Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 556 A battle of wits

Chapter 556  A battle of wits

The panther looked to be in much worse shape though, acting much more cautious to Alex than the Mutant class beast did. This just went to show the clear difference between Ordinary class and Mutant class.

The third beast, a multi-limbed insectoid abomination, skittered toward Alex with blinding speed. Its razor like legs slashed at him with a whirlwind of strikes, forcing Alex to go on the defensive. Sparks flew as Virtue's Edge met its attack, with Alex carefully making sure to parry each strike without letting any hit him.

He could see the clearly poison laced pincers it weilded, and Alex wasn't willing to find out what getting afflicted with that felt like.

Caius watched from a distance, smiling as he watched Alex struggle and focus heavily on not trying to get hit by the slew of attacks from his beasts. "You can't win this," he taunted. "Even if you manage to kill one, the others will finish you off and tear you apart. Just give up and save yourself the pain."

Alex didn't respond. His focus was entirely on battling the three beasts, with his mind working overtime to find an opening, any sort of weakness he might be able to exploit.

The scaled beast lunged at him again, and this time Alex didn't dodge. Instead, he braced himself and met the creature head-on, his blade slamming into its maw with enough force to send shockwaves through the clearing. The beast recoiled, blood dripping from its jaws.

This time he had dealt some real damage to it.

The beast staggered back, growling deep and guttural echoes as blood dripped constantly to the ground. It wasn't down yet, but the injury slowed it enough to affect the beast's coordination.

An opening was created, allowing Alex to grasp the brief moment that he couldn't waste, no matter what.

Planting his feet firmly, Alex spun on his heel, pivoting to face the other two beasts. The panther was circling cautiously now, its glowing red eyes fixed on him, while the insectoid beast's chittering filled the air, its multi-limbed frame quivering with anticipation. Caius stood behind them, arms crossed, a smug grin plastered across his face as if he'd already won.

"I told you," Caius said in a mocking voice. "You're out of your league. Just lie down and die already."

Aled ignored him, focusing instead on the rhythm of the battle. The Panther darted forward, feinting to draw his attention, while the insectoid beast skittered from the side, brandishing its pincers with gleaming venom. Alex waited and waited, holding his round until the last possible second.

Then he struck.

Aled ignored him, focusing instead on the rhythm of the battle. The Panther darted forward, feinting to draw his attention, while the insectoid beast skittered from the side, brandishing its pincers with gleaming venom. Alex waited and waited, holding his round until the last possible second.

Then he struck.

In a blur of motion, Alex surged forward, utilising his full speed and strength to the fullest degree. With Virtue's Edge firmly planted in hand, the blade connected with the panther's flank, carving deep into its side. The creature let out a pained groan, collapsing to the sound.

Without pausing, Alex pivoted to face the insectoid, his free hand igniting with another, powerful burst of fire.

He thrust the palm forward, unleashing a wave of flames that streamed incessantly towards the beast's front legs. It shrieked and howled as Alex's flames scorched its fur, charring them to bits before moving onto its legs momentarily after.

With its movement almost entirely incapacitated, Alex inched forwards, and the moment he was within range, he swung upward with all his strength. The blade of Virtue's Edge met the creature's chest, and the explosion of fiery energy that followed sent shockwaves that sent both the other two beasts flying backwards, stopping them from being able to enact any damage on Alex.

Alex exhaled sharply, with his aura still blazing fiercely as his gaze snapped toward Caius. The Panther was barely hanging onto the clutches of life, and it would die at any second, while scaled monstrocity and the insectoid abomination both snarled at him.

"Well," Alex began to speak, cutting through the aftermath like he was easing the tension of a spring. "That's one down. Who's next?"

The Panther died at that moment, as Alex felt the remnants of its energy leave its body, sneakily feeling the tugs at his inventory of the addition of yet another soul orb.

'Speaking of soul orbs, I should probably absorb that King class Lux gave me… I'll add this to my todo list after this.'

Caius looked at Alex with barely concealed rage. He tried his hardest to maintain the confident front, but even he failed to hide both his wariness and anger.

Alex still looked fine despite taking down one of his most prized tames, and he looked like he could still take on the other two. This left Caius in quite a conundrum.

While Alex was a fake tamer, only taming Brontes thanks to some sort of miracle, Caius was the real deal. He had spent blood, sweat and tears to tame and grow his three beasts, and the loss of one of them was so damaging and numbing he almost wanted to just give up the fight then and there rather than continue on.

However, he reminded himself of that tame that Alex possessed, he had a hunch that if he managed to get ahold of it, it could recoup his losses.

While it gave off C- rank Ordinary class aura, he suspected that Alex had concealed that as well, and if he could take it and nurture it and grow it, he could gain an even better beast than the one he had just lost.

Caius' face contorted into rage with his mind calculating internally, "You'll pay for that!" he bellowed, with his aura flaring violently.

"You think you're untouchable, but you're a pest — I'll squash you personally!"

He knew that if he wanted to defeat Alex in a direct showdown of their strengths, he would have to combine his strength with that of his beasts to have a chance at winning.

His arrogance and confidence would have to be put aside, as Alex turned out to be a far more formidable target than he had far anticipated.