How do you kill something when all your attacks slide off?

Seth quickly thought of few ways to answer that question.

The first way was to strike at an angle which made it impossible to miss.

The second way was that if his current amount of force was working, then he wasn’t using enough.

The third way was to change the technique.

These were the alternative plans Seth thought of to successfully land a hit on the Earthworm. Now the question was what the Earthworm was going to do next. Based off it’s next move, Seth would be able to plan his next course of action. Right now, both parties were watching each other, wary of each other’s powers. Seth studied the Earthworm patiently.

Even if he wanted to rush in to save Kong, it would not do anyone any good if they both ended up dead. Kong’s status inside the earthworm was a direct result of Kong’s childish actions. Maybe being inside the Earthworm would teach him a lesson.

It turned out that Seth didn’t have to wait long

The Earthworm lunged at Seth and dove right under it. He didn’t let the strike go unmolested as he strike the pink monstrosity with his own knife, this time reinforced with chi. He could feel the resilience of the skin, as if he was slicing through rubber. Despite its toughness, Seth felt a reaction as his weapon slid off the worm. Seeing that it missed it’s second prey, it looped around right away. Seth was able to see the result of his cut this time as it left a small gash on the worm. It was not a serious wound, but it still hurt the monster.

Why was Seth’s cut different then the first time he tried?

This time Seth had reinforced his knife with chi. With this technique, he was able to increase the length of the knife by half a foot. As the same time, he was able to boost the sharpness into a paper-thin edge.

Why didn’t he circulate his chi and reinforce his knife earlier? Reinforcing an object with chi placed a heavy burden on it which decreased the durability of the object. Not only that, this technique also greatly drains his chi. Seth would not be surprised if the knife broke halfway through a swing. It was more than reinforcing the blade, the knife was an instrument of his will. It was akin to filling up a balloon that was already filled with water. Too much would break the object and that’s what chi reinforcement did.

Seth didn’t have any good weapons on hand, so he tried to fight with a simple reinforcement technique. Anymore than that and the object would break down, leaving him empty handed in the battle. That was a state you never want to be in. especially in a middle of combat.

Seth tried to preserve his inner energy for body techniques. He would circulate his chi throughout his whole body which would help strengthen his overall abilities. Like how oil fuel a car, his strength, speed and skills all improved thanks to the usage of chi. It allowed him to stand on equal grounds with Class 3 Awaken or similar level of threats. Just like how he fought Quickstream, he could perform techniques well beyond his level. The only difference now was that back then he had not been constantly using his chi. Now he was pumping the chi nonstop throughout his body to heighten his sense and avoid sudden attacks of the Earthworm.

Right after Seth dodged the monster, the Earthworm would dive into the ground and then pop up again in an attempt to swallow Seth. The simplistic mind of the creature didn’t know any other way of attack and merely followed its instinct. Thankfully it’s primitive instinct made it attacks simple and predictable, allowing Seth time to dodge and plan a way to rescue Kong. He did not want to accidentally cut through the Earthworm and hit Kong.

Seth had long noticed the singular attack pattern that the Earth worm made. Several gashes were also left on the Earthworm after each of its swallowing attempts failing. Sadly, none of them were fatal. With Kong’s status unknown, Seth’s situation was getting worse as the battle continued.

Seth decided it was time to go for a gamble. He charged all his chi into his knife and waited for the right moment to strike.

The moment came a lot sooner then he thought.

The Earthworm had appeared behind Seth in an attempt to catch him unaware once again. Like a speeding train it dove at Seth, desperately trying to end this prey that been causing him trouble for the last few minutes. Seth hopped out of the way and swwung the knife with all his might, releasing a crescent like wave of energy.

“Flying Sword Slash!”

A technique that drained all his chi, leaving Seth feeling exhausted once he released it. He felt the knife in his hand immediately lighten as he watched it brake slowly into pieces, unable to withstand all the energy he put into it. Seth’s heart broke along with his weapon and he could already imagine his wallet crying.. He didn’t have it for long, but it was the best weapon he held in a long time. This meant he would need to go shopping for a new one and good weapons were not cheap. He knew this would be the result as most weapons would be unable to withstand his chi, however a broken knife was not the most important matter now.

The most important matter now was if the technique was enough to end this pink monstrosity in front of him.

It turns out it was.

A feeling of exhaustion hit him, forcing him to one kneel as the sword wave cut through the Earthworm. As he forced himself to get up, he watched what would constitute as the worm’s head slide off, with blood flowing downward. A good portion of its body had come above ground in its last attack.

Seth looked at his knife in dismay as only the hilt was left. Most of the blade had broken off leaving barely any metal on it. It wasn’t the best tool to dissect with, but it was the only one he had on hand so he lifted his arm and swung down. Just as the metal of the broken knife was about to hit the worm, the body begun to shake.

It wasn’t dead yet Seth though in horror. Just as he was about jump backwards to avoid an attack, his feet refused to listen as he tripped and fell backwards. Seth watch as the body twisted and turn for a few moments before staying still once again. It has been the final death throes of the worm Seth realized. He had heard snakes could do something similar if you cut off their head but had not realized it was also possible for Earthworms

Seth attempted once again to get up, but only to fail this time and tumble forward Be it from the shock, the adrenaline wearing off, or his exhaustion finally hitting him, he didn’t know but his body refused to move any further. He did the next best thing he could think of.

“Kong! If your alive in there, show me a sign!” he yelled. If the a part of the Earthwomr moved, he would then try to cut it open to free its captive.

A moment passed.

Nothing moved. The Earthworm laid there headless while Seth body was lying face down in the sand. he gripped the hilt of his broken knife in despair.

He had failed. And Kong was dead.

“HAAAAAHHHHH!!” A yell shattered Seth out of his thoughts as he witnessed something burst out from part of the Earthworm that was above ground. It was a person, covered in blood and dirt.

“Kong! You’re alive!”

“Damn right I am. There’s no way a worm killing me.” Kong grinned. Frankly he looked as if he had just came out of a horror movie where a monster pops out of a person’s stomach. It was not too far from the truth except for it being the opposite.

“How did you survive in there?”

“Bastard did try to swallow me, but I gripped the walls real tight to make sure I don’t go down his throat any further. The shaking and the sand didn’t help though.”

That would explain why Kong had look so dusty right now. While the Earthworm had tried to attack Seth, it would dive into the ground each time. The way the worm traveled was to eat through the earth. Kong, being the fortunate victim, acted like a bone in the creatures throat. All the dirt that would pass right through the body and would bear down on Kong in an effort to flow through.

Seth let out a sigh of relief at Kongs answer and asked. “ So I think this is good enough for a day?”

“ Hell no! This fight barely counted. You did all the fighting this time. You had you fun, now its my turn.”

Seth sighed in exasperation as he should have known better.