The Lupine System

Mike & Kris vs The Rat King IV

A strange sound filled Mike's ears. But it didn't come from outside. No, it came from within.

It was a low him, like thunder rumbling beneath his skin.

His aura no longer wafted around him like vapor or smoke.

No.

It clung to his skin, crawling across it with purpose.

The smoke-like wisps thickened until they resembled liquid light, looking almost not too dissimilar to the molten magma around him as the energy courses over him, flowing through veins and muscle with precision. Each heartbeat sent that energy pulsing outward in waves that matched his breathing.

The smoke-like aura was gone.

What remained shimmered, not quite matter, despite the resemblance, but it shifted vaguely between tangible and translucent.

The Rat King screeched and went in for another attack, its claws slicing through the air as it aimed to shred him apart.

However, it hit nothing.

Before it even had a chance to be confused, a fist came in from below and checked it right in the jaw, throwing its head back.

As soon as this happened, Kris capitalized as several chains shot forth and briefly bound its limbs, giving Mike the opportunity to dash in again, and when he did, Kris noticed something.

'He's faster now... Stronger, too... and his aura...' His eyes widened slightly as he took in the liquefied state of his aura.

Now, it no longer wafted around him in a large radius and stuck closely to him, rolling over his being like waves of thick water.

'... Incredible.' A tiny smile couldn't help but appear on Kris's face as he watched Mike improve in real time. He felt no jealousy or irritation. Just pride... and excitement.

'Show me what else you can do, Mike.'

At the moment, Mike shot forward and thrust both fists into the exposed belly of the Rat King. This time, his blows didn't simply bounce off or leave small cracks in its hide.

Instead, layers of stone-liike skin were peeled off, revealing a bit of the molten interior beneath.

The Rat King roared as lava condensed around it before erupting in a massive explosion that destroyed the chains and tried to push Mike away. However, Mike created a Haven Ring at the last moment, and unlike the previous times, it wasn't immediately destroyed as the aura that made it up was far more qualitative than before.

As such, instead of being pushed back, Mike actually pushed through the blast and emerged in front of a stunned Rat King, who was unable to understand why Mike was suddenly so much stronger.

Still, it attacked with the same intensity as before. Tendrils of lava appeared to assist its limbs and tail, and the lava halo over its back summoned even more clones to interfere with Mike.

And yet..

'I've been thinking about it.' His mind was calm. Despite the fight and moon making his ferocity higher than normal, his thoughts were cool and steady.

'The way I use my energy when I fight.' The clones, tendrils, and King pounced on him.

It would take a few moments for Kris's chains to come back in and assist him, so he should have been under a lot of pressure. Yet strangely... he wasn't even thinking about that.

'My aura is flexible. I know that.' His thoughts continued, and in a show of staggering proficiency, Mike moved like a ghost.

It didn't matter where he got attacked or how many attacks came. He calmly deflected said attacks to the side before countering. It was the clones first, his senses picking up the places where their energy converged as he destroyed each of them systematically.

'So far, other than simply amping my stats, I've used it to create a defensive skill in the form of Haven Ring and a suppression skill in the form of Primal Dread... though, that's technically incorrect since it's a separate skill.' Next were the tendrils. They came from all around him, but Mike 'slowly' gave a full turn as he calmly batted each one out of the way.

The rat king simply intended to send them back in again, only for it to realize that Mike had somehow deflected each of them in the same direction, so they looked like a bundle of ropes together.

'I'm still not using it to its fullest potential.' He condensed a Primal Rend in the shape of a blade and swung down, slicing all the tendrils in half.

Kris's arrived at this point, but Mike barely paid them any mind.

He recalled the different ways Edward showed them how aura could be used due to its flexibility, and he also remembered Alice's talk on energy control, and he came to two conclusions.

'Since this thing's hide is too tough, I need a way to transfer my force past it. Moreover, my energy can't be too dispersed. A mistake this thing and I have been making is that our attacks are far too dispersed. We may be causing a lot of damage to our surroundings, but our hits aren't as powerful as they should be.' Then, Mike did something most would consider insane in a situation like this.

... He closed his eyes.

Despite this, though, he could still 'see'.

With his aura now condensed into a liquid form, the amp it provided, including to his senses, was incredible.

As such, with his absurd perception, he was able to notice a lot of things he hadn't noticed before.

He could feel Kris's chains and their energy like beacons in the darkness. He could feel the way Kris's energy moved through the pathways in each of them, fine and intricate.

And yet, he could also feel how within each chain, there were a series of even more, far complex pathways that seemed... dormant.

Then, for the Rat King, he could feel its energy, the intense, hungry energy that wanted to devour everything around it, with the lava being its way of doing that currently.

Then... there was Mike.

He could feel the way his aura flowed around him now, the way it melded into his attack and amplified his being.

He also noticed that it still wasn't good enough.

'Condense my energy. Don't let any of it leak out. All the force should be concentrated to deal maximum damage to my opponent. Not to the opponent. Increase the attack potency, not the destructive capability.' His mind replayed the various lessons with Alice and how she'd shown them how to concentrate their energy to deal as much damage as possible while reducing wastage.

Mike avoided several attacks like a phantom before reaching the creature again.

He threw a punch, and it landed on its chest.

However, there was no immense sound of impact like before. It was there, yes, but it seemed more localized, more concentrated within a single location on the Rat King's body.

The creature let out what could probably be likened to a gasp as it curled inward where it had been hit, the spot caving in significantly.

'Still superficial.' Mike noted calmly.

He could feel his energy pathways burning now, the strain of Overclocking starting to show itself, but he also paid it no mind.

Instead, he thought about Theresa and how she used her arrows.

She seemed capable of controlling how dense they were on a whim. If she wanted, she could make her arrows explode and affect a large area, and alternatively, she could make them compact to deal as much damage to a single foe as possible.

His brain visualized as he clemched his fist again, and for a moment, it seemed like his aura almost sharpened around his fist, and then he punched again.

This time, the result was even better. A hole appeared in the Rat King's body where it had been hit, and lava spilled from it. The wound wasn't big, but it was deep.

'Better, but not enough.' Mike still wasn't satisfied.

'I need my aura to bypass its durability.' Once more, he recalled.

He recalled Edward's lessons... and he recalled the White Spark he landed.

The way his fist just seemed to... ignored the durability of his opponent, how it had buried itself deep into the creature's gut before the energy destroyed its insides.

'I can't land another White Spark.' Mike was clear on that. However...

'I should at least be able to mimic some of its effects.'

He dodged another series of attacks with the help of Kris's chains, and once more, he got close, not allowing the Rat King even the smallest opportunity.

He threw a punch, but as his fist flew, the way his aura appeared on his fist changed a bit.

As it met with the energy of the Rat King, it seemed to almost... burrow past it.

'Come on...' Mike sent forth his will and commanded his aura. Alice spoke about how, at higher levels, opponents could essentially use their energy to poison their opponents by sending it into them, but Mike aimed for something a little different.

His fist collided with the creature, and he spoke in his mind.

'Go.'

Then something weird happened.

His fist landed, but the attack... didn't seem to do anything.

Then there was a muffled 'BOOM', and the Rat King spatial out littered of blood mixed in with destroyed organs.

"Huu~." Mike exhaled as he finally opened his eyes and stared at the creature that was spasming from pain.

"That's better."