Vincent raised his bitten arm with a frown. He noticed the mutation skin surrounding his forearm began to crack from the last blow he delivered. He understood how a D Ranker with a class and a person who should be stronger than them combined lost a limb. The mudcrab was a strong tricky opponent to deal with. [The toughness of the mutated hard skin isn't like when you had Overload active. Be careful because you only have around seven minutes left. You better take this opportunity. Like now!] Vincent could see the mudcrab staggered from the blow. He decided to go on the offense as the Overheat timer waited for no one. Vincent clenched his fists as tight as possible. He tilted forward and sprang to attack the immobile mudcrab, placing all his weight on this one strike. Shortly, a hard fist landed on its boulder-like shell. But it barely did anything. *Clang clang A second strike, fifth strike, tenth strike, Vincent launched a barrage of strong punches with both fists all aimed at the same area. He intended to break one place. But unfortunately, it proved futile. Suddenly, the staggered mudcrab retracted its head inside the boulder shell and planted its legs deep down in the sand, hidden under the water. Anyone walking by would assume Vincent was punching an ordinary boulder for training. Vincent became winded after nothing seemed to work. At the fortieth strike, both the carapace and his mutated skin showed signs of cracking. A bit more strikes and he could do it. [You need to hurry up, time is running out. Four minutes left until your form ends, and the mudcrab isn't going to let you hit it all day.] Vincent understood that he needed to try something else. At the edge of his sight was a stick burning in the night. Suddenly, the idea of using Mutated Ash flashed in his mind. Vincent jumped on top of the mudcrab. Then deactivated Overheat to sprinkle highly flammable material on its tough shell. . [Overheat deactivated.] [Host Race returning to human.] . The mutated skin crumbled as it fell on the mudcrab. Vincent jumped off the mudcrab and rushed to pick up a burning stick. "Let the fire make your defenses tender. I'm tired of doing it manually." Vincent said before throwing the stick at the immobile mudcrab. *Boom A raging green flame instantly appeared. The hard shell became engulfed by an intense wildfire, illuminating the surroundings green. The mudcrab resembled a giant green signal flare standing in the middle of the river. Ester and Lupa became surprised by this ingenious feat. They turned their heads at each other, smiling in relief. The fight seemed to tip on Vincent's favor by the burning sticks they threw. However, that wasn't the case. The mudcrab felt the heat and stood up, revealing its legs. Afterward, its head extended out for another round. The mudcrab slowly approached Vincent in a groggy state, but Vincent paced backward to let the fire do its job. He didn't want to catch on fire either. A minute later, the fire died out. Vincent noticed all the eight slimy feelers under its jaw were once again moving with full vigor. It seemed only a few minutes were needed to regain its navigational ability. [Look at its shell! It has a lot of cracks in the place where you repeatedly hit it. A final strong impact might do the trick.] Vincent quickly gazed from left to right for an idea. He noticed the two girls near the cart worryingly waiting for him to call for help. Ester held the Horned Rabbit's Horn with a firm grip while Lupa had her claws ready for action. "Ester. Throw the horn in your hand. I need to use it." Vincent shouted, attracting the attention of the mudcrab with its eight feelers pointing directly at him. He had a do or die idea after seeing the crack on its shell. The mudcrab didn't rush to attack. Instead, it started eating its two front legs filling the mudcrab with energy and vigor to pursue Vincent to the world's ends. It also became more aggressive as saliva drooled from its jaws like a rabid beast. *Growl The mudcrab growled with a sudden burst of energy. Momentarily, it proceeded to rush forward at Vincent while its speed drastically increased by every step; even though it had two fewer legs, they didn't hinder the acceleration. Ester gave the horn to Lupa. Her strength wasn't fully returned, and she didn't want to throw the horn at this crucial moment with a chance to miss. Her mind became clouded with thoughts of failure. She couldn't do it. Lupa took the horn and accurately threw it in his hands like a video played in rewind. Vincent grabbed the horn and quickly said, "Overheat." . [Overheat activated.] [Mutation starting to alter the host...] [Mutation process finished.] [Race altered to mutated human for its duration.] . Vincent ignored the window while he rolled to the side. The mudcrab missed him by a meter distance. It wasn't a comfortable distance to wait for Overheat to activate entirely. The process took a few seconds, but currently, those few seconds were life and death for him. Vincent jumped back, dodging a destructive bite. He placed the horn in his mouth, gaining a few distance between them, and put on a guard. He wanted to bait the mudcrab for a charge. *Clang The mudcrab rushed like a mad bull towards Vincent. He blocked the charge and pushed with all he had to resist the collision. He got dragged a couple of meters before his feet dug under the sand, making it difficult to push him any further. The enraged force stopped pushing. Vincent took this opportunity to push his body back and surprisingly did a back cartwheel, a move he never imagined to be able to do. His feet quickly unstuck themselves, gaining a meter distance between each other. The perfect distance to proceed with his intended plan. [Stick the horn in the crack! Come on, crack it open!] Vincent noticed the mudcrab was a bit out of breath as it opened and closed its jaws without growling. It was the perfect opportunity he waited for. Vincent lept as high as he could with both hands holding the horn tightly. The horn landed in the cracked shell, but only entered a few inches inside. It wasn't enough to cause any significant damage. The mudcrab retaliated, its jaw approached deadly close to his waist. It intended to finish Vincent off. [Waist! Left side! Sidestep now!] Vincent followed the order to the letter. He sidestepped, evading the bite by a hair. His body didn't get hit, but his sleeveless shirt got thorn to shreds. He luckily escaped a brush with death. Vincent used the momentum to jump as high as his legs could allow him to. Then the raised his hands tightly clasped together while shouting, "Its hammer time!" Both hands landed on the horn with all the might Vincent could muster. Like a hammer hitting a nail, the horn penetrated its thick hard shell, shooting down inside the mudcrab like a speeding bullet. *Shriek! The mudcrab shrieked in pain. Blood poured out like a fountain from the cracked shell, but its will to fight didn't wane. It previously wanted to kill Vincent, but now it frantically wanted to kill him before its demise. The mudcrab quickly turned and overextended its head. Its jaws swiftly bit on the left arm covered by hardened mutated skin. A fight against time had just begun. Vincent had two options forced upon him. To bleed the mudcrab to death or Overheat to end, leaving him defenseless. [Hold on! You have one minute left! Maybe it can bleed out before Overheat ends.] Kazumi tried her best to encourage Vincent. But she was helpless to help him physically. She didn't have a lot of mana stored in her body, but she still used Soul Export and left his body with firm resolution to help. Kazumi used Soul Visit when she approached Ester, pulling her into her Soul Domain. She asked Ester to cause a distraction until the mudcrab bleeds to death. This was the only way she could communicate with her. Ester understood the plan for her and Lupa to help. Kazumi quickly left exhausted from all this activity, entering in Vincent's Soul Domain, her home to recover. "Lupa, quickly throw rocks at the mudcrab's legs. We need to distract it until it dies. Kazumi told me this plan to help Vincent before his ability ends." Ester informed while picking up rocks. Lupa understood this order with a frown. Kazumi chose Ester instead of her. Then she commenced by picking and throwing the rocks with all her might at the mudcrab's legs along with Ester. The mudcrab's actions slowed by the second. Rocks were hurled non-stop at its legs, making its footing harder to keep steady. Shortly, an uppercut to its jaw hitting the eight feelers allowed him to pull out his arm from the deadly jaws. After a few seconds of struggle and wobbling, the mudcrab lost most of its strength to keep its heavy body standing. Its legs gave up, and its body fell. A split second later, Vincent saw a notification window appear in front of him. Overheat ended after the mudcrab became immobile or dead. . [Overheat duration ended.] [Host Race returning to human.] . Vincent had the most reliable ability to distinguish if the mudcrab was dead or faking it. He immediately used inspection to check, hoping for a good result. . [Name] Adult Freshwater Mudcrab (Corpse) [Description] Killed by Bleeding. Killer Vincent Agius. [Loot] None . Vincent raised both arms and shouted in a victorious pose, "We won! The mudcrab is dead!" Vincent then fell on his knees after the adrenaline stopped pumping to survive. His body was exhausted, his arms and legs trembled from overexertion. He gave his all to survive another day. Ester "Vincent, are you fine?" Lupa "Vincent, are you ok?" Ester and Lupa rushed to his side, worrying about his condition. Vincent nodded, then he was helped to get up and taken to rest near the cart. This was his first fight alone without the strange and overpowered Overload. Ester, Lupa, and Kazumi considerably helped achieve this win without getting heavily injured or losing another limb. Vincent leaned against a tree while watching the girls dragging the corpse of the adult mudcrab to shore. Lupa did most of the pulling as her combat werewolf arms seemed to give her increased strength. [I'm going to rest for the night. Tell the girls to stand guard because you need to recuperate and me as well. I suggest eating some mudcrab meat for energy too.] [Kazumi out.] Vincent understood why she was tired. He saw a green wisp flying at the edge of his sight two times, to leave and enter his Soul Domain. Vincent felt thankful for her help. He felt she was the key to his survival in this fight. She helped him focus on the threat in front of him while he did his best to live. "We have forty-eight fish, four crabs, one small mudcrab, and one large mudcrab." Lupa ran to Vincent, ecstatic from the abundance of food surrounding them. Where ever she turned her head, food filled her sight.