MTLNOVEL Chapter 9: Countdown
"Level 4, what happened to level 3" Rio wondered as he looked forward his eyes peering into the mist to stare at the portal which was trembling, it's increased workload causing a mild quake to run through the ground.
"Something powerful is coming "Rio muttered after seeing a snot which was significantly bigger than that of the level 2 Direhogs he had battled piercing through the white smoke energy that made the inside of the portal and he immediately charged forward.
So far, Rio had avoided heading closer to the portal because of the thick mist that surrounded it, he was cautious of the low visibility that existed within it, but now knowing that a much more powerful beast was on it's way out of the portal he had no choice.
Despite his subtly growing blood thirstiness, Rio was sure to remind himself that he still had limits and feeling the pressure from the incoming level 4 beast and accessing the way it tickled his senses, he decided that he very well had to kill the level 2 beast around before the big guys got out or things might not turn out favorable for him.
"1, 2, 3,9,10,11,12 13.. 15 direhogs"
Not thinking twice about his decision and throwing whatever inhibitions he had of being within the mist, Rio ran forward and just as he was surrounded by mist, he found himself having to dodged the charge of one of direhogs, his axe swinging out to take out all of its left limbs in a single strike.
Unfortunately, a deep growl came from the portal and Rio couldn't help but stumble backwards as his senses were spinning and his swing thrown off.
So disoriented was Rio by the Direhogs growl that he could only raise his right arm over his face to protect it from the claws of which had leapt towards him direhog.
Pain shot through Rio form his arm but he did not let the pain hinder him. Instead Rio used it to shake of the disorientation that his hit his mind as the Direhog which had attacked him landed on the ground, just as it wanted to sprint forward, hoping to disappear into the mist before making a turnaround, Rio's legs tensed and he shot after it.
Moving faster than the beast who was celebrating his successful attack, he caught up to it in what seems like an instant, grabbed it by its hind legs and then with a rage filled roar pulled it of the ground, swinging it through the air and slamming it on the ground.
Within just a second of being cut, Rio had become filled with rage and in this state he found his body be pumped with a fresh bubbling energy.
Using this new strength, Rio slammed the beast left and right ignoring it's cries and repeating this a couple of times but when he heard a whimper from within the mist, he stopped and charged forward.
Arriving before a direhog which had it's tail tucked between its legs, just as he had done earlier he used the direhog which he still held in his hand as a sledge hammer.
He slammed it onto the already subdued direhog without mercy, sending it's pathetic form soaring through the air and out of his sights and then sped forward once more
Rio had no idea what direction he was going, and he didn't need to because eventually following his instincts, he would run into a beast and when he did, he used the direhog in his hand to beat them to the ground, his axe in his right hand taking off their head.
Rio continued like this killing about 7 of the Direhogs and then having had enough the level 4 direhog which by now had gotten a head and one of it limbs out the portal roared again.
Stumbling backward as a heavy weight was slammed into his head, Rio cursed the beast, particularly pissed off that it's roar had cancelled out his rage, Rio already missing the energy that came with it.
"It's not that I get pumped with a new energy when I'm angry, it's just that when I am filled with rage, I am able to better control the energy already flowing within me and use it to enhance my strength."
Now without his sixth sense to help him easily track down the direhogs, Rio was left in the middle of thick white mist unsure of what direction to go.
Rio stood in silence for a few seconds, waiting for the direhogs to make their move and then he suddenly groaned within as he remembered that had he not charged into the mist, the beasts would never attack me.
"They are wary of me and rather than throw away their lives pointless battling me, they would rather wait for the big boss to come out so they can team with him"
Dropping the already mangled corpse of the direhog in his hand rather than go searching for the direhogs in the mist, Rio ran towards the one location that he could find no matter how thick the mist was, the portal.
Blowing off a small wind and letting out a hum as it the energies that enable it to work swirled and turned against each other, it hum particularly loud now that it was trying to transport a level 4 beast, Rio found the portal in no time, the image of the creature which had now gotten half of its body out of the portal once again becoming visible to him before he even reached it.
Now that the Level 4 Direhog had gotten half it's body out the portal, Rio could properly asses it's size and he couldn;t help but gulp as he discovered that it was about 3 inches taller and several inches wider than him who was just already 5'9 inches.
"And it's just level 4" Rio muttered in his head.
Seeing none of the level 2 direhog in sight as he approached the portal, Rio continued his run forward thinking he could kill the beast before it got out, but when a direhog suddenly burst out of the mist aiming for him, he was ready.
A few minutes later, after some hard jaw breaking punches and some axe swings, Rio had killed off the remaining direhogs but then as he turned to face the level 4 beast, it let out a powerful howl and before Rio could regain his bearings from the disorientation it had caused, he found his vision occupied by the back of large fast-moving paw.
Only able to cross his arm, Rio was slammed off his feet and thrown into the air, his figure soaring till it flew well out of the mist and slammed into a nearby house crashing through it's wall and putting him lying at the feet of a very terrified family.