Free Web NovelChapter 12: The Leader Of Netherclaw Prowlers
The charging Netherclaw Prowlers split apart almost immediately. One chased after Emma while the other three continued rushing directly toward Alex.
Then a pulse of mana spread outward from Emma, and a second Netherclaw Prowler abruptly changed direction and followed her as well.
Alex felt the pulse clearly.
It was mana.
For a brief moment, surprise crossed his mind. He had assumed Emma’s Rogue Class relied on something completely different from magic, yet there was no mistaking what he had sensed.
Before he could think about it further, the first monster reached him.
Alex shoved every distracting thought aside as the Netherclaw Prowler lunged toward him with frightening speed.
At the same time, he flooded mana into the arm holding the spear and rapidly adjusted the flow between each muscle.
The monster’s claws swept toward his chest, but Alex continued focusing until the very last moment.
Then he moved.
His arm blurred forward. The spear shot directly through the monster’s eye and pierced deep into its brain.
The creature died instantly and collapsed before it could even complete its attack.
Alex immediately pulled the spear free. His arm felt perfectly fine despite the explosive movement, causing a grin to spread across his face.
His new understanding of Body Reinforcement Spell worked exactly as he had hoped.
The second Netherclaw Prowler was already airborne. It leapt over the falling corpse with its jaws wide open, intending to bite off Alex’s head in a single attack. Alex thrust the spear upward, and the sharpened tip entered through the roof of its mouth before puncturing its brain.
The monster died instantly, but its body continued falling toward him. Alex released the spear and moved aside as the corpse crashed heavily onto the ground. The shaft snapped under the impact.
Alex barely paid attention to the broken weapon. He grabbed the rear half of the spear and immediately looked toward Emma.
The remaining two Netherclaw Prowlers had already reached her, and he knew he couldn’t physically get there in time.
Without hesitation, he threw the broken shaft with all his strength. He aimed for the eye, hoping for a clean kill, but his aim was off. Instead, the wooden shaft slammed into the monster’s snout and knocked it off balance just before it could pounce.
The attack wasn’t enough to kill it, but it was enough to save Emma. Meanwhile, Alex crouched beside the dead monster and yanked the front half of the spear from its skull. He looked up just in time to see another Netherclaw Prowler slash toward Emma.
She twisted her body and narrowly avoided the attack. The movement looked far faster than anything he remembered seeing from her before.
Alex wondered if she possessed some sort of Body Reinforcement Spell, or if she had used free stat points on Agility.
Even while thinking, he was already moving. He drew his arm back and hurled the broken spearhead toward the monster threatening Emma. His aim missed once again, but the sharpened tip still struck the creature’s side and buried itself deep into its flesh.
The monster shrieked in pain and stumbled away. Alex canceled the boost on his arm, and was about to reinforce his legs with mana to rush over to help when a wave of danger suddenly exploded through his senses. Goosebumps rose across his skin.
Without thinking, he threw himself sideways.
A massive paw slammed into the ground where he had been standing. The attack was so fast that Alex barely saw it coming, and the wind generated by the strike threw him even further away. He rolled several times before crashing into a tree, pain shooting through his back.
There was no time to recover.
The leader of the Netherclaw Prowlers stood before him.
Looking at it closely, Alex could clearly see the injuries covering its body. Several wounds were still bleeding, while dried blood stained portions of its fur. Something had fought it recently, and judging by the injuries, it hadn’t been an easy battle.
Even so, the monster was terrifying.
It was noticeably larger than every other Netherclaw Prowler he had encountered, but size wasn’t the most frightening part.
The sheer speed of its attack had surpassed anything Alex had expected. Even with Body Reinforcement Spell active, he wasn’t confident he could match it.
His grip tightened as he prepared himself to fight. Then a realization struck him.
He wasn’t holding a weapon anymore.
The broken spearhead was lodged in another monster. The shaft had already been thrown away. He had rushed into combat so quickly that he hadn’t noticed when he became unarmed.
At that moment, another pulse of mana spread outward from Emma’s position. The larger Netherclaw Prowler glanced toward the source for a split second, and Alex immediately seized the opportunity.
Mana surged through his legs as he rushed forward. The distance vanished rapidly, and within moments he stood directly in front of the monster. This was his chance—
Reality caught up to him.
As the Netherclaw Prowler turned its head toward him, he realized he wasn’t holding a weapon. There was no stone in his hand and no spear either, yet he didn’t stop.
He threw a punch toward the monster’s neck. Mana flooded his arm as he rapidly adjusted the flow between every muscle, making sure they operated at full power without tearing themselves apart.
The attack was fast, but the monster was faster. It simply pulled its head back and avoided it before immediately retaliating.
Its jaws opened wide as it lunged toward him, intending to bite off his head. Alex pulled back his first arm and launched an uppercut with the other strengthened arm. Even before the punch was completed, his strengthened mind reminded him of the conclusion.
The monster was faster.
If things continued as they were, the creature would reach him first and kill him before the uppercut connected. The realization flashed through his mind in an instant, and under the pressure of imminent death, Alex did something he had never attempted before.
Mana surged into his back. He became aware of the individual muscles there and instinctively adjusted the mana distribution just as he had learned to do with his arm. The effect was immediate as his back muscles contracted with explosive force and transferred that power into the punch.
The uppercut accelerated so suddenly that even Alex was caught off guard.
Its speed nearly doubled, and a loud boom echoed through the ruins as his fist smashed into the monster’s neck before its jaws could reach him.
The impact was so violent that the creature’s head tore free from its shoulders and flew through the air.
Blood erupted from the severed neck. For a moment, Alex simply stood there before sucking in a huge breath and realizing he had forgotten to breathe during the exchange. His entire body felt strangely light.
Then the consequences hit him.
His head was tingling, dark spots floated through his vision, and a dull ache throbbed behind his eyes. He had been concentrating so intensely that his body was beginning to protest, and more importantly, his mana was nearly gone.
There was still some remaining, but not much. He could feel himself approaching his limit, and using more mana would be dangerous. Even standing upright suddenly felt more difficult than before.
Alex immediately looked toward Emma.
The situation wasn’t good. The two remaining Netherclaw Prowlers had recovered and cornered her. A large gash had been torn across her thigh, and she had fallen to the ground while the monsters approached cautiously.
Alex reacted immediately. He slipped off his Asian Slippers and hurled them with all the strength he could muster. The attack wasn’t deadly, but one slipper struck the eye of each monster.
The Netherclaw Prowlers roared in pain and recoiled. Taking advantage of the opening, Alex sprinted forward while searching for a weapon.
His foot struck a loose stone, and without slowing down, he scooped it up and continued running.
By the time he reached the nearest monster, he was already stumbling from exhaustion. Alex stopped channeling mana into his legs and redirected it into his arm before swinging the stone with everything he had. The world suddenly went black.
Exhaustion had finally caught up to him.
..
Author’s Note: Add the novel to library, and send support if you like it!
