Chuck stared down at the dead beast before him as the golden glow of his sword illuminated part of the rotten tissue, making it easier for him to navigate the beast's internal system. It was the first time harvesting a beast for Its crystal, so Chuck didn't know exactly where to slit open, meaning that the task wasn't going to be as easy as it would seem.
His best guess was the beast's heart and chest area. Using the infernal sword, he pierced through the chest quite easily. He moved his hand in a circular motion, the sound of the organs burning could be heard, as well as the distasteful waft that followed.
"I'd rather fuck an old lady than do this shit. I should have volunteered to stay with Kaiden," Chuck thought, he felt like puking just from the smell alone.
All that thought was quickly disregarded as he heard strange noises coming from behind. It seemed like several overlapping footsteps advancing towards him. His team members were already gone, making Chuck feel a little bit of uneasiness. Chuck quickly turned around to see three students approaching him with a hostile look.
"Well well well, what do we have here," one of the students with a block shaped head spoke up with a smile, revealing his slightly yellow teeth.
"It seems like your group really entrusted you to the harvesting of the beasts, how stupid of them. At least they're going to make our job easier."
"Hey stop right there. We're not killing him, we were specifically told to bring him alive. He's still needed alright?" Another spoke up.
Chuck clearly saw that they were about to ambush him. The stream of sweats that initially rolled down his being due to the effects of the intense sun worsened, he felt his heart beast pacing up. He knew that he wasn't strong enough to fight off three students with his current situation.
[ Harelm energy: 25/150 ]
Looking at the energy he had left, Chuck knew that he was most likely going to die if he didn't do something swiftly.
"What the fuck do you guys want, are you lost or something? Ohh let me guess, maybe the heat from the sun is affecting your mental health," Chuck said, trying to mask his panic with a little bit of sarcasm.
The comment from Chuck didn't faze the group — all apart from the block headed kid.
"This motherfucker still has the guts to talk instead of pleading for his life right now. Who cares about what we were being told? Let's kill this son of a bitch and bury his remains on the fucking sand!" The boy said as he lunged forward.
Running towards Chuck swiftly, a colossal wall of fire formed above him. With a quick hand movement, the wall of fire shot towards Chuck, threatening to devour him whole.
"Ohh shit!"
[ Infernal shroud has been activated ]
A golden fiery glow shot out of Chuck's being as the infernal shroud embraced him. He didn't have the time to create a weapon strong enough to evade the wall of fire projected towards him, all he could do was brace himself.
The fire attack engulfed Chuck as it swirled around him, burning him from every angle. The flames changed its shape to a violent form of tornado, circulating around Chuck at an intense speed.
"Aaaarrrgghhhh."
Chuck felt the flames going past his infernal shroud as his skin began to redden. Almost immediately, the redness on his skin began to give way as burn marks appeared on them, the scorching heat from the fire attack was beginning to harm Chuck fatally.
After a few seconds of agonizing pain, the fire attack died down, but Chuck's appearance was entirely different. His whole skin was covered in red blisters, part of the skin on his arm fell to the ground and disintegrated before it even touched the ground.
[ HP 3/20 ]
[Quest completed: reduce your HP by 50 percent ]
"Wha… what? Does that mean that if I didn't increase my HP pool, I would have died from this attack?" Chuck thought, barely able to see the system screen in his line of sight.
His vision blurred as his heart rate slowed down. All the initial sweat that was on the surface of his skin was vaporized, leaving only a red, scorched flesh dangling on his being.
"What the fuck, cube? He almost died from the attack. What part of 'we're supposed to bring him alive' don't you understand?" One of the trio said, clearly witnessing the maximum damage done to Chuck. One more attack from Cube will definitely be the end of Chuck.
"We can't go past our orders. So stick to the plan and stand down."
Cube's angry expression died down, his glowing hands dimmed down as he dismissed the brewing spell he was about to unleash again.
"What now?" Cube said arrogantly, "how do we even get him to the location in this state, he looks like an incomplete artwork."
"Let's just contact him, then he'll deal with it," one of the students said.
Chuck coughed sharply, wheezing loudly, clearly struggling to breathe. The infernal shroud was still activated as it tried its best to heal Chuck, but the healing rate was at a very slow pace. The fire attack was stronger than Kaiden's ten times over.
Chuck needed time to heal and get back on his feet to fight, but he wasn't sure if that was a luxury the students were willing to offer him.
"You know, you guys talk too much," Chuck spoke weakly, trying to buy time, "if you're gonna kill me or worse, the least you can do is tell me who sent you."
Cube, the student that made the attack, walked forward with his broad shoulders.
"Look at you. You're not so strong now are you? You made Bobby look like a fool, and now you can't even recover from my attack… pathetic."
It was clearly obvious at this point. These goons were under Bobby, and they were sent by him for unknown reasons. Chuck already figured it out.
"Bobby huh? A loser sent an even bigger loser to do his dirty work. Why am I not surprised," Chuck scoffed weakly, trying to form a smile on his scorched lips.
Hearing what Chuck said only made Cube even more angry. With a loud yell, he unleashed another fire attack. A tunnel of flames shot out of his palms heading straight for Chuck.
"Cube, what the fuck!" One of the students said as he casted a gush of wind towards the tunnel of fire, hoping to redirect it. The wind made contact with the fire, but it didn't do much — the flames were just too powerful. Chuck saw the violent flames heading for him, but he was too weak to react.
The flames made contact with his being, and instantly, the little relief that he felt was gone and replaced with a searing shooting pain. The flames engulfed his being, burning and tearing through every muscle in his body. Chuck's body fell limply on the blazing sand, no heart beat, no pulse.
[ HP:1/20 ]
[ HP:0/20 ]
[ The user is dead ]
[ Error… the user possesses the energy of the immortal race ]
[ The pure immortal form has been activated ]