We have to jump off the cliff!!!!

FUSH! A red flash, charcoal armor, and the boy launched himself at the giant metal centipede.

"Fire fist!"

His flame-wrapped fist thrashed against the metal, but it didn't scratch the mechanical creature.

'What?'

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" The woman taunted him, "What a loser! Did you really think that attack would be enough?"

'I don't understand, this fist destroyed the other machines...'

The huge centipede swung its tail (which could be half of Its body) like a whip and struck Igneous.

The boy had never been hit by a truck, but it must have felt more or less like that. His body was thrown to the ground. The impact raised dust and sand.

"That thing is stronger than yesterday's…," Igneous complained.

"Of course It is!" The woman groaned, "When combined, they increase their power, fool. Whatever you did yesterday won't work."

The glass eye on the metal centipede's head shone, and a beam of azure blue energy was shot in the boy's direction. He reacted quickly and, in a blink, dodged the attack.

Boom! An explosion as the beam hit the ground.

'I must take care of that beam.'

The girl charged at the metallic creature, brandishing her sword.

"Aaaah!"

The sword struck metal and sounded like an insipid crash. It was a brave act to take on a mechanical monster with a small sword, but at the same time, it was quite a pitiful scene.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha," the woman burst into a derisive laugh, "so weak!"

"I am a knight!" The girl yelled, "I never give up! I never turn my back on a battle!"

The centipede hit the girl with one of Its legs and she fell with a crash to the ground.

"Breeze!" Igneous exclaimed, worried.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my babies," the woman said, raising her gauntlet.

The mechanical centipede moved as if reacting to a silent command and swung against Igneous.

Boom! The boy was thrown into the trees.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," the woman scoffed.

<User, you can activate your second elemental skill>

"Do I have a second skill?"

The huge machine swung its tail at him, but the boy managed to evade it at the last second. However, several trees took the hit and shattered into hundreds of splinters.

Igneous had to protect his face.

<Your second elemental skill allows you to absorb kinetic energy and convert it into heat>

"Damn it, I don't understand anything."

Boom! He dodged another blow.

<To explain it more simply: the more hits you take, the more powerful your fire fist attack will be>

"Now I understand."

Boom! More trees were blown to pieces.

"But that means..."

Dodge.

"...That I have to let myself be hit."

<Only what is necessary to charge energy>

Dammit…

The huge machine threw itself against Igneous, he closed his eyes and received the devastating assault. Boom! He hit the ground. Boom! He crashed into trees. Boom! He hit rocks.

'I hope that…'

Boom!

'This…'

Boom!

'…this works…'

"Why do you take the hits?" the woman asked, suspiciously.

However, the attacks did not stop.

<User, energy fully charged>

Igneous stood his ground, the mechanical monster looming in front of him as if preparing for another attack.

"Aaaah!" Fire surrounded Igneous, violent, spinning, like a tornado of flame.

'I can feel the power…'

The woman hesitated as if she barely knew true terror.

"What… What's happening? …Attack!" She ordered.

The giant centipede lunged at Igneous, but he retaliated. His fist was like a meteor of smoke and fire that destroyed half of the monstrous machine, as if nothing, as if it was wet sand.

Metal shards rained down from the sky.

[ VICTORY! RAKNA POINTS EARNED: 8]

"He… is not human…," the gauntlet woman stammered.

The girl who wasn't a breeze looked at Igneous with fearful eyes, as if he was a dangerous beast that had to be kept away from.

Poof! The armor was gone.

"What?" Igneous was confused, "What just happened? I didn't give the command."

<Your stamina depleted>

"What?"

<I told you, user. When the stamina runs out, the armor disappears until you recharge the stamina>

"Damn..."

<Using that powerful attack drained all stamina>

"What did you do to my baby!" The blue-haired woman roared, tears streaming nonstop from her eyes, "What did you do to it! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

She must not have been less than twenty years old, but she was throwing a tantrum as if she was a little girl.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" She yelled raising her right arm.

A slingshot of azure blue light was emitted from her gauntlet.

The ground shook. Igneous and the unknown girl shared a look of concern. The boy paled at the sight of a group of metal balls rolling in his direction. They were more of those machines.

He turned around and saw more of those balls, to his left, more of those balls, to his right, even more. They were surrounded by an army of machines, and the stamina had run out.

Igneous ran up and grabbed the girl by her arm.

"We have to run!"

She nodded and they fled.

They ran through trees, which shattered into hundreds of shards as the metal balls hit them. Those were like wrecking balls, smashing through anything: trees, rocks, fallen logs.

As fast as they ran, those metal spheres were faster still.

'Dammit…'

Igneous saw a cliff, which lead to a violent river.

"We have to jump!" He exclaimed.

"No! No way!" The girl refused.

"Do you have a better idea?"

The metal balls came closer, about to run over them.

The girl hesitated. He grabbed her arm tightly, held his breath, and jumped off.