KINETIC

The monster that emerged from behind the trees would most easily be compared to a panther but with some differences.

It was about 50% bigger than a regular panther and had fur/skin so dark that it felt like your eyes were being tricked.

It had deep orange colored eyes that glowed in the sunlight and two long tail like extremities running along its back, starting at the shoulder blades.

The most glaring difference, the one that Leo noticed before he was even able to see the monster, was the lightning.

Small streaks of purple lightning would spread out from its body periodically and charred the flora around it.

The elite tier monster, as the system claimed it was, stared intently at Leo as he thought about his next move.

That's when the attack was made and a blade of fire was sent across the air, slicing towards the 'Panther'.

The attack was by no means slow and got quite close to the panther but suddenly, the lightning around its body intensified and there was a slight flash of light as what could only be described as a ball of lightning zapped across the clearing.

Leo's attack floating harmlessly through the air and slammed into a tree, cutting a line right through it.

'Uh, Dreifus... Did that panther really just turn into a ball of lightning to dodge my attack...?' Leo asked with an almost dumbfounded tone.

'Looks that way. You tell me, I'm sure you felt it with your Aura.' Dreifus replied, also slightly stunned by that display.

'I'm using Battle Aura and it's not within the radius right now.' Leo bluntly replied. 'Let's try an attack with a little more speed.'

[Wing Bullet]

The ball of condensed air shot forward at a speed almost double that of a Wind Blade. It was heading straight for the panther when there was another flash of light and it's body disappeared in a ball of lightning, reappearing a few meters to the side.

'Well, it's a good thing I didn't waste Energy using Combine for this one. I didn't expect it to hit but I'm still surprised.'

As this thought ran through Leo's mind, the panther began to snarl at him and the lightning around its body intensified.

It looked like a thin barrier made of electrical energy was was surrounding its body like a bubble. Within the one meter gap between the panther and this 'bubble' there was arcs of lightning connecting the panther to the bubble.

The light generated by the lightning suddenly increased got ten times brighter and all the energy condensed into a single bolt of lightning that was sent towards Leo.

He could see the lightning coming, he could feel its power as it entered his Battle Aura, but he could do nothing to dodge the attack. It was too fast.

He allowed more Energy to travel throughout his body with the intention of increasing his defense. He then used the only skills he had that could mitigate the attacks power.

[Absorb]

[Redirect]

The lightning seemed to stretch towards him as it approached and a warm tingle spread under his skin as the smallest streaks made contact.

The lightning hit Leo right in the center of his chest. His body was flung backwards atleast twenty meters, almost reaching the tree line behind him.

He could feel the lightning spread throughout his body, how his muscles and organs were burning from the heat and convulsing from shock.

His bones felt like they were being eaten away as his heartbeat became erratic. His body hit the ground with a thud as electrical energy streaked off his body for a few seconds and dissipated into the ground around him.

[-65 Health]

[Health 45/110]

'That nearly fucking killed me!' He shouted internally as he struggled to regain control of his body. The lightning was causing his muscles to contract and relax randomly, making him unable to control his movements properly.

Another thing Leo realized was that Absorb and Redirect didn't affect the lightning at all. When his body was flung through the air, he could feel he was absorbing energy from the movement and it slowed his fall.

There was no such feeling from the lightning. It hit his body at full force and the only thing that assisted him was the increase of the defense stat after his evolution and the Energy he spread throughout his body.

Without hesitating, Leo placed the stat point he had been saving into Health and use the active skill for Regeneration.

[Health 55/120]

'I can't even focus my Energy into the point of impact to increase my defense, the lightning will spread through my body and without any Energy to protect the rest of me... I would die instantly.' Leo's mind was in a panic and it didn't improve when he saw the panther charging up another attack.

[Dash]

Another bolt of lightning streaked across the air towards him, it's purple energy seeming both beautiful and frightening as it approached.

With the speed increase gained by using Dash, he hoped that there would be a chance of dodging the attack. He was wrong.

He was still far too slow and there was no hope of avoiding the attack.

'Fuck!'

Out of options , Leo did the only thing he knew could save his life in this moment. He went beyond the restrictions of his body and core, spreading the maximum amount possible of 30 Energy throughout his body to defend the attack.

The lightning once again hit Leo in his chest, not that it mattered much where it hit since it would spread through the entire body regardless.

Everything felt the same, although the pain and intensity was ever so slightly less intense. The burning, the convulsing, the pain... It was almost too much to bear.

His body was flung backwards once again, this time slamming into a tree and bouncing off its thick trunk. He used Absorb and Redirect before being hit to reduce his speed as he went through the air, it also decreased the impact when he hit the tree and the ground.

Once his body was on the ground again and the system messages appeared, he realized how lucky he was.

[Health 5/120]

'If you didn't use that stat point to increase your health you would be dead...' Dreifus said with a concerned yet relieved tone.

His body was burnt black from the lightning and the veins on his body were visible through his blackened skin, seemingly glowing blue with how visible they were.

'It's great that I'm still alive but I can't do anything about the next attack... Except maybe...'

'Are you sure, if anyone sees you use it...'

'I know! There's no point in keeping a secret when you're dead.' Leo shouted in reply.

[Transformation]

A strange energy started to fill his body and the air around him seemed to tremble at such energy.

As this energy entered his body, a thought crossed his mind. 'This... This should be more than enough.'

He felt a strange sensation spreading over his skin and a great pain was felt on his back at the shoulder blades.

Suddenly, a blast of Energy slammed into the panther from its side and sent its body tumbling for several meters.

Nila, as well as several other Infernai came rushing into the clearing.

[Transformation canceled]

The energy that was filling his body disappeared and the pain he was feeling vanished. He felt much weaker than he did before he used the skill, like he suddenly lost a large amount of his Energy.

The panther got up from the ground while snarling at the group of Infernai that interrupted its battle. Upon seeing around a dozen people suddenly appear from the forest it turned around and ran.

[Quest - Kill the Elite tier monster] (Failed)

'I'm alive so I can't exactly complain.' Leo thought with relief. He was relieved that the others had shown up to help him and that he managed to cancel the transformation before anyone could see him.

Nila, Cain, Connor, Leonard and Rene all came running over to Leo to see how he was doing. Rene instantly went about healing him and Leo watched as his health slowly went up again. Thanks to the Regeneration skill, he was able to recover a few points already but not enough to survive another attack.

"That thing had lightning, right? I'm not seeing things?" Cain blurted out as he and the others surrounded Leo in a defensive way.

"It did. It must have been a rare tier monster." Leonard replied.

"Actually, it was an elite tier..." Leo suddenly said. He was kneeling on the with one knee and was staring at the ground as he received healing.

"An elite tier!? Why would such a powerful creature appear here of all places when there's never been anything higher than a rare in the area?" Leonard asked rhetorically.

"How do you know it was an Elite tier?" Connor asked.

"I can't tell you that." Leo replied.

Connor had a sceptical look on his face and Leo noticed "You don't have to believe me, I don't really care. Rare or elite, it was too powerful for me to even land a single hit. I nearly died after only receiving two attacks as well. If it wasn't for you guys I'd probably be dead."

Connor felt like an asshole for his obvious skepticism but chose to just remain quiet.

"Something really strange is going on..." Leonard suddenly said with an ominous tone, causing everyone to go silent.

Leo nodded in agreement "We can talk about that later, let just head back to our headquarters for now. I'm sure I'm not the only one who needs to recover."