The World Cataclysm

Chapter 25: Mutated Dog

'Dammit, isn't it too early for mutated dogs to appear?'

Since he was stuck in a storage room on the early stages, he didn't know a lot about the situation on the university campus when it comes to the appearance of evolved beasts. Obviously, zombies weren't only a threat to humans since there were also evolved domestic animals out in the city.

As he gazed at the mutated dog before him, he couldn't help but recall the special rule of their university. It was banned to bring with yourself any big and dangerous animals such as some types of dogs, so thinking that the giant mutated dog was just a small cute creature several days ago, he wasn't able to understand how it had turned into the savage wolf-like beast.

Even Ability Holders and Evolvers, who were considered to have been mutated and evolved, weren't so drastically different from their previous human appearances, yet the changes that had occurred to the cute dog were the same as the change in species.

As he gazed at the mutated dog which was growling aggressively, Dave thought that he was in a quite perilous situation. Even though mutated beasts weren't as intelligent as humans, they didn't lose their self-preservation instincts and knew how to fight and when to flee, making them even more dangerous than zombies.

'Dammit, mutated dog! It is as strong as low rank 1 Giant and as fast as low rank 1 Hunter. It is even worse than dealing with Giant and Hunter simultaneously.'

Cursing his luck inwardly, Dave was observing a monster, standing right before him. Its dark brown messy fur with several bloodstains made its appearance more sinister, while its fur looked tough enough that no claws of hunter would harm it.

Another advantage of beasts over humans was their flexibility in attacks. They had fangs to bite, claws to slash and even their tails served as a way to attack, not to say, they were able to slam at people directly, so he doubted his chances against mutated in direct confrontation.

"Don't you know that you can't wander on the campus without your owner? Where is your owner?"

It seemed that his blabber only further angered the mutated dog, as it roared threateningly at him. Growling madly, Dave had sensed how it was leaking its bloodlust, trying to intimidate him.

'Understood, you don't have an owner. Dammit...It is one, badass dog!'

At the next moment, even though he had been focusing his gaze on the dog, it had turned into a blur, as it rushed towards him, trying to slash him with its sharp claws. It would have easily rivalled Hunters in speed, yet, when he tried to defend himself against its claws, he felt like he had suffered from a blow of a Giant.

He tried to defend himself with a sword, but he had sensed that if he blocked it even further, his sword will break in a few moments, so he slightly tilted his sword to lower the force of its attack and change its trajectory. It only took a moment for him to make such a decision and angle his sword.

*Crack*

Using Flash Step to retreat backwards, he glanced at his sword and saw a small crack on the blade of it. He activated Mana Enhancement and Reinforced Breathing, even further straining his body. Every cell of his body was burning, as he felt like he was going to die from the insane pain.

Right at the moment when he was resisting waves of pain, the mutated dog had followed after him, trying to deal another blow with its claws. Still affected by the pain, he tried his best to dodge its attacks which was much easier with his body enhanced.

'Fuck, I'm being oppressed by a dog! If I follow this pace, then I won't last long before it kills me'

Dodging its extremely fast attacks, he tried to slash it with his sword, yet it seemed that it only scratched it without dealing any serious injury, on the contrary, the crack on his sword was spreading through the blade and becoming even larger.

It wasn't that their skins were tough, on the contrary, skins of mutated beasts were elastic to the point that it lowered the damage it took, not to say, his sword wasn't sharp enough to make a deep cut on its body. He searched for the opening to pierce its head with a sword, yet it was too fast to deal such a blow.

Indeed, it was as fast as a Hunter, so he was able to follow its movement, yet, since it was also stronger than other Hunters, he didn't have the luxury to block its attacks. Its speed combined with its strength wasn't a joke!

'Fuck! I will die in direct confrontation. Better to think of something else.'

Racking his brains to find an effective solution of the problem, he used a Flash Step to retreat backwards and pull distance between them. Then, he ran! He ran as fast as he could!

He poured all of his energy into sprinting through the market, yet he understood that he can't outrun a monster much faster than him. After several seconds, it will catch up to him no matter how fast he ran.

Understanding his current situation, he turned into one of the alleys and swiftly took a Needle Rapier which was hanging out from his backpack. He had especially left it that way, so he could grab it when he needed it.

Suddenly, he turned abruptly towards the dog and slashed it with his sword. Albeit his abrupt turn, it swiftly dodged his attack, ducking down, then making 360 degrees turn and hitting him with its tail. He tried to block it with his sword, yet it snapped when it was hit, and its tail had slammed into his chest.

Even though his sword had absorbed part of the force, he still felt like he was hit by an iron bar, as he was sent flying several meters away. Still in the air, ignoring the aching pain from his chest and forcing down the blood rushing to his mouth, he threw something in his right hand towards the head of the mutated dog.

Unable to recover from the inertia force of his turn, a mutated dog was caught off his guard, as something pierced its head right after he sent Dave flying. Its body grew slack, as it fell to the ground, convulsing violently. Never did it had thought that everything had gone according to Dave's plan after they had entered the narrow alley.

He chose the alley because it was narrow enough to limit its range of movement, forcing him to either retreat backwards or dodge it and make a counterattack with its tail. Even the snapped sword was following his plan to deal a final blow with a Needle Rapier.

Indeed, he had no chance to win in a direct confrontation, yet if it was in a narrow alley and with a trick in his hands, he will say that he had a chance. He was also been injured heavily tough. Several of his ribs were broken, his chest was hurting badly and several of his internal organs have been injured.

Fortunately, he had 16 points in strength, making his body tougher than a body of the ordinary human. Strength stat increases the density of muscles, making you tougher, and make your bones slightly sturdier. If not, then he would have broken his bones from his own attack.

Seeing how mutated dog was convulsing on the ground, he approached its closer and pulled out Needle Rapier from its head. Then, he stabbed its head again and pulled it out. He continued to do it until it died miserably with several holes in its head.

[You have reached level 5]

[You have earned 2 free points]

'Allocate 2 points into agility.'

Reading system notification, he would have been more stunned if his level didn't go higher. Apparently, he was lacking in agility, so he increased it by 2 points. Indeed, he wanted to reach 5 points in spirit stat, yet he could increase it through meditation. Strength and agility were too important for his survival.

People usually think that damage to the brain was fatal, yet it depended on where the brain was damaged on the most part. It was possible to survive after being stabbed to the brain, yet it will temporarily cause convulsions and some of the brain functions will suffer as well.

However, getting shot to the head was another deal since it carried shockwaves, damaging other parts of the brain as well. On the other hand, his Needle Rapier didn't carry any shockwaves, as well as its speed couldn't rival a shot from the gun.

Dealing the final strike to the mutated dog, the blue ocean light washed over its corpse, as a Blue Chest had appeared close to it. It emitted gentle ocean light and looked enticing in Dave's eyes.

'My second blue Treasure Chest! Hopefully, it will drop something useful to me.'

Dave was excited to get another Blue Chest since, no matter what drops from it, it would be a great treasure which could boost his strength.