Better than Expected

*Splat*

The bullet entered the beast's mouth and pierced its head. Blood and torn flesh were scattered around the water. The other beast who was beside it was furious as it swam towards them at great speed.

But before it could reach them, the aura bullet that killed the first beast pierced its head from the back.

*Tzit*

The bullet attached itself to the gun, as Daisy huffed inside her mask. The amount of aura she used took a toll on her. But there was no time for breaks, as two other beasts headed in their direction.

Fatty grabbed his hammer hard and swung it using the shatter skill. The swing made the water split and the vortex headed in the direction of the two beasts. The wave of water hit them, but that didn't stop their advancement. They used their water skills to easily counter fatty's attack. As they approached, Daisy shot another bullet using her aura. After the shot, her body became weak as she couldn't keep the grip on her gun.

The bullet hit the beast in the front and created a severe wound. The beast countered the bullet using its aura, but the power in that bullet was so high that it bypassed its aura and penetrated its skin. Still, it was not enough to kill the beast. It was still able to move and opened its mouth to swallow both of them.

Fatty grabbed Daisy and dodged the beast. As he moved to the side, he saw the wound on the left side of its head. He gripped his hammer and enforced his hammer with aura. The hammer pulsated with his aura as his veins popped.

*BLAM*

He hit the hammer in the wound and it split the beast's left side. The beast roared in pain as all the insides spilled out. It slowly stopped moving and floated lifelessly.

As fatty was huffing and panting inside his mask, the other beast opened its mouth from behind. Daisy looked at the beast with despair as it almost swallowed them. Daisy closed her eyes instinctively as everything turned dark.

Seconds later, Daisy opened her eyes, unsure as to what happened. She looked around and noticed that she was inside the bubble. When did she get here, she didn't know but standing by her side was fatty with a similar stupefied expression. Suddenly they realized something and looked at each other as if reading the other's mind.

August, who teleported them back to the tent after the beast swallowed them, looked at the scene. He was impressed by their performance. He expected them to kill one or two S rank beasts, but fatty really turned the tides and took advantage of the close proximity.

The remaining two beasts circled around the place but they couldn't find the two. August teleported to the bubble and looked at both of them. They looked lifeless as their aura was almost depleted.

August used his 'revitalize' skill on them, and it healed their minor wounds. Due to the depleted aura, it will take some time for the aura to fill up. Aura was a skill at the end of the day. Once you use too much, it will affect your body. As it was the main force for the awakened, it enhanced their physique. It was like an energy that permeated the whole body, giving the awakened their strength. If they don't use it actively, then the aura only stays idle inside their body. This allows them to sustain the aura flow throughout the day.

If they use it actively to enforce their body and weapon, then it depletes quickly. The duration of the skill depends on the user's aura level. As A class users, they were able to use aura reinforcement on their weapons for longer than lower level users.

But when they forcefully use a major portion of their aura on a single attack like this, their body loses its supply of aura. As an awakened, they are used to the level of strength that the regular aura flow provides. So when they are temporarily devoid of sufficient aura, they can't adjust their body to the new state. Hence, they become weakened.

The larger a beast and more powerful it is, the more it suffers from aura loss. As the weight and bodily function is mainly sustained by the aura, they become unable to sustain their own weight after it disappears. So every time August acquires someone's aura, they instantly become incapacitated.

As he healed them, they looked exhausted and slumped on the ground.

" You two did great by surviving this long against five S rank beasts. Even managed to kill three of them. Now, take some rest. You will fight the other two beasts after your recovery." August said as he turned around.

Both of them were too tired to even utter a word. They looked at the top of the bubble lying flat on the ground. They could see the surrounding water that was filled with beast corpses that they just killed. The water was red and murky, while the force was keeping the water away with an invisible barrier.

August teleported back to the location of the next SS rank beast. Looking at the beast, it resembled a jellyfish. It had hundreds of thin tentacles spreading hundreds of meters wide. The head pulsated with blue and purple color, as it illuminated the surrounding area.

As he moved closer to the jellyfish, the tentacles approached him and tried to touch his skin. But the glowing tentacles were repelled by his aura. He didn't use authority and quantum force field, as he wanted to test out his level of aura.

And from the looks of it, he was able to repel the aura of the jellyfish, which was also SS rank. He got closer and close to the beast and used his aura to repel the hundreds of tentacles surrounding him.

As he floated just in front of the head of the jellyfish, a glowing substance flowed from its head. He noticed that it was a type of toxin by examining its skills. Still, it was unable to penetrate his aura barrier. He looked at the glowing core inside the head of the beast.

Enforcing his hands, he tore the beast's head and picked up the beast's core.

' This also feels good, rather than using authority. I can finally move my muscles.'

While he was touching the head of the beast, he activated his 'Acquire skill'.

[ Skills acquired : Aura(SS=>SSS) ]

He gave a satisfying smile as he looked at the system notification.