Double chapters today, happy thanksgiving everyone in the states!

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Chapter 85: Ripping the Nerves.

Shin and Kate sat on a branch of a nearby tree. Beneath them was a small pool of sand. It looked like normal sand with a few plant life growing from it. He took a twig and tossed it on the sand. It landed on the sand and the surface rippled like it was liquid. The sudden movement caused nearly half a dozen sand eel to suddenly shoot out from the quicksand toward the position of the twig.

[Shin]: By the looks of it the eels are blind. But they react on vibration in the quicksand to lock onto their prey…

The wild beasts tend to avoid the area as they know how dangerous the quicksand can be. Those beasts who were unlucky enough to fall in were immediately devoured by the eel. Those who struggle were stung by the eel and rendered paralyze as they slowly sink into the sand.

The eels were around a meter half long and was a darker shade of brown and green. It blended in well with the area and was hard to spot with the naked eye.

[Kate]: So how will we approach this?

[Shin]: Well, looks like we are going to do some fishing.

He snapped off a particularly thicker stick and tied some vines from the area on the tip of it.

[Kate]: What should we use as bait?

Shin opened the box pocket on his belt and took out a small piece of meat. It was leftover meat from their feast. It was attached to a hook shaped bone. It seems during his free time, Shin had been shaving away at a drake bone into a hook. It seemed he was going to use it for fishing eventually.

Kate and Shin jumped off the tree to the flat ground near the quicksand. It was a patch of ground littered with gravel.

He made sure the ground did not allow the eel to burrow into. Tossing the line into the quicksand, the eels immediately dove upon it. He felt one of the eel swallow the piece and he yanked the pole hard. The eel flew out of the quicksand like a majestic carp and landed on the gravel twitching. It started to discharge electricity as it flopped around on the ground.

[Shin]: That was easier than I thought.

He took his spear and stabbed it into the eel’s head. Suddenly, he realized he probably shouldn’t have done that. A streak of electricity surged up his spear and shocked his hand. With his quick reactions, he quickly released his spear. Thus instead of having the muscles of his hand lock and force him to be continuously shocked, the skin on his hand was charred by the arcs of electricity as his hand leaves it.

[Shin]: That was close.

He looked at the eel violently twitch as its head was pinned into the ground. Slowly, it stopped moving and lies limp on the ground. Shin and Kate waited a little longer until the approach it again.

[Shin]: One down…five more to go.

He took the eel and placed it in his backpack.

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Ming finally found what she was looking for. In the frozen tundra near the top of Mount Tai, was a large creature similar to a yeti roaming its winter wonderland. It lived a secluded life and considered itself to be the only one of its species. But it was nearly immortal and would not die of old age.

Few people ever saw him and live to tell the tale. He was never given a name.

Ming saw the yeti and knew its name.

[Ming]: FrostBjorn Ape…what a good find.

Its white glistening fur had channels of red flowing through it. It was its vessels. The beast had very strange biology as its body require extreme cold temperature to survive. Thus instead of having its blood vessel close in the middle of its body where its warmer, it’s near the surface as to better release the heat in its body. It’s a miracle the liquid in the beast’s body doesn’t freeze.

The beast exhaled and a fine mist of white escapes its large mouth. Its powerful jaws were died red by its meals.

The ape owned the frozen tundra. Few creatures would trespass on its territory. It was considered the top of the food chain in the cold wasteland.

What Ming was after, was its pelt and the blood vessels. The strong freeze resistant blood vessels will allow easier control and maintenance in the cold of space.

Ming walked up slowly toward the ape. The ape became enraged that something had trespassed on its territory. It started to beat its chest producing powerful vibrations in the air. Any normal person would find the pressure overwhelming.

Ming fired a probe from the wristband at the beast. It hit it and registered its level and name.

[Ming]: Level 83, FrostBjorn Ape, you will be my first prey.

She smiled and released her aura. The ape froze as the aura approached him. He realized it was nearly as powerful as his, but still was weaker. His confidence waivered but its fighting spirit would not allow him to run.

Ming formed a half moon disk with blood on both hands. Both of the contenders dashed toward each other.

The ape instinct told it could not face the blades head on. He avoided the slashes with incredible agility and tried to slam its fist into her.

Ming formed a shield of blood and the fist collided with it. It wavered a little and cracks appeared on the surface.

Looks like the cold had made her blood attacks frozen and brittle. It became harder to control.

Ming jumped up and started raining blood icicles upon the ape. The ape lifted both its arms up to block its face. The icicles slammed into its arms and shattered into fine blood dust. Little did the beast know, he had breathed some of it in. Ming smirked and kept on raining blood upon the ape. Slowly the blood accumulated in the beast’s lungs.

Due to the warmer temperature inside of the ape, the fine blood dust dissolved back into liquid and was easy to control again. Ming focused on the blood inside of the FrostBjorn Ape’s lungs and made it explode into a cactus shape. The spears of blood shooting out of the ball of blood in its lungs eviscerated its inside. The ape coughed up a large amount of blood and fell on its knees.

The beast was not smart enough to protect itself against this kind of attack. It barely had any experience at fighting things the same strength or stronger than it.

Its animalistic instinct still kept the ape alive and it attacked Ming in blind fury. It wanted to take her out before it dies. The beast suddenly emitted a blue aura and a large ball of ice gathered in front of its mouth. With its last dying roar, the ape fired a beam of frozen energy toward Ming.

Ming quickly encase herself in a sphere of blood. The powerful beam hit the sphere and it quickly froze over. The beast slowly collapsed as it died. The blood sphere shattered and Ming came out unscathed. She was extremely tired however. Controlling blood inside of such a powerful enemy require her to dig deep through its energy layers into its body with her own energy. Having to form the shield last moment to protect herself from the beast’s dying attack took even more out of her.

But finally, the beast was dead and she got usable synchro-nerve material.

[Ming]: One down.

She took the beast and placed it in her backpack. Each one of them had a modified backpack that Crule enchanted himself. It had a pocket dimension the size of a football field.

The crimson blood upon the white snow emphasized the fierce battle that occurred. The majority of it belonged to the ape though so it did not freeze.

[Ming]: This blood will be useful if I ever need blood to fight in the cold.

She stored the blood in her blood tank and went on with her hunt.

[Ming]: Next on the list, a shell or carapace for the android armor.