Chapter 12 - First Challenge

The human-sized praying mantis loomed before them, its long, dark green legs adorned with gleaming metal armour. Large blood-red orb shaped eyes glared from atop its lengthy frame, while two large metal scythes were mounted upon the end of its lanky front arms. With a piercing screech, it thrashed its arms about in a menacing display.

In a matter of seconds, they had devised a swift strategy through a brief discussion. Trev would serve as the creature's distraction, drawing its attention away, while Elena positioned herself to flank and attack its vulnerable body from behind. Emilee, lacking a weapon, would provide artillery support by hurling rocks at their intimidating adversary.

Elena readied her metal poles twirling them in her hands skillfully. It was evident what she had to do. This is what she was good at—killing things, albeit normally with knives and guns. Though usually she would have the element of surprise, there were times she had gotten into serious fights to the death and triumphed, albeit not without leaving her scars.

Without hesitation, the creature charged forward, triggering Emilee's assault as she bombarded the mantis with well-aimed rocks. To Elena's surprise, Emilee's accuracy was uncanny, landing several direct hits on the mantis's face, momentarily impeding its advance. Meanwhile, Trev skillfully wielded his chain, striking at the mantis's armoured legs to keep it away from Emilee. Though his strikes were gradually wearing down the creature's health, it would take a considerable amount of time to defeat it at this rate.

Seizing the opportunity, Elena sprang into action, swiftly manoeuvring behind the mantis and bringing both metal poles crashing down on its exposed back. This heavy attack dropped the mantises' health down by about one-fifth, but it also captivated its attention. The mantis turned around significantly faster than Elena had anticipated, its blades slashing down at her. Elena had no choice but to block the attacks with her poles, crossing them together to catch the mantis blades above her head. The strike was strong but not strong enough to penetrate Elena's staunch defence.

After repelling the assault, Elena swiftly pushed the mantis's blades away. Sensing an opening, she lunged at the creature, swinging her arms with precision and slamming her poles down with all her might onto its head. One pole struck its blood-red eye, causing it to explode in a gruesome burst, while the second pole struck its mouth and dislocated one of its mandibles.

Expecting her strikes to be fatal, Elena found herself mistaken, as the mantis still clung to a fraction of its remaining health. She found her back vulnerable to a stabbing attack from its front arms. Bracing herself for the inevitable pain, Elena suddenly heard a pop that echoed through the chaos. A well-aimed rock struck the mantis's remaining eye, popping it like a balloon and plunging the creature into complete blindness. This caused the mantis to stutter for a second, allowing Elena enough time to drop to the ground and lay flat.

In its blind rage, the mantis swung its blades down with unrelenting force, failing to connect with Elena. In a cruel twist of fate, propelled by its own momentum and the expectation of hitting its target, the creature impaled itself on its own blades, instantaneously ending its life and reducing its body to a pile of ash. As Elena looked down at the ash accumulating on her legs, she let out a scream, but she wasn't screaming at the ash.

~~~~

With the creature vanquished, a golden light emanated from above Trev, drawing his attention upward. His eyes widened as he realised he had levelled up. The Roman numerals [II] now accompanied his level. On his watch a little information icon had appeared, which intrigued him. As he reached to press it, a scream pierced the air from behind the ash pile—Elena's scream. Trev rushed to her side, prepared to administer medical aid, but soon realised the true reason for her distress.

Elena had found herself in a perilous position beneath the mantis during its final attack, narrowly escaping a devastating blow. The blade narrowly missed her chest, passing between her breasts. However, her black bodysuit had not been as fortunate, now resembling a dress with a revealing cutout in the front, teasing at the exposure of her nipples. Her porcelain skin shimmered under the sun, as her two large mounds that had been exposed showed off her stunning womanly form. Acting swiftly, Trev turned around, removed his jacket, and handed it to Elena. She gratefully accepted the gesture, slipping it on and rising to her feet.

Thank you, Trev. You're a true gentleman," Elena said softly.

"No problem, I can't leave you like that," he replied, turning back towards her.

Although her face was blushing, Elena smiled. With the crisis averted and the mantis defeated, Trev had a number of things to attend to. The first was the information button on the watch, which he pressed. In front of him, like it had been drawn on the nearest surface, text appeared. As he moved his head it followed, but it was just a bit too small to read on the far-off surfaces. Trev looked down, moving the text to a readable distance. It read:

[Level 2!]

[2nd pinnacle system unlocked: Items]

[Evolution Corp items can now be discovered in the world and worn]

[1 Item point available]

[Clap twice to dismiss]

Trev clapped his hands twice, and the message vanished. The lines of text had added to his ever expanding list of questions. What did it mean by the pinnacle system? If this was the second system what was the first? Could the bars above his head be the first? What were item points, and how did he use them? Beside him, Elena also clapped twice, dismissing her information screen as well, whilst Emilee still seemed to be lost in hers.

"I assume you got the level up messages about the pinnacle systems and items?" Asked Elena.

"Yes, do you understand any of it?" replied Trev.

"Not really. I guess we'll have to find out," Elena shrugged, her attention shifting to the pile of ash.

"Shall we?" proposed Trev.

Finally catching up with the others, Emilee clapped twice behind them.

"I think Emilee should do the honours of picking up the loot," smiled Elena.

Trev was taken aback; he wasn't expecting this outward kinship attempt from Elena.

"Me?" Emilee responded, shocked.

"Yes, your great throw saved me, it gave me enough time to get out of the way and in a sense was the killing blow," replied Elena.

"Oh, uh, no problem," Emilee stammered, slightly awkward under the compliment.

Both Elena and Trev nodded at Emilee. Emilee cautiously approached the mound of ash, her curiosity piqued. With a swift kick, she revealed the hidden contents, causing the group to share an intrigued "oooh."