The scordana beast and Erin were at odds with each other. Erin held her sword steady, ready to block. The scordana lunged at her, claws out about to cut her up. With her sword, she managed to block the claws, but the four arms pushing against her was too strong.
Erin tried to redirect the claws, then attempted to slice at them. However, the claws had an exoskeleton, meaning they had a hard shell. The most she was able to do was create a few scratches.
The beast quickly turned around, and it's tail smacked into her body, flinging it across the room. She landed into a stack of crates, destroying them in the process.
[-11 HP]
[HP 39/50]
Crawling out of the crates, Erin cracked her neck, and spat on the ground. She charged at the scordana, and jumped on it's back. She slammed her sword down on it's shoulder. The wound was deep, before being flung off. Erin landed on her feet gracefully.
She then tried to do another flash step. However, Erin was not quite used to using flash step sequentially, and with the hanger being destroyed, there were several items littered on the ground, causing her to trip on a stray brick. She stumbled, and her sword slash only hit the beast's exoskeleton lower body. With her right under the scordana's arm, it smacked its claw on top of her, and she fell onto the floor.
[-2 HP]
[HP 37/50]
The beast's stinger stabbed downwards, about to jab itself into Erin's torso. She barely managed to swing her arm up, creating a small shadow around her arm. The stinger was caught in a dark purple mist.
[-15 MC]
[MC 85/100]
The beast was surprised by the sudden shadow, and Erin was glad that her newfound ability had worked. The shadowy mist had the power to act as a shield. She rolled out of the way from the scordana, narrowly managing to dodge it's claws.
When looking at the beast, it's stinger had disappeared, like as if it retracted into itself. It was no wonder Erin didn't see it before.
It swung out one claw at Erin, and she jumped to the side. She thrust her sword forward, and managed to hit it's pale torso, creating a stab a few inches deep. Before Erin could yank her sword out, it grabbed her with its other claws. The beast held her in the air, and crushed her body. A few sickening pops, and cracks, the claws cutting into her, squeezing her blood out. Erin physically felt her bones crunch and stab her insides.
[-18 HP]
[HP 19/50]
Erin yelled as her body was put through a level of pressure she hadn't experienced before. She dropped her sword when the beast grabbed her, and was using her strength to try to push herself out. Realizing something, she used her newfound shadow power to help. It shielded her body from getting any further damage by creating a little bit of space in the tight grip.
[-23 MC]
[MC 62/100]
Gritting her teeth, Erin spat out, "If I'm gonna get hurt, then I might as well loose health my way—"
Inside the claw, she managed to squeeze just enough space out for her palm to face outwards.
[Skill activated Blood Spray]
[-5 HP]
[HP 14/50]
Blood shot out from her palm, which destroyed the claw the beast used to hold her. Erin's body dropped onto the ground, and she quickly got back onto her feet. Every part of her hurt, but she wasn't safe yet. Erin quickly grabbed her sword, and ran towards the exit.
'Activate blood bank!' Erin thought.
[Blood bank activated]
[HP 19/50]
[HP 24/50]
[HP 29/50]
Several of Erin's wounds had partially closed up. It still hurt to move but not as much as before. She had to do a tactical retreat.
Guarding the exit was a singular rattaclaw. Not having the patience to deal with this, Erin ran up and stabbed it into the ground, instantly killing it.
[Basic tier beast killed]
[100 EXP gained]
[5,375/12,800 EXP]
She left the hanger, jumped over some rubble, and peeked her eyes over it. The scordana screeched, even snipping its remaining three claws at her, but did not leave the building.
'It's protecting something,' Erin thought, recalling the eggs she saw earlier.
The beast made a loud sound, no doubt alerting the other beasts in the area where she was at. Erin nervously bit at her lip. She could only hope that since it came from an intermediate beast, the basic tiers or even other intermediate ones wouldn't dare get close.
That was when she looked up in the sky and she could see it, the deathbat from before. It flew in a direction away from her, which she was glad for. She saw the power of the deathbat's supersonic explosion, and knew she wouldn't survive long against it.
'That damn beast is ruining everything! I can't take an intermediate and an advanced tier all at once.'
She let out a frustrated sigh and quietly sneaked back inside the hanger. Erin hid behind some wreckage as the scordana was standing around its eggs, carefully watching over them. She was going to need to think smarter this time. If health wasn't an issue, she could defeat the scordana easily, but it was.
Erin noticed the metal stud framing near the ceiling. It had eroded over the years, leaving some bars broken and barely keeping the roof up. All it would need were some well placed attacks, and the structure would fall onto the scordana.
Unfortunately, the shadow ability was not very offensive, leaving her no choice but to use blood swipes. Looking at the best places to aim them, Erin quickly sent out 3 red lines to the metal studs.
[-1 HP]
[-1 HP]
[-1 HP]
[HP 26/50]
They cut through them like butter, causing a creaking noise. The scordana perked it's head up, searching for the source of the sound when suddenly—!
*CRASH!*
The scordana had part of the roof fall on it, pinning it onto the ground momentarily.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Erin ran up, and stabbed the beast's torso repeatedly. This was the one part where it wouldn't be covered in an exoskeleton.
[Scordana has been killed]
[1000 Exp gained]
[First Scordana kill]
[2000 Exp gained]
[8,375/12,800 EXP]
Some part of Erin wondered why the fight against this intermediate beast was more difficult compared to before even with her improved levels, but even within a singular tier, there were differences in strengths between beasts. Plus, it was likely that the palewalker from before was considered an intermediate tier for its ability, not physical strength.
Erin was about to leave the hanger, partway through the door ready to leave, when she got a set of notifications that sent a pit in her stomach.
[Your hunger grows]
[You can no longer suppress your need for blood]
[Your HP will decrease by -1 HP every hour until you have consumed human blood]
'I drank blood! I drank it from the blood bank! Why am I still starving?!' Erin thought in frustration.
She had 26 hours at most to find some source of blood, or to find that Fex guy. However, there was something slightly more pressing, as with the loud sound Erin had created, beasts were no doubt suddenly attracted to where she was at.
If it were basic tier beasts, Erin wouldn't have much to worry about, but there was something far worse right in front of her. It was the advanced tier deathbat only a mere few meters away from her.
[Quest: Survive the encounter with the deathbat]
[Rewards: Instant level up]
The deathbat let out a super sonic wave in her direction, and she just narrowly managed to dodge the attack. She wasn't given much else time as another super sonic blast was about to hit her.
Erin was just barely able to lift up her arms, blocking with her newfound shadow powers, but it used up nearly all of her MC points.
[-58 MC]
[MC 8/100]
She was about to run off when something suddenly attached to her arm and tugged her away.
She was dragged quickly out of the hanger entrance, and yanked behind a ruined building wall near by. Turning around, Erin saw who it was. A teenager with partially slicked back hair, pale skin, and a few strings attached to his hand.
"Did you really have to call over every beast with your fighting?" The boy joked.