A Monster

Ever since that centipede monster ambushed me, I have been trying to get stronger. I have been training everyday nearly nonstop, for the past year, and I have no idea if it's showing any progress since I have yet to fight any monsters, but today I'll change that.

Just physical training won't get me anywhere, I need combat experience to become truly strong.

Today, I was out and about to solve that, I need combat experience. Sure, I may not be getting paid for my hero work, but I'll work hard and take the examination again in the future!

I wore a sports bra and shorts as they'd allow me to move the easiest along with an old pair of sneakers. I pretended I was out for a jog, since I thought people might judge me for wearing so little.

Weird anxiety.

At some point, I had lapped the whole city. I don't know how I didn't notice that I did, and I wasn't even that tired.

The run was mostly useless, since I didn't find a thing. Since the hero association was created, the amount of monsters that have caused casualties has significantly gone down in the last year or so.

But that also meant that monsters were less common, as they're confidence had started to significantly decrease. Even though people turn into monsters due to extreme amounts of negativity, that doesn't mean they magically gain confidence to fight those stronger than themselves.

"I'll just try again tomorrow." I muttered to myself as I started to jog home, the long way of course, I wanted to test my endurance more.

As jogged passed a few groups of people I heard a scream from up ahead. I quickly spotted something strange. A man started to stretch out, creepily, his body starting to morph into a pale figure with any bodily features becoming completely smooth.

It looked like a poorly made doll shaped out of white clay.

A gurgling sound came from the new monster as the volume of its voice rose significantly.

One of its arms stretched out toward the woman who screamed, and by instinct I had already run toward her. I arrived before the monster's arm did and grabbed the woman.

I didn't know, but I had just travelled ten meters in less than a second.

I held the woman with one arm as I dodged the arm slithering around in the air, darting toward me from time to time.

We were fairly far from the monster at this point and I could see it stretching out its other arm toward a different fleeing citizen.

Trying my best to distract it I put the woman down and told her to run, which she happily obliged. When the stretched arm reached me I grabbed it. It was soft and strangely sticky.

When you think of sticky and white something bad immediately comes to mind, but she hadn't thought of it as she started shaking the arm, creating ripples whipping across the arm, until it tore off suddenly.

The good news was that I had successfully distracted it. The bad news is, it turned a dark, blood red colour and has extended what would look to be the head since it was on top and in the center but it looked the same as the arms and legs.

It sharpened into a red spike and the strange sense of safety I had, quickly turned into adrenaline. I dropped the rope length of arm and dodged in a roll across the ground as the monster's "head" pierced the concrete.

'Man, why does every monster need to have the strength to break concrete.' I shuddered slightly before I noticed that it was stuck.

Taking the opportunity, I jumped on to the head--

*BOOM*

The head exploded sending me high up into the air.

'Why... the fuck did it explode?'

Seeing the ground come nearer to my face, I quickly pulled myself back together and somehow managed to land back on my feet, with a little pain in both of my legs. I was still human after all, that height was nothing to scoff at. Rocket jumps are so much worse in reality.

I started coughing in the dust that was created from the explosion.

'Might invest in a gas mask in the future.'

I barely noticed a rock flying toward me through the smoke and barely blocked it with both of my arms, no way in hell would I be able to move in time.

Much faster than I expected my arms came up and blocked the rock, even allowing me to brace for the minor impact that happened.

Usually rocks would hurt more, but it didn't for some reason. Maybe I have gotten stronger than I thought!

I ran through the smoke toward the source of the rock throw and saw the left over parts of the white clay-like monster. Thankfully it seemed to be unable to regenerate, but it also wasn't dead yet.

Usually this means they have a core, or at least I think that's what it means. I am using video game logic here.

I quickly punched the monster before it could react, or at least that's what I'd like to think. It wasn't really reacting to much of anything.

When my fist connected though, the body rippled and the monster wiggled. At the same time, during my confusion, it wrapped its arm around me and shot me into a wall.

I had somehow managed to crack the wall with my body and still be alive. Everything ached for sure, I can say that much, but I had to get up, or else I'd probably get a couple of bones broken by that thing.

As I opened my eyes from the pain I saw the monster throw one of its arms toward me again. It turned red just like before and sharpened just the same.

I wasn't one to fall for the same thing twice however and barely dodge it. As it got stuck in the building again, I had created a plan in my head. It wasn't all that complicated, but it would work.

I ripped the arm out of the wall, avoiding putting too much pressure on it to avoid it exploding.

I sprinted toward the main body and threw its own arm at it. If I had thought it through a little more, I could have realized that this plan had a high chance of failing considering it could control its body so well, but the arm flew with no problem.

It seemed to be weaker than that throw it had done exemplified.

The arm collided with the monster and it exploded into white bits, leaving a black orb to roll around on the ground. It had somehow avoided the explosion.

I hadn't noticed it though, as I had passed out before I could even check the state of the monster, all the adrenaline had flowed out of me after I saw that the monster's bits went everywhere.

An old man, who had been watching the whole battle, smirked and approached Fukui.

'She seems to have a lot of potential, especially for someone so young.'