[Hold your ground against the Ethisian clones before you. Ten experience points will be granted for every successful hit.] The Ethisians stomped heavily on the ground beneath them, causing vibrations while walking at a steady pace toward the three blood mutants. Knowing that they would not be able to pierce through the thick hide of the Ethisians, the three blood mutants were faced with a new challenge, all formulated by Grim himself. Cautiously and carefully, Ace approached the creatures while forming a blood axe in his right hand. Hardening the blood, the weapon developed a gem-like texture, giving it an almost indestructible look. [10 Stat Points have been used.] [Blood Strength: 45 >>> 55] With his blood strength increased by ten points, Ace felt his weapon become heavier and harder to the touch, making him hope that it would at least cause a little damage to the Ethisians. ’If I’m thinking straight,’ Ace thought to himself while observing their movements, ’their softest parts must be their chests but that’s not going to be easy to hit. Their hands and legs are just too armored, same goes for the back.’ "Are we going to single one out and handle it, or are we just going to go for both at the same time?" Cherry asked, hoping not to waste too much strength. "You two take one, and I’ll try to keep the other busy for a while," Jim answered as he moved towards the left of the Ethisians. Already transformed, he wanted to gauge his own strength against the creature and see just how much he had improved. "That leaves me and you then, Cherry," Ace said while preparing to blood sprint to the Ethisian. "Remember, do not over-rely on that form unless you have been pushed back into a corner, alright?" "Alright, I get it," Cherry answered with blood coating her hands and legs. Moving at incredible speeds, the two siblings closed the distance between them and the Ethisians. Jim had already created an opening for the two siblings by gaining the attention of one Ethisian and drawing it away from its comrade. "Make a tool and go for the back of its legs," Ace said to his sister while skidding across the red dirt ground, narrowly avoiding getting punched by the Ethisians. Once he was behind, he quickly got back on his feet with his blood axe ready to slice away at the back of its knees. Cherry, who used a blood scythe instead, was also at the Ethisians’ back, and together, the two siblings struck their weapons as hard as they could into its legs; however... To their surprise, the intended areas the two tried to hit had tough, thick scales that caused the weapons to bounce off of them. Their weapons, though not shattered, were chipped and just needed one more hit like that to break them into small pieces. ’It can harden its body at will?’ Ace thought to himself, clearly frightened by this feature. As for the Ethisian, it quickly stomped onto the ground and raised enough dust to conceal itself and the two humans behind it. ’Damn it. It’s trying to blind us.’ [System Scan Skill: Activated.] As soon as Ace activated the system scan skill, his eyes caught a short glimpse of a fist swiping towards his head. The end result was him flying through the dust cloud with a little bit of blood spewing from his mouth and nose. Having been hit with great force, Ace tumbled and skidded across the red dirt floor with a couple of minor scratches and bruises. Once he regained his footing, he saw his sister get hit through the dust cloud and roll onto the ground. "Why don’t you use your blood mutant form?" Grim asked from a distance as he and Skyler observed the ongoing battle. "You will have an even playing ground." "I know," Ace answered, "but if I over-rely on it, what will become of me if I fight something that has a blood mutant gene blocker?" Ace’s response impressed Grim to the point where he smirked; however, it also made him grow cautious towards the young man and understand what else he meant. [Blood Sprint Skill: Activated.] Cancelling the blood axe, Ace formed many blood sickles with two tightly gripped in his hands and the others floating above him. Once again, the blood mutant covered the distance between him and the Ethisian while going for its chest. The legs were of no use for him to attack, so he chose the next best option, which was also the most dangerous, given that he had no form of protection. "HYAAAHHH!!" sending out the other blood sickles to the Ethisian’s head, Ace managed to distract it a little while he went for its chest. His sister saw this and did the same by unleashing multiple weak spikes at its head. [20EXP] Read full story at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱 [Level 20: 20/10 >>> Level 21: 10/20] With only a small opening, Ace landed two quick slashes on the Ethisians’ chest, chipping away at its softer scales. Even though the sickles did not do much damage, Ace was pleased because he had confirmed the theory he had. ’Its chest is its weakness.’ He thought to himself while keeping a safe distance between himself and the Ethisian. ’I know for sure that I won’t be able to get another chance like that. It’s now aware of what I was up to.’ With a new strategy already formulated, Ace decided to use his blood mutant form to back him up with an added strength boost. [Transformation begun.] As his body broke apart and re-arranged itself, the Ethisian turned its attention to Cherry who was signaled by Ace to transform. However, the creature moved at an alarming speed and managed to catch up to her before she was able to do anything. Using her blood step skill, Cherry quickly evaded the Ethisian’s attack while transforming. Just then, Ace sprinted for the creature with two blood sickles gripped in his claws. The Ethisian turned its attention to him, roared briefly, and charged back with its neck bent, just like enraged horned animals would do. [Blood Drain skill: Activated.] Stunned for a moment, Ace remained still as he looked at the sickles he made, remaining dislodged in the creature’s temples. The next best place he hoped to be the softest was the sides of its head, just beneath the head holes he expected to be its ears. "He did it." Cherry said while quickly she and Ace quickly drained out as much of its green blood as possible. "We’ve got it now." Ace pulled out his sickles and quickly liquefied them while collecting the Ethisian’s green blood. However, he noticed its wounds healing quickly, so he quickly turned some of its own blood into spikes and shoved them as deep as he could into its head. The Ethisian screamed in agony while trying to grab Ace’s body. Unfortunately for it, Cherry was already at its backside, using her strength to keep it from moving while Ace dug the blood spikes as deep as he could into its head. [Critical Damages Detected] Suddenly and unexpectedly, the Ethisians’ body unleashed a powerful blast of scales that went through Ace and Cherry’s bodies. The two siblings were pushed back, allowing the Ethisian to get back on its feet. The three creatures remained still for a while with their wounds healing as quickly as possible. Once finished, the Ethisian crouched with its arms tucked in and then quickly sprung open with hundreds of scales shooting at Ace and Cherry. [Multiple Projectiles Detected. Unless they’re removed, your body will not be able to heal quickly.] Once again, the creature crouched with its hands tucked in, preparing for another large scale blast. Ace and Cherry quickly formed blood shields which thankfully absorbed the scales but pushed them further away from the creature at the same time. ’It’s using this as a way to get time to heal.’ Ace noted, having seen the wounds he inflicted closing up. ’Let’s try doing the same thing then.’ [Blood Spray Skill: Activated] With the symbiote having increased his strength and blood strength, Ace’s blood spray attack evolved from mere pellets shooting out at incredible speeds to six-inch-long spikes. Unlike the Ethisian, which shot its scales in random directions, Ace managed to send his in a fixed destination which was the creature before him. The first few blood spikes did nothing but break upon impact; however, as more came, the Ethisian started to struggle with them. With its attention already taken by Ace, the Ethisian wasn’t able to deflect Cherry’s attack. Since she didn’t know how to use the blood spray skill, Cherry created massive blood spikes and fired them at the Ethisian. Together, the two siblings brought the Ethisian to its knees while weakening it at the same time. However, with no extra provision of blood, Ace and Cherry had a few short seconds left until their bodies reverted to normal. "ACE, HURRY!!" Cherry shouted as her body slowly reverted to normal. Ace quickly reverted to his human form while sprinting to the Granian. As soon as he got close enough, Ace made a blood spear laced with his own blood. As soon as he struck the spear into the left side of the Ethisian’s head, the spear exploded, thrusting it to the ground. A large enough wound, seeping with blood, was opened, and Ace quickly drained as much as he could. With enough to create another weapon, the boy hardened the blood and stuck it through the Ethisians’ head. Seeing it still squirming, Ace removed the hardened blood and struck it repeatedly until the Ethisian was as good as dead. [Simulation {Stage 1} Complete.] [Simulation {Stage 2} Commenced.]