Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 286

*Boom*

A Middle Class Magical Beast was sent flying into a mob of Low Class Magical Beasts by a ferocious punch. There was a huge dent on its head, and it bled profusely from its mouth. Its eyes were blank, and it breathed no more. Frowning Tiger, the one who dished the attack wasn’t even paying attention to the crowd of monsters trying to swarm him. He casually evaded the swipe of another Middle Class Magical Beast and slapped the creature silly. The slap catapulted the beast into three Low Class Magical Beasts, injuring one of them and killing the other two. As for the Middle Class Magical Beast that received the full brunt of the attack, its head was severely twisted to one side. It was dead.

“He’s doing well on his own,” Frowning Tiger thought as he watched Samoa slice the head off a Low Class Magical Beast without any difficulty. Frowning Tiger wasn’t focused on the battle because he was paying so much attention to Samoa. Since the creatures in the first wave weren’t a threat to him, he didn’t even need to give them 10% of his attention to deal with their attacks. So he could keep watch over Samoa whilst dealing with the threats that would otherwise be troublesome to the rest of the squad.

Frowning Tiger lifted his hand and grabbed onto the tail of a Middle Class Magical Beast that tried to jump over him and get to the rest of the team. It was clearly smarter than its counterparts, and it realized that it couldn’t deal with Frowning Tiger. Seeing that Frowning Tiger was paying attention to someone else, it tried to get past him and create havoc amongst the ranks of the fighters. Unfortunately for the poor creature, Frowning Tiger was a Control Type. He didn’t need to look at something to know what was going on. Frowning Tiger ignored the whelps of the creature, and smashed it into the ground.

*Boom*

The creature, along with about 7 more who were in the way, were smashed together. The foul smell generated from their paste-like corpses didn’t move Frowning Tiger in the slightest. After all, he was a killer. He had been exposed to far worse odors than this. Besides, as more beasts were killed, the battlefield was going to become a foul smelling damp.

“Three Middle Class Magical Beasts? How would he deal with them?” Frowning Tiger noticed that Samoa was surrounded by three Middle Class Magical Beasts. Samoa was a Thrasher, so he was strong enough to handle every Middle Class Magical Beast, and average High Class Magical Beasts. High Class Magical Beasts like the Giant Black Mamba were outside his capabilities.

Although Samoa could handle Middle Class Magical Beasts, being surrounded by 3 of them was no picnic. Top Level Thrashers could handle up to 6 Middle Class Magical Beasts at once, or 2 average High Class Magical Beasts. Samoa was nowhere near the Top Class of his level, but Frowning Tiger was eager to see if he could deal with these 3 Middle Class Magical Beasts. The reason he was evaluating Samoa was simple. He wasn’t just looking out for the boy (protecting him), he wanted to see if the boy possessed enough qualifications to live up to his potential – the potential to become a Predator. If he did, Frowning Tiger would be more than happy to accept him as his second student.

Samoa stared unblinkingly at the creatures that had blocked every path of retreat. Three Middle Class Magical Beasts stood in his way. He recognized these beasts. And because he knew what kind of beasts they were, he knew what strong points they possessed.

The first beast was the Steel Bodied Mantis. It was a creature that was 2 metres in height. It looked like a giant praying mantis, and it was just as grotesque. It was a creature that had an extremely tough exoskeleton, just like most of its insect companions. Its defense was near impenetrable, which was why it was called the Steel Bodied Mantis.

The second beast was relatively unknown, compared to the Steel Bodied Mantis. But Samoa’s job as a scout meant that he had to learn about this beast as well – the Poisonous Earthworm. This creature wasn’t as large as the Steel Bodied Mantis. It had a length of about 2 metres, and a width of 15 centimeters. It was shaped like a snake, and was just as agile. It was a creature that was quick and nimble, and its extremely potent poison made it a difficult beast to face. In group battles like this one, creatures like the Poisonous Earthworm were the greatest threats. Their ability to hide within the masses and strike from the shadows made them more fearful than powerful creatures like the Steel Bodied Mantis. To be honest, Samoa didn’t know why the creature had shown itself. Maybe it was confident that it didn’t need to hide to kill Samoa.

The last creature was a Red-nosed Dog. This Middle Class Magical Beast had great stamina, and could fight for several hours nonstop, without showing any signs of exhaustion. It had steel like teeth and powerful jaws that allowed it to take down its prey in a matter of seconds. Its claws were like sharpened blades and could break apart rocks like they were measly sheets of paper. It didn’t have the greatest defense, but its insane attacking prowess made up for this shortcoming.

“The earthworm must be killed first,” Samoa quickly analysed. As the creature with an advantage in this kind of chaotic battlefield, the earthworm was a headache. If it wasn’t taken care of initially, he would keep thinking about it and wouldn’t be able to fully focus on the other two beasts. In a sense, even without doing anything, the beast would be able to restrain his movements. He needed to kill it first so that he could deal with the other two with a clear mind. After making up his mind, Samoa acted immediately. But he didn’t rush towards the earthworm. He didn’t the exact opposite of what he was thinking: gripping his sword strongly, he dashed towards the Steel Bodied Mantis.

Seeing the approaching Samoa, the Steel Bodied Mantis had a look of excitement in its eyes. It lifted one of its legs and stamped it heavily towards Samoa.

The leg of the Steel Bodied Mantis crushed into the ground and sent a fistful of dust into the air. Samoa had rolled to the side at the last moment to avoid the attack. The Steel Bodied Mantis had an extremely tough exoskeleton, and its legs were as sharp as blades. Samoa didn’t have the confidence to be able to take the attack head on. Maybe if it was a one on one, he would have blocked the attack. After all, he was strong enough to overwhelm the beast. But in a situation where it wasn’t his only enemy, blocking the attack would mean he would leave himself open to ambushes from the other two beasts. The Red-nosed Dog for instance, would not let such an opening pass. His neck wasn’t covered by the leather armor, so one bite from the creature and he’d be gone.

Jumping back onto his feet, Samoa quickly brandished his sword to his left without any hesitation.

*Bang*

Followed by a whelp of pain, the Red-nosed Dog which was trying to take advantage of the situation was sent flying towards Rash Tiger. It had a large cut on its side, and it was bleeding profusely. Seeing the creature flying towards him, Rash Tiger who had just crushed the head of a Middle Class Magical Beast, smiled coldly. He reached out for the dog which was looking at him fearfully and simply twisted its neck even before it could fall back onto the ground.

What happened was no accident. Samoa knew exactly what he was doing when he struck the dog. Because he was a Thrasher, he was on the frontlines. The only people ahead of him were Frowning Tiger, and Rash Tiger. However, Rash Tiger was closer to him. Samoa’s initial plan was to deal with the earthworm. But no sooner had he made that decision, did the earthworm disappear from his sight. He finally understood why the creature appeared in the first place – to make him uneasy. Since it had achieved its goal, it went into hiding. Since it could burrow into the ground, in a field full of stampeding beasts, it would still be able to move around fine. So Samoa had to pick another target – the Red-nosed Dog.

This was a creature with a powerful jaw, and steel claws. But since it was defensively weak, there was no way it would accept a one-on-one battle. So Samoa went for the Steel Bodied Mantis to bait the dog into attacking him. Then he struck it and sent it flying towards Rash Tiger’s territory. After all, although it was defensively weak, it was still a Middle Class Magical Beast. Samoa didn’t think it would be killed in that one hit. And he was right. Although it was injured, it was still alive. Well, not anymore.

Samoa stamped the ground powerfully and made a beeline towards the Steel Bodied Mantis. With each step he took, he made sure to stamp the ground powerfully. Once he was close to the Steel Bodied Mantis, he swung his sword powerfully towards its c.h.e.s.t. The Steel Bodied Mantis was no fool. It knew when to attack, and when to defend. Crossing two of its limbs before its c.h.e.s.t, it blocked the fatal blow, but was sent tumbling back a few metres due to the power behind the swing.

Samoa rushed towards the mantis once again. And once again, each step was heavy, creating dents in the ground. Frowning Tiger who was still paying attention to Samoa’s fight furrowed his brows when he saw what Samoa was doing. It didn’t make any sense for him to stomp so hard. That was actually impairing his movements. But soon, the perplexed look on Frowning Tiger’s face was replaced by a small smile of appreciation. He finally seemed to understand what Samoa was doing.

“I see now. Brilliant.” Unfortunately, Samoa couldn’t hear what his mentor said about him, or he would have gone senile with joy.

Samoa ducked to avoid the blade-like limb of the Steel Bodied Mantis. He quickly guarded with his sword to block another attack from the creature. As a beast with multiple limbs – six of them in fact – the Steel Bodied Mantis could dish out multiple attacks and take opponents who weren’t used to facing insect type Magical Beasts by surprise. Unfortunately for the beast, Samoa knew a lot about it and had fought against several Steel Bodied Mantises before. So he even knew their weakness.

*Clank*

Samoa deflected the attack and slid underneath the mantis. But he didn’t attack its belly. Unlike most creatures, the Steel Bodied Mantis’s belly exoskeleton was tougher than those of the rest of its body. Samoa had another purpose. Once he was under its belly, he regained his footing, and took a few steps forward. This time, he didn’t stomp his feet. Then he quickly dived forward as though avoiding a plague and leaped behind the large mantis.

*Boom*

*Spit*

A creature appeared from underneath the ground, only a few inches away from Samoa’s initial position and immediately spat a mouthful of purple colored fluid. The fluid landed on the Steel Bodied Mantis’s belly and melted its exoskeleton.

*Rargh*

The Steel Bodied Mantis screamed in pain and rage and tumbled backwards. The creature responsible for its pain was the Poisonous Earthworm. It appeared confused by the sudden turn of events. The angry mantis took several steps back and looked at the culprit. Its eyes flashed with rage at the creature that was normally its prey.

Although they were both Middle Class Magical Beasts, the mantis was stronger, and was the natural bane of the earthworm. Although the Poisonous Earthworm had a strong venom, its venom couldn’t compare to that of venomous High Class Magical Beasts. So it could wound the mantis, but the wound was never going to be fatal. So it wasn’t a match for the mantis. However, creatures that were usually enemies banded together when it meant going against humans. So instead of fighting against each other, they fought together. But now the little critter dared to attack it, the Steel Bodied Mantis was wild with rage. It descended upon the earthworm and tore and swallowed it whole before the creature could fully comprehend what was happening.

The rage in the eyes of the mantis subsided slightly after consuming the earthworm. It turned to deal with the sneaky human, only to realise that Samoa wasn’t behind it anymore.

“Underneath, you ugly mug,” Samoa laughed and stabbed his sword into the belly of the beast. It was unknown when he got back there, but he was there now. Once he stabbed the creature, he ignored its painful roar and sliced across its belly all the way to its c.h.e.s.t. It was only then that its struggling ceased.