❰You are unable to heal due to the object embedded in your flesh❱
Damon, with a determined expression, held the spike impaled in his shoulder, which was twenty centimeters long, with a wide span that surpassed his grip.
Grinding his teeth, he steadily pulled out the spike with great difficulty, bringing pain that struck his every cell.
❰Healing can now proceed, due to the degree of damage injuries healing time has increased❱
There was a clear hole through Damon's left shoulder, one could practically see right through it.
'I can no longer throw rocks at the speed of before because of this damage,' Damon was now confused about his next alternative. Giving way to his weak knees, he knelt on the dusty ground as the rats gathered energy at their tails to finally end the pesky human.
They just wanted a meal to quench their starvation, is that too much to ask?
Damon was exhausted, but his intellect kept figuring ways to survive his situation.
'Perfect, I hope this strategy works,' Damon analyzed. Quickly, he mustered the strength to lift himself up and dashed towards one of the rats' corpses.
Upon reaching one, he used his right hand to pull out one of the brown spikes from the rat's skin. Unable to use his left hand for support due to it being rendered useless because of the large hole in his shoulder, he struggled but finally yanked it out forcefully.
Pain could be felt each time his left hand moved, but the adrenaline lessened the pain for now. Now holding the brown one-meter spike, which gripped with blood at the tip, Damon increased the force in his fingers, concentrating all the purple energy to just his right arm as it bulged with purple veins fused with power.
At this point, his arm bulged until his skin started to tear due to the large amount of void energy gathered at one area. Because of its chaotic properties, void energy was unstable when forced on one point, and Damon's arm was not able to withstand that much pressure.
❰Warning!! High amount of damage imminent❱
VE:[30/100](Energy decreasing drastically)
The dark tattoos ignited with a black hue once again as they tried to prevent Damon's right arm from exploding. However, the disaster was imminent.
Seeing what was about to happen and probably fearing the loss of his arm, Damon threw the spike that literally shattered the sound barrier, moving violently, covered with fragments of purple energy ready to obliterate anything in its way.
At the same time, the rats also shot their attack. However, immediately it collided against the raging spike, theirs shattered instantly and wasn't even able to diminish its speed for even a second.
In that split moment, it effortlessly penetrated the rat's front head, going right through it and stabbing the other in the heart, killing them in a sheer combo.
❰Double kill, 200 exp rewarded❱
Level up!
Level 4 [100/500 exp]
❰Congratulations, you have successfully completed the quest, rewards are now given❱
〘Unlocked skill: Devourer〙
〘Sp: 3〙
"Finally!" Damon exclaimed in relief as his body broke down and plummeted to the ground motionless. The 3D environment started to become blurry and silent.
As everything faded away, a glimpse of a figure landing on the ground from the top of a large refuse pile came into his view. While the figure slowly approached his direction, Damon felt alert, but that seemed futile as he immediately lost consciousness due to exhaustion, taking his body to its limit.
"What an impressive individual, he would be very beneficial to the boss in exchange for a good meal, or used as one," a smile etched on an intricately well-designed facial structure of a man in a dark, torn-out robe.
.
.
.
Thousands of meters to the east side of the slums, where lesser refuse resided, cleared to the point it became a white desert, nothing seemed to be breathing in the area.
However, amidst the unlucky terrain and uncohesive environment, there stood a large broken-down structure created with extremely hardened concrete. It was similar to a coliseum used in ancient times, though it seemed to be almost falling apart.
The gooey substance accumulated from rotting waste for a long period was used to hold the structure together, and somehow the structure stood.
Not only that, there were also huts made entirely out of waste surrounding the coliseum.
The silent plane was instantly murdered by the thrilling cry of a crowd ignited with profound excitement. Their cry was like a drug, filling whoever heard it with adrenaline of their own. Inside the disgusting coliseum, people of different regions gathered as spectators for an exciting event.
A hemispherical pit probably created by the impact from a massive meteorite barriered flooding in. The pit itself signified an arena that housed two brutal-looking individuals filled with killing intent.
Both sides took a stance with confidence, elevated by the crowd's cheers.
One of them, in particular, was a frail-looking individual. From his appearance, he seemed to be in his twenties. He had come here to trade for a meal but somehow ended up in this critical situation.
Staring at his opponent with a face that had lost all hope, the opponent was quite a bulky human with ripped muscles like that of an intense bodybuilder. Every inch of muscle fibers was ten times that of a normal human, which was quite abnormal. Even the spectators themselves were pale in comparison to the bulky man.
Starvation really was a bastard.
A man atop the crater, sitting on a grand wooden throne made with extremely poor craftsmanship, looked down on the people like they were nothing in his eyes. He had a cowboy hat that had seen better days atop his head, with a curly brown mustache that complimented his punkish attire.
He stood up gracefully, looking at the participants with a mischievous smile that was both comforting and sinister.
"Welcome to the arena of survival, where only the strongest survive and the weak perish. As the rules have always been, the two in the ring fight to the death while the loser becomes our dinner."
"Show no mercy, Hahahaha," the man laughed out loud as the beginning of the match commenced.
This area of the slums was called the Devil's Gush, the place where the ruthless and brutal thrived vigorously. Unlike the western part of the slums where they had submitted to hunting rats and scavenging for food, here the eastern way of survival was composed of human meat.
Cannibalism.
****