[Transformation begun.]
The loud man, with the sword and gauntlets on his hands, watched in fear as the veins on Ace's arms bulged intensely. They grew to the size of cherry tomatoes before they popped. The blood that spilled quickly crawled up and slid down his body as his body grew.
The first parts to transform were his hands, followed by his arms, upper shoulders, neck and head while the rest of his body got covered with blood. His face was now transforming as he pulled the cage's bars apart with his new-found strength.
"What's the matter?" Ace spoke while he grinned widely, showing the loud man his mouth filled with three-inch-long teeth. "Never heard of a blood mutant before?" A blood tentacle quickly shot out from his back and pierced into the man's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
The others in the base wanted to come out to his aid, but he waved his arm as a signal for them not to interfere. Ace shot another tentacle to the man's thigh and lifted his body six feet high into the air. "How about I let you go through what you put me and my friend through?"
[New Skill Acquired.]
[Blood Sprint: Unlike the blood step, the blood sprint allows you to move through the ground like the wind. This triples your current speed and can be useful for evading attacks or running enemies through the ground.]
[Blood sprint activated.]
Before sprinting through the base, Ace took a mighty leap into the air and then came crashing down with the man under his feet. The weight of the blood mutant nearly crushed the man's insides, but the blood mutant wasn't even started.
"Wait wait WAIT!!" The loud man tried slicing the tentacles off with his sword, but Ace already begun sprinting faster than the fastest land mammal. With a third tentacle on the man's face, Ace made sure that his face went through the hard, solid ground and receive as many bruises as possible.
However, with this new speed, it was hard for him to control himself as he'd occasionally crash into and through buildings and other objects in front of him. "Please…let me go," The loud man pleaded. "I'll let you go. I'll let you and your friend go."
"LET HIM GO!!" Ace found himself surrounded by over ten men, each one of them mounted on an evolved jaguar with bone plates on its shoulders, forehead, and back. Its larger front body allowed it to still keep its speed and pack a punch at the same time.
[Quest Available]
[Take out all the opponents in front of you, rescue your friend and escape.]
[Reward: Your freedom and EXP.]
*ROAAARR*
Ace let out a mighty roar as more blood tentacles formed on his back. Each of the men pointed staffs with different colored, pointed crystals on them and said, "You should have listened while you had the chance."
Ace replied with, "You should have run while you still had blood in your body."
[Blood Step Activated.]
In a twinkle of an eye, Ace was already by one man's side and wrapped his tentacle around his neck while his forearms turned into double-edged blades which he used to penetrate into the beast's sides, killing it on spot.
[30 EXP earned.]
[Taking out one opponent earns you 10 EXP. Taking out a beast earns you 20 EXP]
"ATTACK!!" Once the order was given, the remaining men came charging right at Ace while they screamed on top of their lungs. Luckily for Ace, the blood moon acted as a large source of energy for him but it also did the same for the beasts which were charging for him.
He noticed how their eyes glowed and how their chests glowed brighter than the other beasts he ever encountered. 'Doesn't matter. Now's the time for me to stock up on EXP.' Ace said to himself while he dropped the dead, blood drained bodies away.
With the extra blood he now had to his disposal, he made thick blood strands to elevate him higher into the ground, allowing him to leap over the men who slightly crashed into each other. Once behind them, he put his arms in his arm pits, took in a deep breath and quickly threw them out. Spikes that were the size of small tree branches and as sharp as razors generated from his hand as they sped through the bodies of the unfortunate men that didn't shield themselves.
[50EXP earned]
Those who survived the spikes were still in for a surprise as Ace started sprinting around them, causing a dust cloud to rise above them and blind them.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND. HE CAN'T DO THIS FOREVER."
"AAAHH…" One by one, the men were being taken up by tentacles that would go through their necks or chests, killing them on spot. Their beasts, which were to frightened to fight, run out of the base and moved into the wild where they belonged.
[10EXP]
[10EXP]
[10EXP]
[10EXP]
[40EXP earned.]
[Blood Sprint cancelled.]
The dust cloud eventually came down as Ace stood opposite the last man who, apparently, was the second in command. Unlike a few who escaped, he chose to stay behind not only to help his leader but also take down the red creature that used blood to fight.
Ace couldn't tell it but the man's attitude was set to kill, ask questions later. His face had a scowl of determination written all over and his body, fully aware of its surroundings, sat fully erect on top of the beast that was growling at Ace.
"You didn't run like a few of the others." Ace spoke with a grin on his monstrous face.
"What kind of man would I be if I didn't take you down?" The man replied. "Besides, your head will look good on my wall mount."
"Your blood will make a great sword for ME…!!!"
[-30HP]
[HP 20/50]
Ace felt a sharp, burning pain leaving his back as his health points dropped to numbers he had never seen before. Looking behind him, he stared dead into the eyes of the loud man, who was covered in tree bark and vines as he held the large green sword that was dripping with his blood.
"You shouldn't have let me go, kid." The loud man, who spoke in a deep voice, taunted Ace while staring back with his eyes slowly glowing a green hue. "You have no idea how dangerous I am with this sword in my hands."
[Emergency Healing Activated.]
[Blood Drain Activated.]