There were times when Jake lost an eye or some fingers. There were even instances when he lost an arm. Yet all the lost limbs and organs always grew back—and quickly, at that.
However, he had never been cut in half before. It was definitely a first for him. He wasn’t sure if such a terrible wound could heal. Would he be able to reattach both halves of his body to allow them to merge? If not, could his body regrow the lower half? Jake didn’t know. But being cut in half would undoubtedly cause him to lose a lot of mana.
Even if being severed in half didn’t kill him and his body was fast enough to close the wound before too much mana leaked out, what then? He seriously doubted he could defeat his opponent without the lower half of his body. That was why he really needed to do something to prevent the monster from cutting him in half.
The Armored Brawler was extremely powerful, but despite its immense strength, the monster struggled to finish the job. The chainsaw seemed to be stuck in Jake’s shoulder. However, that wasn’t actually the case. The jagged teeth were violently spinning, slowly but gradually burrowing deeper into his body. He had to find a way to break free before the damage to his body became too severe.
The monster’s grasp on his body was impossible to break, so he had to think of something else. One of his arms was pinned to his side by the monster’s enormous metal fingers, but his other arm remained free. Jake glanced at the Brawler’s left arm. Its lower half was entirely artificial, composed of metal parts, while the upper arm was flesh, a bulging mass of muscle. Metal and flesh met at the elbow.
Acting quickly, Jake morphed his free arm into a chainsaw. With a thought, he activated it, making the blade spin with incredible speed and energy. He lowered the chainsaw toward the monster’s left arm, aiming at the point where flesh met metal. The Armored Brawler was too preoccupied with driving its own chainsaw deeper into his body to notice his actions.
Jake plunged the spinning blade of his chainsaw into the monster’s elbow, striking just above the metal surface. The Armored Brawler froze, surprised by the turn of events. Jake didn’t give it a chance to react. Exerting all his strength, he drove the spinning blade of his chainsaw even deeper into the monster’s flesh. Fortunately, despite its massive size and strength, the Brawler’s flesh was considerably more yielding than Jake’s own.
Just a second later, his chainsaw sliced through, severing the monster’s lower arm cleanly at the elbow. Now that it was no longer connected to the Brawler’s body, it dropped to the floor, taking Jake down with it. As he collapsed, the monster’s chainsaw slipped from the wound in his shoulder, causing mana to leak out.
Jake leaped to his feet, but the metal fingers of the cybernetic hand were still wrapped around his body. With his left arm pinned to his side, he morphed his chainsaw into a normal hand and unwound the metal fingers one by one.
Once the cybernetic hand detached and fell to the floor, he quickly checked his wounded shoulder. The injury was deep enough to cause severe mana loss. Although it was healing, he would lose a significant amount of mana before the wound closed itself completely.
He turned his attention to the Armored Brawler. The colossal monster stared at the stump of his elbow, where the cybernetic lower arm had recently been connected. Suddenly, the creature snapped back to focus, directing its three pairs of eyes at Jake. Its three mouths opened wide, ready to unleash the Triple Threat Roar.
Wasting no time, Jake executed a Gravity Leap, soaring high up into the air. Below him, a sonic wave rippled through the air. He reached the peak of his jump and with a mental command, caused his body to hover motionlessly in the air, defying the laws of gravity. The Armored Brawler gaped up at him as if wondering why he hadn’t dropped back to the ground.
Seeing him hover out of reach, the Brawler growled in frustration. Then it must have thought he would eventually succumb to gravity because it lifted its chainsaw overhead. Jake realized that once the hovering stopped, he would plummet directly into the vicious teeth of the beast’s spinning chainsaw blade.
Luckily, he had the ability to change the direction of his downward movement. He morphed his left hand into a grappling hook and immediately launched it at the far wall. As soon as the hook latched on, he quickly retracted the cord, swinging his body through the air.
Upon making contact, he activated Adhesive Secretion, sticking to the wall. He turned his head to look at the Armored Brawler. It was time to finish this fight. With a plan forming in his mind, he pushed off the wall, propelling himself upward and forward.
While in mid-air, he fired the grappling hook at the monster. Once it latched onto the massive mutant, embedding itself in the center of its chest, he suddenly yanked the cord, propelling himself toward the monster.
He crashed into its body and immediately drove his right drill into the middle head, pushing the drill through its ugly face and deep into its brain. The other two heads growled in pain and rage. The monster swung the whirling blade of its chainsaw at him, but he had already moved out of the way, crawling toward the monster’s back.
After morphing his hands into smashfists, he grabbed each of the two remaining heads with each hand. Then he squeezed with all his might, and both heads burst apart, blood, bits of bone, and brain matter splattering between his fingers. The Armored Brawler froze for a second, then its body began to tumble. Jake jumped to the floor a second before the now-dead massive monster crashed down.
Hunt complete! You have received 250,000 XP, 150,000 MP, and 350,000 EP. For defeating the Armored Brawler in under 20 minutes, you are rewarded with [Mana Orb] (x1).
You have received enough XP to level up. Your level has gone up from 130 to 131.
Jake immediately allocated his skill points.
Just as he did so, he saw something materialize in front of him. It was a sphere of some kind, glowing blue. It was quite large, about the size of a volleyball. As he put his palms under the hovering sphere, it dropped into them. The item turned out to be quite heavy as well.
With a thought, he summoned its description.
Mana Orb: 100,000 MP (Legendary)
For a moment, Jake just stared into the transparent sphere. Inside, the magical energy swirled and danced, emitting a bluish glow. The sight was so mesmerizing that Jake couldn’t avert his gaze from it for a moment.
It was immediately obvious that the mana orb in his hands was a legendary item. All the other mana consumables looked like jagged pieces chipped off from much greater mana sources. The mana orb, however, was not only unexpectedly large but also possessed a flawless spherical shape without a single blemish. It undeniably felt like the ultimate mana consumable.
The fact that it held a whopping 100,000 MP further validated its legendary rarity. By comparison, the mana item just one rank lower, an Epic rarity mana crystal, contained only 5,000 MP. The contrast was striking.
Jake glanced at his injured shoulder. It was now fully healed, thanks to the mana gained from completing the quest. He had received 150,000 MP upon finishing the quest, some of which was used to heal his shoulder while the rest replenished his mana reserves nearly to full capacity.
So there was no reason to extract any mana from the orb. Not that he really wanted to. After all, there was a much better use for such a rare item.
With a thought, he stashed the mana orb in his Inventory, causing it to disappear. When he checked the Inventory, he was surprised to find it occupied not one but three slots. Which was understandable, considering the item’s size.
Now that he had a mana orb at his disposal, he could finally start building a lair. Jake stepped out of the building. For a moment, he surveyed his surroundings to orient himself before setting off.