Chapter 19: First Hunting Contract 2

Allen Stryka shifted his entire weight once his left hand landed on the mutated frog. This pushed back the beast by a few steps. The young man did not let the opportunity get away.

Burn!

The flames in his knuckles intensified. He lowered his center of gravity and solidified his foothold. He then swung his body left and right to throw a barrage of punches.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The flaming fists landed on the mutated frog. The beast might have possessed the water element which was at an advantage to fire. But multiple hits of the weakened element would still accumulate to an amount of damage that would hurt the target a lot.

And then,

"[Wind Blades]!"

A voice shouted. The sound originated behind the young man who was busy punching the mutated beast. The voice belonged to the green-haired person named Gurim.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Gusts of wind blew behind Allen. It had actually gone past him and headed towards the mutated frog. Ethereal blades with a crescent shape had struck the beast. Each blade was around 40 centimeters in length. There were around five or six of them.

The young man was not able to count the exact number since he was shocked by the sudden attack. He quickly looked back to where the voice came from.

True enough, Gurim was behind him. The green-haired person had taken a stance when he unleashed his ability. He was grinning from ear to ear for some reason. He called out,

"What? I didn't say that I would not lend a help."

Allen rolled his eyes though. Where was this backrow support when he was struggling to close the distance a while ago? Why was the attack only unleashed once the young man had secured an upper-hand?

Nonetheless those were not the main issue here though.

What troubled Allen was the fact that he was taken by surprise by the back attack. The lock-on technique he devised might have enabled him to contend against the mutated frog. But he had focused too much with the beast that he had overlooked the presence of Gurim.

He shuddered on the idea of what could have happened if those wind blades were targeting him instead.

This was yet another proof that his basic level mastery of his second skill was still not enough. He had to become more adept on its usage. At least adept enough that he would never lose sight of all the factors within the area of battle. He noted to himself to improve this in the future.

Croak!

But the thoughts of the young man were interrupted by the mutated frog. The beast seemed to have noticed the lapse in attention from its assailant. It then quickly leaped back to gain some distance. It was now around twelve meters away.

"Go Allen! Take that frog down!"

Gurim ordered. He seemed to be genuinely smiling right now. Perhaps he had grown confident that he gave his command with his head held high.

Allen rolled his eyes on the other hand. How come such enthusiasm only appeared after he had endured the water tongue a few times? Could he not receive such support from the get go?

Nonetheless he rushed forward. Being bitter on such issues were not his way after all. He began weaving his body left and right once again.

Croak! Whip!

The mutated frog preempted the incoming assailant. The beast unleashed its water tongue that extended towards the young man. It seemed to be unwilling to back down as well.

Swoosh!

Allen was able to avoid the incoming whip. He had gotten used to the attack pattern of the mutated frog. And he had closed the distance between them once. He could definitely do that again.

However,

Whip!

"Ugh!"

The young man was hit by the water tongue. He was able to raise his left arm to guard against the attack. But it was not enough to completely mitigate the damage he received. His knees buckled.

The mutated frog used this chance to leap away once again. It was now around 15 meters from the young man.

"It changed its attack pattern!"

Allen spat out. He narrowed his eyes. He then rushed forward to catch up with the beast. He now considered the changes on the tongue's movement. He had also returned to the Peek-a-boo stance.

However he was unable to cope up with the new attack pattern. He could avoid the water tongue most of the time. He could also parry the attacks occasionally. But he could not manage to close in the distance. The beast was successful at staying around eight meters away.

"What's the matter? Why can't you close in anymore?"

You're the matter!

Allen wanted to shout out. But he held back himself. Saying that out loud would not help on the issue at the moment anyway.

It might indeed be the presence of Gurim that was affecting his performance. But that was not the real root cause. The young man had been too wary of the green-haired person. That was why he could not fully focus his concentration onto the mutated frog.

This was all because he was still not capable enough to lock-on the soul energy signature of two beings at the same time. This might have been a good chance to hone his manipulation technique and increase his mastery of his second skill. But the added wariness was only holding him back rather than pushing him forward.

He shook his head to wake himself up. The time was probably around seven in the evening by now. If he did not finish this battle quicky, the gates would be closed and he would have to spend the evening outside the city once again.

He still had a few things that he must do inside Nosales. He could not afford to be held back here any further. He then shouted,

"Gurim!"

"W-what?"

"Do what you have to do."

"?!"

Allen did not wait for any further reply. He rushed forward with a renewed resolve. He then evaded the incoming water tongue. Even the redirected follow-up was avoided.

The message he had given was simple: He was trusting Gurim with his life.

He had decided to focus all of his attention solely to the mutated beast. The green-haired person could now choose to attack the young man instead. The latter would then be totally defenseless.

Others might consider this as the wrong move. A foolish one even. But at this moment, the fear of being backstabbed was only shackling Allen down. If he wanted to get stronger, he had to focus on what was in front of him right now. He would then have to accept whichever consequence of this action might bring later.

Weave to the right. Weave to the left. Block!

The young man rushed forward as fast as possible. He did not even mind if he had to tank the third whip. He endured the pain to finally closed in the distance. He took a step forward. He then swung his right arm.

BAM!

A flaming right hook punch had landed on the mutated frog. The young man then followed up with a couple of punches. A barrage of fiery fists had plummeted the beast.

"[Wind blades]!"

A barrage of ethereal blades connected as well. Thankfully, they were aiming at the beast. This had no longer bothered the young man. But it did not make him at ease either.

That was because he was expecting the mutated frog to move. It was about to use the pushing force of the wind element to propel his backward leap. He was probably about to escape.

"Gurim! Wind blades again!"

Allen ordered as he gave chase. He would not let the mutated frog succeed this time. He could not guarantee that the green-haired person would follow him though. The young man could not sense his presence anyway.

And yet he chose to believe.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Ethereal blades came flying behind Allen. He then tried to catch some of those blades. He was able to grab onto one of them with his right hand. He also used his left hand to increase his grip on the blade.

Burn!

The blade made of wind ignited upon contact. Allen had experienced the sensation of affecting the wind element with his fire when he fought the white cat. But he was not planning on detonating the blade attack this time. He was aiming for something different.

Fire element had an advantage against wind. But this was not simply because the former could easily suppress the latter. Wind, or in this case Air, can also provide Oxygen for the Fire to maintain its propagation. An increase in the supply of Oxygen would increase the intensity of flames produced.

This was referred to as Induced-Draft Combustion.

Allen manifested all the fire element that he could muster. He was now struggling to keep the flames from detonating in his hands. He tightened his grip as he held the caught ethereal blade in an overhead stance.

The young man caught up with the escaping mutated frog. The beast was already injured from the barrage of attacks it had received before. That was why its speed was now reduced. The fact that the young man had anticipated its move had helped as well.

"Take this, [Blazing Blade]!"

Allen unleashed his fire infused blade attack. He moved his arms in a downward motion. The movement was similar to chopping a wood block with an axe.

BURN!

The flames detonated when the downward slash hit the mutated frog. This sliced the beast from its head down to the middle of its belly. It had almost split the frog into half.

Of course the reckless attack had not left Allen unscathed. The wind blade he caught was quite sharp. And he held it with both his hands. His fingers sustained some incision wounds. And these have worsened when he struck the beast haphazardly.

Nonetheless the young man was prepared to receive such injuries. He had decided to endure whichever pain he had to take in order to make the move succeed. He was also currently using his flames to cauterize his wounds anyway.

And besides, such pain was trivial with the victory he managed to pull off. He could confirm this when the soul energy of the mutated frog began to enter his body. He allowed his core to absorb the incoming nourishment.

Please become my strength for the future.

Allen gave the mutated frog a solemn bow. He had decided to express his gratitude whenever he hunted a beast. This was the only he way he thought to honor the fallen.