The creature attacked. Adams raised the rifle and fired.
The shots impacted the monstrous body, but the bullets pushed against the tough grey skin before tumbling away. Adams’ eyes were wide.
"Move!"
Adams grabbed Mira and pulled her aside. One of the creature’s claws sliced past their previous location and impacted the concrete beside them. Adams shoved Mira aside as the claw slashed downwards, only for the concrete floor to explode in shards around Adams’ head as he twisted away.
Adams stumbled backward as the creature spun to face Mira. Her legs were already pushing her backward as she reared her hands back.
"Get away from me!"
A pillar of white-hot energy exploded from her palms, forcing the creature to stumble back. Mira’s eyes widened.
"That actually worked."
"Again!"
Mira charged forward, thrusting both of her hands forward. Another stream of fire impacted the creature’s face. The beast took a step back and brought an arm up to shield its eyes, but the fire pushed it back nonetheless.
Adams grabbed a length of broken metal barrier from the ground. As the creature lunged forward, Adams swung upward, planting the broken metal into the knee of the beast’s leg. The creature hardly took notice, kicking out at Adams’ other leg. Adams tossed the length of metal in the air and took a step forward to meet the creature’s kick. The metal bar crashed down against its abdomen. Again, the creature barely took notice. With a snarl the creature pulled its leg back, and Adams was forced to throw himself backward to clear its foot. He landed hard and groaned as the pain lanced up his ribs. Rolling onto his back, Adams took a deep breath, forcing himself to move.
It moved forward, but Adams sidestepped, thrusting the broken barrier into the creature’s side. He bit back on a grimace as nothing at all happened. The creature’s hand closed around the metal, and Adams jerked back as it ripped free his weapon. The creature growled, but instead of lunging, it stepped back.
Adams knew he had no chance at outrunning it, so instead he did the only other thing he could.
He narrowed his vision.
Suddenly, it wasn’t as hard to perceive the movements of the creature’s limbs.
He couldn’t see straight through it, but the creature’s body almost looked insubstantial. Adams could see the twisting muscles and veins pumping energy through its body... and, he realized grimly, the weak spot beneath the reinforced plates on the creature’s right shoulder.
Adams turned on his heel and instead of running away, he ran toward the creature. It swiped at him, and he dropped under the claw, stepping up against the beast’s leg. He reached out and plucked a length of broken metal from the ground. With a grunt of effort, Adams jammed the broken tube into the soft flesh of the creature’s shoulder.
The blast of black blood that sprayed across his face nearly blinded Adams, but he held on, twisting the metal rod free of the muscle in the creature’s shoulder. The monstrous roar that erupted from the creature’s throat nearly deafened him. But as its elbow shot back, Adams crossed his forearms to block the strike that would have cleaved his chest open, sending him tumbling. He landed several meters away, unable to catch his breath. Around him the crackling of gunfire echoed.
Soldiers surrounded the creature, firing rifle after rifle. Adams coughed, forcing himself to his knees. One of them tossed a grenade at the creature’s feet.
"Keep firing!"
The barrage of gunfire continued as the soldier at the creature’s head reared back and threw the grenade. The explosion rocked the stadium, showering the area in fire and dust. For long moments, the only sound was that of the soldiers’ breathing. Then, from the smoke, the creature stepped forward, still alive.
"Lie back!"
A fresh line of soldiers stood, aiming their rifles at the creature. It moved forward and as if they hadn’t fired a single shot, the creature lunged at the nearest group of soldiers. A soldier fired upward, only for the creature’s forearm to slap the man against a barrier, knocking him unconscious. The soldier at the creature’s rear took a swing at the beast’s tail, but with a flex of its muscles the creature drove its tail into the soldier, knocking him to the ground.
Mira raised both of her hands, her voice ringing out across the field.
"Adams!"
He turned to her.
"Get down!"
Mira drew in a deep breath, summoning all of the power she could. Fire writhed around her fingertips before streaking toward the creature. The enormous fireball slammed into the beast’s chest, sending it sprawling. Mira dropped to her knees.
Adams used the distraction. The creature was reeling, but even so he needed to get closer. Planting his foot against the creature’s leg, Adam pushed himself up onto its shoulder blade. The creature roared and swiped at him, but Adams hooked his fingers around a plate of its armor and held on, the razor-sharp claws passing inches from his cheek. With a heave he pulled himself up, freeing the broken rod from the creature’s shoulder. The muscular bulk of the beast shook him off, but Adams shoved the rod back into the wound, twisting it free. Again, he rammed it into the opening. The creature shuddered, and the strange energy in its body dimmed, as if some vital part had been removed.
The creature stiffened.
Adams let go of the rod and bounded backward. The enormous creature collapsed, the sound of its body hitting the floor echoing through the stadium. Silence washed over the field as Adams’ System opened before his eyes.
[Elite Monster defeated.] [Experience acquired.] [Level increased.]
Adams stared at the text before him.
[Current Level: 8]
Adams felt the rush of warmth fill his chest as he exhaled. The pain in his ribs dulled to a dull ache. His hands trembled as Mira came to a stop beside him. "Are you okay?"
"I think so."
"You almost died."
"I know."
She gave him an irritable look. "That’s not funny."
"I wasn’t joking."
Daniel came up beside the two of them, one side of his face slick with blood but otherwise unharmed. "Everyone who can move, get away from the wall."
Adams turned toward the exit. "What happened to the other soldiers?"
"Most are injured."
"Were there any... civilians that didn’t make it?"
Daniel turned toward the body of the dead creature, "We moved them underground. Whatever that thing was, we can’t stay here."
Adams walked forward and crouched next to the beast.
Mira knelt beside him. "You want to study it?"
"Something like that."
Focusing on the creature, he accessed the information hidden within his System.
[Species: Mutated Beast]
[Level: 12]
[Rank: Elite]
[Origin: Dungeon Energy Exposure]
[Evolution: Natural]
[Abilities: Reinforced Hide, Accelerated Recovery, Berserk]
It had no mission parameters, no set target.
Adams turned toward the broken panels of the stadium wall. Somewhere beyond the smog curling out over the streets, there was something else that was just as powerful if not more so.
The deep, resonant boom of some great creature began to shake the stadium. Again and again it sounded until it shook through every building in Lagos. People screamed, and every System displayed the same information.
[WARNING] [World Boss detected.]
Mira looked up at the text hovering before her. "World boss?"
"You don’t understand," said Daniel, his face tightening into a grim mask.
[Threat Classification: Disaster.]
A low hum vibrated through the stadium. The words continued scrolling.
[Territory under threat: Lagos Metropolitan Zone.] [Recommended response: Evacuation.] [Estimated survival probability: 31%.]
Someone screamed, and suddenly the whole stadium was in chaos. The World Boss was approaching, and no one knew what it was.
Adams stared through the broken wall. The form of a massive creature was moving between the buildings. Only a portion of it was visible, but Adams could make out the shape of the right shoulder before disappearing behind the roof of a building. When it reemerged, it had a hand wrapped around the side of one structure that crumpled under its weight.
Adams’ eyes flicked to his own System.
[Level: 8]
[Available Attribute Points: 35]
Thirty-five points. Not enough to even keep up with the growing danger surrounding the city, but in a few hours time he’d gone from another unremarkable student worrying about his next assignment and a girl named Elena, to fighting off an army of monsters.
"Here."
Adams turned toward Mira, who was watching him closely.
"We’ll find her."
Daniel turned away from the others, listening to the shouts of soldiers loading survivors into underground tunnels. If there were still some people left who were uninjured, they wouldn’t be in the stadium long. A few moments later the sirens began to wail as Lagos began its exodus. In the distance, the World Boss roared.
Adams turned to Daniel, "I need to find someone."
Daniel turned toward the group of wounded officers waiting in the stadium. "Then I hope you find her."
Adams nodded. "Thank you."
"Please don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything yet," he said, turning to the group of soldiers behind him. "Get the wounded in the tunnels. We’re going underground."
Mira hovered near the back of the small group filing out the underground entrance. Adams stared at her for a long moment.
"You should come with them."
Mira turned to gaze at him. "And you?"I’m finding Elena."My girlfriend."
Mira hesitated. She barely knew the man, save for the fact that he was willing to stand and fight despite the odds. She and a handful of others had barely survived the first wave of monsters attacking the stadium. As far as she knew, she had no reason to keep fighting. No reason to put her life on the line for this total stranger. "Then... good luck."
"You too," she said, turning and walking away.
Adams looked back down at his phone. It was still silent despite the chaos unfolding around him. He turned away, watching the last of the survivors disappear through the underground entrance. With a sigh, Adams accessed his System for the umpteenth time that day.
[Name: Adams Albert]
[Level: 8]
[Race: Human]
[Class: None]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 12]
[Vitality: 11]
[Intelligence: 14]
[Spirit: 10]
[Soul: ERROR]
The same annoying cursor blinked at the bottom of the page.
Adams tucked his phone back into his pocket. Elena was still somewhere in Lagos, but he was going to find her regardless of what the System said. A new set of explosions rocked the stadium as another World Boss began its assault on Lagos.
"Okay. Where should I start looking?" he asked.