Against The Mantis

First thing I need to do is look for it's weak point. What area do I have to punch through in order for me to deal damage to it?...

Even if I do manage to punch it, is my body strong enough to deal damage to it?.

A monster the size of an adult human, with I the body of an infant..., I might have Strengthened my body with Mp, but is it enough to accomplish killing this monster?.....

No..., I shouldn't think of such discouraging thoughts. My goal is to survive this hellish place, and to do that I need to get even stronger.

The only way to acquire strength is through leveling up, and I can only level up by killing other monsters. Like it or not, that is what I have to do, It is kill or be killed.

The moment I hesitate or try to draw back, is the moment I will die. I need to understand that the monster before me is still just another of the many monsters yet to come.

It is a monster that is no stranger to death, If I can be killed, then so can it.

With its height, I am sure it will have trouble with speed while I can take advantage of my small body to continue attacking it in various sides.

The moment I crawl out of this hole, I will be within its range. I have to strike first without giving it time to collect its thoughts during that time.

Whatever fear I am feeling for it, I need to drop it in this hole and not take it with me.

Fear solves nothing but will only hinder what needs to be done.

With my resolve once again steeled, I make my way out of the hole I was in.

Damn it's really huge. But no matter, as long as it has a body, I can hurt it.

I will go for the leg it is using to stand, that will bring down its whole body and give me an advantage to aim my Dirt ignition skill at its eyes, then I will have the time to look for it's soft spot.

With my body strengthening skill activated, I crawled out of the hole.

With its head facing sideways of me, I ran towards its leg and punched it but to my surprise, my attacks had no visible effects except for calling for its attention.

ho shit....

With my level up, I am now capable of speech.

Maybe I can communicate with it and persuade it to let me go.

"Mr praying mantis, you don't suppose we can work this out with words instead of violence?,"

"I see that even at this moment you are still praying, am I to believe that you are a devote worshipper just like me?, even so I am sure we can work things out and come to a reasonable conclusion if we can jus...."

It sent its left hand flying my way and I dodged it by jumping further back

guess that is a no to using non violence?.

It attacked me again with its hands and I moved away from its range and went after its leg.

I connected my fist to its leg and again no damage.

Although I did it no damage, the exchange has given me hope that this monster is not unbeatable.

In exchange for having such a large body mass, it lost the Agility advantage.

It is a monster that has prioritized defense and heavy attack output over speed, while I am a monster with speed over heavy attack damage.

In this face off, the one to deal the first damage is the one that will come out on top and that one will be me.

I have speed while it has defense, as long as I can stop its attacks from reaching me, I can win.

With my speed, I will keep on bombarding it with my fist in every corner of its body,

Not every part of its body will be as tough as its leg, there has to be a weakness somewhere and I have to find it.

I keep on delivering attacks on its body while also avoiding its sharp scythe like hands aimed at me.

If that hand gets me, I am done for. That is why I have to find the weak spot before it does.

Thanks to the boosting of my physical prowess with the Mp, I am able to keep up with its movement.

Found it, the weak spot.

It is just right below its body and between its legs.

When I punched that part, I felt it was soft and weaker compared to the other part of its body.

The only problem is, after I punched it, I was immediately sent running with its claws aiming for me.

It seems to now be aware of my intentions as it has firmly closed off any opening leading to the weak spot.

A smart one i got here?....

No matter how wise you are, you cannot be compared to me a former human who managed to escape the claws of the loan sharks, I will outsmart you.

I circle around it with my speed, looking for ways to go in and also for it to drop its guard,

It kept on aiming its claws at me while I circle it and I kept on dodging,

I timed my actions and jumped on the claw as I saw it come closer to me.

It swung the claw I was on around as it struggled to get me off of it.

During its moment of struggle, the claw got close to a wall and I took that opportunity to jump off of it and onto the wall.

I was now high off from the ground and have managed to overcome the height difference between me and the praying mantis.

With this distance, I can do it.

I lept off from the wall and latched myself straight unto the praying mantis head

eheh, now you are done for.

Skill, Dirt ignition.

I activated the skill, and as usual, dust particles gathered on the praying mantis face thus rendering it temporarily blind.

I came down from the head of the praying mantis that was struggling to get the dust off of its eyes and rushed over to its underbelly where the weak spot is.

Once I get there, I plan on pummeling it until my fist gets through it....

{Ding}.