CH46:ESCAPE (PART 2)

"Over there. The attackers are on the rooftops." Gangsters from both the Serpents and Cold Flames pursued Dezhong and Krista on the ground and rooftops as well. Given that this was the outskirts of the city, it meant that more buildings would be tightly close to each other, making it perfect for Dezhong who had some experience in basic parkour.

'I can lose these guys from the rooftops with my Charging Heart skill.' He said to himself. 'I just don't know about Krista.'

"Have you got a plan, Dezhong?" she asked while pointing at eight Serpent gangsters who were surrounding them at all sides. Now at a stop, Dezhong and Krista had no choice but to fight.

[Quest: Defeat three targets for an additional skill. When finished, escape the city's outskirts and make it back to complete your daily quest. Rewards for the daily quests will be given once the final daily quest is complete.]

'Perfect. All I have to do is take three out, and I'll be given a new skill.'

"I'll take four, you take four." Dezhong said, but the girl was already dealing with a couple of them.

"Don't worry about me, D." Krista said while showcasing her excellent fighting techniques that she used on Kong. "I'm not like the other girls." She bragged while delivering a spinning kick that sent two gangsters falling from the high rooftops. "I live to fight."

'I forget that she was able to go against Kong for a while.' Dezhong felt at peace knowing that he didn't have to worry about Krista, who seemed to be an almost better fighter than he was.

[Charging Heart Skill: Activated.]

By the time Dezhong activated his skill, Krista had already taken down three men and was physically struggling on her fourth. As for Dezhong, he had to take care of two slim guys, one buff man, and a muscle wall grunting as he barked at the slim ones to attack him.

"No one attacks the Serpents and thinks they'll get away with it." The two slim men shouted while wearing blade knuckles on each of their hands. The blade knuckles had four finger holes for their fingers to fit in and were curved outwardly with blades carefully smelted onto them. These types of blades were effective in hand-to-hand combat and allowed their users to punch and slice at the same time.

The first serpent jumped with a high kick attack to Dezhong's head, while the second swooped in with a thigh kick. Dezhong dodged the kick and grabbed the second serpent's leg. With his right hand folded in a fist, he used as much energy as possible and punched the serpent right in his balls, rendering him useless and powerless.

When he was done with him, he quickly tossed him off the rooftop and turned his attention to the first serpent.

"Don't be so fooled." He said while emphasizing on making the 's' in every word he said sound like the hiss of a snake. "We serpents are no joke when it comes to fight-----"

Dezhong got bored of hearing the serpent speak and quickly punched his face until he felt the bones in his nose break, followed by blood gushing out. Before letting the serpent fall however, Dezhong grabbed him by his shirt, slammed his throat, and removed the blade knuckles from his hands before throwing him off the roof.

"You're next." The largest serpent ordered the slightly smaller one to attack Dezhong.

'This guys' got a lot of muscle on him. Simple punches won't do any harm to him. Good thing I have these on.' With his Charging Heart skill still active, Dezhong sprinted towards the muscular serpent and dodged the punch that was thrown at him. Even though he was bigger and physically stronger than Dezhong, he lacked the speed to deliver punches on time and Dezhong's heightened abilities allowed him to dodge even faster. He then used his borrowed weapons and jabbed the man's kneecap twice before being brutally kicked on the left side of his ribs.

[-5HP]

[HP:35/50]

"You fool. I'll kill you for that," the muscular man angrily blurted, but his movements were now severely limited since his kneecap was damaged. He tried lifting his leg, but the pain he felt was too great for him to slide it along the floor.

[Three targets have been defeated.] [Reward: One Skill granted.]

'Three?' Dezhong wondered while his ribs healed. 'Does the system count him as defeated?'

[Claw Charge: The Claw Charge skill transforms your hands and palms 25% but gives you the strength of the werewolf. This skill strengthens the tips of your fingers and grows your nails into skin-peeling claws. It also deals two times more damage than your ordinary punch would at full strength. The skill takes no energy points and has no cooldown time period so use it as long as you please.]

Dezhong quickly leaped back and reviewed the new skill he acquired while the last serpent he had to take down remained standing. 'Oh!! A hologram of my body? System, how does this work?' he asked.

[Using your mind, visualize your hands transforming and transmit energy into them. This will cause your dormant werewolf cells in your body to get excited and transform specific parts of your body.]

Dezhong followed his system's instructions and focused his energy into his arms. A warm, tingling sensation took over, followed by a feeling of something crawling inside his skin. The first thing to visibly change was his arms, which bulged to the same thickness as his thighs, ripping through the sleeves of his dystopian attire. Next were his fingers, which doubled in size, and his nails thickened as they grew longer. However, even though his arms were bigger, stronger, and more powerful, there was no fur on them, making Dezhong worry that it didn't work.

[The skill only transforms your hands at 25%. Further transformations will be achieved after your first awakening.]

'First awakening?' Dezhong wondered. 'Does it mean my first full moon?'

"HYAAH!! LET'S SEE HOW YOU'LL FAIR AGAINST MEEE!!" The last Serpent gangster stomped across the roof with a punch aimed at Dezhong's chest. Without even thinking, Dezhong decided to meet the man's fist with his own and banged with full force.

*CRUNCH*

Krista and those around them flinched as they heard a loud crackling sound that sounded like bones popping and snapping. When they looked at the two people fighting, they noticed the larger man wince in pain as his knuckles bled. Dezhong's knuckles bled too and patches of destroyed flesh healed with the pain disappearing.

[+1 Strength Point added.]

[Strength: 11]

"How—how are you this strong?" the large man questioned, but Dezhong didn't bother responding. He instead chose to seize this opportunity and delivered another powerful blow to the man's head.

*CRACK*

Dezhong's hit fractured the large man's nasal bones and shook his brain, causing it to hit his skull and render him unconscious. "I think that's the last of them," Krista said with suspicion due to how Dezhong was hiding his hands behind his back.

[Skill Cancelled]

"It's best we leave