CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing against hard bone echoed throughout Carriage 5.
Arka staggered back three steps. His hands gripping the iron pole trembled violently until the skin of his palms tore. Blood dripped, wetting the carriage floor.
In front of him, the Flesh Walker barely budged. The iron pole Arka had slammed with all his might only left a small crack in the grey chitin layer protecting its shoulder.
"Damn hard, you bastard!" Arka cursed, spitting blood. His eyes burned wildly. Instead of fear, the grin on his face grew wider.
The monster gave no pause. Its new, long legs exploded with terrifying speed. It was no longer the slow 'Larva'. It was a predator.
Three tentacles shot out simultaneously—two aiming for Arka's chest, one slashing horizontally to cut off his escape route.
"Duck!" Kavian shouted from behind a row of seats.
Arka's body moved ahead of his thoughts. He dropped to the floor, executing a dirty sliding tackle.
Whoosh! The tentacle decapitated the seat back where Arka's head had been a second ago. Seat foam scattered like dirty snow.
Arka didn't waste the momentum. From his lying position, he kicked the monster's knee with both feet.
Thud.
It didn't move. The monster was like a concrete pillar.
The Flesh Walker leaned down, its new clawed hand grabbing Arka's ankle.
"Got... you," the monster's hoarse voice sounded faint, mimicking broken human speech.
The monster lifted Arka with one hand like a rag doll, then slammed him into the carriage wall.
CRASH!
The glass window shattered into pieces. Arka's body slumped down. His ribs were definitely cracked, but the young man didn't scream. He actually laughed softly, his eyes starting to turn completely red.
From a dark corner, Kavian watched coldly. In his eyes, numbers floated rapidly.
[Battle Analysis]
Arka Wisesa: HP 70% (Declining)
Flesh Walker: HP 98% (Regeneration Active)
Prediction: Arka's death in 25 seconds.
"Its physical armor is too thick for your current strength, Ka," Kavian muttered softly. His Inner Sight dissected the monster's body structure like dissecting buggy code.
He saw the flow of energy—or Ether—coursing through the monster's body. The energy centered in the heart, then pumped to injured parts for regeneration.
However, regeneration had a cost. When the monster regenerated the shoulder Arka had hit, the protective layer elsewhere thinned to conserve energy.
The back of the neck. Right below the skull connection.
There was a small coin-sized gap there. Soft. Pulsating.
"Arka!" Kavian shouted, his voice sharply cutting through the roar of the rain. "Don't hit its body! Bait it to attack me!"
Arka, who had just gotten up clutching his chest, turned in shock. "Huh?! Are you crazy!"
"Just do it! I'm the bait, you're the executioner!"
Arka growled, but he obeyed. He jumped back, leaving his defenses open.
The monster, seeing weaker prey (Kavian) revealing himself in the carriage aisle, immediately shifted focus. Its predatory instinct chose the easiest target to kill.
The monster lunged at Kavian.
Kavian stood still. His heart raced, adrenaline flooding his brain, but he held his ground, forcing his legs not to run. He calculated the distance.
10 meters. 5 meters. The monster's tentacles raised, ready to pierce Kavian's heart. 3 meters.
"NOW! THE NAPE!" Kavian screamed.
At the last second, Kavian dropped, sliding flat on the floor. The monster's tentacle grazed his shoulder, tearing his shirt and scratching skin, but it wasn't fatal.
Arka, seizing the moment the monster turned its back on him, jumped.
He didn't jump to the floor. He jumped onto the carriage wall, using his legs to rebound (Wall Jump), then lunged at the monster's back.
All the pain from his cracked ribs was converted into explosive power.
Arka's Initial Skill [Unlocked]: Wrath Strike.
The iron pole in Arka's hand glowed a faint red.
"DIE!"
Arka drove the tip of the iron pole exactly into the spot Kavian had shouted. The nape of the neck.
SPLAT!
The sound was disgusting. Like stabbing a rotten watermelon.
The blunt iron tip, driven by Strength 8 + Momentum + Wrath, pierced the soft gap in the monster's neck, severing the spinal cord, and punched through out the throat.
"GYYAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!"
The monster convulsed violently. Its regeneration stopped instantly because its central nervous system was severed.
Arka didn't stop. He landed on the monster's back, then with a primal roar, he twisted the embedded iron pole. Stirring the insides.
The monster's nervous system was completely destroyed. Its giant body collapsed forward, nearly crushing Kavian who was still lying on the floor.
Silence.
Only the sound of the two friends' heavy breathing could be heard. Arka stood atop the monster's corpse, his chest heaving, blood (his and the monster's) dripping from his chin.
Meanwhile, Kavian adjusted his cracked glasses while wiping blood from his shoulder. The awaited system notification finally appeared, floating in gold above the corpse.
[Target Eliminated: Flesh Walker (Rank 8)]
Experience Distribution:
Arka Wisesa (Damager): 60%
Kavian Arsatya (Strategist): 40%
[LEVEL UP!]
Kavian Arsatya rose to Rank 9 (Middle Stage).
Reward: +2 Free Attributes.
Arka climbed down from the corpse, then collapsed onto a seat. His iron pole fell with a clatter.
"You're crazy, Kav," Arka laughed shortly, then winced holding his ribs. "Bait? I swear, if I was a second late, you'd be a skewer."
"My calculations were accurate," Kavian replied flatly, though his own hands were trembling. He walked over to the corpse. "You're the type that gets stronger the angrier or more hurt you are. I had to create an extreme situation to bring out your Rank potential."
Kavian bent down, using his metal pen to dig into the monster's chest which was already open.
"What are you doing?" Arka asked in disgust.
"Looting," Kavian answered briefly. "System said 'New Era'. That means new resources."
The tip of his pen touched something hard inside the monster's black heart. Kavian pulled it out. A small crystal the size of a marble, cloudy red and pulsing with warmth.
[Item Obtained: Low-Grade Flesh Core]
Usage: Restores Vitality or crafting material.
Sanity Risk: Low.
Kavian threw the crystal toward Arka.
"Swallow it," Kavian ordered.
Arka caught it with one hand. "Are you crazy? This is a corpse's organ!"
"It's medicine," Kavian said coldly. He looked at Arka's Status Window where his HP bar was flashing red. "Do you want to heal and be able to carry Clara, or do you want to bleed to death here?"
Arka stared at the slimy crystal, then at Kavian. Kavian's flat gaze left no room for debate.
"Dammit," Arka grumbled.
He popped the crystal into his mouth and swallowed it whole without chewing.
The next second, faint red steam rose from Arka's pores. The pain in his chest subsided. The wounds on his palms closed slowly. His eyes widened in shock.
"Good?" Kavian asked cynically.
"Tastes like eating frozen blood," Arka replied, stretching his body. "But... damn, the energy feels real."
Kavian nodded. He was done here. His eyes shifted to the door of Carriage 4. The darkness there felt thicker and... whispering.
"Now," Kavian said, staring at the door with a vigilant Inner Sight. "Clara's turn. Pray she's not a monster when she wakes up."
Kavian stepped first, followed by Arka who picked up his iron pole again. The trio had to be complete. Whatever the condition.