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Ren lay poised within the tall grass.

He had made his way closer to the nest.

Eva floated next to him.

Ren channeled his spirit in front of him.

Red aura gathered into a ball.

[Spirit Compression x2]

The ball rapidly condensed in on itself.

In one quick movement, Ren released the ball of energy.

[Spirit Control: Sludge Bomb]

The ball condensed.

The ball shot forward at extreme speeds and hit his target, the ant that was standing a few meters away.

As soon as the ball made contact, it exploded.

The Ant’s legs were immediately blasted into pieces.

‘It’s gotten much stronger.’ Ren thought.

The ant began to scream in pain. Its shrieks spread across the tall grass.

Ren and Eva had decided to head deeper into the ant’s territory. It would mean that they would face a larger amount of ants, but it was fine.

They were strong enough.

Ren could hear the shrieks of the ants in the distance.

‘Let’s give them a lesson that they will never forget.’ Ren said.

***

The grass was died in red.

Piles of Ant corpses lay around the area.

‘Ren, why are we even killing them?’ Eva asked curiously. Although Eva did not have a visible representation of bioenergy like Ren’s system, Eva could still tell that the Durants no longer gave any more energy towards leveling.

It made sense. Although the Durants were now level 2, Ren and Eva were now level 4. Level 2 Pokémon like the Durant workers no longer provided a single bioenergy point.

Ren continued to hunt them for a single reason.

To whittle down the size of the colony. The last thing that Ren wanted was to face more than a hundred ants while facing the Queen.

‘It is because-‘

Ren felt a piercing pain erupt from his side, as his body was tossed to the side.

‘What the fuck.’

Ren could not even process what was happening.

‘REN!’ Eva’s cried echoed out from his surroundings.

Ren turned his head.

‘An ant.’

A freaking huge ant. Its mandibles dug into Ren’s side.

Ren could see red aura gathering around it.

‘It’s going to use a skill.’ Ren thought.

He had to escape.

‘Eva! Use confusion!’ Ren called.

Ren quickly generated his aura.

Eva used her [Confusion] and the ant momentarily stopped moving. Its mandibles remained deep in Ren’s flesh.

With a quick movement, Ren activated his skill.

[Spirit Control: Jaws]

A large pair of teeth, encased in a frame manifested in the air.

‘Bite.’ Ren screamed out.

With great momentum, the pair of jaws bit deep into the Durant’s side. The Durant immediately awoke from the Confusion. It did not scream in pain.

Its jaws continued to pierce into Ren’s flesh.

In the corner of his eyes, Ren could see another large shadow approaching.

‘Fuck.’ Ren cursed again.

Another giant ant. If it reached him, he was done. Ren had channeled his aura near his wound, preventing some blood flow while simultaneously piercing into the Giant ant’s head.

[Confusion]

[Confusion]

Eva continued to use confusion on the ant.

Still it did not give in.

Did this fucking ant feel no pain? He was clearly injuring it, yet it continued to bite down. Why was there no reaction?

‘Ren!’ Eva screamed out. She rushed towards him.

Ren stopped his questioning thoughts.

‘Stay back!’ Ren shouted.

Eva continued to rush forward. Ren knew that if she came forward, it was most likely that she would die.

‘Eva… if you come any closer, our friendship is over!’ Ren shouted.

Eva stopped.

‘But… Ren… you are…’

She had to be safe.

It was a do-or-die situation.

His body was already wary from the battle with the Durants. His spirit reserved were running low.

He only had one option.

‘Eva! Use Psybeam!’ Ren shouted out

‘But… you might also… you will get struck as well!’ Eva cried out.

‘USE IT! I CAN HANDLE IT. BEFORE IT'S TO LATE!’ Ren screamed.

Tears flowed out of Eva’s eyes.

Eva understood the gravity of the situation.

[Psybeam]

Her mind skill activated.

A ray of energy shot forward, hitting both Ren and the Durant.

The other Durant shot through the air.

Its body rapidly approached.

Ren could feel his mind going blank.

A bright light appeared within his mental space, rapidly corroding Ren’s mind. His thoughts was array, his mind went blank.

It was relaxing… letting all of his thoughts and worries float away.

He could be free from the burden of finding his way home… he could be free of the pressures of surviving in a world full of monsters…

A memory flashed through his mind.

A tall skyscraper, piercing into the sky.

The roads and the people.

‘SNAP Out of it REN!’ Ren shouted to himself.

He had a mission! A purpose.

With great effort, Ren willed his spirit energy forward.

[Spirit Control: Mental protection] Ren thought. His spirit was a shield and it would protect his mind.

It was not enough.

‘More!’ Ren called out.

Ren channeled more spirit into his mental defense. Finally, the bright light began to fade. He had not lost anything important…

Ren could feel the bite of the Durant weakening.

This was his only chance.

With great precision, Ren manifested a sword and cut through his own flesh. He ripped himself free from the Durant’s mandibles.

Blood and flesh escaped everywhere.

Ren activated [acceleration] and shot away.

The rapidly approaching other Giant Durant stopped in its tracks, seeing Ren escape.

Eva rushed forward to Ren’s side.

‘I am…I am so sorry… I… I hurt…’ Eva stuttered, tears flowing out of her eyes. She had actually harmed Ren, the most important person in her life.. It was as if her entire world was collapsing

‘Don’t apologize. Do not cry. You saved me! If it was not for you… I would have died! So don’t cry.’ Ren said hurriedly, comforting Eva.

Ren observed his own body condition.

‘I’ll heal you…’ Eva said as she used her depleting spirit reserved to continuously cast [Life dew].

‘Don’t overdo it!’ Ren shouted at her.

Eva continued to use her [Life dew].

‘I want to help… I want to help…’ Eva continued to repeat.

‘Eva! Come on!’

Ren’s cried, woke Eva up from her stupor.

‘We have to work together to get through this!’ Ren continued.

Eva nodded, getting her emotions under control.

Ren stared at the two giant Durants. The Durant that had bitten into Ren was covered in injuries, yet it stood up like nothing had happened.

The other Durant stood next to it.

‘Fuck… this pain.’ Ren thought as he girt his teeth through the stinging, piercing pain in his side. Eva’s [life dew] had helped stop the bleeding, but his muscles were still torn and injured.

The Durants in front of him were about 4 meters long. Their bodies were covered in a deep blue metallic sheen.

Their bodies were covered in sharp, spikes. They were beings made for the sole purpose of killing others.

Ren’s appraisal activated.

 

Species: Durant Avatar

Potential: N/A

Level: 4/4

 

‘An avatar…?’ Ren wondered.

Ren was immediately reminded of the fiction from his past life.

‘The ability to create a clone like construction outside the body…’ Ren remembered.

Ren’s thoughts immediately travelled to the A tier monster (yellow) that he had felt when he had first encountered the Ant nest.

‘It must be controlling them…’ Ren concluded.

These were not biological lifeforms. They were mere puppets.

That explained why they did not have any reaction even when injured and their strategy. The Durant Queen had waited for him and the Ralts to become weakened from the waves of Durant clones before striking with her avatar.

Ren had to re-evaluate. This was a cunning Pokémon that was capable of developing strategy. It was even willing to make sacrifices for the greater goal.

 

Ren’s mind worked at full throttle.

He needed a plan. A method to win.

His body’s injuries were significant. His spirit was half depleted from his previous battles. The two opponent’s in front of them were at least in the B tier (red).

They were truly in a life-or-death situation.