TING! TING!
A rythmic metallic sound echoed in some part of the forest. The sound was so sharp, like two metals colliding.
Andrea stood up and straightened her sweaty robes. Her hands felt swollen.
"What the hell!" She couldn't help but curse. She felt so frustrated right now.
An hour ago, she had managed to get the big mantis wrapped in the black vines. She relaxed thinking victory was her's when suddenly the vines started dragging them.
She panicked and swung her knife frantically at the vines on her legs. Her efforts were all for naught. The vine was stubbornly resilient and she couldn't cut it off.
Deciding to let it be, she picked a large leaf and sat on it to at least keep her clothes from getting worn out.
'Any ideas?' she consulted the hitch rider.
Rina became furious at the nickname and shouted, 'I didn't want this either!' she shut up suddenly then spoke after calming down. 'Have you tried that other skill? It might work..'
'Damn! How could I forget it!' Andrea thought and nearly face-palmed.
With renewed vigor, Andrea swung the knife at the vines but this time, there was a difference.
Sally had told her that she could momentarily "borrow" strength from the atmosphere. Of course, this was just a simplification.
The real deal was that she could use mana to enhance her strength but only in short bursts. Her body was new to the energy and so prolonged use of it could have some side effect.
Focusing on her arm, Andrea tried to summon the energy in the air towards it. Sure enough, the mana moved and coated her entire arm.
She felt like she had worn an armour of some sort which buffed her speed and strength.
The moment the knife reached the vine, it chopped through it with unbelievable ease. The sudden lose of speed threw Andrea on her back and she saw the huge mantis get dragged by her face.
'I hate thieves!' she grunted then removed the remaining vine from her feet, stood up and ran after the vine. The roles were now somehow reversed. Earlier it had been Andrea who was running but now she was the one giving chase.
Surprisingly, the vine could increase it's speed and suddenly, it rivalled a race car. Andrea was shocked but still decided to continue.
After running for about two kilometers, she saw a huge pod-shaped plant with vines. Deciding it would be dangerous to rush in, she hid behind a tree and watched.
The mantis was still tied up but it's pincers were not. The plant didn't seem to care, however. The pod opened up and the vines resumed dragging the thrashing mantis.
Andrea looked inside the pod and saw something that looked like a stone at the top of the pod. It was green in color and was pulsating rythmically.
'That must be the creatures heart.. or whatever,' Andrea reasoned.
She knew she had to strike that specific point to kill the vine but doubted her ability to do so.
'Hey! Why don't you use the energy on your legs like you did your arm?' Rina suddenly said. She had been quite the whole time, not wanting to distract Andrea while she was in danger.
'I'll give it a try,' Andrea thought back to her. 'I don't like it that it stole my kill.'
With the mantis trying to stop the movement of the vines using its pincers as anchor, she had plenty of time to prepare.
When Andrea was ready, she "armoured" her legs using mana and shot towards the pod with a speed even she found hard to believe.
Not letting the sudden speed distract her, she applied the same energy on the hand holding the knife and aimed at the pulsating stone.
KATCHA!
RUMBLE!
The moment the knife pierced through the stone, the vine went crazy around the plant.
They started thrashing like a true dying animal and some large vines even uprooted some small trees. Andrea used her still present speed boost and jumped away from the plant.
The area around the plant became clouded in dust. After a few minutes, the dust settled and Andrea moved towards the newly made clearing.
When she reached the place the plant was supposed to be, she was given a quick but expected surprise. On the ground was the now squashed mantis wrapped in vines. Above it was an ethereal figure of the very same mantis. There was also a black stone with vines around it floating next to the ghostly mantis.
'Martial souls!' Andrea screamed internally. Walking towards the two, she touched them and they headed straight for her head.
Andrea suddenly squinted her eyes in horror remembering the pain she felt when Rina invades her mind. However, the pain she was expecting never came.
She opens her eyes in surprise. Thinking about the two souls, she suddenly saw them in a black room. They were floating around and Rina was there too. With her mind, she beckoned the viney stone and suddenly, a green vine sprouted in her palm.
'Woah,' Rina blinked excitedly. 'Thats so cool!' she squealed.
'Those pincers look like a nice pair of swords,' Andrea told Rina casually.
Rina turned her attention from the viney stone and looked at the mantis' corpse. Even after the critter itself was dead the pincers weren't as squashed as it's body.
Andrea unsheathed her knife and started hacking at the sword-like pincers.
TING!
A terrific shock ran through Andrea's hand. She felt like she had used her hand to hit a wall. The skin of the dead fiend was extremely tough even after it was dead.
'What level is this vine for it to kill it in an easy way?' she pondered.
Using the first skill she was taught, which she referred to as Identify, she looked at the Martial Soul in her hand.
The skill was quite easy to use since she only needed to imbue her eyes with mana, and she was surprised by the level of the green vine.
The vine was wrapped up in three shiny rings, a clear show of its level as a Mutant Beast.
'I thought the old man said there were only Advanced and Primitive beasts here,' Andrea frowned. She wasn't complaining about getting such a high level Martial Soul but this was prove she needed to be more careful.
'Whatever,' Rina said dismissively. 'Why don't we find out what this Souls do?' she added, her voice giddy with excitement.