Chapter 70: Mike Vs The Atrixa (II)
Mike Vs The Atrixa (II)
The Atrixa roared as it charged forward, and Mike similarly shot towards the creature, his aura boosting his strength even further.
The claw of the Atrixa seemed to speed up and reach Mike’s neck in an instant, but Mike ignored it as he pulled his fist back and threw a punch.
It was, unsurprisingly, another illusion, one that would have made him unconsciously block, leaving his front open to the true attack.
Alas, he didn’t fall for it, and his fist collided with the incoming claws of the Atrixa as they clashed.
A loud sound rang out as a wave of force erupted from the point of impact, but the result was clear.
The paw along with several other bones in the Atrixa’s forelimb shattered and splintered, and bones jutted out grotesquely as blood spilled from the now mangled limb.
The Atrixa roared in pain and anger, but Mike couldn’t be bothered to care as he grabbed onto the mangled limb, and with a grunt of effort, threw the Atrixa across the cage before chasing after it.
Its body slammed into the energy barrier hard, and it fell to the ground in a heap.
When it looked up, Mike was already upon the creature. However, it didn’t just stay still and roared, and Mike slowed down as he felt a sense of danger.
Suddenly, the figure of the Atrixa started to change. Its muscles began to expand like they were inflating. Its teeth grew longer and sharper, and its hide became even tougher.
Mike watched as the thing grew and smirked to himself.
’I guess it’s taking the fight seriously as well now.’ He mused as the creature went from the size of a horse to the size of a truck.
Stronger Atrixas were capable of entering a sort of ’combat mode’ where they gained a large amount of strength in exchange for burning through their energy rapidly.
This meant that the creature was now on a timer, as using such a form while sustaining its regeneration wasn’t something it should be able to do. So the obvious thing to do would be to simply stall and wait for it to tire itself out.
However...
’That’s be boring. Nah, I wanna kill this thing myself!’ Mike thought as he shot forward again to meet the hulking beast.
’It’s slow. I should be able to–’ Mike’s thoughts were interrupted as he jumped to the side just as a massive paw smashed into the ground where he’d been a moment before.
’The illusions are more potent now.’ He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Atrixa. The creature turned its head towards him, and they both faced off for a few seconds before rushing towards each other again.
Mike’s instincts were working overtime as the two of them clashed once more, and this time, the exchange was a bit more equal as no limbs were being shattered from the impact.
That said, Mike still had the advantage in power as he pushed the Atrixa back slightly, and without any hesitation, he charged in.
The two of them clashed several more times, with Mike coming out of each exchange slightly victorious. The two of them moved around the cage at incredible speeds, and if anyone were to watch the battle from the outside, they’d be amazed to see a small figure somehow beating out such a massive creature in terms of raw strength.
Moreover, it was only getting worse, as with Crimson Ladder, Mike’s output had increased significantly, and he was starting to deal substantial damage.
However...
’It’s not enough.’ Mike thought as he performed several backhand springs to avoid a series of ferocious stomps from the Atrixa.
He watched as most of the damage he dealt was healing in just a few seconds. Moreover, with how big his opponent was, small and precise attacks weren’t the most effective if they couldn’t land in a vital spot, and the Atrixa was weirdly good at protecting its head and heart.
Mike still wasn’t at any risk, and he knew that even if he couldn’t hurt the Atrixa properly, it would still run out of energy before him.
However, such a conclusion would not be satisfying to him. Hence, he decided to pull out a bit of a trump card.
You see, his original intention yesterday when he was fixing up the odd leakage of his energy was to deal with that so he could create a certain skill.
Mike greatly enjoyed fighting with his Partial Transformation. So much so that he’d been thinking of ways to take some aspects of it and apply them to his ’official ability’ that was now known as Primal Dominion.
Dodging a few more attacks from the Atrixa and shrugging off more illusions, Mike unclenched his right fist and made a claw with it.
At the same time, the aura around said hand suddenly condensed, and in a moment, it went from flowing without much direction to taking on a shape.
The shape of a claw.
The energy built up, and the Atruxa seemed to notice as it quickly went forward to stop him, but it was a moment too late.
’Primal Rend!’ He shouted inwardly as he swung his arm despite there still being some distance between the two.
One moment, the Atrixa was in the midst of opening its jaw to bite down on Mike, and the next moment, 4 large lashes appeared across its torso, from its back to its lower regions.
Blood spewed like a tide as the Atrixa was sent reeling from the attack.
Mike grinned as he saw the damage his attack had caused.
Primal Rend (Level 1): When the Predator brandishes its claws, the prey can only cower in fear and hope it passes over them... or the rending ends swiftly. The skill allows the Host to rend a target with his Primal Dominion, dealing devastating damage while suppressing any energy and ability in the way of the attack, increasing the damage significantly while resisting different forms of defenses.
That was the description for the skill, and it seemed like it was appropriate as when Mike looked at the Atrixa, he saw that the new wounds were healing at an abysmal rate compared to before.
One might ask, why hadn’t Mike’s aura been performing similar feats of suppression despite the description stating that it could do so?
Well, simply put, Mike was holding back.
He discovered that upgrading his ability didn’t stop him from using it the way he had been doing so previously, so he could still use it without immediately suppressing his opponent, granted, he wasn’t able to get rid of the whole ’primal’ feel it had.
Anyway, Mike sensed that the last attack had taken a lot out of the Atrixa, and the energy he could sense was starting to dwindle. Hence, he decided to stop playing around.
He took a step, and instantly, Primal Dread activated.
The room seemed to freeze as the presence of a terrifying creature suddenly filled the surroundings.
The air which had been turbulent from the fight just now suddenly grew still, and the surrounding energy that was slightly unstable went still, as though it were cowering.
In fact, even the energy that made up the energy barrier for the cage flickered like it was about to vanish, but it held... for now.
As for the target of this?
The Atrixa whimpered as all the rage and ferocity it had been displaying a moment earlier seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke, and its hulking size slowly began to reduce as it gradually shrank back to its original size.
By the time its transformation ended, the creature had been reduced to a bleeding, trembling mess.
Seeing the angry creature suddenly so submissive gave Mike an... odd thrill.
He walked forward, and without knowing it, the smile on his face widened as his aura started to form another claw.
With each step, his presence grew more potent, and the Atrixa folded in on itself more and more until it seemed to become a ball, making it appear quite pathetic and unassuming.
This is the part where some people would probably feel a little bad or guilty, but to Mike, seeing the creature act this way only riled him up even more.
If Mike had been a bit more informed, he would have known that this behavior right now was called prey drive, and his instincts were getting riled up seeing a creature act so submissive towards him.
And right now, he was going to indulge them.
When he got close enough, he didn’t hesitate.
With a swing, blood spilled, and the head of the Atrixa dropped to the ground. It rolled for a few seconds before coming to a stop.
Its body twitched and spasmed violently, but Mike watched as the instinctive reaction, and probably a last-ditch effort by its ability to keep it alive, slowly came to a stop.
When it went still, Mike stared at it for a few seconds, and then a strange, almost euphoric feeling washed over him as he stared at the corpse.
His hunt was a success.
And now for him to enjoy the spoils.