Chapter 4: Flesh vs Stone. Stone vs Iron

  So this is their boss.

  Regaining my composure, I throw the rifle at the bastard instead of shooting to limit his sight. When the man swatted the rifle away, I had already bolted right in front of him and thrown a punch right at his abdomen, then swung my elbow up to his chin and did a roundhouse kick to his face.

  With each attack I landed on him, I couldn’t help but smile helplessly; all of those strikes were useless, this is si.

  "Kehkeh, this is messed up.”

  Fine then; let's see how you fare against this attack. The mana from my leg surged and enveloped my leg, amplifying my leg. I then jump as high as I can before landing my heel on his head, trying to open up his skull.

  CRACK

  A loud breaking sound resounded in my ear as my poor car cracked upon impact.

  This is not good; my body isn’t capable of fully handling my technique yet, so I must find an alternative way to defeat him. This guy’s body is simply too tough, and I am just too weak. Where should I hit? A place that is weak no matter how much you train?

  "Impressive. What kind of attack was that? That’s very impressive for an F rank.”

  As I landed on the ground, I could see his figure overshadowing me like the mountain. The man looks at me with his fist raised, not in anger but rather in arrogance, like I’m a mere bug to him.

  “But it’s all futile against—“

  While the bastard slowly took his time bullshitting, I quickly curled up two of my fingers and shot it right at the bastard’s neck, to his Adam’s apple.

  “Kuak—“

  As he was clutching his neck, I attacked the next weakest spot in his body, and that’s it, by kicking between his legs. This attack also has a drawback on me too, but not in a physical way.

  “ARGHHHH”

  Unable to endure the pain that no man can, he collapsed to the ground, crying while holding his between. Sure, it’s a dirty attack, but in survival, there’s no need to stay clean.

  “YOU DIRTY BASTARD”

  “Dumb shit, stop talking or you’re going to piss yourself.”

  “YOU-YOU”

  Don’t want to drag this out any longer. I activated my mana claw to strike his eye; come to think of it, I should have used this much sooner-

  BANG

  Then a bad feeling washed over me; my hair rose up, and my eyes widened as the bastard swung his arm while laying on the ground. This attack was much quicker and, most of all, more dangerous than usual. I can tell that this attack will kill me.

  Instead of taking on the attack, I bent my back down as the brutal swing swept right where my chest was, and what I expected was true: if that hit were to land, then I would be severely injured or dead.

  “Huh?”

  Oh, this is just goddamn great; if his normal body isn’t enough, now he used his ability to transform into a goddamn golem.

  When he stood up, I could see his form in the fullest. His skin shifted to the color gray and became rough like a rock, his shirt and jacket were ripped off during the transformation, leaving him with only his jeans. And his body grew in size and became much bigger and bulkier than it used to be; he is about double my height right now.

  “To think that I have to use my ability on some scum.”

  “Then don’t use it, you bastard.”

  I jumped away as he then swung his fist down at me, leaving a crater on the ground. After that, he tries to tackle right through me, but I just slide through between his legs and regain my footing. Yeah, I’m not dumb enough to repeat that strategy; now just one hit is enough to kill me.

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  The bastard then, out of nowhere, monologued our past, or to be precise, his past with Issac, none that I can remember.

  “Not only did you try to rip me off my money, you even ran away with my car just to have some money to study some fucking tricks.”

  Readying myself when this bastard is still talking, I jump toward his head and grab it, striking my knee at his nose and then striking his head with my elbow multiple times; even if my elbow receives more damage, he remains unfazed. He smirked and shrugged me off to the ground.

  Still grabbed his head. I used it like a catapult to go up and jump down from behind his back before testing my luck by kicking in his between again, but to no avail.

  “Like a slippery rat you are, to think you try to take me on, but you will run out of stamina very soon, then I will have a great time beating the shit out of you.”

  I hate to admit it, but he’s right; with each of my strikes, my bone breaks, costing me some precious mana to heal it. Ah, I shouldn’t have healed my liver back then; my body isn’t capable of the sheer force of mine, let alone using that technique.

  If only I had a tougher vessel. Wait, I forgot my damn ability; I guess my mind still isn't clear yet. Well, since the bastard has already used his ability, I should use mine now.

  “Kehkehkeh, I guess I should increase the difficulty, don’t you think?”

  “…Crazy bastard.”

  As powerful blows dawn upon me. I use a minimum amount of mana to boost only the parts that help me to dodge, but as the barrage went on, I was slowly getting pushed back as each hit was getting dangerously close to me.

  "HAHAHAH, a rat is still a rat after all. Let's finish this.”

  He stops attacking, but I can feel that he is planning on unleashing something. I raised my guard with both my hands and moved back as far away as possible.

  The golem turned his body 150 degrees and swung at the ground toward my direction, creating a massive crater, but not only that, the attack sent multiple fragments of the earth toward me and, worst of all, my leg.

  With me being immobilized for a moment, he dashed toward me with all of his might and finally landed a punch on me.

  BANG

  I was sent flying with two broken arms right in front of my house, hitting a tree nearby. Coughing up blood as my back is swollen. I darted my eyes around to find the object that I had thrown somewhere.

  Witness my state that I was in; he just sneered at me.

  “You see, this is the difference between ranks; an F-rank can never defeat a D-rank.”

  “Stop talking, you dumb shit.”

  Even though I said that my situation wasn’t good at all, I began to make my way by crawling toward that object, aka, the rifle.

  "HAHAHA, you think a mere power-up rifle could harm me.”

  Yes, yes, be arrogant; don’t mind me, and also, the gun’s out of bullets anyway. I picked up the gun and then aimed at him.

  “Try it, shoot me.”

  But the bullet never came out, as I broke the tip of the gun’s barrel and did something weird for a human: swallowed it.

  "…The fuck you doing.”

  I then used mana to completely digest the tip and cured myself of all of those injuries. My ability wasn’t supposed to work with metal because of humans, but with my brilliant mana control, I managed to heal my body from the aftereffect when you swallow metal.

  All of this cost half of my reserve, but that didn’t matter anymore as my body began to transform; my skin, my muscles, and my bones all became the very same metal that I eat. But this metal is different; it seems to be much stronger when you transfer your mana to it. GREAT, VERY GREAT, SO THAT’S WHY THEY STILL USE GUNS THESE DAYS; WITH THIS, I CAN FINALLY USE THAT TECHNIQUE.

  “You have transformation ability? So what? You won’t even be able to harm me.”

  With this power in my hand, I confidently walked in front of him and looked directly into his eyes.

  “Come on, try it.”

  “Okay.”

  I stepped forward, rotated my hip and shoulder, and punched straight. But that wasn’t all; I began to apply that technique as ethereal demonic wings sprouted right from my arm, making my fist much faster and stronger than usual.

  “KUAK”

  For the second time, the golem collapsed, but this time instead of crying, he puked up.

  “BLEURGH?”

  "So? still think my punch is weak.”

  “YOU”

  Now in this form, I may not be stronger than him, but I’m definitely sure that his speed isn’t a match for me anymore.

  I jumped up high in the air, grabbed my hands together like I was grabbing an axe, and then struck down to his head with all my might, causing cracks to appear on his head.

  “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU.”

  He tried to use the opportunity to attack when I was falling, so he punched upward, thinking that there was no way for me to dodge but missed entirely.

  Confused, he looked up and found out one simple reason: I was floating in the air, not staying there but rather falling slowly.

  “H-How?”

  “It’s skill, dumb shit.”

  I landed on my leg and dashed up again, doing an uppercut to his already broken head. But he endured without getting his head knocked back, with one of his stone hands grabbing my right arm; he swung his other arm, screaming.

  “YOU FUCKER”

  Unflinching, I used my mana claw with my other arm and clawed his eyes before the attack could land.

  “ARGHH”

  A streak of blood flowed out of his face; his vision is now gone entirely, causing him to fall into darkness and confusion.

  “MY EYES, MY EYES”

  Using this opportunity, I channeled my mana, but not just simple channeling; my leg began to resemble a grasshopper until it truly became one.

  I spun around and did a sweeping kick to his chin. Just one simple kick managed to tear the air, and when it was upon impact, the sound of something breaking vibrated through the space surrounding it. With this attack, the golem falls, breathing heavily as his jaw, rib, and head are broken. He wonders to himself.

  “Is this a nightmare? What in the world?”

  "Oh, still awake?”

  I stood right next to him, surprised that he was still breathing, and decided to finish the job right now. I smile at him kindly and then proceed to pummel him with stomps; seeing his consciousness fading, I hear a small squeak coming out of that big body.

  “...demon”