LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 45 – Variant Skill
Jason goes only a short distance before running into a trio of the insectoid emus. Luckily these three are the wasp type so he gives it a shot. Turning his run into a charge he barrels into the group. The three scatter in different directions with only one of them staying. Not what he was planning, but a fight is a fight.
The emu throws a kick at him on his approach. Tossing himself to the side he avoids the kick. Crouching down he focuses on his fist and throws a quick jab. The emu stands it ground trusting its exoskeleton, but this trust is misplaced. His fist connects and he can hear a crunch and a web of cracks spread out. The emu staggers back and prepares to run away but Jason drops down and swings out with a ground level kick. His enemy slams into the ground and he finishes it with another special punch, this time to the head.
As he finishes the skirmish Jason hears the fight, he ran from get louder. Thinking about it, he realizes, “If the fight isn’t over then more creatures have joined in. That is definitely a territory dispute or why else would level 20 creatures show up?” With that in mind he runs again, barely taking time to check his gains from the emu. Not that he got much from it as he had busted the chitin up on the one side and head. “Can’t help that though. Finishing the fight quickly at this point matters more than perfect drops.”
After having run away for a bit he can no longer hear the battle but all along the way he meets small groups of monsters. All these groups avoid him or have a single member stay behind with the rest heading towards the battles direction. Jason even ran past a couple of level 20 and up creatures though luckily they ignored him.
As he begins to feel tired Jason reduces his speed to a walk. Checking the sky he figures one more fight before he heads back into the plains for the night. With that in mind Jason scouts the area. Spotting a couple of spires that are close together he first tries to climb one. This doesn’t quite work as his hands aren’t able to get a grip on it. Shaking his head at this he can only hope that after ranking up his movement skill will let him stick to stuff with his hands as well. Then with a leap he sticks to one spire before jumping to the other. Back and forth a couple times Jason bounds before reaching the top. Standing up there he observes things for a great distance around.
After jumping back down Jason can only shake his head. While he didn’t see any enemies, he noticed one important thing. His running had taken him farther from the plains than he would have liked. The grassland was barely visible from up top. Though now with a bearing on his location he heads out of the wastelands. Jason even thinks about not bothering with another fight but fate has other plans. As he is about to enter the plains a long-legged hound attacks from behind a spire. While this one isn’t too high of level, it takes Jason by surprise. Until now none of the monsters had been hiding, not even the panthers. Though while the attack is shocking he still dodges to the side. However, as he dodges he hears a slight popping sound like when someone cracks their knuckles. A new joint has formed on the attacking leg and the swipe at him changes directions. Searing pain flairs out from his side as a large wound is ripped into his side. Luckily the hounds don’t seem to have any poison on their claws and the wound closes itself as his sap like blood hardens.
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Stunned for a second by the strike Jason is grabbed by the hound. Popping rings out as the four legs wrap around his torso leaving one arm free. All wrapped up he falls back onto the ground. This new position making it all the harder to keep the hound from biting his face off. Then in his moment of desperation all his actions crystalize and he throws his punch. With a loud thud his fist slams into the side of the hound’s head knocking it out. Jason isn’t even thinking at this point as he throws another punch. This time the thud is paired with a crunch and a squish as the hound dies.
After Jason extracts himself from the legs, he runs into the plains. That was much too close for him to want a repeat. He keeps running farther into the grassland until he can’t even see the spire anymore. With a sigh of relief Jason takes the time to check his rewards. Besides a couple more points in agility, the hound itself gave the same drop he had been getting from them. A set of 4 leg bones that don’t seem to have any joints. However, the real prize this time is in the final window. The System has finally recognized his punch as a skill.
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Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body’s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Novice Level 1 - 0.0% Rank: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Frugal - This attack only uses energy on a successful hit Pure Force - Not affected by most types of resistance Armor Piercing - As the attack partially forms inside the enemy some damage will ignore armor. At the current level this distance is short and so will not pierce equipment or exceptionally thick natural armor. |