Chapter 85: Distress Signal

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Distress Signal

The giant creature towered over the virtual expanse, its shadow swallowing the white floor.

"The Fire Tusk Mammoth has been upgraded to the General Class beast." Keira said through the screen. "Each one of them are a walking disaster and can destroy a town with their casual attack.

Flumes of searing fire erupted from its massive trunk, painting the white expanse in violent shades of crimson.

WOOOSH!

The air inside the simulation warped under the extreme heat, roaring with disaster-level force.

The flames extended from its tusk and twisted in the air to form twin tornados of fire.

Derrick gulped nervously as if he could feel the intense thermal waves radiating directly from the screen.

Just how powerful is that beast? How long will I even last against it?

Keira did not flinch.

She stood motionless before the towering General Level beast, two dull silver rings hanging casually at her sides.

"Watch closely," she said, her voice cutting through the roar of the flames. "A chakram is not just a piece of metal you throw."

"It is an extension of your inertia." The Fire Tusk Mammoth roared, a sound that rattled the virtual arena as it charged forward like a mountain on fire.

The twin fire tornadoes spiraled off its tusks, ripping across the ground and incinerating the air between them.

Keira stepped directly toward the heat wave.

She did not even bother to use her awakened talent or any other flashy battle skill.

She simply sank her weight low, her ankles locking onto the floor with absolute stability.

She was fighting with pure body control and Weapons mastery skill.

As the first fire tornado swept down, Keira leaped forward into the storm.

She jumped several meters without any effort, reaching half the height of the beast.

Her body twisted in mid-air, a tight, impossible rotation that let the searing gale graze her clothes without touching her skin.

Right in the middle of her spin, her wrist snapped.

The left chakram shot from her hand like a blur of light.

It’s moving faster than my eyes can track.

Mid-flight, the silver ring shifted fueled by her Enhanced Energy and expanded to five times its size, cutting clean through the first fire tornado.

The compressed wind and flames scattered into harmless embers.

The expanded ring did not stop.

It curved through the air, whirring like an industrial saw, and struck the mammoth’s left tusk at a precise forty-five-degree angle.

A deafening metallic crack echoed through the space.

MOOOOOGHHH!!

The giant flaming tusk snapped off, tumbling to the floor in a shower of sparks.

Before the mammoth could gather itself and attack again, Keira flexed her fingers in mid-air.

The expanded ring contracted instantly back into a small disc, altering its center of gravity and snapping backward toward the beast’s eyes.

The mammoth swung its remaining tusk to crush her, sending the second fire tornado blasting forward.

Keira contorted her spine in mid-air, bending backward until her hair nearly brushed the ground.

She flicked her right wrist, releasing the second chakram.

The second ring shrank to the size of a coin, slipping straight through the gap between the flames.

Once behind the fire, it expanded instantly, heavy and massive, crashing into the mammoth’s knee joint.

MOOO!

Thud!

The force of the impact buckled the General Class beast, forcing its massive front body onto the ground with a bone-shattering thud.

Keira landed softly on her toes, her breathing completely calm.

She raised both hands, flicking her wrists in a subtle, rhythmic sequence.

The two chakrams danced through the air like living blades, expanding to sever limbs and shrinking to slice through tight gaps in the beast’s flaming armor.

Woosh!

They whistled through the air, returning to her hands only to be launched again with an even faster speed.

Derrick was stunned.

The General Class beast—a walking disaster capable of leveling a town—was being butchered right before his eyes.

With a final snap of Keira’s fingers, both expanded rings crossed paths over the mammoth’s thick neck.

Thwack.

The massive head separated from the torso.

The flaming beast collapsed, dissolving into harmless blue data streams that faded into the white expanse.

Simulation Complete: General-Class Beast Eliminated

Time Elapsed: 11 Seconds

Keira caught both chakrams effortlessly before they disappeared just as they came into existence.

She turned her head toward Derrick, her eyes piercing through the screen.

"That is how you control inertia," Keira said coolly. "You will be training in this aspect from here one."

...

Derrick stepped out of the training warehouse, his body sore and drenched in sweat.

His muscles ached from hours of relentless practice, but his mind was buzzing.

Every movement Keira made kept replaying in his head like a movie loop.

The way she shifted her weight... the backflip... and the way she moved so gracefully and killed that beast. .

He pulled up his blue status panel to check his progress.

Name: Derrick Storm

Age: 16 (25)

Race: Human

Cultivation Base: Physical Strengthening Stage. Middle Level.

Next Breakthrough: 327/400

327 pills. I am almost at the cusp of a breakthrough. Within a week or two I will be able to break through to the next realm.

Enhanced Being Stage.

The massive stockpile of pills he had assaulted his throat with were paying off.

He was so close to reaching the high level and once he reached that level he could finally take the break through serum.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, walking down the dim sidewalk as the late evening sun began to dip behind the horizon.

BZZZ!

His phone vibrated violently against his thigh.

He pulled it out, expecting another corporate email or an update from the Sinister Web.

It was a text from Cassandra.

{Derrick... I think someone is following me.}

Derrick’s eyes narrowed, his casual stride coming to an immediate halt.

{I am on my way back from the institution. There’s a guy in a dark hoodie who has been tailing me for three blocks now.}

{Send me your live location right now,} he typed back instantly.

A map pin dropped into the chat half a second later.

She was near the lower district bypass, about four miles away from where he stood.

{Stay in crowded areas. Do not go into any alleys. I am coming.}

Derrick didn’t bother looking for a taxi.

He didn’t waste time running toward a bus stop.

Currently, as he was, Derrick was faster than any means for mortal transportation he could find nearby.

He did not have the time to contact Keira as well.

So he did the only thing that came to his mind.

Derrick channeled his physical strength and started running.

BOOM!

The concrete beneath his boots cracked as he launched himself forward like a released cannonball.

He tore down the street, his body blurring into a shadow as the wind whistled sharply against his ears.

Cars on the main road seemed to stand still as he bypassed them in a flash of movement.

People clutched on their clothes, hats and toupee as a powerful gust of wind flew by them.

Why would someone go after Cassie? Is it as stalker? Or someone trying to get to me?...no, it does not matter who they are.

Derrick’s jaw were clenched as a dark glint flickered across his eyes.

If anyone dares to touch her... I will tear them apart.