Chapter 90

  Jake had never entered a mutant as fast as the chaser. He had struggled against the elite mutant’s normal attacks, but now that it had unleashed its special ability, he found it nearly impossible to dodge its sshes. Almost every sed attack left a deep gash in his obsidian-bck body. He was heavily out-leveled. Before fag such a formidable oppo, he should’ve gained a few more levels to increase Body and upgrade Enhanced Agility multiple times. This would’ve made his body more resilient to damage and improved his speed and agility. Unfortunately, the system had never bothered to warn him he would have to fa elite enemy who surpassed him by so many levels.

  Feeling frustrated was of no use, though. Instead, he o find a way to defeat the skinless enemy or sider fleeing. However, esg would mean foing the challenge’s reward, and all the effort he had put into clearing the floors would be in vain.

  So, no, he wasn’t going to flee, that was for damn sure. Not only because he didn’t want the reward to slip through his fingers. The chaser was surprisingly strong, and at first g seemed there was nothing he could do to defeat his oppo. Jake felt challenged by the situation, and his sole desire at that moment was to defeat the chaser. As the apex predator of this world, he wao prove that even mohat out-leveled him heavily were no match for him.

  Unfortunately, while the chaser was using Flurry of Swings, there was little Jake could do except try his best to blod dodge his foe’s lightning-fast attacks. As soon as the elite mutant slowed dowing to its normal state, he would strike back. Despite surpassing him by eight levels, the chaser was just an unintelligent creature. He was fident he could outsmart it. The only problem was to stay alive long enough for the mutant to stop using its special ability.

  In his broad peripheral vision, Jake spotted the two survivors who had just emerged onto the rooftop. Judging by the expressions on their faces, it was clear they had never entered such a fast and agile mutant as the chaser either. Frank raised his assault rifle and took aim. However, he never fired a shot. Both the chaser and Jake moved way too fast for him to take careful aim. He was clearly unwilling to shoot Jake by act. It was obvious he still hoped for some reward for assisting Jake in pleting the challenge. Judging by Isra’s expression, however, she didn’t share her panion’s se. The iy of her gaze betrayed her desire to witness Jake meet a gruesome end at the hands of the chaser.

  Not gonna happen, Jake thought to himself.

  Finally, the chaser’s movements slowed down to normal, its special ability worn off. Without hesitation, he switched to the offeriking out at his foe with speed and ferocity. Initially, the chaser attempted to hold its ground, but soon realized it was impossible uhe relentless assault. It began to retreat while attempting to block Jake’s sshes. Out of the er of his eye, he could see the two survivaping at him in bewilderment. Jake and his foe moved so swiftly that Frank and Isra appeared uo prehend what was happening, their inferior vision failing them and possibly rendering the two mutants as blurred spots.

  Jake mao score a few hits, but the wounds he inflicted on his oppo quickly sealed shut with remarkable speed. The elite mutant’s regeive abilities were really impressive. He would o cause signifit damage to the mutant before it finally kicked the bucket. Unfortunately, time was not on his side. By his estimation, he had about five minutes left to plete the challenge.

  Moreover, there was another pressing reason he o end the fight as quickly as possible. He was losing mana from the numerous wounds inflicted by the chaser at a rapid rate. He o rest to allow his body to focus solely on healing. By engaging in such active bat, he was hindering his body’s healing process. Instead, mana was draining rapidly from the open wounds. If he didn’t clude the fight quickly, he would soon die from maion. Though he was aware that his health points were dwindling rapidly, he couldn’t spare even a fra of a sed to cheany HP he had remaining.

  While maintaining the relentless assault on the chaser, Jake mentally anded a bded tentacle to grow from his back. The long appendage didn’t grow immediately. Instead, it took a couple of seds to form. While it was still growing, he tinued his assault on the chaser, pelling it to retreat and leaving it with no opportunity to strike back. Finally, the tentacle reached its full length, unduting behind him as he exerted his will over it. Jake once again marveled at his remarkable ability to manipute the tentacle, maintaining critical thinking and stantly strategizing his offensive maneuvers while watg his enemy and analyzing its defensive moves all at the same time. His Enhanced Intelligence wasn’t even w in overdrive at that moment. He could only imagine what his mind would be capable of when this skill was at the top level, operating at its maximum potential.

  From the er of his eye, he could see Frank and Isra staring at him in shock. It was the very first time he had used Bded Tentacles during the tower-climbing challenge, so until that moment, they’d been unaware he was capable of something like that. Not that he was trying to hide this ability from them; rather, there had been no real o utilize it before. But now was the perfeent to make good use of it.

  Responding to his mental and, the bded tentacle arced over his shoulder and surged through the air toward his oppo. Before the mutant could react, the pointed end of the tentacle pierced through one of the chaser’s eyes. The mutant froze for a moment, shocked by the sudden loss of half its vision. The tentacle, having served its purpose, detached itself from Jake’s body, dangling from the chaser’s eyeball.

  Without giving his oppo a ce to recover, he pierced its throat with his cws and tore out a huge k of flesh, causing a fountain of blood to pour from the rge ragged hole. Even the chaser’s remarkable regeive ability was uo heal such a severe wound quickly enough. Jake unleashed an onsught of swings oant’s stomach, ripping it open and causing the coils of iio spill out. The chaser took a couple of unsteady steps forward before colpsing to the ground. Its body twitched for a few seds in its final death throes before the elite mutant finally died.

  Out of the er of his eye, he noticed the two survivors staring at him in shock, clearly taken aback by the brutality of the killing.

  Challenge plete! The Boost Menu has been unlocked.

  He made it. He successfully pleted the tower-climbing challeh only a few mio spare, seg the reward. If he had been even slightly te, all his hard work would have been for nothing. Despite being signifitly under-leveled for the challenge, he mao reach the finish line just in time. It was no small feat, that was for damn sure.

  Rather than rushing to cim his reward, however, Jake remained iaking a moment to rest. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from behind him.

  “Is it over?” Frank questioned. “Where’s our reward then?”