Tricks

The Alpha stepped forward, but didn't run towards the Paru.

'Think I'll run towards you?'

The Alpha growled and roared, but there was no reaction from the opponent.

It was as if the latter didn't truly intend to fight. Still, it had fought and defeated the last underling so…

The Paru crossed its arms and tapped the ground with its foot.

'There you go.'

It only took three seconds of doing that for the angered Alpha to start running in his direction.

'Alright.' The Paru pointed at the Alpha with its index finger. 'Time for a test drive, huh?'

The Alpha contracted its arm muscles and clenched its fist. 

But before it could get into range to unleash a powerful punch,

Growl!

'Mm.' The Paru nodded to itself as its clenched fist connected with the Alpha's cheek. 'Spiderweb Production sure it useful.'

By using the same strategy as against the Wizzos, the Paru had temporarily taken the Alpha's sight.

'Changing the point of activation was a good idea.'

Previously, the Paru shot the thread and made the webs using its mouth.

Now, it was through tiny practically invisible holes at the tips of its fingers that the threads were shot from. Threads. With multiple points of activation, the release rate had increased drastically. 

The Paru threw a punch at the Alpha's left side, before using his hand to add more threads and thicken the web in which the Alpha's face was caught.

'I won't let you!' The Paru thought to itself as it grabbed the Alpha from the wrist, forbidding it from pulling the webs away. 

The Alpha's other hand moved, and the Paru swatted it away with his wrist, before landing an elbow strike on the Alpha's nose.

The Alpha was forced to step back as it growled, and the Paru held an open palm in front of the Alpha's face.

'Let's try this one as well!!' The Paru thought with a wide smile.

The centers of the Paru's palms were one of the spots that weren't covered by rocky skin.

The reason for that was simple.

Burning Mist Expulsion!

The highly combustible mist exited the Paru's palm and, upon landing on the webs that covered the Alpha's face, the webs caught fire!

The Alpha growled loudly as it jumped back and hit its face with an open palm repeatedly.

'Come on. You gotta do better than that.' The Paru smirked at the enraged Alpha. 'The women are watching, don't you know?'

The angered Alpha growled loudly as it started running forward. 

'Must be wary of my tricks now, huh? But these aren't all I have.'

The Paru started running too!

A head-on collision? Can the Paru win in a contest of pure strength? 

The Paru feigned a punch, messing up the Alpha's timing, and landed a low kick at the Alpha's knee with his right leg.

The next second, he clenched his fist and pulled it back.

The Alpha, off balance, raised its arms to block the attack but… The challenger's fist and arm… Had disappeared??

A powerful blow landed on the Alpha's stomach, pushing it three steps away!

'This is the best!' The Paru shouted internally. 

***

[Your "Invisibility" Skill becomes "Invisibility Lv2".]

'What's the difference? Please tell me it's not lowered Endurance Points Consumption.'

[The "Invisibility Lv2" Skill allows for more control over the Invisibility brought upon by the Skill.]

After conversing a bit more with the System, the Paru learned what this meant, and opted for the Lv2 Skill to be divided into two different Skills.

Invisibility, and Partial Invisibility.

***

'I can make any body part I want disappear. This is amazing. And since it's a different Skill, this doesn't go against the Sub-Quest, right?'

[Indeed, it doesn't.]

'He's faster and stronger than me. I can tell that much. Devouring him will surely increase my Strength Stat, as well as make my skin tougher.'

The Alpha, unwilling to take such humiliation, roared loudly. 

'You can shout all you want but…' The Paru shrugged. 

The Alpha prepared to throw another punch.

'A repeat?'

The Paru moved to block, but the punch turned out to be a feint, which made the Paru chuckle internally.

'You're learning, huh?'

Having moved in the opposite direction to block, the Paru didn't have time to defend the other side.

Using his momentum towards the right, the Paru quickly moved in that direction to spin.

The Alpha's fist collided with the Paru's shield, the shell on his back!

'Would you look at that…' The Paru's eyes sparkled as he noticed the jagged rocky skin that covered the Alpha's fist falling apart. 'My shell is tougher, at least...' He continued spinning until his elbow landed on the Alpha's cheek, sending sparks flying once more. 'I'm glad!'

With each hit, each exchange, and each spark, the female Graniliths got agitated further and further!

'Oh…'

The Alpha gritted its teeth and took hold of the Paru's wrist with both hands.

'That's a bad choice.'

As the Alpha pulled on the Paru's arm to bring him to the ground, the Paru waved its free hand in front of the Alpha's face.

Burning Mist Expulsion!

The burning mist landed on the Alpha's face, but despite the high heat, it didn't seem to have much effect.

Other than the fact that it diverted the Alpha's focus, allowing the Paru to free his hand.

Additionally, the Alpha had been forced to close its eyes. 

But the moment it opened them back up, a fist collided with its nose, and the mist that covered its face caught fire!

A punch too quick and swift to be dodged landed on the Paru's stomach, sending him a couple of steps back.

'Haha! You still have some fight left in you. But this has taken your vision. With no eyes, what can you…'

The smoke dissipated, revealing that the Alpha had only lost one of its eyes.

'So you managed to close your left eye in time… Even your eyelids are special, huh?'

Tsk- Tsk-

The Paru clicked its tongue in front of the raging and roaring Alpha.

'Come on.' The Paru tapped his own thighs twice. 'Come here!'

The Alpha, as if having lost control of itself, stomped the ground repeatedly, and slammed its fists against the ground, before running forward as fast as it could.

'Let's try that now!'

A punch heavier and more powerful than the previous ones was thrown.

But it wasn't faster than the others.

'Right… Now!'

With perfect timing, the Paru grabbed the Alpha's wrist and pulled on it, making the latter lose its balance.

A second later, the Alpha was on lying with its stomach to the ground.

The Paru was standing. In his hands, the Alpha's wrist.

'Let's tear this arm off, shall we?'

The Paru rotated the Alpha's arm with all his strength!

'Tsk… It's enough, huh?'

The Alpha contracted all of its muscles as it gritted its teeth. 

It knew that relaxing for even a moment would mean losing its arm.

The Paru tried to pull even harder on that arm but,

'Looks like my arms aren't strong enough. Well…'

The next instant, from below the shield that covered the Paru's back,

Wrap- Wrap-

Two tentacles appeared and quickly wrapped themselves around the Alpha's forearm, adding more power.

The Alpha growled loudly as pain started to seep in!

'Just need a bit more!'

The Paru's eyes widened as it noticed a crack in the rocky skin that covered the Alpha's shoulder.

'From the explosion, huh?'

The next second, four pointy and sharp limbs exited the Paru's shell. 

They remained unmoving for a moment, before moving, at once and with great speed, towards the same spot!

The cracked skin broke, and the Alpha's shoulder muscles were pierced!

This allowed the Paru to…

'Alright!'

Tear off the Alpha's arm, sending heaps of blood into the air.

The Paru stood over the Alpha's body, and lay his foot on its head.

Burning Mist Expulsion!

Burning Mist Expulsion!

Burning Mist Expulsion!

'Let's finish this with a bang, shall we?'

The Paru suddenly jumped back, and the tip of one of the limbs that exited his back turned into a blade. Into a dagger. 

That dagger was broken off, and thrown at the Alpha's head.

BOOM-

[You have Cleared the Quest "Destroy the nearby Granilith Tribe!".]

[You have Cleared the Quest "Destroy the nearby Granilith Tribe!" without using your Invisibility Skill!]

[You have obtained 2 Skill Points!]

'Good.' The Paru stretched its arms. 'Time to eat-'

Before it could move, the Paru was suddenly pulled to the ground from behind!

Had the first Granilith he had knocked down woken up?

Was there some other enemy?

Did he underestimate the Alpha somehow?

No. The Paru hadn't underestimated any of these things. But there was something he had underestimated.

Drip- Drip-

The thing he had underestimated was...

Ahhhh- Haaaa- Ahhaaa-

Was how aroused he had made the female Graniliths!