Chapter 41

  Jake reached the walker ihan a sed and immediately shed out with a cwed hand. His talons raked the monster’s naked chest, leaving long bleeding gashes in it. His attack didn’t seem to do much damage to the mutant, though. If anything, it only made it ahe mutant tried to swipe at Jake with its cws, but he ducked in time, and the creature’s cws sliced through the air just over his head. The elite walker was definitely faster than regur mutants.

  Uerred, the walker attacked him again, prompting Jake to jump back to evade the strike. The mutant was tall with longer arms and cws, giving it a definite advantage in reach. Jake’s first impulse was to charge at his enemy, but he held back. It would be smart to learn more about this elite mutant before charging at it headfirst. Being bigger and strohan average walkers, it could possibly be more intelligent too. He o learn its fighting tactid behavior patterns.

  The rge mutant charged forward, swinging one of its arms at him. Jake dodged the attad jumped back. The mutant lunged forward once more, extending its arms as if attempting to grab him. He leaped to the side, evading the mutant’s cws without fighting back.

  For a mi went on like this. He watched his enemy, studying its movements and trying to anticipate its as. The walker kept attag him, and he evaded each strike. In the end, he cluded that while the elite walker was faster and strohan regur ones, it didn’t seem to be much smarter than them. Also, all its movements were simir to theirs. While the mutant was fast, as long as he kept his guard up, he could evade its attacks without much trouble. Now that he khe walker’s attack patterns, it was time for him to strike back.

  He leaped toward the enemy, diving us arm as it shed out at him, and struck out with his talons. He aimed at the walker’s stomach, hoping to split it open and sy the mutant with one precise strike. The tips of his talons dug into the mutant’s flesh but not as deeply as he’d hoped. He left a bleeding mark across the creature’s stomach, but the wound was superficial. The elite walker’s flesh was denser and tougher than a regur mutant’s. This foe would definitely require more than just a couple of wounds t down.

  Jake aggressively sshed at the mutant with his razor-sharp cws, leaving a few more bleeding scratches across its torso. He was about to strike back at his oppo once more wheant suddenly let out a hoarse roar. Immediately after that, it lunged forward, swinging its cws at Jake. He ducked, avoiding the blow, but the mutant quickly swung at him with its other arm, prompting him to jump back. The mutant pursued him, closing in once more, brandishing its long cws. Jake realized it must have been the walker’s special ability called Flurry of Swings. The mutant attacked him repeatedly, pushing him on the defensive. With the mutant in a freate, relentlessly striking out, all Jake could do was retreat and dodge.

  At some point, he realized he was nearing the edge of the roof. The sequences of falling from such a tall building were unknown to him. What damage would it do to his mutant body that fed on magical energy? Would it result ih, injury, or perhaps no harm at all? He didn’t know. Even if it was the tter, he had to do his best to avoid falling from the roof. He leaped to the side and swiftly maneuvered around his oppo, returning to the ter of the roof. As he did so, the mutant made a grab for him with a cwed hand, but he skillfully avoided its eloalon-like fingers.

  About half a mier, the elite mutant eased off its relentless assault, its movements decelerating, returning back to normal. It was time t the prolonged fight to a clusion. It’d already been going on lohan he’d expected. With the mutant no longer swinging its arms like a maniac, Jake seized the opportunity and lunged forward, raking his cws across his foe’s body. The elite walker let out a r cry, driven more by rage than pain.

  The fierce fight raged on for a few more minutes. A few times, Jake attempted to ssh his cws across the walker's throat, but each time the mutant jerked back, proteg the vulnerable spot. Jake then pounced again, tearing into his enemy with his razor-sharp cws. The elite mutant was bleeding profusely from multiple wounds now, yet it was still alive and kig. It made a sudden move toward him, slig through the air with its menag cws. Jake dodged the attad lunged one more time, swiping ferociously and leaving another bleeding mark across the mutant’s chest.

  His attacks had seemingly dotle to no serious damage to the walker. Jake pounced again, aiming for its throat again. This time, he mao reach it, and his razor-sharp talons tore through the mutant’s flesh, causing dark, almost bck, blood to spray from the nasty wound. He’d finally scored a serious hit. The elite mutant froze for a sed as if not quite prehending what had just happehen, with surprising speed and force, it lunged forward, catg Jake off guard. Being severely wounded made the mutant even more dangerous. It swiped with its cws, but Jake mao duck his head just in time. Then the wounded monster rammed into him, causing Jake to colpse onto his back. The mutant fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Before Jake could e up with a deferategy, the creature leaned in and sank its razor-sharp teeth into his shoulder.

  It wasn’t the first time he had been wounded as a mutant, and once again, he marveled at the absence of pain. However, he could still feel the damage to his body. Then the elite mutant pulled its head back, tearing a huge k of obsidian-bck flesh from his shoulder. A signal was reyed to his brain, notifying him that he had just sustained serious damage to his shoulder. A system notifierged in his mind.

  You have just gotten a ive effect: Profuse Bleeding. You are losing mana at a rapid rate.

  It was bad. It was really bad. The mutant was bleeding from the wound he’d dealt to its throat, losing its strength by a sed. Still, the mutant was still alive and capable of doing even more damage to him. So Jake brought up his cwed hands and drove his talons into the sides of the mutant’s head with fierce force, breaking through the walker’s skull arating its brain. The walker froze for a sed, then its body went limp and dropped on top of him.

  Two more system notifications popped up in his head.

  Enemy killed. +100 XP

  Hunt plete. You have gained a point in Body. You have gained an upgrade in Cws.

  Jake pushed the dead mutant off his body and got to his feet. He g the rge, ragged hole in his shoulder, where a greenish-blue glow emitted from within—the mana stored inside his body. He watched as the magical energy flowed out of the wound freely and profusely, quickly dissolving into the air. The sight was truly arming.

  I fucked up, Jake thought to himself.