CHAPTER 22 - Hunter II

I find myself facing the armored panther on my own. The very same panther I decided to avoid at the start of all this crap when I couldn't face it.

Now however, as I face my foe in front of me, with an already worn-out blade and a time limit before the other one joins it, I stand strong. I feel confident that right this moment, as I am right now, I can definitely come on top.

The monster starts circling me before jumping at me from the side. 

I need to take care of it fast so I need to deal as much damage as I can with each hit. 

Following that, I channel qi to my feet to stand firm as I use an upward slash to parry and slash the paws from below at the same time, making the already bloodied paws bleed even more.

The feline roars at me as it charges again, this time charging at a lower height than before. That, allows me to jump over it and take advantage of the motion, I somersault and deliver another slash along its back as it flies by.

Before the monsters leave my range I grab its tail with one hand as I try to sheathe my sword with the other. 

I somehow manage to dodge the kicks of its hind legs as I follow along behind it. After several attempts to try and sheath the sword on my scabbard, I finally do it. Just in time to use my other arm with the shield strapped to block any damage I may sustain as I crash into a car nearby while being dragged.

*Crash* 

*Crash* 

*Crack*

As I am being dragged I try to get my feet on the ground to be able to exert any force at all, but not with much success though. I follow along its path, basically bumping into everything on the road: cars, light poles, signs of all kinds, and even a truck that was on the way. 

I withstand it somehow thanks to my now sturdier and reinforced body, yet it hurts like hell and the damage keeps piling up.

Having no other choice, I focus and see the next obstacle on my way as my way to the ground. I spot the car that's coming into view getting closer, so I direct my body and legs to land on it. 

Two seconds later, I finally crash onto it, this time with both legs being able to redirect my trajectory just enough to land on the pavement. There, I can finally fight in a fair scenario against the dragging strength of the guy who keeps sprinting. 

"Humph!!"

The next time the monster changes its running path I take advantage of it not having all its legs on the ground to make my move. 

Using all the strength I have on me, I pull the tail as hard and fast as I can in an upward motion, cutting it run abruptly and making it lose its footing and start flying. I swing it over me and into the ground where it lands on its back with a loud crash.

Not losing the momentum I pull again and the guy goes flying again even faster than before as there is no resistance whatsoever from its part right now. I manage to send it flying a few meters into the store next to me, smashing everything in its path and destroying it with its tough hide.

"Ahhh…damn it." I pant as I get to running at it again. I let myself get dragged only for me to get this opportunity, I can't let it go to waste.

I follow the trail that the guy left in its wake. Chasing the flying panther to follow up with another attack and keep the momentum.

I hear the crash of the tough body of the beast against the metal shelves and the sliding of the metal on the floor till it comes to a stop. 

By the time the sliding screeching stops, I am already on top of my enemy again. The feline seems hurt and worn yet still with gas on the tank. 

Not delving into it for now, I use my sword to pierce against its chest and maybe manage to end its life once and for all, yet the beast manages to react on time moving to the side and avoiding a fatal wound.

The sword, though, still hits close to the goal and gets stuck on its underbelly, close to one of its front paws.

I retreat for now and watch the panther get back up as I reach for air.

*gasp*

*gasp*

"..."

I watch as it tries to dislodge the sword from its body with no way of extracting it. It starts by clawing at the weapon, with very little results, then goes on to rub its belly onto the floor or walls, which in turn makes the sword go even deeper than it already was. 

Seconds go by and I notice the beast having problems breathing. In what I guess is a last resort it starts thrashing around into everything there is, trying to somehow get the weapon out by luck.

It's nothing new that about half a minute later, the monster ends up dead on the floor, with its belly all bruised over by all it's moving around.

At that point, after watching the feline breathe its final breath I rush to retrieve my sword and then make my way to where the other part of the fight should still be unfolding. At least that's what I hope.

I sprint through the rubble on the street until I see them at the same place where I left them. There have been a few losses I can see, but not too many. Somehow most of them are alive, they do have some injuries that range from a few scratches to some limbs that seem already non-functional.

The ones that received the worst injuries are already on the floor. Some of which I see either missing a part of their body or with big gashes on their backs from the claws of the other panther. 

I keep up the pace as I get close and prepare to re-engage with the other beast.

"Hmm" I scrutinize the place in search of any other threat just in case, but I end up with nothing, so I go for the second round.

First I try to get the attention of my foe by throwing a small chunk of a scorched car that was lying nearby, probably by an accident with the car in question. I use a little bit of qi, but not much, just enough to help me lift it and throw it effortlessly.

The amount of qi I can hold may have increased, yet the expenditure I have brought it under on this last fight was worlds apart from any other instance. Sending a monster flying on my own a couple of times is nothing to scoff at. 

So, I try to conserve every single bit of it to make it count in the approaching fight.

A loud sound is heard as the thrown object crashes in between the monster and the group of people. 

The beast quickly turns my way, clearly wary. I wait for the charge, yet the beast keeps looking and waiting for its partner to show up before coming at me, so I rush at it instead.

Not having much qi to spare, I just boost my legs to get to the beast as fast as possible. The moment I reach the 3-meter mark though, I see an opportunity and throw a knife at the beast's eye with qi giving it speed and penetration.

It strikes its eye with enough strength to go through its eyelids and destroy the eye behind. Not enough damage to be fatal other than the loss of sight, but I take it and get even closer while it roars in outrage.

I would love to end the fight in one move, yet the armor of the beast makes it impossible without a clear angle. I only succeeded before against the other one cause it was already wounded and stunned by the blunt attacks and all the throwing around.

This time, however, I don't think I will be able to do the same. I am already tired and running out of strength so I will try something different, albeit a bit risky.

I swing my sword at its neck from below, forcing it to jump and leaving its legs open to go for next. I change the path of my attack mid-way and go for the flesh just above the knee.

The sword sinks into the flesh, but not too deep. I feel the tug of the beast trying to drag me around with the weapon, so I move the sword just a little bit up and down to help it come off.

The panther lands not too far from me, clearly annoyed, yet not much damage was done. I take out a second knife and hold it in the left hand while I wield the sword on the right. 

It puts a lot of strain on my right wrist, yet nothing my actual body can take. 

I make sure that the beast gets a good look at the knife with its eyes filled with rage. I am going to play with the fact that the guy is wary of me taking the other eye with the knife, that way I may be able to create another chance to attack.

"..."

*growl*

I stand my ground as the panther looks at me while letting out a slow reverberated growl at me, probably pissed off by now of my lack of action. 

The tension builds up slowly until the panther decides it has had enough. It lets a roar as it lunges at me. It gets closer and closer as I get ready, I have been storing qi in my sword the whole stare-down, and now I just need to use it right.

I push all my focus off the blade that is already filled with energy and instead boost my whole body as much as I can in the split second the beast comes flying at me, not forgetting to drop the knife and grip the sword with both hands for added strength.

The three or so meters that separated us a while ago are nothing but a memory, and at the last moment, my legs burst with speed, helping my whole body rotate as my slash starts speeding from my waist in an upward motion following my rotation.

The panther has already left the floor behind a while ago and can only watch as I narrowly avoid its attack. 

My sword cuts through the wind as it gets to a point where it's nearly impossible to follow it. Not for me though, I continue the slash until it loses all its momentum in the air, giving it my all.

*thud* *thud*

Only two slow soft sounds are heard behind me as the body hits the ground. I don't even need to turn around to face the result to know what happened. 

My eyes fixed on the now nearly broken sword, a testament to the strength backing up my attack. It was probably the fastest swing I have done to date and I haven't even used as much qi as in other instances. 

'I am getting stronger.' I clench my fist and can't help but smile, finally seeing all my work paying off.

I know for a fact that my blade went through the tough hide of the beast, making no more than a bit of resistance at first and then going in and cutting the rest as if it were butter. 

Letting pass onto me nothing more than a slight vibration representing the resistance it found on its way through the flesh of the monster.

Once sure that this panther is dead too, I look at the group of people that remain alive. Located where their companions died, some of them are trying to "save" a few of the corpses in the ground, maybe hoping for a miracle to occur. 

Most of them, whoever, have their eyes on me. I can already know what most of them are thinking without any need to ask them directly. They are either thrilled to be rescued or scared of me, fearing that they might be the next one to go down.

Not giving it too much importance I look at my longsword, and as I inspect it, I notice that I will be needing a new one soon enough. The stress from all the clashing and infusing of qi into it till now has worn down the durability of the thing to a dangerous point.

To the level that I find it risky to use it anymore, at least when facing strong opponents. The thing is pretty much useless by now.

I sheath it nonetheless, hoping that James, the blacksmith of the base, may be able to recast it to salvage the raw materials used when making it. 

I have done some testing on it, and it seems that its ability to withstand and let qi flow is a lot better than normal steel, so I am not parting with that so easily.

That being said, I fetch the knife I used to blind this guy and the one I dropped. Then, I start making my way to the group of people. 

'Let's see what they have to say, maybe they have a base somewhere close around here. If not, I can always recruit them and bring them back with me.'