Jace gripped his silver sword again, watching another Taurus with darker fur rapidly approaching them. The ground shook with each heavy step from its hooves as it transitioned into a full throttle of an actual bull, leaning its horns forward, aiming to impale the two Climbers in the same motion.
They both dove out of the way, as Erin nocked an arrow onto her bow, preparing to release another shot of her Skill.
But the Taurus was already upon her, by the explosive power from its thick thighs, the monster lunged and raised both fists above.
Erin jumped from her feet, barely avoiding the tremendous force crashing down where she had just been.
Jace quickly capitalized over the monster's attack, slashing his silver sword across its thigh again in the same strategy like its former slain brethren.
His face dropped as he realized how shallow his cut had looked in the short second of realization. Because without the supporting strength of his Skills, his attacks were nothing short of powerless in the nineteenth Floor.
The Taurus angrily huffed, swinging its forearm to the right side where the feeble sting of pain had come from.
Jace moved his silver sword for a block, shielding his body behind the metal when the monster's forearm crashed into him, wheezing all of the air from his lungs.
The world had spun as his body violently tumbled through the flat grass. Surprisingly, nothing had felt broken nor was he knocked unconscious. Apart from the feeling of his chest caving in, he was still able to stand. Broken ribs had never really killed any Climber, after all.
He spat some of the blood that formed at the back of his throat. Then, he pulled his silver sword into view.
It was broken. The cheap, replicated sword he had bought for a single chrome coin was broken.
As he tossed away the shattered sword, a sharp sensation spiked in his brain again, overriding his nerves to roll forward. Jace quickly responded and followed his instinct, just a few seconds before the Taurus had slammed its fists on his body.
He turned back, watching the menacing bull step from the clouding smoke as its eyes gleamed with crimson malice. In the short time of their strange staredown, he allocated his Soul Points in a logical desperation.
[STR: 5 > 7]
Jace dashed back to where believed Erin was, ignoring the burning radiance filling his veins.
[Your Soul strengthens…]
There was no possibility where he could face the Taurus without a weapon, let alone his puny hands against its thick skin. If there really was a way to slay the monster, Erin would be the one to know.
Because right now, his chances of visiting the Void had only become greater.
He felt his brain spike again, abruptly jumping from his path as the Taurus slammed its hand into a handful of soil, missing the supposed human remains.
'Whatever is going on inside my head…is the only reason my body is still intact. Could it be the new Skill I obtained?"
The Taurus turned its unscathed body, preparing to charge into another burst against the Climber.
However, even with Jace's newly obtained Skill, his battle of endurance would have been easily lost. After all, he did not stand eight feet tall with thick muscles that oozed with strength.
Amidst his calculating thoughts on how to escape from its definite meal of human meat, its own flesh was ruptured by a fired arrow.
The Taurus staggered back, wincing at the gushing blood at its wide and thick neck.
Jace sprung from the grass and dashed away from its field of view, taking advantage of its diverted attention.
'It's not cowardly at all! I don't have my damned sword! How am I supposed to slay any monsters without a sword?!'
Though, as he feared, the bull's insatiable appetite for humans could not be swayed so easily. With a simple turn of its abnormal skull, it had immediately caught the auburn boy trying to scurry away.
Jace swerved between more rubble, hearing some of the others he passed a few seconds ago explode into heavy smoke. Their plan of keeping the monster stationary while Erin struck it with her Skill was no longer effective.
He didn't have his sword. Engaging with the monster with only his bare hands had seemed beyond insanity in his mind yet there was truly no other option.
Erin couldn't provide support if the Taurus was actively chasing the auburn boy like a twisted child's game.
The bull's real weapon was its thunderous quadriceps, capable of exploding in tremendous maneuvers that carried over four hundred pounds of pure muscle. That was why Jace focused on severing its legs in their first encounter.
But without a sword, or any real weapon, how could he take down the monster without sacrificing something in return?
Jace's eyes flared open, feeling his brain override his nerves once more, and jumped back.
The Taurus slammed its whole body into where he was headed, caving another crater into the flat grass as the area flooded in smoke. If it wasn't for his new Skill, he would have been gruesomely squashed.
The Taurus turned around, its eyes still gleaming in a crimson glow towards the dazed human.
Jace coughed, dragging his body further away from the approaching monster. The destructive slam had enough force to generate a shockwave, knocking him off of his feet.
It leaned forward, lowering its horns, and charged.
His eyes widened as his legs sprung from the ground in a hurry. That slight moment of hesitation was enough for the Taurus.
The horn of the monster's abnormal skull and impaled into the right side of his chest, raising him in the air in a triumphant bellow.
Jace cried out in pain, trying to dislodge himself from the curving horn before he would fall deeper into its grasp.
But the Taurus grabbed his body instead, pulling him free from the bloodied horn and slammed the Climber to the ground.
A rush of blood forced itself through Jace's mouth as his vision blurred in stars. The monster had its entire hand laced around his body, crushing his ribs and squeezing his organs together.
Then the bull staggered back, shielding its face from the hail of continuous arrows firing in its direction. They weren't precise like last time, aiming for the monster's vitals, but rather in an impulsive action.
It charged towards the new target, leaving the auburn boy motionless on the ground with blood leaking from his mouth.
'No—I can't stop now…'
He painfully groaned, turning his body over with the remaining strength he had.
The Soul flickered into his eyes.
[HP: < 63/134]
Jace was alive, and ignoring his internal bleeding, he could still fight.
With another agonizing groan, he finally stood from the ground and accelerated his pace, following the sound of crashing rubble and loud bellows.
She couldn't die, especially not on his behalf. He had brought her here because he was truly envious. If anyone had to die, it should have been him.
Jace was a pathetic boy with a pitiful Soul, and yet, he absolutely hated to see another person die because of that.
The Taurus continued to smash through another mound of rubble, searching for the hiding archer. Its nostrils snorted loudly in aggravation as nothing in its vision looked like a human.
Then, a shattered silver sword bounced off its skull.
The monster slowly turned with its gleaming crimson eyes, facing the auburn boy just at the end of its rampaging spree.
Jace wiped his brow and spat away the collecting blood in his mouth. There was a gaping hole at the right side of his leather cuirass but he didn't care. Pain was going to be temporary.
"Come get a piece of me, you bastard."
The Taurus lowered its head again, presenting one of the bloodied horns, and boomed into another frenzied charge.
Jace deeply exhaled and closed his eyes, feeling the ground tremble as the monster rapidly came closer.
'Here goes.'
[Curse Activate: Unbridled]
A surge of exhilaration coursed through his body, brimming the auburn boy with unnatural power. He was starting to become consumed by raw strength and total insanity.
The Taurus rammed its horns directly onto the lone Climber, bellowing in another triumphant victory of fresh human meat. But, then it realized, its movements were slowing down. It was coming to a stop.
The monster lifted its gleaming crimson eyes and widened in shock.
Jace caught the two horns with his bare hands, drifting on the flattened grass as the two of them left heavy streaks.
The bull clapped its hands together, aiming to completely crush the human in its palms.
It had caught nothing.
An uppercut shot through the gap between its arms, sending its bone-like helmet back.
Jace jumped from the ground, latching himself on its skull, holding two of its horns for leverage, and swung his body.
The Taurus opened its gleaming eyes as the flat end of two boots slammed into its face, staggering it back even further.
Jace dropped to the ground, cackling in laughter by the intoxicating power of the Curse. Then, his nerves jumped, signaling him to move.
The Taurus punched the spot from where he fell, but had hit nothing again.
The auburn boy was simply too fast for the muscular, standing bull. He was now twice his original Level.
Jace dashed around, keeping his eyes locked on the agitated bull. He had a minute to end the fight. There wasn't any spare time to figure out what would happen after his Curse would wear off.
Slay the monster. That was the only thought repeating inside his head.
Another heavy blow echoed through the glade as more darkened bruises tainted the Taurus's rippling muscle. Jace struck the same thigh, again and again. He knew monsters could feel pain. To have the same spot hammered continuously, it wouldn't be long until the bull found it unbearable.
Jace dashed in again, drawing his tightly clenched fist and struck its left thigh another time, then quickly jumped back before it could even react.
The Taurus buckled down, feeling one of its legs collapse in strength, and bellowed with excruciating pain. Then its skull jolted forward as a human latched onto its head again.
Jace roared, summoning the doubled strength of (Curse of Unbridled) and broke one of its horns from the skull.
But the Taurus caught him with its hands before he would fall to the ground, staring at the auburn boy with rageful intent.
Jace strained his voice, feeling his insides crush again in the bull's grasp. He tried to pry himself free as another spurt of blood forced itself out his mouth.
Then an arrow whistled between the agony, striking the Taurus in the neck, and released him from his succumbing fate.
He dropped to the ground as his nerves were overridden again.
The crippled Taurus slammed both of its fists onto where Jace had laid. It huffed in fear to see its hands empty of human blood.
Jace jumped from behind, landing on its slanted back and raised the broken horn in the air. He roared again, driving the bone tainted with his own blood into its skull.
With fourteen STR empowering the blow, it had no problem shattering inside its head. After all, the horn and skull were made from the same material and density.
The Taurus froze still with its own gush of blood flowing from the lodged horn, then toppled over with its gleaming crimson eyes fading in existence. The monster had been slain.
Jace stumbled off as its body dissolved into golden mist.
[Youhaveslain Taurus. You have gained experience.]
The Soul echoed into his ears again.
[Congratulations, Climber Jace! You have leveled up!]
[Congratulations, Climber Jace! You have leveled up!]
He tried to steady his breaths, pulling his trembling and bloodied hands to his eyes.
'How…long do I have left?'
Erin hesitantly walked closer to him as if she couldn't believe what sort of brutal spectacle she just witnessed. She called his name, afraid he might have been a standing corpse.
"Jace?"
Jace slowly turned to her, meeting her blue eyes through the transparent window of the Soul.
[You have 2 Soul Points remaining.]
He managed a flat smile.
"It's over. We won."
She nervously laughed, but her next words were drowned by the same sharp sensation spiking in his brain.
His eyes widened in horror, snapping to another direction of an incoming threat.
'No…no! You can't be serious!'
As much as he was forever grateful for his new Skill to sense immediate danger, he would have never wanted it to trigger now.
Erin followed his eyes, studying a seemingly normal blockade of stone debris.
"What's wrong? What are you looking at—"
Then it exploded into a cloud of smoke, and what emerged showed them the sadistic cruelty of the Tower. Its wave of monsters had not ended yet as another Taurus rapidly approached them, charging with a new set of horns and oozing muscle.