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"I’ve finished the daily quest, gained 15 stats from completing Essence Eaters, and I got 30 EXP. Stepping stone everything, and the more I find another shard of power, I’m that much closer to what I want."
As the light around the system interface faded into the distance, Kai pondered his new role once more. "I must continue on, continue to adapt," he swore resolutely and firmly. "Now there is no turning back. The future is mine to shape, and I will not allow the shadows to triumph."
Several steps into his stroll, the system voice suddenly bood out of the silence, booming and dictatorial:
[Ding! SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Waring: Three Zombie Ants are nearby.]
Kai stopped in his tracks. "Three? Again?" he snarled with cruel delight and annoyance. "You can’t just leave alone, can you?" His mandibles snapped shut as he scowled down the dark hallway ahead of him, out of which three zombie ants could hardly be discerned stumbling out of the darkness.
Kai quickly used his unallocated stats points, "Strength: 6... Speed: 6... Stamina: 6... That’s 18 points invested," he murmured, his voice a mix of pride and determination. "I’m closer to Level 03. and these stats should help push past the difficulty. I can’t take any chances."
One of the zombie ants was in view—a horror, filthy exoskeleton and dark energy seething in the eyes. The second and third, countenances like faces of terror in nature, to the right and left of it. They walked beneath their own power and forged ahead, one labored step threatening death with every stuttering step.
As Kai’s heart was racing in his chest, he cursed under his breath, "Here goes nothing—the real test." He opened up his new stats on him and could feel the rush of power and speed flow through him. "Strength at fifteen, speed at sixteen, stamina at seventeen. See if all that power does anything to these things."
He drew a deep breath and continued, his slow, low tones, "I’m not going to let you eat you ugly monster."
The zombie ants advanced, a grisly trio advancing in neat, if not attractive, formation. The front ant growled out a rasping, guttural snarl as it advanced. Kai sidestepped with a flash of speed, his Speed 16 taking over. "Too slow!" he cried out as he batted aside the awkward blow which had been directed at his head.
The claws of the beast consur shrieked on the rock Kai had left, echoing down the tunnel.
"Eat that!"
Kai yelled, not from fear but because it was thrilling to be battling. He powered up his exoskeleton, and his Tiny Tank, and his exoskeleton transford into faster armour. "Try and get through this," he bellowed and lunged forward.
The zombie ant recovered quickly and struck again, far stronger this ti. Tainted aura burst forth from it, and a blast of darkness energy tore from its lifeless body. Kai braced himself, clenching his mandibles as the blast hit his armored exoskeleton. He felt numbness wash over him, and he gritted his teeth. "That all you’ve got?" he jeered, his voice rebounding off black, empty space.
The second zombie ant, though, began its slow but inevitable walk towards him. "You think you can just overwhelm with numbers," Kai growled, his eyes afire as he weighed his options. He dodged the second ant’s attack by milliters. "You’re too slow to be any threat," he taunted, his voice thick with gallows humor.
And finally, the third zombie ant—a grotesque, stumbling monster whose tattered body shuddered weakly in spite of its corruption.
"Ti to tie this up," Kai declared firmly. He shifted position, his muscles wound up tight. "I have a job to do, and no zombie ant is going to get in my way to Level 10!"
But the first zombie ant - whose senses had returned after the initial assault, Kai attacked that one too. "Co on, you filthy corpse! See if you can do this," he sought. In the blink of an eye, he began using his Essence Eater skill. "Essence Eater, activate!" he snarled, his voice commanding.
A dark, foamy sheen coated his mandibles as he pulverized the moldy flesh of the first zombie ant. Instantly, a glow, syrup-like essence fluid, started to gush from the incision.
The cue signal of the system chid, affirming, "Extracting essence fluid." Gritting teeth, Kai drank in the poisoned power that coursed through him—a call that caused his limbs to shudder montarily with tangible strength.
"Yes!" he yelled, gaining speed. "That’s it—all of it makes stronger!"
The zombie ant eyes blazed with anger determination as it was being drained. It could feel his internal power vanishing with each drop that was being drained from him.
The system chid in:
[Ding! SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
STAT POINTS 2, and
100 EXP for killing the first zombie ant.]
Triumphant smile twisted his jaws. "One down, two to go," he stated resolutely. The body of the first zombie ant fell to the ground; its corrupted energy dissipated because it twitched dead on the floor.
On the remaining enemies, Kai’s eyes shut off. "Ti to put you two out of commission," he growled. He rushed the second zombie ant, avoiding its stumbling, clumsy attack. "You’re tough, I’ll grant you that, but you can’t stand up to now!" he taunted, his voice proud of hard-won dominance.
Kai charged in with his hardened exosuit the giant swing of the zombie ant and triggered his Tiny Tank again to supplent his shield.
"Tiny Tank, hold on!" he yelled.
The system voice counted down the two activations as his exosuit glowed with the effort. Kai struck again, punching in rapid, precise strikes that wore his opponent down bit by bit. "Take that, and that!" he yelled through his teeth into the second’s capture in a furious onslaught.
The struggle went on, the pound of flesh and wail of polluted power echoing along the tunnel. Kai’s own determination never vacillated:
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