I Hate Systems

Core Skill—Power Punch!

Flustered at the loss of his right hand, Dwun didn't wish for Shika to take advantage of the chance and kill him. So, he intended to drag her down with him, pouring all his power into his right hand, beyond what he was capable of withstanding.

His right hand fragmented into dust under the accumulated power as the impact slammed into Shika, sending her reeling into the tunnel walls, causing a massive crater as rocks crumbled and fell towards the bottom.

"Gah!" Shika coughed out blood, having suffered immense damage from the attack. In the split second before the attack slammed into her, she screamed mentally.

"System, combust all my stats!"

<Ding!>

With her command, all her stats were combusted to result in explosive power that she used to defend herself. That was how she was able to survive.

In truth, both the Systems had taken a massive hit at their Mental Energy reserves just to alter the scenario of guaranteed death. If they had lacked enough Mental Energy, their Hosts would have died from that attack.

Having unleashed his attack, Dwun no longer had any hands to grip upon, becoming tipsy for a moment as he fell towards the ground, his fall being cushioned by the grass that was growing at the bottom.

The sides of the walls too were covered by the grass. But, as they only reached a height of fifty metres from the bottom, Shika and Dwun didn't encounter them while fighting.

Dwun's fall was broken by the thick layer of grass that happily caught onto him as his skin immediately wriggled, like hundreds of worms were moving through it.

The grass was invading his body as he screamed in pain, intending to escape their hold. But, no matter what he tried, he couldn't do so.

Or rather, whenever he tried anything, countless arrows rained down from above, preventing him from moving.

'Dammit, my Mental Energy is being consumed rapidly.' The Power Punch System scowled in response, trying to keep the grass at bay from taking over his mind.

Suddenly, it received an epiphany, noticing that Dwun had reached enlightenment during the threat to his life. It no longer hindered the grass, causing it to fully take over Dwun's body.

His writhing body stopped immediately as a serene expression washed over his face, 'I see, everything makes sense now.'

With his space destroyed, he was no longer able to possess any mutated beast abilities. But now, once the grass took over his mind, he noticed to his surprise that the grass here wasn't connected to the massive stretch on the ground.

This was a small, individual patch of grass, only present within the tunnel. And, as they tried to take control over him, his mind proved stronger.

So, he in reverse gained control over the grass. This was precisely because the patch of grass was too small, and had only been around for a short time. So, it wasn't able to devour his mind.

With that, Dwun laughed, getting up as his hands regenerated, having turned into a Grassmen. Moreover, the surrounding grass was in his control.

With a thought, all the grass uprooted themselves and swerved into him, strengthening himself further. Moreover, the dozens of Grassmen around him kneeled on the ground, treating him as their commander.

"Hahaha, Shika!" He laughed, clenching his hand into a fist as he gazed at her bloodied figure, "Let's fight again!"

Saying so, his hands turned into claws, evident by the Grassmen's ability, digging into the tunnel walls as he climbed up quickly.

Not only that, having absorbed a lot of grass, he had a lot of volume to use, casually extending the size of his body as he turned into a three-metre-tall giant by the time he approached Shika.

Shika coughed and gazed at the thin layer of sunlight casting into the tunnel, frowning, 'There's still a lot of time left before nightfall approaches.'

She then noticed that there was enough Vital Energy, accumulating power before condensing the Night Blanket, causing the entire tunnel to turn dark.

Having turned into a Grassmen, the two Spydragons were useless to him. So, Dwun let them go, watching Shika's face scowl in response as the two Spydragons burrowed into the ground and vanished.

"Now, how are your wounds?" Dwun grinned, arriving before her, unaffected by the dark, relying upon a Skill to locate her.

But all of a sudden, Shika smirked, suddenly fusing the sword into the arrows, combining them into her crossbow.

Without any hesitation, she shot it at Dwun, blasting his head off, smirking as his figure collapsed to the ground.

This was what she had been thinking about all along, having gained countless inspiration from her fights. And now, she conceived a method to fuse her mutated beast abilities.

It was derived from her porcupine that could be attached to other items. And, all she did was do the same with all her mutated beast abilities, achieving this explosive power.

Adding onto the boost generated by the Core Skill of Night Ranger in the darkness, her attack was a lot stronger than before. It wasn't just twice stronger. As every ability was twice stronger, when combined, they synchronised better than before, allowing the power that resulted in the end product to be many times stronger.

The concept was similar to the square-cubed law that toughness and weight shared.

As Dwun collapsed to the ground, Shika peered out of the crater, noticing the neck muscles on Dwun twitching, beginning to regenerate. He wasn't dead yet.

Even though the Power Punch System was solemn at the risks involved, it wasn't flustered. Because, a simple loss of the head was no longer enough to kill him, especially considering his vitality.

Just as she planned to attack him again until he died, she noticed the two Spydragons heading towards the surface before beginning to head somewhere else.

She hesitated for a moment before understanding that her mutated beasts were on the verge of death, having forcibly used the fusion ability. So, she no longer wished to fight him again, 'I cannot do this anymore, System.'

[It's fine, Host. You've already cleared the Quest when you fused your abilities]

The Night Ranger System replied before generating the Quest Completion Window. Sighing in response, Shika used her sword to plunge into the walls of the tunnel and climb up, reaching the surface before she began to chase after the Spydragons.

'With thirty plus enemies around, increasing the variables by creating more differing groups is the best..' Compass Carburettor smiled, having already achieved his objective.