From his finger a cloud of darkness formed then shout forward to obscure the ram’s eyes it screamed again its horns vibration but as the resonance built the right horn shattered shards shooting off sinking deep into Katie’s powersuit Other bits sunk into the ram’s face causing it to scream further shaking its head to dispel the darkness Unfortunately for it it stuck to its eyes keeping it blinded
Ezekiel switched to using Pierce hitting the ram again and again spraying more and more blood Affina appeared and slashed quickly her slim sword now looking like an arm’s length needle The blow ripped through a tendon in the ram’s back leg and it toppled over flailing wildly seeking the source of the attack Affina spun away then pounced again driving her needle in and out of its body lightning fast
Hank spat out some blood and raised his revolver When he fired he was disappointed that he could only feel the noise rather than experiencing the clean reverberations of the pistol Strangely as soon as he fired the ram leaped to the side throwing itself wildly out of the way It landed quite close to Laurel who scrambled backward away from it The strange burning in Hank’s ears grew stronger
The ram seemed to hear her struggles and leaped towards Laurel Gritting his teeth Hank fired again Again the ram reacted instinctively throwing itself to the side The burning in his ears had become almost painful until he heard a weird popping noise
There was a hand on his shoulder and Hank turned to regard Ezekiel
You have that thing scared shitless Ezekiel said The gunshots spook it every time Just let it die now
Affina was next to them too and she nodded My needle nicked its heart It was a small wound but Jade will grow there until its heart turns to stone and it dies How long can you keep it blind
Ezekiel winced Might need some Mana Potions but I’ll keep it blinded for long enough
The ram howled its pain and fear clear in its voice
Chapter 494
9 Skill Levels from less than 60 seconds of fighting Hank whispered looking at his hands It had taken a while but the headache from the sound waves had passed and now that the group had moved some distance away from the moaning ram they had some time to reflect on what exactly they had gotten themselves into
They were lucky in that no one was seriously injured The first ram was young and the second was arrogant enough that it was stuck on the fact that such creatures as their team would challenge its child By the time it realized the enormity of the threat that these humans could pose it’s greatest weapon its horns had been cracked
Even now the thing continued to live thrashing around in the valley below them Laurel had access to some warding Skills so they penned it in and left ways to monitor it The ward wouldn’t be able to block it at its strongest point at all but with its health deteriorating it was likely bound by them Even if it wasn’t with enough warning the team could arrive and finish it off quickly
But if it would die on its own there was no reason to expose themselves to more risk
First with his fingers then with Mana Hank thoroughly worked over the golden horns fragments he had collected from the area of their battle They were a metal but felt far far heavier denser even than lead It was something otherworldly something that seemed to sing with power even though it was something that had been broken by his infused bullets
‘This is what I was missing ‘ Hank thought but his eyes weren’t on the golden fragments they were locked on the unfocused middle ground of possibilities
Because he had learned something today about the System Sure he had heard similar things from Ghost but it hadn’t meant as much as the true experience he just experienced When it came to leveling Skills repetition and practice weren’t enough What you truly required was struggle and strife Compared to someone who threw themselves on the front line Hank who spent most of his time patrolling a small border town was only one third as Leveled
Sure he had been diligent in raising his Level but almost immediately upon arriving in the borderlands they had come face to face with a threat that vastly outclassed them Levels were one part of it but it was a part that they would naturally close the distance to in time But the destructive power of those sonic horns even while damaged demonstrated that it wasn’t just stats but Skill Levels that lay between their two relative capabilities
“I’ve grown soft ” It was a hard thing to admit But after saying it Hank’s face split into a wide smile His father had impressed upon Hank the importance of a hard day’s work and that’s all this was Perhaps he had wandered away from that creed in recent years where his antagonism towards the Tier System had left him bitter and reliant on alcohol but a legitimate threat instantly wiped that away The new perspective showed Hank what could be accomplished and how he might do it but it also warned that it would be dangerous and difficult
If you don’t do it who will
By the firepit Laurel leaped to her feet “The ram is moving “
Everyone quickly got up their faces serious As one their gazes converged on Affina who was frowning
“I cannot sense much but the jade should still be growing ” She said with a slight hesitation Ezekiel snorted but said nothing As one the group dashed out of the treeline and to the area that Laurel had warded
When the crested the hill and had vision on the ram their faces froze
It was a mass of gore
That was perhaps the first and most striking of the occurrences That ram which had resisted both Hank’s bullets Ezekiel’s spells Katie’s plasma and Affina’s strikes had been reduced to a smashed lump of flesh and blood It wasn’t just the ram that what crushed the ground underneath it had been thoroughly recked as well there was a crater about a meter across underneath the body and several thin cracks running outward from the zone of impact
Next to the ram there were two men who were gazing up towards them They had been talking as Hank had been able to pick up the sound of their conversation earlier But as soon as the group moved to approach after Laurel announced something had happened to the ram they had ceased to speak They had heard Hank’s group coming
The two diverse groups regarded each other scrutinizing the other
The first and more imposing of the two men was a young black man He currently still showed some youthful exuberance in his face and body but it was clear that when the young man truly matured he would be more muscle than man Already his arms and legs were thick and powerful the veins clear on his limbs The black man kept his dark hair cropped short Then Hank looked at the most impressive part of the man he was holding what appeared to be a giant iron ball probably a meter across
The implications weren’t lost on Hank This man had used brutal physical force in order to crush the ram in a single strike likely taking advantage of its blindness and wounds to finish it in a single blow Some part of Hank was quite annoyed that someone else had swooped in on his kill but the fact that the man could casually crush the ram’s entire body it seemed that these two were powerful enough to be confident walking around the border zone alone What was more impressive was that they had crossed the entire distance between their Zone and Hank’s Zone so quickly They had a day’s headstart but It also meant that the two were confident that they could travel quickly as well as safely And likely these two men filled the same role that Hank and his group did
After a few seconds of examination the black man turned to the second man his eyes flicking to the side his mouth curled into a frown Hank’s eyes narrowed in response so this second man was in charge
The second man seemed to be of Indian descent with dark hair and strong cheekbones But where the black man was physically domineering the Indian man slender and almost gangling He obviously was in shape but it was the shape of someone who jogged casually on the weekends not of an athlete Unlike his companion the Indian man had no obvious weapon but