Chapter 16

The eggs burst open, releasing a swarm of monsters like a chain reaction. Only a simple attack, and dozens of horrible humanoid creatures exploded out of the work of art.

They looked like a fetus, covered in or, well, made out of tar with long streaks of white throbbing veins, but with big and thick limbs similar to a primate. The abominations only needed a second to look at the two with their beady white eyes and charge forward, thin claws like needles coming from their hands.

"You idiot!" Warpath yelled, reacting before Tom could.

There was not a single ounce of doubt about the woman as she quickly jumped off her bike while the vehicle just rode towards the horde. The second before impacting, it began to spin over the axis of its front wheel, turning into a blender. 

Tom, without wasting time, began to shoot nonstop, barely taking time to aim as he was pointing at the center of mass of these creatures while slowly walking back from them. "Oh, you are not running?" He teased her with a smug smile. There were two choices: using this opportunity to run or to take advantage. Since the woman stayed to fight, there was a clear answer.

"I will not pussy out!" The woman yelled as some monster managed to pass her bike and pounce on her. She just grabbed them by the face and slammed them to the ground. Grappling and throwing them back without any technique or grace, it was like watching a bunch of hyenas hunting an elephant. Her suit was just too durable for those claws to penetrate it.

Then, Tom got a notification.

[Congratulations! 5 monsters killed in a row!]

[Lesser tiger strength: The user's strength is increased to the point where he reaches the limits of what a human can have, making him able to easily lift his own body or knock out a normal person with a single punch, and even move a small car.]

His plan was a success; he had tricked the thug into helping him power level. She was taking the monsters while he took them down with his pistol.

"Great! Now help me farm monster kills, darling!" Tom yelled while feeling his muscles itching for a second, just to then fill him with abnormal strength.

The catboy's legs became so strong that he easily jumped toward the bronze statue in the middle of the room, climbed onto one of its arms, and used a safe space to snipe down the flood of creatures.

Warpath just grabbed one of the fetus monsters and broke it in two by slamming it against her knee while her bike was moving with a will of its own, running over the bulk of the horde. "Fucking asshole!" She yelled at him, gritting her teeth under her helmet while a mutant put her in a rear chokehold, another grabbed her legs, and a third was just thrashing against her belly, trying to gut her.

A perfect movement to test her durability by killing those monsters and seeing if the missing bullets penetrated her skin. "Maybe after we are done!" He teased, his magazine almost empty.

[Congratulations! 10 monsters killed in a row!]

[Lesser lion hide: The user's skin and general body become more durable to the point where they could withstand damage that would put a normal human out of commission. For example, an attack that would break a bone would leave only a huge bruise.]

A wave of pain that almost made him drop from the statue later, and he was back to killing. A smirk of pure excitement was drawn on his face as the two supers killed the whole horde of monsters in just a few minutes. 

[Congratulations! 20 monsters killed in a row!]

[Lesser puma senses: The sense of smell and vision of the user gets refined, not only increasing their range or sensitivity, but becoming better at organizing the information on it. Smells become unique traces that he can follow, and objects moving so fast that they were blurs now have a distinct shape.]

When everything was done, Tom was out of bullets, only having his shotgun left. So, the catboy made a long jump and got closer to the only living enemy left that didn't have a single scratch on her skin.

It was a massacre. The monsters' corpses now filled the whole room, and some of them were even on the lower floors, as they were thrown into the hole in the middle room or fell into it as they tried to chase Tom into the abyss.

"Thank you for the help! Did you get something out of it?" Tom asked, his tone sweet and mellow while making a heart shape with his tail. 

The woman took a deep breath and cracked her fist. "Tsk . . . you bastard . . ." she cursed with a clear, tired tone as her metal steed quickly went right beside her. Now that machine was damaged; well, at least the paint-it had scratches and gunk all over it. 

He chuckled, his tail moving from side to side, showing how excited he was. "Oh, let me guess . . . . You only level up from tinkering with your motorcycle and maybe fulfilling missions? Like taking me to your boss?" Another cruel provocation came to the catboy's lips.

Warpath went silent for a second. "How did you figure that out?!" She barked at him and took a step forward. 

"They would not waste time sending a killer for a non-lethal mission as well. Since your power is your motorcycle, I just guessed the other one," Tom revealed just a tiny part of his plan. After all, this act of provocation was only a part of his plan. 

"It . . . doesn't matter; you are coming with me!" Warpath yelled, jumping over her bike and ready to turn the cat into a victim of road rage.

Tom chuckled, jumped into the air, and shot his gun, using the recoil of his shotgun to move out of the way and dodge the attack quickly. "Darling, you don't have any idea how much you will be coming with me!" He finally yelled, having all the clues needed to win this fight.