own, using his Blood Sprint Skill to close the distance between both of them.
[Blood Sprint Skill: Activated.]
[Blood Lust detected.]
[All stats have been temporarily boosted by five points. The stronger your Blood Lust, the stronger the boost you receive.]
Moving at an incredible speed, Ace circled the Ethisian with unpredictable movements, using confusion to his advantage. With his hand turned into a blade, the Mutant rushed in several times with slashes to the creature’s sturdy body. The slashes were quick and precise. Not sharp enough to cut deep, but strong enough to chip away at its hard scales.
The Ethisian, dazed and disorientated by the constant blows, crouched downwards with its hands tucked in. No longer holding its weapon, Ace grabbed it in his hands and ceased running, looking down at the Ethisian in its pathetic position.
"What’s the matter?" he questioned while his blood sword dissolved the Ethisian’s axe, turning it into a Blood axe in the process. "I thought you were fighting for your freedom. Have you given up so quickly?"
With no response from the Ethisian, Ace sighed and watched the creature panting like a thirsty animal. Exhausted and still lusting after blood, Ace lifted his Blood Axe over his head and down came its blade, aiming straight for the Ethisian’s head.
[You have been impaled. Several projectiles have been dislodged in your body.]
[A poison has been detected. You will not be able to regenerate for a while.]