Iron Limbs

Alex looked off into the distance; flames engulfed the entirety of the strip. It would appear the monsters hit the iconic location the hardest. Smoke rose from the Casinos and filled the air with its stench. Though it was not the only portion of the city on fire, it was the most noticeable.

He sighed to himself as he looked around. There was too little information available to him; he had no idea which areas were flooded with monsters and which were relatively abandoned like the area they were in. Unless he could gather some intelligence about the overall state of the city, he knew it was a matter of luck as to whether or not they survived.

On top of all of this, monsters weren't the only thing he had to worry about. Humans were just as despicable in times of crisis, and he had to be wary of the people he would come across. The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Nonetheless, he had to push forward. Staying here was not an option.

Before rushing towards danger, Alex took this time of ease to open his skill tab and search his options. After all, he still had a skill point remaining from the level he had just acquired. After searching through the system for a while, he came across it as a skill that drew his interest.

[Iron Limbs]

Passive

The user's nine limbs will become as tough as iron

Prerequisite: 15 Strength, 15 Constitution

Alex pondered upon it for a minute. Due to his martial arts background, He knew the nine limbs referred to the use of the legs, the knees, the fists, the elbows, and the head. If so, this would allow him to ignore attacks on certain parts of his body, letting him be more aggressive.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, he chose to accept it. After accepting the skill, he felt an intense aura rush to his nine limbs. Upon the aura's arrival, it began to meld with his bones forging them into iron. The whole process was excruciating, and Alex fell to his knees wincing in agony.

Emily looked at him with great concern

"Are you okay?"

Alex gritted his teeth as he struggled to express the thoughts in his head

"It's a new skill."

Emily nodded in understanding; she, too, had leveled up since their time in the dormitory. However, she hadn't used her skill point yet, as she was unfamiliar with the process. She thought to herself that perhaps she could get Alex's advice on the topic.

However, before she could finish her train of thought, she heard an explosive roar in the distance, and the two immediately realized they could no longer stay in this area. Emily helped Alex to his feet as the two swiftly made their escape.

Shortly after they left the area, a pack of lizardfolk entered. This pack was not exceptionally large in stature, yet their green scales and teeth were stained with the blood of humans. They were rather small for their species and skinny too. It was apparent that they were ranked at the bottom of their race.

Despite this, they had been quite successful In this area. They had yet to come across a human who was their match. Only those strange weapons a small group of humans used which conjured thunder could pierce their hides.

The pack leader was slightly larger than the rest; He was roughly the size of an average human man. His scales were dyed red. Evidently, he had been bathing in blood since he entered this world. He sniffed into the air and roared as he pointed his spear in the direction Alex and Emily had run to. No prey would escape their sight.

Alex and Emily had rushed away from the sound of the roars behind them. They knew they were being followed, and they had created some distance. After sprinting for a few minutes, Emily eventually slowed down. Her dexterity was not as high as Alex's. As such, she could not keep up with him.

Alex walked over to Emily and placed a hand on her shoulder

"Give me the bag; it's slowing you down."

Emily nodded while breathing heavily; she unslung the gym bag from her shoulder and handed it off to Alex. Alex swiftly pulled out an energy drink from the bag and handed it to her.

"You should rehydrate. We'll rest here until you're capable of moving again."

A grim expression appeared across his face. This girl was starting to become a burden. Nonetheless, he refused to abandon her. All he could do was help her keep up. After taking a short break, the two began to run down the streets once again.

Eventually, Alex spotted a small alleyway and pulled Emily towards it. The alleyway was shallow and could only fit one person horizontally. He pushed Emily inside and stood in front of her blocking the entranceway. He unslung the gym bag and dropped it onto the floor. It would only get in his way from here on out. Emily cried out

"What are you doing?"

Alex couldn't turn around; rather, he prepared for combat.

"We won't be able to outrun them. At least this way, I can fight them one at a time."

Tears began to well in Emily's eyes. This was not the first time that this fool had endangered himself to protect her. She was beginning to feel useless. Nevertheless, she had no choice but to obey what he said and wait behind him.

Eventually, the lizardfolk caught up to them and saw Alex standing in the alleyway. They roared viciously as they rapidly approached him. Alex easily stood a foot taller than the majority of the lizardfolk. Seeing how short they were, he began to feel confident in his ability to take them on.

As the first one lunged towards him, he swung at it with his ax; to his dismay, the ax shattered upon impact. Evidently, the primitive Goblin weapon was useless against a higher-level creature like a lizardfolk.

Feeling pressured, Alex threw a hard cross towards the lizardfolk's jaw before it could attack him. The shot landed heavily, and Alex could hear a crunch, though it was not his bone that fractured. The lizardfolk whined in pain as it fell to the ground covering its shattered jaw.

"Holy shit!"

Alex stared vacantly at the dropped lizardfolk, it was not dead, but it was in great pain. He quickly thought back to the skill he had just chosen.

'Iron limbs is this incredible?'

he thought to himself briefly before he stared at a spear lunging towards him. His fighter's reflexes kicked in, and he grabbed the shaft of the spear, redirecting the point before it could hit him, and punched down into the stomach of the lizardfolk. He dared to assault him when he was caught off guard.

The lizardfolk was thrust backward by the force of impact and howled in pain as it grasped its stomach lying on the ground. The surrounding lizardfolk became hesitant to attack. Who was this human? And why was he so much more powerful than the others? They bared their fangs in aggression as they hesitantly approached the alleyway.

Alex gazed at the crowd of lizardmen with new determination in his eyes as he roared in response.

"Bring it on!"

Though the lizardmen couldn't understand the human tongue, they knew they were being taunted and rushed towards him, fighting amongst themselves for the position of who strikes first. Alex grinned in response and thought to himself.

'It's showtime!'