Fists and Arms

"So! What is with the beetle anyway?" Patrick pointed towards the beetle that was now tearing apart a wall. "And why is it head-butting some random wall?"

Everette just shrugged, "It's blind." Patrick's face then morphed into an understanding one as his mouth opened to form the shape of an O.

"Then how come you guys haven't killed it by now? It should be pretty easy considering its disadvantages."

"Ada suggests that we kill it after it tires itself out."

Patrick forwarded a questioning expression to Ada, who just groaned in response.

"Fine... I'll kill it."

She began to wander over to the beetle before hearing a yell from Everette.

"You sure?!"

She turned back with a smile and gave him a thumbs-up before continuing her march.

***

Crumble...!

The beetle continued its unbiased attack on the wall. Several bricks and stones that made up the wall were strewn around, and a cloud of dust veiled the area.

From the cloud, a blonde-headed figure waltzs on through towards the raging beetle with a bored expression - it was Ada. After getting close to one of its back legs, she gave a strong right hook and made it bend inwards.

The beetle screeched loudly and, in response, rapidly turned around and made a wide arc swing with its mandibles. Ada ducked before running to its side and giving it a good punch.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

She continued the process of dodging its attacks and striking its vulnerable points for a bit. At this point, her hands were getting a bit red and sore.

"Using my fists is good and all, but it is getting me nowhere." After taking a step back, she then scrutinised the shell. Any damage to the beetle shell that was made would then just be buffed out and regenerate to the point it looked brand new.

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes before tilting her head left and right in a pondering manner. She then gently plotted his fist into her palm as a look of realisation was displayed on her face.

"I just have to punch it faster than it can regenerate!"

'Should I use that skill?'

A large grin spread across her face as mana erupted from her torso and situated itself under her pair of arms. They stretched and moulded themselves into...

"MultiArms!"

Ada yelled out with an excited expression, and another pair of arms formed under her original ones. They looked identical to her real ones and even had sleeves of their own from her shirt. It seemed like the mana created holes in her shirt for the arms to come out of, as well as some sleeves for them.

"How Convenient." She was glad that her shirt wasn't going to be destroyed by her skill. She flexed her arms as well as her fingers and inspected them.

She watched how her fingers would move how she wanted to and smiled in satisfaction, "Mana truly is a wondrous thing." Ada then remembered she had a beetle to hunt and immediately jumped into action.

She swayed a bit due to the sudden increase in weight before adapting. She ran up to the side of the beetle, and using both arms on the same side at one time, she tightly formed a fist and drove them into it.

The result was...

BAM! Crack!

A dent larger than the ones she created using only an arm. She followed up on her earlier punch by doing the same thing - this time with her other side.

The cracks in the dent continued to stretch further, and further the more she punched it. The beetle immediately responded with a turn of its body and swinging its mandible at its attacker.

Instead of dodging, she was curious about whether she could stop it. She stretched her arms before situating them in front of her.

BANG!

A muffled bang noise resounded, followed by a current of wind that made her hair fluttering behind her. She was able to stop it.

Her arms shook under the pressure as they resisted the beetle's mandible strike. With a burst of strength, she pushed it aside before making a sprint and leaping onto its back.

She spread her arms in the air like they were wings before tightly forming fists with all four of her hands. She raised them above her head and prepared for her fall.

Just as she was about to land, she slammed her arms down on its back. The beetle screeched in pain as it began to try and get the human off its back.

Ada followed up on her attack with a barrage of fists on its back.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Each one of her punches elicited an unbearable shock of pain in the beetle. The beetle shifted all of its focus to repairing its shell.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The dark green energy covering its shell entered the cracks of its shell to try and mend the wound.

BAM!

Ada saw this and continued her barrage regardless of how sore her knuckles had gotten. The beetle began to grow even more fearful. A back-and-forth race between the two began.

Whenever it would be able to heal its cracks, more would follow. It couldn't keep up with the continuous demands of having to heal its body. The energy it stored up has been nearly completely depleted.

Under the constant barrage of Ada's fists, shards of its shell flew and plummeted to the ground. It tried one last time to get the human off of its back.

Ada rocked side to side due to its movement before bringing down one last punch. She noticed the energy surrounding its shell lessen over time and decided to end it now.

Ada drove her fist into its shell. The beetle, figuring this was the human's final attack, allocated all its energy to that spot. The area was repaired before being driven and dented in again.

She lifted her fists, and with a roar, she drove it in with all her might:

"OORAAH!"

Her fists shattered through its hard and resilient shell like it was glass. Her hands dug into the soft tissue of the beetle before barbarically digging through it.

The beetle could feel its life force draining. With the little time it had left, it began to crawl towards its child's general direction. A shake of weakness would always follow every step that it makes with its multiple legs before collapsing to the ground.

It could sense it was too far from its child, and a sad screech slipped through its mouth. It still remembers how it got into its injured situation before...

It encountered a swarm of insects, so many that it could blot out the sky. It shielded its child from it the best it could. The result was that it succeeded at the cost of the damage its shell sustained.

After devouring the corpses of some of the insects it killed, it went into a deep sleep to recover its energy and regenerate. Its child was left to defend itself.

It would always leave its side to hunt and bring back dissolved food for it. Lately, it found plenty of lying around, which caused it to get suspicious, but ultimately didn't think much of it.

Oh, how wrong it was... It should've gone along with it so it could be protected. It regretted not being by its child's side when it all happened; it regretted making the child hunt for itself without its help...

It could feel the human peeling away at its shell. The pain was becoming unbearable. Its consciousness was fading. If it had the ability to create thoughts, then the thought that the beetle would've created would be:

'I'm so sorry, my child...'

***

["Ding! Level 20 Mutated Resilient Beetle killed!"]

[Level 20 -> 22]

"Phew! Took you long enough. You really were resilient." Ada pulled out her arms from the beetle's inside and felt repulsed from the sight. Her arms were covered in blood and flesh.

She sighed and got off of it before noticing A familiar shine coming from the beetle as she was about to head back to her group.

She widened her eyes before stretching out her hand towards it. "Well then... Should I get a new weapon... Or skill...?" An excited glint passed through her eyes.

***

Everyone waited patiently for Ada's return. They were able to hear a variety of sounds from Ada's battle, but they were unable to watch due to a huge cloud of dust veiling it. Alice looked awfully worried, even more so considering how relaxed everyone was.

She turned to Everette, who was lying on the grass with a bored expression, "Aren't you worried that she may have gotten hurt?"

"Hm?"

Everette turned his head towards her with a confused expression. "Oh, you mean Ada? Nah... She's after all...—"

"Look! Something is coming!"

From the cloud of dust, a small figure, unlike the beetle that some were expecting, came out. They had short blond hair that reached her neck and bright blue eyes that seemed to always glimmer with confidence.

This individual had two pairs of arms, and her clothes were covered with greenish-blue and black blood - it was Ada.

Alice widens her eyes at this before hearing the end of Everette's answer.

"She's after all... Our King." His stare softened when it landed on Ada.