{Phase Two: Commence.} {Goal: Disable at least one Ethisian to advance to the next phase.} "These Ethisians look more menacing than the first lot we dealt with not so long ago," Cherry pointed out. The others agreed and contemplated whether they’d proceed with the phase or not. "What’s more frightening is that these are clones..." "Just imagine how strong the real Ethisians are," Once again, the realization hit the Humans so hard that their bodies became temporarily paralyzed with fear. Neither one of them wanted to fight the Ethisian clones, let alone the real deal. Sadly, if they didn’t, they knew that the Granians would throw them onto the front line whether they were ready or not. "How about we all take out one Ethisian at a time as a team? That will be much easier for us right?" Skyler asked as she prepared to consume the flesh of the mimicker Ace helped her kill. "Maybe the simulation will count those as kills and let us through, right?" {Each subject will be required to disable at least one Ethisian on their own.} "That option’s off the table," Jim sighed heavily. "Standing here won’t do anything for us. We have to get this done quickly." ’Now would be a perfect time to turn Cherry,’ Ace mumbled to himself while weighing the opportunities. ’Although, she could end up losing control and get herself killed. Damn it, what should I do?’ {Proceed with the Second Phase.} The Ethisians allocated at the bottom of the cliff were awakened and began looking for something to kill. Upon noticing this, the Humans decided to move in with an element of surprise. As for Skyler, she decided to jump headfirst while consuming the flesh of the mimicker. Her body quickly transformed, with parts of her shaking violently. A sharp pain coursed through her body, and as the transformation came to completion, she fell right on top of an Ethisian that was caught off guard. "There goes our element of surprise," Cherry sighed frustratedly. "May the best Mutant win." [Blood Clone Skill: Activated.] While still in his Mutant form, Ace created two identical clones which acted as decoys for him. Immediately, he and his clones jumped over the cliff with blood spears thrown directly at the heads of the Ethisians. This, of course, didn’t work on the Ethisians for their heads were covered in hard scales, but it did distract them for a while, forcing all of them to draw their attention to the three falling figures and not Skyler. Dramatically, Ace and his clones landed in the center of the Ethisians. With their claws ready, the Blood Bishop and his clones quickly got to work handling the Ethisians. As he chose one target, Ace manipulated his two blood clones into streaks of flowing blood, which he used to inject and pierce the soft fleshy underbellies of the Ethisians. In a short moment, Jim and Cherry landed with attacks of their own, turning the area into a small battlefield. Thanks to their smaller bodies, the Humans were able to dodge the slow and heavy attacks from the Ethisians while counterattacking with deadly blows of their own. While some went for the soft underbellies, others went head-on-head against the Ethisians, relying on their brute strength and blood abilities to help them do the work. As the others fought, Skyler slowly rose up her entire body aching. Her head ran and throbbed, almost as if someone turned her brain into a drum. Her vision became blurry and disoriented. Her heart was beating unevenly, and her legs were struggling to keep her aching body in place. However, the Ethisian she had landed on furiously got up and faced her, its eyes bloodshot red while it prepared to swing at her. The two opponents stared at each other, one in pain and the other enraged, both eager to leave with their lives. The sound of a heavy weapon swinging in the air echoed in Skyler’s ears as she dodged at the last moment. While doing so, she dug her hands into the ground and sprinkled dirt in the Ethisian’s eyes, temporarily blinding it in the process. As quickly as she got up, she turned her hand into her groundhog form, coated it with a bit of Eneraflux, and delivered an undercut to the Ethisian. The Ethisian, thanks to its dense body, wasn’t moved at all by the woman’s punch. Instead, it got even angrier and wished to hurt Skyler more than she did to it. The Ethisian roared, its great voice bellowing so loud that Skyler felt it in her bones. Quickly taking a few steps back, she observed as the scales on its body started to separate, almost as if they were going to jump at her. Frustrated and still in pain, Skyler activated all the Eneraflux in her body to create a small shield to protect herself. She wasn’t sure when the mimicker’s DNA would mix with hers, and she wasn’t sure how much strength she’d need to give in order to take down her opponent. For more chapters visıt 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥 ’I have to think on my feet if I want to survive this,’ she meticulously planned her next way forward while also keeping her focus on the Ethisian. Suddenly, Skyler felt her body easing up a little as the pain she once felt subsided. The energy that was held back by her pain returned, and soon, she was able to turn into her beast forms. However, as soon as she tried to transform, her body started to swell and harden. Her bones became denser, her skin became tougher to the point where it echoed as she tapped on it, and her body took a shape that was almost similar to the Ethisian’s. "It worked," she smiled, now knowing that the mimicker’s DNA worked. She may have not looked nearly close to the Ethisian before her, but she was certainly large enough to go toe-to-toe with it. "Let’s see how much damage I can cause in this form."