Tatehan exploded into motion, adrenaline flooding his system as he leaped backward to avoid the creature's initial assault.
He dodged a vicious punch, but the monster didn't relent. It continued throwing strikes at Tatehan, who marveled at his own enhanced reflexes as he weaved between the attacks.
The creature fought with brutal efficiency while he responded with fluid evasion. He sidestepped, the monster advanced. He rolled backward, the monster leaped after him with relentless energy.
Tatehan slid under the creature and drove his fist into its midsection. The monster crashed to the ground, clutching its wounded torso and howling in pain.
Tatehan grinned and examined his fist, thinking he'd defeated the creature. Perhaps now was the time to test his powers on it.
The monster bled from its midsection—thick, greenish fluid oozing from the wound. Just as he prepared to finish it off, Tatehan watched in stunned silence as the injury began closing before his eyes.
It seemed impossible, like something that could only happen in movies.
The wound sealed completely within seconds.
HEALED!
This was a regenerating monster!
Words appeared across his retina:
[Martian monster type: Brutenecks]
[Basic regenerating creatures, exposed necks, manageable threat level]
A bruteneck?
Movement caught his attention as four more creatures emerged from the rocky terrain.
They were hulking, malformed beings standing nearly eight feet tall, their bodies a patchwork of uneven muscle and sagging flesh. Their mottled grayish-green skin glistened with a constant sheen of deadly looking fluid that dripped steadily to the ground.
The most striking feature was the disproportion between their massive, bulky torsos and their surprisingly slender necks. Their oversized arms dragged slightly as they moved in that distinctive shambling gait, leaving wet trails wherever they went.
Despite their intimidating size, there was something fundamentally wrong about their construction, as if they were creatures that had been assembled rather than born.
Tatehan's breathing became labored. How was he going to fight five of these monsters?
He examined his hands, realizing that mastering his gravitational powers was his only path to survival.
The creatures huffed ragged breaths, taking slow, deliberate steps toward him. Tatehan backed away, wondering if his enhanced speed meant his best option was simply to run.
At this point, that might be the only way, at least to save his life.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
All four monsters leaped at him simultaneously.
Tatehan turned to flee, but looking backward at his pursuers instead of watching his footing, he tripped over a stone and crashed to the ground, scraping his left hand and leaving a bruise on it.
The monsters dove toward his fallen form. He was completely vulnerable, about to be torn apart.
He raised his hands instinctively, as if to shield himself—the desperate gesture people make when facing death, wanting at least to die appearing brave rather than cowering.
But as he did so, something extraordinary happened. For a split second, he managed to suspend gravity in a localized field around the attacking creatures. His level-1 ability lasted only an instant, but that was enough.
The brutenecks, caught mid-leap, suddenly dropped like stones.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
They crashed to the ground hard. The last one's exposed neck struck a jagged rock with brutal force, the sharp stone piercing deep into the vulnerable flesh.
Tatehan's eyes widened with understanding.
That was it! He should have looked for their weakness instead of panicking. And the sensation of using his gravity manipulation—it felt incredible, like channeling raw power through his body.
He stared at his hands, then at the monsters who looked back at him with what seemed like newfound wariness.
Their necks!
Their exposed, vulnerable necks—an obvious evolutionary weakness that seemed almost comical compared to their massive bodies and razor-sharp teeth.
Tatehan smiled. The ground around him was littered with jagged rocks and stone fragments.
All he had to do was use his gravity manipulation to launch them at the creatures' weak points.
The solution had been right in front of him all along. He just had to implement them and facing the brutenecks in front of him would be like taking candy from a child, only in his case it would be taking the monsters lives.
The monster that had struck the rock struggled to rise, severely wounded and bleeding heavily from its neck.
Tatehan focused his power, pulling several sharp stones from the ground and directing them toward the injured bruteneck's neck like guided projectiles.
The rocks tore into the creature's throat, severing arteries and vital structures. Within moments, its head separated completely and the massive body collapsed, lifeless.
Tatehan stared at the dead body, slightly smiling. One gone, three more to go.
The remaining creatures charged at him, brutality radiating from their growls, but Tatehan held his ground.
Let them come.
Let them come and die.
Sharp stones lifted from behind the attacking monsters and shot forward, embedding themselves in their exposed necks. Multiple projectiles per creature, all aimed with deadly precision.
The brutenecks continued their charge even as the rocks tore into their throats, but their steps grew slower, weaker.
They were losing strength rapidly as their life force drained away.
Finally, with thunderous crashes, their heads separated from their bodies and they collapsed to the Martian soil.
They fell like a large boulder would do. Just loud thuds on the ground as they swept the dust underneath them before landing.
Tatehan allowed himself a satisfied smile.
He had done it—defeated four brutenecks!
They had seemed impossible at first, but once he understood their weakness, the fight became manageable. It was all about targeting their necks.
An enhanced human, with proper armor and a sword could probably decapitate all of them in seconds with clean strikes.
He looked at the scattered corpses, waiting for his system to acknowledge the victory:
[Congratulations host, you have—]
Wait. He remembered the task parameters:
[Kill five Martian monsters]
He counted again. Four bodies lay before him.
He had only killed four.
'Shit!'
A ferocious roar echoed from directly behind him!