Testing the limits

After drinking some water from his backpack and freshening up, Delvin returned to the entangled road leading into the city.

The vines created an ominous entryway into the road and Delvin felt a sense of foreboding. 'I'll have to swap to my spear if any real threats present themselves.

Del's main weapon, Eshewed Spear, had a drop in damage due to chips and small cracks along the shaft. A basic attack would now only deal 8 damage instead of 10 and Delvin didn't want to take any chances with his prized possession.

So he decided to equip one of the many weapon he had in his inventory, courtesy of the mutated humans. The weapon of choice was a slightly curved one handed sword, its hilt and body were much like the rest of the mutant's weapons, a uniform black colour with no engravings or decorations.

< Tested blade > (Uncommon)

-Main weapon, One-handed

Damage: 6/6

Increase in slashing damage (Miniscule)

The standard weapon of certain types of Mana-crazed humans. Its previous owner was slain and laid to rest thus weakening the weapon.

---

All the weapons Del collected from the mutants had been weakened, resulting in them not having any of the skills he saw their wielders activate. But he currently had no choice, it was either using this suboptimal weapon or risking his strongest piece of equipment and Dell was a man who rarely left things to chance.

It was unfortunate he hadn't come across any spear or staff wielding mutants over the past couple of days and his inventory was full of weapons Del had little to no familiarity with.

The wooden handle of the sword felt cold and foreign against Del's palm. The weight distribution of a sword was unfamiliar to him and he struggled to find a proper grip.

'It's not heavy, per se. But getting a grasp on the inner workings of proper sword forms and stances would take ages, I'll just stick them with the pointy end.' Twirling the sword around himself Delvin noticed a gigantic lack of finesse when compared to his spearmanship.

"Well, here goes nothing." Del said and started following the ominous-looking roadway. 'Civilization here I come!'

---

Delvin's journey forwards continued for another few hours before he found himself at an impasse. 'How in the hell? Are these vines alive or something?'

Was his reaction looking at a literal hill of cars and vines which stood at a good 30 meters high; a warped work of crumbled metal and twisting foliage acting as a fence between the city and road leading up to it.

Delvin climbed atop the mound and was shocked at the sight beyond.

All the way up to the first buildings of the city, the ground was scarred and riddled with countless holes. The smell reminded him of a lost battleground, forgotten to even time itself.

'How many artillery shells and missiles must have bombarded this place… here's hoping none of them land while I'm crossing.' Del jumped off the top and land with a *huff* sound.

"Ow! Too high, fuck me. Stupid." Delvin wanted to do a cool landing but he only ended up with a negative Condition.

[CONDITIONS]

< Negative >

- Weakened Mana Core

- Swollen ankle (left)

Delvin decided to jump because he was plain bored. Despite the ominous look of the entangled road, he faced no opponents and was itching for some action but his lack of patience resulted in this debuff which reduced mobility by 5% and extended the cooldown of all skills which made use of Del's legs or feet.

'If there's anything this indicates, its that I'll be facing an enemy with higher mobility soon.' Delvin scanned the perimeter but the shelled land had an air of dust around it, limiting visibility.

'At least 2 kilometres of ruined, foggy terrain; perfect for an ambush. I'll proceed with greater caution.' Delvin tiptoed around artillery craters and hunks of metal with the upmost precision; every step light and deliberate, every breath slow and controlled.

His body was crunched low to the ground and moved like a shadow. The only sound was that of his own heartbeat, a constant reminder of the dangers he faced.

'This fog is both a blessing and a curse.' The mist acted both as his own protection against enemies and as the enemy's protection against him. 'If something attacks I'll throw everything but the kitchen sink at them.'

Del had no time to waste in fights which would potentially draw in more contestants and he wanted to reach that god-forsaken city already. His plans for the future depended on arriving at the city.

Delvin continued forwards and was out of the foggy battleground soon after; he was greeted with the sight of a charming suburbs, a suburb which went through a cataclysmic event that is.

The few houses which lined the debris-filled street were reduced to rubble and dust, their once idyllic gardens and lawns were overgrown and choked with weeds.

The only sounds Delvin heard was the creaking of wood and swishing of fallen leaves; they filled him with dread and a sense of being too late.

'Someone must have survived. People would flock to the city centre if something like a natural disaster occurred, I can't lose hope already!' Del clenched the hilt of the sword, his fingers growing blisters and callouses from the unfamiliar handle. 'Onwards we go!'

The brief pep talk gave Del a boost of confidence which allowed him to concentrate solely on reaching his destination, not the chaos involved in getting there.

Del navigated through the maze of wrecked homes for a good 15 minutes when he heard the sound of hope.

*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*

"Gunfire!" Del yelled out. "Coming from… THE NORTH! Activate Sprint"

The sound echoed like firecrackers, reducing in volume and consistency as time passed. "Fuck! They're dying!!!" Delvin summoned his spear and fastened the sword around his trousers. "Faster Delvin!"

Del emerged from the buildings and saw a chaotic scene unfolding: in a serene-looking park, more than a dozen armed survivors, men and women both, were locked in a desperate struggle against a towering, ferocious monster. Del saw the humans were wearing similar looking outfits to the one Wira wore and he concluded they were a part of the same military. But their military training was all for naught as they fled in terror from the monster like a bunch of headless chickens. Del summoned the Eshewed spear and turned his attention to the monster.

The monster reminded Del of a certain primate he learned about from the knowledge capsule, the gorilla, if the gorilla had cancer and took anabolic steroids. The monster towered over the humans at a full three meters in height and its skin was a sickly grey colour devoid of most fur apart from around the knuckles and thighs. Del noticed protruding spikes around the monster's arms and he prayed they weren't coated in venoms because that would make his assault into a suicide mission.

There were also swollen veins in places all over the mutant and they emanated a distinct pressure which encompassed Del's entire being, filling him with panic and dread. Del figure it came from the disparity in ranking between himself and monster and drops of sweat formed on Del's forehead as the monster's knuckles scraped the ground while it rushed another survivor.

Delvin saw its fangs glisten in the sun before they ripped apart the unlucky bastard closest to them. The monster was seemingly enjoying tearing and shredding the body of the survivor apart and it gleefully threw limbs and entrails around in a show of grotesque fashion.

It was then that Delvin noticed the many pools of blood and guts near the monster, and his face scrunched in anger when he realized how much death this thing had caused. He didn't want to rush in though and was furiously waiting for his inspection results. '5 seconds and counting, does the difference power influence skills to this degree?!' Del heart was gripped with anxiety which was only heightened when he saw Inspect's result.

[Mana-cracked Human] (Uncommon)

Level: 11 (Tier 1)

HP: ???

Highest stats: ???

"A-a tier 1 monster?! I can't even extract any useful information." Delvin grumbled and quickly inspected the remaining survivors, the highest of whom was level 2... Their bullets had little to no effect on the monster and it continued rampaging.

Del was frozen in indecisiveness and he considered just running away but a deep sense of unwillingness and resolution suddenly surged from deep within and he felt his turbulent emotions rapidly calm down. The sudden jolt of cool-headedness was something Del never experienced before but he just threw into the mental bag of mysteries and questions that awaited answers upon Meri's return.

The newfound determination allowed Del to fully absorb himself in the monster's movements and patterns of attack; a strategy started to form. The monster appeared to be focused primarily on STR and END, its punches were fatal and explosive, its skin durable and thick. The monster moved much like a wild gorilla would, with reckless abandon for its own safety. 'Because it thinks no blade will pierce the hide and damage its internals.'

The corner of Del's mouth curled upward, forming a sinister grin as he took out an alpha hopper's poisonous sac. He stabbed the sac and drenched half his weapon in the stronger variant of the poison. 'Let' see if you're as strong on the inside.'

Del rose with an air of grit and perseverance, and a quick look confirmed only four remaining survivors; his panic and reluctance had come at the price of even more lives. He swore it would not happen again.

With a fully recharged Stamina pool Delvin activated Dodge and Sneak while rushing forwards to meet the monster's fist before it made contact with a wounded soldier.

*CLANG*

"You're a big boy aren't you?" Delvin laughed at the mutant as he managed to hold his ground albeit barely, much to the monster's dismay.

"Let's fucking tango!" The mutant's knuckles proved to be quite sturdy but the Eshewed spear still scored a cut along the closed fingers. The beast yelped in pain and swiped furiously with its other arm. Del expertly ducked under the punch and sliced the beast's entire arm from fist to shoulder; his inflated AGI and inhuman constitution working wonders.

The monster was seemingly shocked its impervious visage was carved so easily and lost focus for a second, Del capitalized with a 76% efficiency Slash across the mutant's chest evoking a torrent of blood which temporarily blinded him.

Delvin marvelled at his own stupidity, the wound across the monster's arm had already drenched him in blood, what did he think was going to happen when he tore into the chest area. His bout of idiocy came at a cost and Delvin was unceremoniously sent flying 10 meters before colliding with a tree.

*THUD*

"Motherfu-" Del felt a stiffening pain in his lower back and his HP was reduced by a whopping 38, at least the blood was blown away from his eyes from the collision.

'That must have been a skill—what's this?' Del paused, there was an unfamiliar blinking red box next to his HP bar.

< Combo >

The next instance of damage from the 'Muscular Kick' skill will induce a 'Stun' debuff and have double damage

Duration: 120 seconds

Source: Mana-cracked Human

---

"A debuff! You won't land another one-" Del paused when he realised his short reprieve costed another survivor's life. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Delvin screamed and activated Sprint.

He made a quick jump off a heightened bench and caught the monster unaware as it was trying to crush a human's skull. Del activated Thrust just before the monster completely turned the human's brain into mush, but he failed to pierce the head and the skill only skewered its shoulder.

The pain tightened the muscles of the arm and Delvin saw the man's head explode into a mess of brain tissue and skull fragments. 'Another one gone. You'll die for this!' Del's facial expressions turned deathly calm and he grasped the handle of the spear to balance himself on the shoulder.

Del tried to summon one of the swords or daggers from his inventory to impale its eyes but the monster started jumping and moving erraticaly and Del was thrown off alongside his spear before he blinded even one eye.

The monster ignored Delvin completely and shot off towards a frozen woman, its fangs aimed at crushing her spine. 'As if I'd let you take another!' Mana surged through Del's body for the first time since arriving on Earth, his arm fuelled by the ancient energy.

The monster was upon the woman and it lunged towards her with a widespread jaw ready to split her into many little pieces. Before it could accomplish that though, a sharp force punctured its lung and sent it off course into a pair of swings.

"HEY! Get behind me NOW! Provide covering fire while I keep it busy." Delvin instructed the remaining humans, his arm was visibly shaking in pain from the violent exposure to mana. He was again perplexed as to how this happened and the blinking notification in the corner of his vision was most likely the answer but he would find out after the battle was over and done with.

The woman he saved and a staunch looking officer responded by resuming fire on the monster, the staunch man even threw his last remaining grenade at the monster who was trying to free itself from the chains of the swings.

The last man was frozen in terror, his years of service and rigorous training regimes evaporating in front of the raging monstrosity. Delvin paid no heed to such a weak minded individual and he ran forwards once more to finish the monster off.

What he didn't expect was the mutant to escape its bindings the moment he started running, Del got a ominous feeling when it grabbed and crushed a hand-sized rock and hurled the shards towards the survivors. "I'm your opponent you bastard!" Del screamed when he heard the sounds of body parts being destroyed by the high velocity projectiles.

He dodged the punch of the severely slashed arm and stabbed the beasts thigh with a sword he had summoned a moment ago. A swiping leg kick was the monster's response but Del jumped over it and with a quick Lunge he was in front of the monster. 'Got ya!'

The Eshewed spear tore into the mutant's eye evoking a shuddering shriek of pain but Del had no time to drive the weapon any deeper because the mutant realized the puny human was in its range. Just as Del withdrew the spear he was subject to a flurry of kicks, punches and anything in between.

Delvin thanked the system god for his trousers and their effect of lowering the cooldown of his dodge skill. He managed to evade all lethal attacks and even retorted with a few small cuts and wounds of his own but the duration of skills is finite.

The moment the skill ended Del was on the receiving end of the beating, scrapes and bruises forming all over his body. 'The poison still hasn't worked??!' He even punctured a lung but the gap between Tiers seemed to be much steeper than Del originally surmised. A decisive elbow to the stomach sent him flying across the park again, this time sending him into a small shed.

Delvin thought the mutant would quickly come after him and he quickly stood to face it but was pleasantly surprised at the sight of the monster. It was grasping at the chest wound and screeching in pain while twitching and shiver unnaturally. 'Finally.' Del noticed his actual HP bar blinking and was horrified at his deteriorating condition.

HP: 11/98 (Minor bleeding, Minor internal bleeding)

Stamina: 23/98

'Oh fuck.' Delvin quickly called on the power of Nature's grace when he saw the blinking red numbers and was healthier by 20 health points in the next moment and his HP bar wasn't looking like a wannabe firefly. The ring even lessened the burning pain caused by the surge of mana in his arm, it even removed the internal bleeding status. Del's face turned back into an emotionless robot, void of emotions and he closed in on the monster. 'Round 3, let's end this.'

The monster was still locked in place due to the venom circulating its body, and the many grievous wounds only heightened its peril. It noticed Delvin's approach but failed to mount any meaningful defence apart from a weak jab full of sluggishness and weariness; a quick Lunge saw Delvin dodge the attack and position himself in front of the monster's head once more.

The panic was visible on the monster's face by now as it realized the mortal danger it was in, it tried to leap away from the spear closing in on its only good eye but a timely thrown grenade exploded just above monster's head sending its forehead straight into the tip of Del's spear.

*SLOSH*

The monster's head stopped halfway through the shaft of the spear and stood there motionless, its eyes devoid of life. Delvin released a pent up sigh and he was going to thank the person who threw the bomb but was preoccupied with a myriad of notifications.