Chapter 188: Hunter ms


    "The n is simple," Vishen Walta crouched, using a sharp mandibleplucked out from the Floating Spider body parts covering his armourto draw on the ground, forming ayout. "We will proceed 240 metres east, heading south from there. I have scouted a route in that location; it borders the ce wended and has enough room for us to move as a team."


    "That route is too long and takes too much time. The current stalemate might disappear by the time we manage to reach your teammates." Shimika Doppler tapped the side of her arm, following a rhythm. She pointed at a location in theyout, "Also, we walked through this region, having fought for some time before arriving here. That ce is currently swarmed by the Ring Worms that were lured by the scent of blood."


    "We can take a simr measure as yours," Hruna Bone nced at her teammates standing a distance away, spread around, keeping watch of their surroundings through their Tier 1 Skills. "Their battle strength iscklustre and covering for them will drain me sooner orter. I suggest we make a cave here and hide them before the three of us head to your team."


    "Do you know any good locations" Vishen Walta turned around, watching a mound float towards them. They were currently north of the rock pir terrain. It was full of cliffs and valleys, mostly circr in shape, forming winding grooves.


    From the edge of the rock pir terrain to the yellow wall forming the boundary in the north, the length was only about 50 metres. It was a narrow terrain. This also allowed them to witness a shallow beach of sorts, one that bordered the swamp on the west.


    They were situated quite close to the swamp, only separated by 20 metres. They watched a mound, thricerger than the others float towards them. Circr grey shells littered the mound, reflecting the sunlight. Swampy fluids, coloured green, yellow, and brown coted on it, forming tiny trails as they flowed down.


    It approached their proximity, arriving at the edge of the swamp, pausing for a second. A thorny head peaked out, brownish-green in colour, its skin covered in scales. Its scaly eyes gazed at them, its serpentine head wobbling slightly as it expanded, rising in height.


    A massive leg, its thickness equal to their girth emerged, pressing on thend, its steps slow. Another leg emerged, alsonding on the ground, tilting the mound slightly to the back. Followed by the sshing of the swamp water in the vicinity, the creature fully walked out.


    "A Lava Turtle" Vishen Walta muttered, watching the tail segment of the Lava Turtle still within the water. He nced behind, witnessing the fluster of the remaining team members, whispering to his right, "Hruna, will you be able to shield its vapour attack?"


    "Unless it isn''t concentrated to the extent surpassing the weight lifting capacity of my psychic arms, I should be able to manage," Hruna Bone replied, also tossing forth a caution of warning, "I know of some methods to disperse the force as much as possible but it might notst long."


    "That is fine," Shimika Doppler whispered, motioning for everyone to silently retreat, "We will defend the excess, just heal uster."


    Hruna Bone nodded, preparing her psychic arms, also forming a shape she had in mind. She currently ced them underneath her armour, intent to expand and shield everyone upon a moment''s notice, unwilling to showcase her cards to the foe beforehand, lest it counters her.


    The Lava Turtle crouched forward a little, its size domineering. A Tier 1 Lava Turtle''s shell spanned ateral size of about two metres, its height varying between 80 to 160 centimetres. The Tier 2 Lava Turtle before them was thrice the size, like arge vehicle.


    Its reptilian eyes gazed at them, emitting smoke from its nostrils. Its underneath was simrly shielded by the shell, the surface rugged, slightly smooth whenpared to the top. Its neck region trembled, prompting the three Cadets to assume battle-ready positions.


    Followed by smoke rising from its nostrils, the air surrounding it trembled, showcasing the abrupt temperature spike. A gust of steam, mixed amid boiling water gushed out like a jet, aimed at them.


    "I won''t be able to block this fully." Hruna Bone bellowed, unleashing the structure she had prepared using both her psychic arms. It was shaped into a cone, with grooves spiralling on it, forming numerous helical patterns that diverged towards the end.


    The tip of the conical structure wasn''t pointed, but was slightly blunt, resembling a hemisphere, also deformed in certain sections, connecting with the spiralling grooves. Hruna Bone spread her arms, coiling them around the hips of Vishen Walta and Shimika Doppler.


    Upon her shout, all three of them mildly jumped, no longer anchored to the ground. This was done to absorb as much of the power behind the jet of water as possible. Their jump also coordinated with the approaching jet, to maximise the effect of the erected conical barrier.


    The team members ran as they watched their team leaders take the brunt of the damage, flustered at the situation. If not for the confidence they had in the strength of the three leaders, they would have long sumbed to their fears.


    The jet impacted the barrier, causing numerous cracks to form instantly, the heat contained within beginning to melt it. Steam spread everywhere, reducing visibility. Trailing along the grooves, the boiling water spread out into various streams, ejected radially along the ne of impact.


    The steam too followed suit, dispersing randomly, but with most of it apanying the boiling water, thanks to its build-up momentum. Vishen Walta activated his Tier 2 Skill, pulling the other two behind him the moment the conical barrier shattered.


    He focused the effect on defence, raising his arms before him to defend against the jet of water. He adjusted their posture, trying as much as possible to prevent the deflected fluid from falling on the two girls behind him.


    "Ugh," He grunted, feeling a burning sensation course his skin, breaking through his defence. Steam seeped into his nostrils, burning up his insides, causing his body to tremble. He closed his eyes, preventing himself from bing blind.


    Hruna Bone controlled herself from fainting; blood seeped out of her eyes while veins popped on her forehead, a result due to her psychic arms getting destroyed. It would take her some time, also consuming massive amounts of psychic energy to recreate them again.


    Vishen Walta''s defensive posture wasn''t perfect, causing a lot of the boiling water to spill on her, burning up her skin. Since her armour was already in tatters, she took the brunt of the impact, hollering in pain.


    Shimika Doppler dashed to the side, holding her heavy war hammer, closing in on the Lava Turtle''s side within a second. Since its movements were slow, it couldn''t respond to her, only able to follow her movement with its eye.


    Tier 2 SkillArm Burst!


    The hand holding the heavy war hammer swelled slightly, condensing a lot of energy into it. It experienced an increase in its sturdiness, raising the capacity of the strength, and speed it could muster and withstand.


    "Aargh!" She bellowed, mming her heavy war hammer downwards, aiming at the neck of the Lava Turtle. The feedback she expected didn''t arrive; instead, she received a response akin to mming against a boulder, one whose hardness was only a tad inferior to what her strength could affect.


    ''An Amplifier Hunter m.'' She watched a grey circr shell receive her attack, its shellpletely cracking in the process, revealing the gtinous muscr body underneath. The momentum of her attack still existed, carrying its body along with the head of her heavy war hammer.


    Another Amplifier Hunter m arrived beneath, soaking up the remaining momentum, its shell only experiencing a hairline crack. Its shell spanned about 30 centimetres in size, lustrous to the extent only inferior to a mirror.


    Two tentacles emerged from within, coiling around the shaft of her war hammer, slithering towards her hand, its size going beyond the volume avable within the shell. The Amplifier Hunter m that first resisted her attack shivered a couple of times, unleashing two tentacles.


    Though, they had just crawled along the shaft for half the distance before falling limp; it died. The tentacles of the second Amplifier Hunter m approached her hands, prompting her to let go of her hold.


    Her hand shot to her back, unsheathing a short sword, one whose de spanned 30 centimetres in length and five centimetres in width. Ignoring the Amplifier Hunter m holding her heavy war hammer, she shot towards the neck of the Lava Turtle, getting interrupted by almost 20 Tier 1 Hunter ms, all Observers.


    Her short sword shed around, shing an Observer Hunter m into two with each attack. The Lava Turtle began to retreat, cing its hind legs into the swamp. Since it only bordered around the edge when itunched its attack, it could easily retreat.


    A sword flew past the jet of water, heading straight for its head. Leaving the heavy war hammer, the Amplifier Hunter m moved, getting hit by the sword, causing the hairline crack on its shell to widen further. It caught hold of the sword, extending its tentacles as it shed towards Shimika Doppler.


    Shimika Doppler raised her short sword, defending against the attack. Her knees buckled up under the force, nting her feet deeper into the ground. She grunted once, ncing around, taking in the overall situation, nning her next attack.


    The Lava Turtle closed its mouth, watching the Amplifier Hunter m arrive before it and shield the thrown sword. Using the chance when the jet of water stopped, a figure shed around, arriving before the Amplifier Hunter m, sending a kick its way.


    Tentacles upied due to the sh it sent at Shimika Doppler, it couldn''t defend against his kick. The Amplifier Hunter m was sent flying into the swamp, carrying his sword with it, trailing an arc greater than 10 metres. Shimika Doppler threw her short sword at him, picking up the heavy war hammer.


    Tier 2 SkillBody Burst!


    When all the remaining Observer Hunter ms congregated together to defend against Shimika Doppler''s hammer attack, Vishen Walta plunged Shimika''s short sword into the Lava Turtle''s neck, easily bypassing its neck defences.


    He made a line, starting from underneath its face, and trailing until the part before the shell. He made a circr cut, severing the neck from its body, watching a copious amount of blood ssh on him.


    "Aargh!" He bellowed in pain, hurriedly concentrating the entirety of his Tier 2 Skill''s effect into defence. He hurriedly retreated; Shimika Doppler too followed suit. Witnessing the death of the Lava Turtle, the remaining Observer Hunter ms ran into the swamp, abandoning the fight.