Ace and Cherry, the blood mutant sibling duo, were currently standing on top of a cliff while looking down at the swarm of creatures below. Cherry grinned wickedly at the sight below her as her mind sprouted a wild idea. I’ve got a name for a skill to, Ace," She said, seizing this as the perfect opportunity for herself and her brother to learn and teach each other what they knew. "I CALL THIS, BLOOD SHREDDER SKILL." she shouted, and her blood tendrils shot out in all directions as she fell over the cliff with her body spinning, creating a whirlwind of razor-sharp blades that tore through the creatures below. Ace watched in awe as the smaller crabs were shredded by Cherry’s devastating attack. With their numbers drastically reduced, he seized the opportunity and followed his sister. [Creative Aspect Selected. Please input two skills to combine.] [Combo Skills: Blood Weapon; Blood Control.] Having had a painful experience with the first combo move he performed, Ace decided to combine something that was best suited for defense rather than offense. The Blood Weapon skill allowed him to turn any amount of blood into a weapon of his choice and the Blood Control skill allowed him to control those said weapons and the very blood inside of his opponents. Combining these two skills would grant him the ability to control the crabs and weaponize them against each other. ’Let’s see if this’ll work!!’ He said as his body immediately fell onto the ground, in between a hoard of crabs. Without wasting time, Ace stretched forth both his hands and froze the bodies of four crabs in front of him. [Combo Skill: Activated.] [- 40 Energy Points.] Just as he thought and anticipated, the creatures started to react negatively as the blood in their bodies started to coagulate and take the shapes Ace was commanding them to. With a simple folding of his fists, Ace turned the creatures into blood-shooting cannons, forcing medium-sized jets of blood to spew out from their bodies. Bullet-like drops of blood sped out from the bodies of the eight crabs Ace controlled and targeted the joints of their limbs and the center of their heads. This not only made them immobile but also killed them in an instant, allowing Ace to stock up on Experience Points. [+45 Creatures Killed.] [Level 33: 227/130>>> Level 34: 97/ 140] [New Combo Move Acquired: Body Cannons.] Panting heavily, Ace canceled the skill for a short time since he had emptied the creatures of every drop of blood they possessed. Looking around, Ace and Cherry witnessed the aftermath of their battle. The ground was littered with crab carcasses, and the blue blood that oozed from them was beginning to pool. Despite their victory, the colossal crab titan was still out there, a looming threat that could not be ignored. Cherry and Ace exchanged a determined glance. They knew that the main objective was to survive and escape, and that meant dealing with the titan. However, they also realized that they needed a strategic approach. "We can’t take on that titan head-on," Ace said, his voice firm. " Its carapace seems too hard to break through easily, but maybe we can use its size against it, flip it over somehow, and go for its underbelly." Cherry nodded, her mind racing. "We need to create a distraction, something big enough to draw its attention away from us." An idea formed in Ace’s mind. He remembered the tremors caused by the titan’s movements and the fact that it burrowed underground. If they could provoke it enough, perhaps they could get it to the surface and expose its vulnerable underside. "We need to lure it out of the ground," Ace said, excitement building in his voice. "If we can get it to surface, we might have a chance." "That could work but...that’ll expose where all the smaller crabs are coming from!!" The very thought of seeing the crab’s underside started to make Cherry uncomfortable, but she pushed those feelings away to focus on the plan. "I’ve got an idea. Meanwhile, you can show me how to make that blood spray skill. Agreed?" The siblings quickly put their plan into action. Cherry used her blood tendrils to create vibrations in the ground, mimicking the movements of a potential threat. As expected, the titan sensed the disturbance and began to burrow towards the source. The speed at which the creature moved was frightening and yet impressive at the same time. Something that large to move that fast in an environment was certainly impressive. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽 Once the titan’s massive form emerged from the ground, Cherry and Ace were ready. The creature used its eight pincers to drag its large body out of the ground while its smaller legs supported it in whatever way they could. Meanwhile, the two siblings coordinated their attacks, focusing on its vulnerable underside. Cherry’s blood blades were ready to strike as Ace stood behind her with his hands stretched out. "If you want to use the blood spray skill, imagine shooting blood spikes but on a much smaller scale." He instructed his sister, who immediately began to do as he said. "Compress the spikes into tinier blood drops and release at once....NOW!!" The sound of Cherry’s blood spikes blasting off in the form of tinny blood drops sounded more like an explosion, followed by the titan’s roar. The creature roared in agony and fury, its mighty claws slashing at the air in an attempt to crush its attackers. The confrontation was intense, the ground shaking with each of the titan’s movements. But Cherry and Ace fought with everything they had, exploiting the opening they had created. Cherry unleashed another blood spray skill, causing a large flesh wound in the creature’s underbelly. With an opening in sight, Ace rushed in with a final, powerful strike. Ace rushed in quickly with a large blood blade and managed to pierce the titan’s carapace, which guarded its giant heart and lungs. As soon as Ace struck the creature’s chest, it let out a deafening screech while a great flow of blood seeped out. Ace found his body being pushed back by the flow of blood, but he persisted and instead dug tendrils into the creature’s body to latch himself firmly onto it. With one last attempt, the blood mutant used his blood control skill and coagulated the tremendous amount of the blood being pumped from the creature’s chest, causing an intense blockage and amount of pain. Eventually, the titan gave up on fighting for its body wasn’t getting the blood it needed. In a few moments, the creature stopped moving completely and collapsed to the ground. Cherry and Ace stood there, breathing heavily, covered in blue blood and dirt. They had survived the harrowing battle against the titan, even though Ace’s system said he had to run and survive instead of fight and win. The ground was quiet now, the smaller creatures vanquished and the titan defeated. As the adrenaline began to slowly fade away, the realization of their accomplishment set in. They had not only survived the attacks but had managed to overcome a seemingly unbeatable foe. "We did it," Cherry said, a mixture of exhaustion and triumph in her voice. She slowly reverted to her human form and soaked herself in a pool of blood to keep her body warm as she regained all the energy and strength she had used up. With a smile on her face, Cherry cheered triumphantly for two reasons. One; she and her brother took down a large number of foes and two; she learned a new skill with limitless possibilities waiting for her to unlock and exploit them. "Yeah, we did. Now we need to find a way out of this God-forsaken land." Ace nodded, a proud smile on his face as he too fell to the ground while observing the achievements he earned. To his surprise, the system initiated a series of rewards, for he too was surprised that he chose to fight instead of running. In all honesty, if Cherry did not convince Ace to fight, he was most certainly not going to fight a creature so large yet not so challenging to kill. [Congratulations: You went against all the odds and defeated the creatures that were after you.] [For this, you’ll be rewarded.] [+ 3 Instant Level Ups] [Level 34>>>Level 37] [For Killing a large opponent, you’ve earned One Blood Point.] [Your Blood Strength has been increased by six points. This boost will allow you to control more blood with ease.] [Blood Strength:55>>>60] [Only thirteen more levels until being able to unlock the first major system upgrade.] ’System upgrade?’ Ace wondered while reading the system’s notification. ’Grim did mention something about me not unlocking the system fully yet. I wonder how the upgrade will feel like?’ "You did good, Ace." Cherry congratulated her brother with a sly smile on her face. "Although I know you can be more vicious. Just gotta stop holding back." "It’s not holding back, Cherry," Ace said while remembering the various system warnings and the one vision he had. "If I get too comfortable with this blood mutant form, I might end up getting lost in it. For some reason, the system warned me not to. Just wondering why." "Looks like our way out from this place’s here..." Cherry ignored what Ace said while pointing at a smaller Granian ship slowly landing where they were. "Wonder what other crappy test they’re gonna put us through."