Chapter 8 - Times Have Changed, But Not Completely
Combining [Dash] and [Spinning Slash], which a Ranger-class "should" master.
The moment it charges in front of the target, the right wing increases output, and the left wing reverses direction, allowing the body to complete a high-speed rotation in an instant.
It possessed the advantages of both moves simultaneously.
Maximizing "impact force" and "cutting power" to produce destructive force far exceeding that of a single move!
This was Lu Xing's new ultimate technique!
The advantages were quite prominent, and the flaws were also extremely obvious: first was the intense feeling of dizziness.
The essence of this high-speed rotation technique was to continuously slash the target three times with Honkai energy condensed at the wingtips within a short half-second—
At Lu Xing's current level, three times was his body's limit.
Even if he gradually adapted to external perception in a high-speed state, the dizziness brought by rotation was far more severe than the "Vortex Jet" used during normal flight.
A Honkai Beast without a brain structure, heaven knows how it could experience "imbalance."
Secondly, there was the physical burden.
"Jet propulsion" provided high-speed enhancement, but a Ranger-class's wings were far less sturdy than its body. It was hard to say how much of the opponent's health bar he could deplete by ramming into it, but he himself would definitely lose half his life first.
This move, which Lu Xing considered his trump card, was actually like Qin Shi Huang sitting next to Chen Rui—
The outcome was anyone's guess!
————
"Zing!"
Orange-yellow sparks suddenly erupted the moment the two Honkai Beasts made contact.
The pure white wings, steeped in Honkai energy, cut deeply into the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's body—the gunshot had effectively hindered the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's skill activation; otherwise, no matter how fast Lu Xing was, based on past experience, he would definitely have been easily dodged.
The advantage is mine!
The first of the triple slash successfully pierced the gap at the connection point; the second, building on the original, opened a gash that spanned half its body; the third completely impaled it, causing a large amount of Honkai energy to gush out from the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's body.
"Boom!!"
Dogs go woof, cats go meow, what do chickens do?
They leave opportunities for the prepared Honkai—exactly as anticipated, by the time the right wing delivered the second slash, it was already nearly broken internally. When the third strike pierced the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's body, only half the "blade" remained!
"Huu."
The sound of an unwavering wind whispered past his ears.
The moment after Lu Xing's surprise attack succeeded, the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's sword-like wings slashed straight down!
But having seen this move too many times, he had already prepared for it—he decisively abandoned the broken wing embedded in the opponent's body. The levitating Lu Xing pulled back, instantly dodging the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's vertical chop!
"Heard you were silenced?"
"Swoosh!"
A Ranger-class has three weapons:
Its hard head, its sharp wings, and its sharp tail stinger.
In flight, its rearward-extending body segments are arranged in an aerodynamic, streamlined fashion. But when needed in combat, the third, lowest segment of its body can transform into a sharp sword to pierce its opponents.
"Zing!"
Lu Xing straightened his body in mid-air.
Aiming at the end of the broken wing left inside the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast, he stabbed down fiercely!
"Boom!!"
————
"System task completed."
"Your level has increased to Lv.11."
"Detected System Holder level exceeds Lv.10."
"Audio-visual function unlocked."
"Evolution path unlocked."
"[Appraisal] skill unlocked. Hidden Function 1 [Unlucky Player's Gacha Log] has been revealed. Holder can view evolution paths within this system."
"Finally, I wish you good health. Goodbye."
"..."
The voice in his mind.
Poured everything into Lu Xing's head like beans out of a bag.
He had no time to pay attention to the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast he had "finished off"; a brand new attribute panel directly appeared in Lu Xing's consciousness.
Race: Ranger-class
Level: 11
Ability: Appraisal
Equipment: M4A1
Attack: 12
Speed: 11
Constitution: 11
Evaluation: Big Mosquito
Setting aside whether "Big Mosquito" in the evaluation counted as praise, what interested Lu Xing most in the entire broadcast was the so-called evolution path.
A casual search.
The system immediately fed this information back to Lu Xing.
Somewhat unexpectedly, this "evolution path" was actually tied to the system tasks.
————
Task - Branch One: Defeat three opponents of the same or higher level consecutively within 15 seconds.
Reward: Speed +2, Level +1, Obtain Skill [Spinning Slash].
————
Task - Branch Two: Defeat one opponent of the same or higher level using ranged means from a distance of over 50 meters.
Reward: Attack +2, Level +1, Obtain Skill [Crystal Shot].
————
Task - Branch Three: Defeat an opponent with Constitution twice your own or higher in a single blow.
Reward: Constitution +2, Level +1, Obtain Skill [Ballista].
————
Below these three tasks, there was a very conspicuous note:
"Upon completing a corresponding branch task, the next stage's evolution path will be locked, other branch tasks will be canceled, and their respective evolution paths will be temporarily deleted."
At this point, Lu Xing's gaze was no longer on the tasks, but on the information "disclosable at the current stage" below the tasks.
The [Spinning Slash] task corresponded to the "Knight-class Honkai Beast" evolution path.
The [Crystal Shot] task corresponded to the "Rotor-class Honkai Beast" evolution path.
The [Ballista] task corresponded to the "Ballista-class Honkai Beast" evolution path.
————
Regardless of skills or evolution paths.
The system, with its newly activated audio-visual function, presented them all in the form of short videos.
[Spinning Slash] needed no further explanation; Lu Xing had already seen the original version.
The [Crystal Shot] skill looked equally simple—at a position no more than 50 centimeters from the main body, Honkai energy was condensed into irregular solid crystal chunks, given acceleration, and then blasted out like bullets.
Power, quantity, speed.
These all depended on the user's own abilities.
As for the final [Ballista] skill...
How to put it, the information provided by the system... looked quite heart-stopping.
[Ballista] wasn't literally a "large bed-mounted crossbow" installed on ancient warships or city walls.
It was a ball.
With Honkai energy as its core, it gathered any surrounding accessible "materials" to form a sphere, injected Honkai energy into it like inflating a tire, and finally sealed the opening.
The [Ballista] was then complete.
And a Flame Ballista Beast (the basic model among Ballista-class Honkai Beasts) would hurl the prepared [Ballista] like a "catapult" or a "bowling ball."
The former was for suppressive fire, the latter for blasting open a path.
In the video Lu Xing saw, this thing's power was comparable to a large-caliber howitzer.
Of course, this ball could also be used as a shield by a Ballista-class, but this usage leaned more towards mutual destruction—the temporarily condensed [Ballista] shell wasn't as sturdy as the Honkai Beast's own body and could easily detonate on the spot after being attacked.
To be precise, it would be more like spiraling up to heaven.