The rock fell and rolled ten meters before the unmoving beast. Elias had expected that; his mastery wasn't enough to shoot that big rock at that distance.
He then launched another bigger rock. This one broke as it fell before it even reached the first one.
The Calamity Beast didn't respond to the taunt.
He launched another rock, feeling strain to a degree after that, then he stood before a small one, the size of his head.
Following the instruction of the Hard Push but with the principles of Launching, the rock shot faster up and came down carried by momentum at the beast. A reaction came, one of the protrusions of the head wiggled and broke the rock.
Elias pushed another rock at the alley entrance and waited. The beast was silent. Sasha was two meters behind him. As he was taller and broader, he hid her figure well.
Elias stepped into the alley! Roar! A shock wave slammed against the barrier that came up, breaking it; another one raised as he was sent back.
He slammed into Sasha as they slid back on the ground. The hard rock that was ten meters away from the beast shattered due to the sound.
Dummm! To them the world was submerged into the sea. Sasha moved first, trembling; the feeling of dread had returned before Elias stood too. The fear came back, but to him it was weaker.
"We attack now!" Elias shouted as he ran inside. He felt her pill dissolving, working against whatever the beast's roar produced, the dust on them vibrating, adding some additional effects against the beast force.
Those are finite; they have to act now before they get exhausted. The rock fragments he sent in—passing them—Elias launched them.
Rocks after rock was sent toward the beast with high precision and speed.
Katcha!
Its body shook the chain, and the ground trembled. Elias ignored that; this is a perfect design for the newly awakened to try themselves—against a predator designed to collapse the world.
50 meters in, all the rocks he passed had followed him. Gravity Force, Hard Launch. His body strained, his mind bloated as he perceived them all, carrying their weight both in mind and body.
They rained at the beast.
Sasha, trembling, hands crackling with lightning, was ten meters behind Elias. She didn't know why, but tears were coming from her face.
Roar!
A far more devastating roar came from the beast, from the very head as it wiggled in a disgusting manner.
Elias was ready. He was in a perfect stance and shouted, "Gravity Force!" The strongest gravity ripple waved out of him forward.
The rocks he shot, shattered to rubble due to the roar shockwave. But the shockwave slammed against an equally powerful force.
Drum!
A sound like a drum spread; both forces collapsed before another one rose. "Gravity Force!" His veins stretched like cables, mouth wide open, his eyes glowing ashen.
To Elias, the world changed before he felt the beast and then slammed into it. The beast was compressed back by the force.
A circle of lightning formed exactly behind Elias, and it was sent from 55 meters away.
With the appearance of the circle came the appearance of dread. Elias didn't get to buckle; his mind didn't process it when Calamity Force Core glowed on top of the beast.
A force field appeared around it, and as the lightning snaked around it, failing to penetrate before the force field exploded, exhausting the lightning.
Elias was on his knees, tired and overwhelmed. The shattered energy pushed him to his back, mind in absolute murky darkness.
The Calamity Beast splashed forward at him.
Eyes crackling with lightning, Sasha sent one powerful standard lightning skill after another. The beast recoiled, avoiding them with short blasts of roar and force around it for protection.
In the short time that Elias hadn't reacted yet, her attacks numbered more than ten, each time successfully preventing Elias from being touched.
Roar!
The shockwave slammed outward, the ground cracked, and the buildings by the side shook; some began to collapse. The girl was sent back, and the beast liquefied and splashed at the Elias who had regained himself before falling again due to the roar.
Slap!
The liquid splashed everywhere on the ground, flattening everything around except for a bulge.
Sasha stood, lightning in her hands flashing strongly as she looked up. She was at the beginning of the alley, seconds fast since the last roar, and she saw it.
The liquid beast had covered 64 meters of the whole alley, but a bulge at the center shook before it moved. The beast then pulled at it before recoiling faster than lightning.
Elias, in a ball of spikes, rolled away extremely fast, reaching her as they moved back.
Sasha jumped to the side horrified and rolled away. The ball of spikes shattered, and Elias was sent flying.
The culprit was a thin tendril stretched from the alley, it was the beast that compressed itself to a thin tensile string to reach them.
Elias was barely breathing, his nose bleeding, but he staggered up and away to the other side with Sasha.
"What is that?" A slightly deep voice reached them. A boy, 2 meters tall, broad-shouldered, wearing the same uniform, stood behind them looking at the alley.
Elias slumped down. Sasha answered, "A Calamity Beast!"
The boy clenched his trembling hands; pulses of yellow light came and went around his body. Then he calmed down and turned his attention to them.
Elias's pale red face with bloodied nose, Sasha's frown, and hugging body told him what he wanted to know.
"Did you get Sam to safety?" she asked.
"Yes. I handed him over to the Overseer!" he answered. "You're brave or foolish to attempt this."
"Well, we are bigger fools. This is just the first round. Testing waters!" Sasha said, with slight conviction in her voice as she stared at the boy's face.
"He is drained of energy. Suicide if you ask me!"
"We will be back in an hour. Besides, he is not drained of energy. Just drained from holding back from killing the creature."
The boy was taken aback and exchange gazes between her and the panting Elias. "Hmm. I will take that as a compliment to his bravery."
Elias sat, drank some water and took a pill. "They are all cunning."
"Yes. But it can't focus on many things at a time. I aimed at a single part of it, but all of them stopped moving. If I can have a moment of distraction, we will kill it!"
"Well, I was busy trying to survive. I didn't notice that. But… you look different!"
"Brand Skill: Internal Thunder Storm," she said as she calmed down and her features softened. "It's a Hunter's most-have skill in facing dangerous forces. Fear is there but channeled toward precise attacks."
Elias's eyes stared at her before he sighed, "Your family legacy is great. Brand Skill at just one week of awakening. I'm jealous."
"Ha. Wait till you hear about the Buddha Family. Thunderspark is nothing!"
Buddhist Hand stared at the exchange. 'They are recovering faster than normal. Especially him, who doesn't have Internal Brand Skill to fight the mental hax. And his energy is rising faster than normal. Was he fatigued as she said, not an energy drain?'
Roar!
They all jumped back, ready for battle.