"The Heroic Queen once said that "qi" is a power with countless possibilities, and I am only at the beginning stage right now. If I can further stimulate the potential of this power, I can win."
Those words were like a flash of light in Ruminas' mind. She had always used "qi" in the way she was familiar with – to protect herself, increase her strength, and improve her speed. But what if "qi" could evolve? What if she could force it to grow according to her will?
Ruminas stood firm, her breathing quickened but her gaze remained sharp on the Manducater. The monster did not attack immediately, but continued to observe her, every movement not escaping the synchronized eyes on its body.
Ruminas once again focused on her "qi".
If that monster had the ability to learn extremely quickly, then her "qi" could do the same.
While she was still thinking, Manducater took action.
Whoosh!
It charged forward with greater speed than before, but this time it was not a simple frontal attack. It suddenly disappeared from Ruminas's sight, only to appear above her in an instant. A clawed arm slashed down.
Ruminas reacted instantly, narrowly dodging the attack. However, as soon as she moved, Manducater turned around and used a tentacle to hit her waist.
Pop!
The impact was so strong that she was thrown more than ten meters away, her back hitting the rocky ground. A sharp pain spread throughout her body, but she still managed to turn around and stand up.
"No way... It already knows how to coordinate attacks and deceive me?"
Clearly, the Manducater wasn't just attacking on instinct anymore. It had learned to exploit its opponents' blind spots, using variations in its movements to create surprise attacks. It was improving itself with every fight.
But if the Manducater could learn, then why couldn't she?
Ruminas took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a brief moment. She felt the flow of "qi" in her body, letting it spread out around her. Instead of using it as a mere armor, she began experimenting with something else – changing the rhythm of the "qi" in a similar way that the Manducater adjusted its attacks.
This time, she will be the one to adapt first.
The Manducater lunged again, but this time Ruminas did not immediately dodge. She let it get close, waiting for the moment it was ready to swing its claws.
Whoosh!
Just as the claw grazed her body, the surrounding "qi" suddenly emitted a small pulse. Instead of completely avoiding it, she took advantage of its attack, letting her body slide along the trajectory of the blow, reducing the damage, and immediately counterattacked with a lightning-fast slash.
Swish!
Her knife plunged straight into a spot between the eyes on the Manducater's body. It roared, backing away quickly, but blood was already starting to ooze from the wound.
"It works!"
She realized this might be the key. If she could synchronize her "qi" with the Manducater's battle rhythm, she would not only be able to defend more effectively, but she would also be able to use its speed to counterattack.
She continued to experiment.
The Manducater changed its attack once more, this time attempting a horizontal swing with its tentacles. Ruminas adjusted her "qi", making her body lighter for a brief moment, allowing her to jump and dodge the attack with greater grace. As soon as she landed, she used her "qi" again to increase her reaction speed, slipping underneath the Manducater and launqing another slash.
Swish!
One of its arms was injured.
The Manducater roared, forced into a defensive stance for the first time. But soon, it began to change.
Now, instead of focusing on quick, powerful strikes, it began to fight with more caution. It did not rush in immediately but observed more, calculating Ruminas' trajectory. It knew that if it continued to fight as it was, she would learn from it and counterattack.
Its attack speed is reduced, but its accuracy is increased. Each strike now targets the locations it calculates Ruminas might move to.
Ruminas also realized this.
"It changed tactics again? Unbelievable… In such a short time it learned to adjust both the speed and rhythm of battle."
But she was not deterred.
She continued to use her 'qi' to adjust the rhythm, if it could be adjusted then she could do it too. The more cautious the person, the easier it was to deceive and Ruminas succeeded in doing so.
Pop!
This time, it was hit by an unexpected counterattack.
For the first time, the Manducater actually took a step back, confusion flashing in its eyes.
This battle is no longer just about strength or speed.
Both are constantly learning from each other, adapting to each other in real time. With every second that passes, with every attack that is thrown, both are evolving in their own way.
But Ruminas knew that if this continued, the battle would never end. She needed to find a way to get ahead completely, to make it impossible for the Manducater to keep up.
"The best way is to really tap into the new power of "qi" but I have no idea how."
Ruminas remembered her conversation with the Heroic Queen, she said that each person's "qi" would have a special ability, but to grasp that special ability, they had to find it themselves, no one could help.
"A special ability…?"
Ruminas tried to look back to see if there was anything in her instinct that was superior or special compared to others, but she found that she was quite normal and could develop steadily in all directions if she wanted to, but there was nothing really outstanding.
"Wait, wouldn't that also be a highlight?"
The fact that Ruminas was able to adapt to the apocalypse and develop her fighting abilities in such a short period of time proves that she is very talented in this part of fighting.
"I know my strengths, but how do I make them concrete…?"
"I should have asked that then!"
Ruminas sighed.
Since she had no clue about the next stage of the "qi", she could only fight and learn on her own. After all, she had already learned how to control the "qi" by herself once, so there was still hope this time.
Ruminas focused on the opponent in front of her again, the Manducater had now learned a very strange way of moving. It did not directly attack her but instead ran around in circles and would suddenly charge from one direction.
However, with her equally good reflexes, Ruminas was still able to withstand those surprise attacks. She expanded her "qi" even further to quickly detect the enemy.
Manducater changes again, attacking from the ground.
Ruminas immediately countered by jumping onto high terrain and moving continuously.
Manducater switches to ranged attacks with concentrated corrosive liquids.
Ruminas immediately dodged, at the same time using "qi" to control the flying liquid blocks and return them to the monster.
Manducater suddenly split his body into two and both of them attacked from two different directions.
Ruminas also quickly created another "self" made of "qi" to temporarily defend against the attack from behind, while she herself rushed forward. However, her "qi" clone was weaker and was easily defeated.
However, Ruminas managed to crush the Manducater's split part in time because it was much weaker than the original.
The two continued to fight, tactics changing constantly and the destruction from the battle spreading more and more. Even when it was dark, neither side stopped.
But Ruminas was at a disadvantage as the battle dragged on because her strength was no match for the monster's. Even her magic power was depleted, making her unable to use the teleportation skill or the recovery ability from the bracelet.
Because of that, Ruminas was even more careful with each of her attacks , but no matter how careful she was, she still suffered from large and small injuries.
The "qi" layer was still doing its job, it was just that sometimes Ruminas would be careless for a brief moment due to fatigue and the Manducater would take advantage of those moments to attack.
"So tired, fighting all day and still no progress!" Ruminas started thinking about retreating.
"No! Even if I run, it will chase me and with the current situation, it will have the advantage in speed. But fighting continuously is not the way to go, it would be best to create breaks in between to recover some stamina and magic power."
In the current situation, Ruminas understood that if she continued to confront it head on, she would definitely be the one to fall first. Although Manducater had not yet reached its maximum level of perfection, with its superior adaptability and recovery ability, it was gradually gaining the upper hand.
Its movements became sharper and sharper, its attacks showing no signs of slowing down, instead adjusting to suit Ruminas' fighting style. While it had some openings before, now, every time she tried to counterattack, Manducater had a way to neutralize or dodge.
Ruminas gritted her teeth, forcing herself to remain calm. She could feel her body becoming sluggish, every muscle aqing from the constant movement throughout the day. The large and small wounds scattered all over her body made it difficult for her to maintain her previous speed.
"This won't do… I have to find a way to adjust the pace of the battle."
The Manducater didn't give her much time to think. Realizing that its opponent was weakening, it immediately increased the tempo of its attacks. Tentacles swung violently towards her, combined with sharp arms that rushed in from different directions.
Ruminas gritted her teeth and used all her strength to dodge, but due to her reduced stamina, she was unable to avoid it all. A tentacle lashed her back, sending her flying away and slamming into a large rock.
"Cough!" A stream of blood gushed out of Ruminas' mouth.
She quickly sprang to her feet, but the Manducater didn't give her time to regain her balance. It lunged at her, claws slashing down with the intent to finish her off instantly.
"Want to end it?"
"It's not that easy!"