Blademaster Ascension

12- A Strategic Battle

Rowan could see himself being surrounded by monsters in Chip's map. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Chip also seemed to give it his 120%.
With a flicker of his arm, he threw out the sensitivity raising potion all around him except at the direction of the snake, which was also the direction of safety.

Then he threw out the sword from his grasp behind him and muttered the catchphrase, "poof".

BOOOMMM!!!

With a deafening blast, the sword exploded into bits and pieces while Rowan temporarily ducked under water. The blast injured most of the monsters behind him and the pain inflicted was magnified by the sensitivity raising potion.

Screeching and roaring from the pain, the monsters backed off in the blink of an eye, creating an opening for Rowan, who had already started speeding at the direction of the snake, which was paralyzed by now.

Predators naturally kept their distance from each other and since the snake was a rank one monster, other monsters wouldn't get close to it unless they were stronger than the snake. This was what Rowan had been waiting for. He seized the barely moving snake by its tail and ran as fast as possible toward the shallow water.

The monsters were momentarily dazed by the blast of the sword, but seeing their prey was running away, they came back to their senses and moved.
Rowan was already dozens of meters ahead. However, despite his enhanced body, his speed was laughable compared to the monsters behind him, which was soon proved true as they reduced the distance between them and Rowan. And that's when the monsters chasing him in high spirits discovered an anomaly.

Being a creature of water based habitat, they were more or less immune to friction between their skin and water. But after their prey had sprayed them with those strange liquids, their skin was itching crazily and swimming felt like torture. And the intensity kept increasing with each passing second. But that wasn't the end of it.

As their prey escaped, it threw out more and more of those liquids, hitting them right and left. Many monsters slowed down, unable to bear the painful itching sensation. Dissatisfied roars of rage and confusion filled the marsh as Rowan glided through the water with the snake wrapped around his shoulders and back, now rendered completely immobile.

However, the strategy didn't work on some monsters with thick hide or naturally armored skin. One particularly savage monster lunged forward with a sudden burst of speed and bit down on Rowan's shoulders, only to find that it had bitten on something that didn't seem to be a part of the prey's body. As it fiercely tugged on the flesh stuck in its jaws, a long cylindrical body separated from the prey.

It was the snake. Rowan had again dodged death by preparing for the worst. Chip's warning had come in time and he had immediately pushed the snake's body behind him. The snake was dragged back to water as the ecstatic monster stopped chasing him, briefly confusing the rest of its peers who thought it had caught the prey while Rowan submerged his body in the water, strengthening their belief. Those nearest to the monster clashed together to claim their portion of the prey.

And that was the most crucial part of the plan. Instead of running, Rowan turned around and threw out the rest of the potions at the massive cluster of monster beasts. The monsters barely noticed as the vials exploded against their skins and mixed into the water around them, splattering on the bodies of other monsters as well.

Rowan didn't wait to see the result. The paralyzing potion would take some time to come into effect. However, just splashing it on their skins wouldn't really work very well other than giving them slight stiffness in those parts of their body. He needed to continue running in top speed.

By this time, the monster which had bitten and swallowed part of the snake's body realized that it had been fooled. With an enraged roar, it abandoned the snake's body to the still befuddled monsters surrounding it and sped toward Rowan.

However, Rowan seemed to sigh in relief when he glanced behind him and noticed the monster chasing him alone. The countdown from Chip hit zero and the monster which had again almost reached him suddenly stiffened.

The laxatives he had stuffed through the snake's mouth into its stomach had taken effect. Although it was a relatively less dangerous potion, its effects were much faster. Stink arose from the monster's rear end, making it gasp from the uncontrollable sensation. As it lurched to move forward again, its body shuddered in refusal.

With a hearty laugh, Rowan ran like the wind and soon he had gone past the shallow water and onto the ground.

"You bastards! Just you wait! I am going to remember this! You like to gang up? Just wait for me to power up a bit!"
Rowan shouted at the top of his voice, waving a small knife at the group of monsters roaring at him from beyond the shallow waters.

Some of the monsters had taken a bite from the snake's body in the chaotic situation and now they were groaning as if on their deathbed. The stink coming from their body kept spreading in the air, making Rowan gag. Even other monster beasts avoided them like plague.

The most miserable of them all was the monster which had chased Rowan the furthest. It had consumed the biggest dosage of the laxative and now Rowan's whiny shouts seemed to enrage it to the point of madness. It roared, as if voicing its grievances to the gods watching and ignored its upset stomach as it ran towards Rowan.

Rowan, who was busy gloating at their miserable appearance choked on his words and cursed the monster's ancestors as he backed up and started running. Sadly, despite its apparent weakness, the monster was a formidable predator that could run on dry ground as well as water.

It easily jumped out from the marsh and landed in the ground, and Rowan gasped as he turned his head back and saw its whole body for the first time. It almost looked like a dragon from the eastern myths. Enormous body, two clawed arms yet no feet, scales on its back and saw-like teeth.

He was lucky that the monster hadn't tore him in half when it bit onto the snake. Chip already must have scanned it because he saw a glowing chart appearing in front of him.

[  Species: hybrid dragonfish
   Strength: 9
   Speed: 9
   Physique: 9
   Innate ability: none awakened
   Elemental affinity: water (level 9) air (level 6) fire (level 7)
   Mutation compatibility: 98%
Constitution limit: rank five (evolvable)    ]

"Oh damn!" This monster was as close to being a rank one as possible.
And that constitution limit or the mutation compatibility were simply  scary!
No wonder it had been able to outrun the rest of its peers! Rowan scrambled to take out his potion's bag, only to discover that he had run out of his stocks. There was only two small vial full of crimson liquids, the failed product of the paralyzing potion formula. He had no idea what they might do, but this wasn't the time to think about that. Rowan pulled them out and turned around to face the monster.

As soon as it noticed the vials in Rowan's hands, it trembled violently. With a shriek of terror, it stopped chasing him and backtracked speedily. Rowan gasped at the sight of the fearful monster, almost feeling like a terrifying monster himself.

Laughing maniacally, Rowan shouted,
"Evil beast! Wanna eat me? Well, eat this first!"
  
With practiced accuracy, he threw a vial at the monster. Because of the small distance between them, its huge body was unable to dodge the vial. The liquid splashed on its skin, eliciting a terrified scream from it. Then Rowan waited.

The monster stood still.

Even the paralyzed monsters in the marsh gawked silently.

A moment passed. Then another.

A whole minute passed.

With an awkward smile, Rowan took a step back.

The monster grinned?!

At least Rowan felt like it had grinned.

This time, facing death didn't really seem to be very terrifying. Probably because he had felt exactly the same just a few minutes ago. The process of recalling past regrets and emotions felt rather boring and predictable as the monster grinded its teeth and swaggered toward him before he could even muster the strength to move.

"Need help?" A voice spoke from behind.