Kabanata 12
Their bodies descended, the wind brushed as Keenan understood that he was getting close to the ground. He got ready for the fall, the Uccelli crashed into the ground and broke its body. Keenan who landed second used the dead body as a cushion, he dropped down into the flesh of the monster. It was going to be painful and he got ready for the impact.
"Ack!"
He felt that his bones cracked but Keenan didn't have time to babysit the pain. Since the treatment was in front of him, he didn't hesitate to penetrate the chest of the Uccelli and grabbed its slightly beating organ called the heart. He tore it apart and immediately ate the shining crystal that came out of the heart. The warm feeling flowed in his body as his bones healed and returned to normal. He was fortunate that the Uccelli he killed was Class-B and his injuries healed quickly. The energy inside the N-core was enough to remedy his pain.
"Hup…"
He stood and scanned his surrounding. It would be bad if a Nightmare appeared and jumped in front of him… again. The Uccelli broke his shoulders and he didn't want to experience this pain again. Even now, he was feeling slight discomfort in his back. Being in the air while the wind slammed you and two sharp talons crushing your shoulders was a no-go.
"I have to get out of here, I'm sure the other Nightmares caught the scent of this dead Uccelli."
He gritted his teeth as he glared at the lifeless monster. This creature almost took him into heaven, literally.
Keenan found that no creature was in the vicinity so far. Still, he didn't hesitate to get away since he knew that they would come sooner. Zviera had a strong sense of smell, this wasteland was filled with Zviera and Keenan didn't want to get surrounded by a bunch of them. He moved his recently healed body and trudged in the dark wilderness.
Thankfully, he escaped before the Nightmares reached the dead Uccelli. Regardless, Keenan didn't lower his defense. He was snatched by a Uccelli and broke his shoulders. He further realized that this place was dangerous. Even the sky was dangerous for him.
"This plain is the best place to hunt for the flying creatures because it didn't have any hiding place. Keenan why didn't you realize it earlier, you almost died."
He cursed and slapped his face to punish and calm himself. He was on the verge of dying. If not because of his newly acquired Skills, he would surely die. He inhaled a mouthful of air and controlled his pounding heart. His gaze looked determined, his golden eyes were like candles in the dark.
"This time, no more mistakes. You have to concentrate and find a way out of this wasteland."
He touched his rosy cheek, the proof of his self-taught, and nodded to himself. He acknowledged that this place was completely different from his old world and common sense won't work here. Guns, grenades, rocket launchers, or even Nuclear Weapons, this world didn't operate in these types of weapons.
The power here was based on the physical and supernatural ability that was an unexplainable concept for science. Here, on the planet of Thera, the world revolved around three types of power, the Arma, the Bestia, and the Handler. They were groups of people that could manifest supernatural phenomenon that was out of common sense in his old world.
"This is Thera, not Earth."
He talked to himself and convinced himself that despite his experience as an assassin, most of that won't work here. Even the martial arts that he learned were nothing compared to the battle arts of this world. This world had living legendary people who could smash a building using their bare hands.
"Nnrr."
"Oh? Looks like I have a guest, at least it's alone. I can accommodate it well."
Keenan raised his head as he heard the growling of a creature. He easily understood that he had an enemy to kill. His glinting golden eyes were settled on the silhouette of the approaching Nightmare, it was a Veloce.
"I thought I will face another Zviera but I didn't know that I will fight my second Veloce here. Perhaps there is a village of Veloce close here… I guess I found my first clue. Never get close to any structure that I'll find, it's a hundred percent that they are Veloce."
Veloce was a species of Nightmares that was hard to fight because of their fast movements. On top of that, their sharp claws could slice a human as if it's gelatin. But now that he got two new Skills, Keenan's chances of winning increased.
The growling creature started to dash, its body vanished in the darkness. Keenan heard the swipes of the wind. He couldn't find the creature but Keenan didn't think about it since he knew that the Veloce would come at him. His deduction was right, the Veloce charged right towards him. Keenan smirked at its stupidity.
The Veloce lost its balance, it tripped over and crashed to the ground. It didn't think that an invisible Hand was waiting on the ground to trip it. The monster had a confused face, it looked at the area but it couldn't find any rock or unlevel ground. Then why did it fall? Before it could answer the question, the Veloce felt that something grabbed its foot.
"Nniiirrrraa!"
The transparent Hand pulled the Veloce and lifted it to the air and smashed it into the ground. Keenan's invisible Hands had enough strength to carry the Veloce. The monster plunged into the surface and gasped for air, its lungs were damaged. But its suffering was just getting started, the invisible Hands lifted it again and smashed it to the ground!
"Gwah!"
It coughed black blood and fainted but mercy was out of options. Despite losing consciousness, the Hand continued raising it and smashing it!!!
The Veloce lost its leg, the monster rolled as its leg was levitating in the air being held by the Hand. Keenan dropped the leg and got close to the monster, he inspected the wheezing monster. He didn't feel any sympathy despite witnessing how life slowly faded away from its eyes.
"No hard feelings."
Keenan hoisted his left arm, the arm became fine sand and manifested into a blade. He flung the blade deep in the Veloce, it trembled and widened its eyes but quickly died after.
"Based on its speed, it's a Class-C Veloce."
Keenan stabbed the monster just to make sure that it was really dead. After that, he carved the heart out and sliced it into two. There, Keenan found the shining crystal called N-core.