Beware the Gandr-gator!

Krrrrllllll!!!

A monster emerged from the darkness into the circle of light. It was over five feet high and twice the width of a human being. It had reptilian features with a large snout and claws. However, its shoulders and torso were human-like. Enormous muscles heaved as the creature looked around the area. Serpentine eyes flicked and spotted its targets.

Krrrrllllll!!!

"Quick! Before it goes into a rage!" Alice shouted. The girl had bravely walked into the darkness using night vision to bait a gandr-gator into following her. But she found three of them. It took her several minutes and plenty of HP and MP loss to get rid of the chase. In the end, the fastest among them had followed her out into the light.

Skylar folded her hands and began muttering a quick succession of chants.

𝔐𝔩𝔪𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔨𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔲 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔞𝔯 𝔰𝔨𝔣𝔫𝔠𝔰 𝔨𝔴𝔬𝔟𝔡𝔲𝔢𝔥𝔦𝔩 𝔰𝔨𝔪𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔶𝔲𝔩

Piper could not make sense of the words. He knew mages did not need the Trinity System to cast magic. However, magical power could be quadrupled through God Formula equations.

Krrrlllll!!!

The gandr-gator bellowed and reared on its legs as if about to sprint. It had tar-black, bony scales on most of its hulking body. The scales radiated an ominous haze.

Alice tried to read the monster's information.

[ Appraise Species ]

[ Error! ]

[ Appraisal Failure ]

[ Possible Cause: Special Class Monster ]

The girls shot a glance at the cyborg. "Worth a try. Piper! Did you get something?"

"Have patience. I'm trying!"

[ User: PiperPiper ]

[ Level 42: Cyborg ]

[ Research Mode ]

[ Level 10 Appraiser ]

[ Appraise Species ]

...

[ Results ]

[ Species: Gandr-gator ]

[ Unclassified: Level 35 ]

[ Error! ] [ Requires Elaborate Appraisal ]

[ Initiate? ] [ Yes/ No ]

Piper bit his lip and looked at his party mates pleadingly. "I'll have to make an elaborate appraisal. It will take a few minutes. You girls need to keep the monster busy in the meantime, please?"

Alice and Skyler nodded at him. "Go ahead."

[ Initiate EA? ] [ Yes ]

[ EA Running ]

[ EA ||||||1% ]

[ Estimated Time of Completion: 00:02:00 ]

Krrrlllll!!!

The gandr-gator bounded towards Alice. Its pillar-like legs were surprisingly fast.

All three in the team had activated Agility Dynamic Skill, with Fast Recovery and Enhanced Strength, among others. It wasn't a fight where you'd like to pull your punches.

The monster closed the gap so fast that Alice did not have time to respond.

Boom!

A shockwave radiated from their contact as the gator bombarded the girl with his clawed arms.

Alice's earth shield shattered, and she was thrown backward. Her body flipped twice before she tumbled and rolled to a stop.

[ DMG 2300 ]

[ AFTER DMG 343 ]

[ HP -2463 ]

The girl tried to her feet but barely made it up on her knees. The gator's attack had clawed through Providence labs' unbreakable Mythic armor. Alice's gear fell apart, along with her clothes. A horrendous gash ran across her bare torso. She collapsed to the ground with a thud as she took the after-damage.

[ User: Alice Trinity ]

[ Level 39: Human ]

[ MP: 7403/ 9500 ]

[[[ HP: 13/ 8000 ]]]

[ Warning! ] [ Low HP! ]

Alice's HP meter turned red. The gandr-gator walked towards the fallen girl to finish the job.

"Noooo!" Skylar cried out.

The monster turned towards her voice.

Skylar was furious. She formed quick symbols with her hands and chanted fortifying words of magic.

𝔐𝔩𝔪𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔨𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔲 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔞𝔯 𝔰𝔨𝔣𝔫𝔠𝔰 𝔨𝔴𝔬𝔟𝔡𝔲𝔢𝔥𝔦𝔩 𝔰𝔨𝔪𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔶𝔲𝔩

Bling!

A glowing pentagram appeared under the young mage's feet. It split and went in five directions around the area.

Blup! Blup! Blup!

Piper looked with astonishment as a swamp appeared under the gator's feet. The monster grunted in confusion, unable to find a way out.

"Piper! The appraisal! How long is it going to take?"

[ EA ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||52% ]

[ 00: 00: 59 ]

"A minute at most!"

Skylar turned towards the monster. "I'll kill you before that! You mindless beast!"

[ Firebath ]

Roar!

A vortex of dancing fire rushed at the gandr-gator. It engulfed the monster and seemed to consume it. Piper looked away, dazzled by the sudden brilliance of flames.

Once Skylar's magic died down, she fell to her knees.

[ User: Skylar Trinity ]

[ Level 38: Mage ]

[ MP: 1633/ 11000 ]

[ HP: 6845/ 7000 ]

The smoke dissipated within seconds because of the wind.

[ DMG 0 ] [ Immune ]

"What the fuck!" she cried out in a stupor.

Meanwhile, the gator had tucked his limbs and rolled himself into a creature ball. Perhaps that was its defense mechanism.

Its scales converged to several points, coalesced, forming five stakes.

Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! They shot out from its body like arrows.

"Watch out!" Piper warned his teammate.

The stakes ripped into Skylar's body. She barely got the chance to let out a cry of pain.

[ Critical Hit! ]

[ DMG 6000 ] [ AFTER DMG 799 ]

[ HP -6799 ]

[ User: Skylar Trinity ]

[ Level 38: Mage ]

[ MP: 1633/ 11000 ]

[[[ HP: 46/ 7000 ]]]

[ Status: Gator Infection ]

[ Warning! ] [ Low HP! ]

The girl collapsed to her side, on the brink of death.

Skylar's fall shattered her illusory magic around the monster. The gator recovered from the confused state and found its feet.

Piper's eyes widened in horror as it turned towards him.

[ User: PiperPiper ]

[ Level 42: Cyborg ]

[ Research Mode ]

[ Level 10 Appraiser ]

[ Appraise Species ]

[ EA ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 79% ]

[ 00: 00: 39 ]

Piper racked his brains. 'If I go into battle mode to defend myself, I will have to cancel the appraisal. Then we'll have come here for nothing. The sacrifices would be in vain.'

Then an idea occurred to him. He was always prepared for emergencies, anyway.

The cyborg could not access Battle Mode. However, he could enter his Inventory section on the WTN.

[ Inventory ]

Piper selected several items quickly.

[ Red Health Potion x2 ]

Potion bottles appeared in his hands, and he chucked one each at Skylar and Alice. The bottles shattered on their bodies.

[ HP +1000 ]

[ User: Skylar Trinity ]

[ HP: 1046/ 7000 ]

...….

[ HP +1000 ]

[ User: Alice Trinity ]

[ Level 39: Human ]

[ MP: 7403/ 9500 ]

[[[ HP: 1013/ 8000 ]]]

Both girls opened their eyes and looked around. It took them a few seconds to understand the situation.

The cyborg retrieved a last item. His last resort.

[ Uploaded Material ]

[ Caution: Non-game items may not work on the WTN ]

"I don't care!"

[ Piper Rail ]

A mammoth gun appeared in Piper's arms. It was almost three feet long and a foot wide.

"What the hell is that?" Skylar whined at him.

"It looks cool, right? I made it in my workshop. The weapon is a modified railgun that shoots uranium pellets. I call it the PiperRail. It can shatter legendary-tier shields. I was kind of saving it for another day. However, this is as good a time as any to test out my latest weapon."

Piper saw Skylar scoff even in her battered state. 'I like her,' he told himself.

The gandr-gator reared and posed to attack again.

Piper knew that one hit from the monster would probably kill him point-blank. In research mode, he had no shields to act as shock absorbers.

He also realized that while his assembled weapon was mighty, it was unlikely to slow down a level 35 gandr-gator.

"Girls, here's the plan." Pipe shouted out instructions.

[ EA ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 79% ]

[ 00: 00: 17 ]

Alice and Skylar activated Lightfoot and Agility skills. They rushed to either side of the cyborg, facing the opposite. The girls locked their arms with his, while Piper brought forth his foot-wheels.

"Go! Go! Go!" Piper screamed as the gandr-gator bounded towards him. The girls dragged him backwards and dashed towards the city walls. The monster was faster, seconds away from reaching him.

Krrrrllllll!!!

In that split second, Piper snipped the safety of his gun off and pressed the trigger.

Rat-at-tat-tat-tat! Rat-at-tat-tat-tat!

Rat-at-tat-tat-tat! Rat-at-tat-tat-tat!

Uranium slugs fired out of the railgun and exploded against the gandr-gator.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Krrrrllllll!!!

[ DMG 65 ]

[ DMG 65 ]

[ DMG 51 ]

[ DMG 22 ]

[ Combo Hit! ] [ DMG 110 ]

The damage barely brought down the HP of the monster. However, the attack slowed it down considerably. Alice and Skylar took the chance to put considerable distance between them and the gandr-gator.

[ EA ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 100% ]

[ 00: 00: 00 ]

[ Elaborate Appraisal Complete ]

[ Results ]

...

"Oh boy," Piper muttered, reading the detailed report.

"What does it say?" Alice asked, out of breath. The cyborg eyed the monster in the distance. It quietly retreated into the shadows.

"It says... we are royally fucked." He lookedup at the girls and there was terror in his eyes. "We need to get on radio with Noah and Drake immediately!!"