Fighting a Rank 2 Beast

Lightning danced madly around Lin as he stood staring at the approaching enemy. He calmed his breathing and readied himself for the threat. The beast reached him in three heartbeats and blasted another ball of lightning towards him. He clenched and punched fiercely towards the incoming ball of lightning. The two forces collided and caused a large explosion of black and blue lightning.

Though his hand was numb and he fell back a few steps due to the impact, he immediately rushed at the beast and began punching it madly with his all. He knew if he showed even a moment of weakness, he will be slain. The beast also retaliated by spewing lightning and swinging its tail madly at him. If anyone of the same level entered that battlefield, there was no doubt they will be gravely wounded.

Though Lin kept up with the beast a bit, he was still on the losing end. His entire body was injured, with his clothes ripped in several places. Even though they seemed evenly matched, his poor skill could not enable him to achieve an easy victory. The beast was slowly driving Lin back. He knew if he did not do anything quickly, he was bound to die.

"I have gone in over my head this time. How am I supposed to defeat this beast? Its speed makes it difficult for me to wound it as it avoided most of my attacks. If I keep going like this, I will lose. No question about that; I can't just leave like this." he gritted his teeth and jumped towards the beast. He grabbed it by the neck and wrapped himself around its body.

The beast spread lightning across its body to shake him off. He gritted his teeth and continued to hold onto the beast. He switched from lightning to flames and raised the temperature as high as possible. If he couldn't beat it head-on, he was going to turn himself into a living inferno and roast the hell out of the beast. The beast squealed in agony and began thrashing around. The beast smashed into trees and rocks around but it was futile.

Lin had attached himself to the beast like a leech and refused to let go no matter how much the beast thrashed around. He kept raising the heat of the flames till he could not raise it any further. After thrashing around, the beast eventually threw itself off a cliff into a canyon. If its prey wasn't letting go, it would just drag it to death with it. Lin realising what it was up to slid above the beast to have it cushion him from the fall. The two landed on a rock sending debris around and bounced into a stream flowing through the canyon. The beast's skull split into two while Lin broke a few ribs and bones in his arm.

Still clinging to the beast, they were both dragged by the stream which flowed down the lightly steeped canyon.

<Lightning Element beast Procompsognathus Hunted>

A message popped up in his head yet he didn't pay it any mind. He was too weak to even bother about it. He just allowed the river to carry them along but after a few seconds, all he saw was pitch black.

The three guards started to make their advance after they could no longer hear the sound of battle. "I think he has slayed it. Let's quickly catch up to him before he escapes." One of the two men said and began to move towards where Lin was. They followed the traces of battle until they reached the cliff where some rocks were blackened. The battlefield was covered in ash and the smell of burned skin. The smell wasn't a very pleasant one.

They looked down the cliff and discovered traces of blood on the rocks around. "I think they fell into the stream. Should we follow them?" the woman asked.

"No need. It took a while to get to this place. With the speed at which this stream flows, I believe they are long gone by now"

"What are we going to do now? We just lost the beast core the young miss requested. It was difficult to find a lightning element Procompsognathus."

"I don't think we should worry too much about that" he said with a mysterious smile. He was obviously up to no good. He went on, "A powerful enemy who did not put the Azeria family in his eyes attacked us and stole the beast core. We were too powerless to resist and he even dared the young miss to come find him if she so dared" he looked at the two who seem to agree to his suggestion. They didn't have much of an option as it was either their necks or his.

At a place in the canyon, a man and a beast were lying on the floor as the water kept splashing from rocks unto them. The beast was a few meters away from the motionless man. They were washed unto a ledge downstream. The man slowly opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. His face was bruised and his mask fell off when he sat up. He looked up and realised the sun was already down and the moon was rising. The moonlight brightened the place enough for him to determine his location.

"How long have I been out" he wondered as he held his aching head. He saw the beast nearby and dragged himself over to it to collect it.

<Space storage cube>

<Type: Low Rank Normal>

<Capacity: 2/10>

A familiar message popped up in his head after he collected the corpse of the beast. "I need to find a place to heal quickly especially since I don't have any potions" He put his mask back on and began exploring the canyon for a safe place to hide. As he moved along, he wondered "If I consume the beast's core I could surely heal. I have to give it a try." He shook his head and said in a low voice "This isn't like the normal levelling and there's no telling what might happen if I consume the core right now."

"Who knows, it might even worsen my condition. Besides the little information I have gathered concerning dual wielders, you will need both elemental cores for levelling anyway. So first, find a place to rest and heal then hunting comes after"

"My clothes are a rag now. I have to hurry up and leave this place and get changed…" his thoughts wandered off as he continued walking.