Chapter 162

  As the sun rose, it cast a warm glow over the streets. Jake could feel the sun’s warm rays on his skin as he sprihrough the rown streets. He had spent the night searg for mana ables and had accumuted quite a bit of mana. His step was to head to the sewers for a regur up of their mutated inhabitants. During this clearing, he expected to finally level up to 75.

  Once he leveled up, he could evolve into the stage. He inteo take some time to assess the ges that would occur post-evolution and check out the new skills and abilities that would bee avaible for learning. He figured he’d spend half a day roaming the city and hunting ex-humans to get used to his new form. When he had evolved from Stage 1: “Primordial Form” to Stage 2: “Savage Ast”, his body had ged—he grew taller, gained longer limbs, and developed a menag set of jaws lined with razor-sharp triangur teeth.

  Given his past experiences, he was sure that evolving into Stage 3: “Apex Maion” would bring about further transformations in his body. He po take some time to adjust to these ges, just as he had doer his st evolution. After getting aced to his new form, he would head to the Los Demonios base he had retly discovered to see the ges that took pce after the HQ’s upgrade to Level 6. That was his pn for the day.

  He tio run through the desote streets, heading toward the se of the city that had access to the underground tunnels. It was quite quiet, as most of the survivors, including Los Demonios, had yet to start their day and were likely just waking up. Jake kept running, swishing through the tall grass that pushed through the cracks in the asphalt, barely making any noise as he moved.

  Suddenly, his enhanced sense of smell caught a whiff of an unfamiliar st he had never entered before, causing him to slow to a jog. He focused on the st, trying to identify it. It was very faint, almost uable, indig that whatever was emitting the st was quite far away. However, Jake was certain that the st was ing from the dire he was headed.

  He picked up his pace again, tinuing in the same dire. As he anticipated, the st grew stronger as he approached its source. However, it was not a pleasant odor. Whatever it was, it had an awful stench. As Jake focused on the smell again, trying to identify it, a system message suddenly fshed through his mind.

  New Hunt!

  Objective: Track down a ae ex-human abomination.

  Difficulty: Very Hard

  Reward: 25,000 XP, 50,000 MP

  Accept: Y/N

  So that was the source of the stench: ae mutant was nearby, emitting a foul body odor. Jake took a moment to examihe details of the quest. It was beled Very Hard, so it was clear he shouldn’t anticipate an easy victory.

  The st Hunt quest he had pleted was to sy a magical creature known as a wood golem. That quest was rated Hard and had left Jake figuratively sweating. The reward ic ability called Ground Strike, which was located ihird se of the Geic Development Interface, so he would only be able to acquire it after evolving into the stage. The same applied to the Morph Disguise ability he had obtained earlier. This ability was also Epid it ced ihird se of the skill store as well, meaning it would bee avaible for acquisition only after he evolved into Stage 3: “Apex Maion”.

  Uhe previous Hunt, which was rated Hard, this one was cssified as Very Hard and didn’t offer any new abilities as a reward. heless, the rewards of 25,000 XP and 50,000 MP were quite appealing. He had gathered a signifit amount of mana the night before, and if he successfully pleted this Hunt, he would have a substantial reserve of mana at his disposal.

  With all that mana, he would be able to acquire all the remaining skills and abilities from the sed se of the Geic Development Interface: the Spikes ability, the Adaptive Armor skill, and the Serpentine Form ability. He was eager to obtain all of them before evolving to Stage 3: “Apex Maion” so he could focus exclusively on gaining new skills and abilities once he pleted the stage of evolution.

  So Jake accepted the quest and pressed on. Trag down the elite ex-human known as the abomination was retively easy, as he only o follow its st. Eventually, he arrived at a massive crack that ran across the street, providing access to the sewers below. The st wafted up from down there, indig that the abomination was lurking somewhere in the underground tunnels. This was quite ve, as it meant he could tackle two objectives in the same pce.

  He jumped into the underground tunnel below, nding in the ter and sending spshes of murky water flying in every dire. The foul odor was even stronger now. Jake oriented himself toward the source of the stend set off. For the several minutes, he navigated the sewers, heading toward the source of the st and sying all the mutants in his path.

  Finally, he reached his destinatioered a long, wide tunnel with a high ceiling and immediately halted upon spotting an enormous ex-human halfway down the passage. The rancid smell emanating from the mutant should have been overwhelming at this distance, but surprisingly, Jake was pletely unfazed by it. He took a moment to assess his oppo. The creature was massive—several meters tall. Jake was tall himself, but even so, the top of his head barely reached the ex-human’s waist.

  The mutant was not only foul-smelling but also an eyesore. It possessed a humanoid shape, with two thick legs and arms that were as sturdy as logs. The creature appeared to be a grotesque amalgamation of numerous human bodies fused together. Hands, feet, and even faces protruded from various areas of the ex-human’s form. The sight was truly disturbing—nerve-wrag, even. That is, it should have been if Jake had any nerves. Cold as stone, he felt little iion to the repulsive figure standing before him.

  With a thought, he called up the ex-human’s description.

  Abomination – Level 115 (Elite)

  Special abilities:

  Minioion – The mutant create minions out of its own body.

  Hurl – The mutant rip pieces of flesh out of itself and turn them into powerful projectiles.

  Swallow – The mutant breathe in air with great force, sug ihing within several meters of it.

  It was discerting. The abomination surpassed him by 41 levels. He had never fought ahat was so much strohan him. Not that he was willing to back down. He was determio take on the abomination. However, he khe fight wouldn’t be easy, that much was for damn sure.

  He also used his Enemy Appraisal perk on the Abomination to check its attributes and identify its weaknesses.

  Abomination – Level 115 (Elite)

  Body: 175

  Mind: 45

  Magick: 85

  Elemental weaknesses: Acid, Explosive

  Having gathered all the information he could about his oppo, Jake took a moment to ready himself for battle. Then, he unched himself at the t ex-human.