Summer's Solo Run

For a moment, Summer was able to sympathize with the female tiger. She thought the monster was just trying to protect her unborn baby.

'Oh, but then again, you monsters have decided to invade Earth. So, I shouldn't have mercy on you,' Summer finally firmed her resolve as the byakko hopped down from the rock and brandished its twin daggers. It flashed forward and in the next second, it was already about to slash one dagger at Summer.

*Clank!*

Summer raised her spear and halted the incoming blade with her spear shaft. The monster was so tall she had to extend her arms up high, thereby exposing her front side.

She was aware of this, so just as the byakko was about to use its other dagger to slash at her chest, Summer jumped back. She wasted no time as she stomped one foot on the ground.

[Rapid Growth]!

Thick roots burst out of the ground beneath the tiger and wrapped themselves around its ankles. Summer knew how annoyingly fast her opponent was, so she had to find a way to lock it in place.

With the tiger unable to move, Summer charged and thrusted her spear at its heart. But at that moment, her conscience screamed at her, which caused her to redirect the thrust and ended up piercing the tiger's shoulder blade instead.

"Roaar!" the byakko roared in pain. It stared at Summer in uncontained fury and threw one dagger at her.

Summer was able to react fast enough. She dodged to the side, but that was exactly within the female tiger's expectation. It swung its other dagger, but halfway through, the weapon underwent a slight transformation.

Blue streaks of lightning could be seen enveloping the curved blade before it extended forward and shaped a thin and long form. Like a whip made of blue lightning.

Summer had just managed to dodge the thrown dagger, so she was too late to notice the lightning whip coming at her other side. The lightning whip instantly wrapped around her body.

Not even a second later, Summer's whole senses were assaulted with probably the worst pain she had ever felt her entire life. Electric current coursed through every single cell in her body, making it grow stiff and her eyes look as if they were going to pop out of the sockets.

In the midst of her suffering, the rational part of her knew she had to act before she suffered the same fate as the group of tigers who had gone through the electric pool treatment.

She pumped out a massive amount of earth element mana out of her body and into the lightning whip wrapped around her. This caused the electric current to dull considerably. However, that didn't mean she managed to stop it completely. So she forced her arms to move, which was difficult but not impossible, since she had dampened the electric current using her earth element mana.

She raised her spear with both her hands, the tip facing downward. Mustering the strength she had left, she pushed the tip into the ground.

*Crack!*

For the second time that day, the spear's blade was planted halfway into the ground. Immediately, Summer halted the flow of her earth element mana and began to channel lightning element mana instead. Using it, she redirected the electric current coming from the lightning whip through her arms and into the lightning element-friendly weapon. Now that the electric current had the ground as its final destination, the pain assaulting her body had been alleviated, allowing her to focus on her enemy.

She glanced at the roots still wrapped around the tiger's ankles before moving her eyes down at the blue lightning coiled around her torso. 'Two can play at this game!'

[Rapid Growth]!

The roots around the monster's feet started growing again, this time faster as Summer forced her light element mana to flood them to the limit of her skill level. The byakko wriggled its body, trying to free itself from the roots climbing up its thighs and waist until they stopped right around its chest.

Now that she stopped the light element mana from extending the roots, she repurposed the mana, along with a touch of earth element mana, to make something else out of them.

From the surface of the firm roots, tens of big thorns shot out and pierced the female tiger's skin and flesh.

"Roaaagh!"

From its feet all the way up to its chest, blood spurted out of every hole made by the thorns.

[Congratulations! You just learned a skill!

Skill Name: Deadly Growth

Description: The caster uses light element mana that not only breathes life to the soil, but also makes it so that whatever grows out of it becomes deadly.

Mana Cost: 6 points/second

Cooldown: None.]

It was basically [Rapid Growth] but with a purpose to harm and kill.

Summer watched in satisfaction as the female tiger writhed and screamed in pain. She exhaled in relief as the lightning whip around her body vanished. But her relief didn't last long.

Suddenly, her peripheral vision noticed the blackhole rippling. The next second, the battered body of the mutated tiger shot out of it. It was clearly close to dying, but it was still able to muster the last bit of its strength to speed toward Summer.

Summer's body was still weak from the earlier electrocution, so she wasn't able to dodge the pouncing tiger. She raised her arms out of reflex, but the tiger wasn't aiming for her chest.

It leapt toward her abdomen, mouth open and fangs bared.

*Chomp!*

It sank its teeth into the left side of Summer's stomach.

"Agh!"

Summer screamed as she flailed her right hand, desperately searching for the comforting feeling of her spear. But she realized she had left the weapon planted into the ground. It was only less than a meter away from her, yet she wasn't able to reach it. Meanwhile, the tiger started shaking its head, causing Summer's body to be yanked side to side.

Blood kept pouring out of her wound and through the tiger's fangs. Her Health plummeted. She didn't have as much HP as TJ, so she wouldn't be able to last for long. Her mind was starting to get blurry, but she still had enough consciousness to shoot [Earth Bullet] into the tiger's skull. Thrice.

This caused the already dying tiger to reach the single digits of its total HP. Which meant, Summer still had a chance to free herself from the monster's jaws and heal herself.

Not even half a minute later, the mutated tiger's grip on her finally went loose, indicating that it had finally reached the end of its life. A roar sounded from the direction of the byakko, but Summer couldn't pay it any mind as she used both her hands to pry open the dead tiger's jaws and shoved the monster's body away. She immediately plopped down to the ground.

But before she could begin casting [Lesser Heal], the ground shook as heavy footsteps rushed toward her. She snapped her head and saw the byakko had somehow managed to free itself from the thorny roots. Its body was riddled with many holes and deep scratches, but its eyes showed only wrath. It leapt at Summer, who was still sat on the ground.

Summer raised her right hand, as if that alone could protect her body against the raging tiger. The metallic glint of the dagger's blade was all that Summer could see through the gaps between her fingers before a sharp pain assaulted her hand.

The dagger had pierced her palm, half of its blade went through her flesh and bones and its tip was only an inch away from her right eye. Out of a mix of shock, fear, pain, and the effect of her low Health, she struggled to remain conscious.

Summer's mind was slipping.

And all she could see before she lost concsiousness was a bluish blur slashing across the byakko's neck, severing its head from its body.