'Shit!'
'That was fast… too fast! I didn't even see it coming.'
His eyes widened in surprise as he felt his wounds healing. Although he predicted the Mountain Level to be several times stronger, it still baffled him.
Because this monster launched an attack when he didn't even perceive it.
'No, there has to be a hidden mechanism behind that attack. I didn't even see it move.'
Tyler panicked but still tried to keep calm. With his two abilities, he wouldn't die immediately even if he were facing a Mountain Level Monster.
But there was another aspect of this battle. It could improve his soul, thus allowing him to reach Fourth Rank faster.
So, he couldn't say no to this battle.
He gathered a lot of air into his mouth and infused it with Aura before releasing his skill.
The air suddenly lit up, and released out of his mouth as a magnified stream of fire.
This time, however, the front of the fire slowly transformed into the head of the dragon, showing truly majesty of his attack.
Though the latter part of the fire was still a gigantic wall that kept moving forward.
[First Skill- Fire Dragon Roar]
'It worked. I was able to change the shape slightly. I am missing something for sure. But I can keep this up.'
He thought to himself as he watched the fire engulf that monster.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a strong wind blew and wiped it out instantly.
It happened so fast that Tyler was left confused for a moment until another attack was launched towards him.
This time, however, he saw the attack.
'He isn't releasing wind. He is controlling the air, shaping it into wind and throwing it towards me.'
Although he managed to deduce this attack, he couldn't dodge it. By the time he reacted, the wind blade was already in front of him.
[Second Skill- Enhanced Strength]
This move not only increased his strength but also his defensive capabilities. Putting his belief in his skin, he punched forward.
Bang!
Splash!
Although he did manage to stop the wind blade, its sharpness still tore through his skin and reached deep within his bones.
The blood gurgled out like a wave. Tyler hissed, bore the pain, and kept pushing more strength into his fist.
Crack! Bang!
His determination, with his enhanced strength, managed to create a crack in the wind blade, then the next moment, it just dispersed into a blast of air.
"Argh! This fucking hurts. Fuck!"
Tyler closed his eyes for a moment. This hurt even more than when his chest was cleaved by the wind blade.
Even though he activated his rapid regeneration and started healing the wound.
He saw another wind blade coming his way, but he quickly dissolved himself into the shadow that was connected to another shadow of the tree.
He wasn't able to do it before since the shadow wasn't connected. But now, he swiftly appeared next to the tree.
[Third Skill- Shadow Replacement]
Upon coming out of the shadows, he immediately dashed towards the monster. He knew he couldn't win.
So, he had to take the monster away from the tree so that others could steal those Natural Fruits.
But before that, he had to send a signal. He chose the route from the right to approach it while going closer to Rose.
After sensing her presence, he instantly disappeared and appeared next to her, from her shadow.
Unlike other replacements, this one was permanent, and it needed proper coordination and also being able to sense her.
"I will distract the monster, take the fruits, and regroup with the other five kilometers to the south."
As soon as he said that, he ran back to the monster while Rose was left in slight confusion.
She was just about to run away, giving Tyler a proper battleground. But his words shook her off.
Since he was asking her to steal the fruit, it simply meant he wasn't able to take down this monster.
Gulp!
'A Mountain Level Monster.'
She almost thought of persuading Tyler to back off. She had seen what a City Level Monster could do.
A Mountain Level Monster was bound to be several times stronger. Without reaching fourth rank, Tyler wouldn't even be strong enough to contend with it.
But she hesitated.
She knew her Lord wasn't a dumb person. If he believed he could keep the monster busy, then he was sure of that.
'So my job is to get the fruit as quickly as possible. I certainly can't waste my time here.'
She thought to herself and dashed in the direction Tyler ran.
It didn't take her long to reach there, and when she did, she saw a fire so hot that it was melting the ground.
More importantly, it was concentrated at one exact point, but even from several hundred meters, she could feel the heat penetrating her skin.
This heat was so high that if she got close, she would suffer third-degree burns.
Knowing this, she kept her distance.
She noticed how Tyler was using his fire to irritate the monster. It was releasing several blades towards Tyler, but the fire was beating the wind.
Although wind generated by the monster was strong, Tyler's Fire Dragon Roar was still a Heroic Skill.
Its temperature could rise with the increase of Aura.
So, by infusing more Aura into his flame, Tyler was able to create fire so hot that it could overwhelm a Mountain Level monster's wind.
When the monster found the fire increasing its power under the effect of his wind, it no longer stayed down.
Instead, he jumped on its feet. The monster was similar to a wolf, with two tails and two horns on its head.
It kicked off and dashed towards Tyler, leaving behind a trail of dust.
But just before its claw reached him, Tyler moved into his shadow, rushing towards the nearby tree.
Bang!
The next moment, the ground cracked, and Tyler was forcefully pushed out of the shadow as it started breaking apart.
Tyler found himself on the ground and knew the monster wasn't gonna stop for long.
So, he gritted his teeth and used his mental energy to activate the fourth skill.
Something that he shouldn't be able to do.
But now, he was forced to. Under such circumstances, he took the gamble.
[Fourth Skill- Lightning Cloak]
When he activated this skill, he felt a strong headache. It was so strong that he almost wanted to cut off his head, take out his brain, wash it, and put it back.
Unfortunately, he didn't have toon force, so he couldn't do something like that.
He just gritted his teeth, bearing the pain, concentrating all of his energy on pushing himself back.
His palms stomped on the ground, and his body recoiled back like a lightning bolt.
Bang!
At the same time, the claw of the monster landed on the position where he was. It came down with so much force that it shattered the ground into cubes.
The dust flew everywhere, and for the first time, this monster felt danger from Tyler.
Several small electric currents were flowing throughout his body, forming a lightning cloak.
With his hair straightened, Tyler was feeling pain and pleasure at the same time.
The intoxicating pleasure of having such strength and head-splitting pain.
Both were keeping him in a balance, stopping him from going insane.
But when he saw the monster in front of him, he gritted his teeth.
Despite the threat, the monster wasn't retreating. Instead, it developed even more curiosity towards Tyler.
An ant that he could crush at any moment grew so much stronger in just a few seconds.
Why was that?
It didn't know the answer. So, it wanted to eat Tyler and figure out.
It moved its head, and five different slashes came towards him from different sides.
Each slash was faster than before, coming at him with every intention of ripping off his body.
But Tyler managed to see them this time. Not only did he see them, but he also managed to react.
He jumped, maneuvering his body in mid-air as he dodged those slashes.
Each slash went just below and top of him.
None of them even touched the corner of his cloth.
When he landed on the ground, he knew this wasn't enough.
It would never be. For this monster, those wind blades were all but a basic attack.
Despite knowing this, Tyler showed no fear. His body left behind a bolt of lightning as he bolted towards the monster.
His speed, going fast as lightning as he approached the monster in an instant.
The monster raised its front limb and clawed towards Tyler. The force behind this limb was enough to shatter the ground into dust.
But Tyler didn't fear it.
'Things will never go as planned. So, I just need to be stronger.'
At this moment, he planned to stalemate this monster at any cost. Even if it took his arms and legs.
Because he wanted to get stronger. He wanted to reach Fourth Rank. He clenched his right fist, gathering an enormous strength into his punches.
Then, he punched.
Bang!