Chapter 19: First hunt (2)

Chapter 19: First hunt (2) Being mid air there was no place to dodge. Luke moved his arms in front to protect himself. But then a hammer came flying in front of him and struck the blade, tossing it away. Luke landed on the ground and nodded at Noah, thanking him for the save. He nodded back as he caught the hammer that flew back into his hands. Growling noises came again as the beast got up on its feet. ROOAARRR!! It cried out in fury and jumped at them again, swinging its paw with those sharp nails and the tail flying in their direction. Noah pulled his shield up and blocked its paw attack, stomped his hammer on the ground and pushed the shaft forward blocking the tail blade. Luke didn’t miss this chance and jumped up aiming at its head. But this time, the beast was ready. It retracted back its paw and swinged towards Luke. He couldn’t react as he never expected the beast to aim him in that stance, and was blasted away sliding a few meters and hitting a tree trunk before coming to a stop. "Something is wrong!" Noah said. "What!?" Luke said groaning in pain. "It’s too strong for a Killer class! And the Screelowa is not this huge and its fur...it shouldn’t be black! It even has more whiskers!" "What...do you...mean?" Luke stood up, trying to keep his balance, his body hurting all over. "It’s an evolved one!" "You mean..." "We are fighting a nightmare class!!" Luke’s eyes opened wide at Noah’s words. "That’s why there were no beasts on the way. It’s the top predator in this zone!" "Get ready! It’s coming." Noah pulled his shield and hammer up again. The Screelowa sprinted towards them, roaring its lungs out. Luke ran forward, dashing towards the beast. "What are you doing?" Noah asked, surprised at him running towards the beast. "Hold one attack! I’ll get the hit in!" Luke yelled and kept running. Noah picked his weapons and ran behind Luke. Another paw and a tail attack came towards them. Noah jumped up in front of Luke and took the paw as Luke channeled prana into his feet and vanished from the spot, he evaded the tail and appeared just under the beast. He raised a glowing fist upwards as it hit right on the center of the beast’s belly, throwing it up a few meters and then fell hard, tumbling down on the ground. It was a successful hit as the beast stood up gingerly, trying to get its balance, head shaking vigorously. They both rejoiced, their plan was working out. "Again" Luke said. Noah nodded and got ready for another charge. Luke dashed again as Noah followed. The beast seeing them running towards it roared in fury and dashed towards them again, swinging its paw and tail. Noah reacted again and jumped in front of Luke, ready to take the hit. But this time, instead of attacking, the beast jumped up and appeared at their back, shocking both of them and before they could react, its tail hit Luke right on the belly. It was a hard hit and Luke was sent flying, hitting a tree at the distance and breaking half of the trunk. The beast then immediately rushed towards Noah. Noah didn’t take any chances and casted a spell as mana flowed out of him towards the ground and the ground rose to a three meters wall in front of him. The beast rammed into the wall that suddenly appeared in front of him. Noah released a sigh in relief, but before he could catch his breath, the tail blasted through the wall and came flying towards him. He pulled his shield in front but couldn’t react well and the shield slipped from his hand, bouncing away a few meters in the distance. It broke the wall and rushed towards Noah, his tail swinging so fast that Noah was unable to keep his eyes on it. He lifted his hammer trying to cast a spell as mana flowed out of him, but it was late, the tail blade was coming right towards his chest and was about to pierce his heart. Luke got up immediately on his feet. He had learned from the mistakes and had covered his whole body with prana, reducing the impact of the hit. Just when he stood up and looked towards Noah, he was shocked to see his shield flying away and the blade coming right at him. He knew he didn’t have much time, if he reacted any late, he would lose his friend. Luke didn’t wait any longer and took the risk since it was a life and death moment. "Limit break." The tattoo at his back glowed and came out floating behind his back, burning a hole through his shirt. It spun rapidly as his body started glowing bright. Noah’s eyes opened wide, death was about to reach him just in a moment, when suddenly he saw a glowing fist covered in flames appear out of nowhere in front of the beast’s face. CRUNCH!! SPLURT!! The fist hit right on the Screelowa’s face. The impact was so powerful that the bones of its head cracked and a hole blasted through his head, blood and flesh flying out and splashing on the ground. It fell on the ground with a thud, a big hole on its head, blood flowing out as it wet the ground. The blade missed Noah by an inch and fell at his side, never to move again. Noah was rooted on his place, he still couldn’t believe what happened, death almost took him but now he was still breathing, saved by his friend, who was lying flat on the ground, unconscious with a hole burnt on the shirt on his back. A sigh of relief escaped him. he clenched his fist, furious at his weakness. He collected himself immediately and moved the unconscious Luke to a nearby tree and place his back against the tree trunk. He walked to his shield that was lying at a distance, picked it up and moved back to where Luke was. He stomped his shield and the hammer on the ground and stood in front of Luke. He looked at Luke as a smile spread on his face, glad that he made such a good friend. He turned away and stood in guard, vowing to protect him, not just at the moment but till he breathes his last breath as it was a debt he would pay his whole life.