"I have zero clue how to swim."
Cane could admit his weaknesses when it came down to it. He wasn't very knowledgeable - he had no skills of any particular kind. At the end of the day, he was just a thief who was good at fighting.
"If I fell into water, I'd die like an ember within the deep sea."
Upon hearing this, the others were stunned. "What, why can't you swim? Didn't you specifically pick out a rank 3 crocodile for us to fight?"
Cane nodded awkwardly. "Well, that's just because they're the easiest to fight, among all of the different monsters. After all, the Water-Claw is a type of crocodile which mainly relies on its physical strength. The only power it has - despite being a rank 3 - is to condense water around its claws and teeth, tripling the attack range."
"Anyways! What everyone needs to remember - when any crocodilian-type monster closes its mouth, the power is unimaginable. However! When it tries to open its mouth, the strength it can use for this task is pathetic. Thus, one can easily subdue a crocodilian-type monster by holding the mouth shut."
"Other than that, a crocodile's arms and legs are too short to deal proper damage, unless you're an idiot and get too close. Finally, one must pin down the tail! It can whip around and strike you if you're not careful."
"Crocodilians are ambush hunters. They naturally run out of energy very quickly, which means you don't need to hold it down for too long. Once the Water-Claw is subdued, attack the eyes to access the brain. It's a weak spot, anyhow."
Cane's lecture ended. The other 5 nodded in understanding. They'd been coached on what to do from the start. Thus, the plan was clear.
First, Cassidy would identify the target's brain's location using Nightmare. Then, Frytz would use Rush and hold the Water-Claw's jaws shut. Afterwards, Jeremy would use Desperation to pin down the tail. He'd cut himself in various places to guarantee the full effect, of course. Gabriel would stand behind and use Battle Song for extra insurance, while Susie would be on standby and heal anyone who got hurt. Except for Jeremy, of course.
Finally, Cane would come in. Once the Water-Claw was fully pinned, he'd use his explosive dagger to drive the blade into the creature's head. Cane was the only one with a weapon capable enough to do this, after all.
Cane looked up at the team and smiled, though they couldn't see it. "Once we've got the sucker killed, let's split the meat among us. I also want the skin - you guys can keep the head as a trophy, and proof of your kill."
With their agreement, the plan was sprung into action. Susie took advantage of the moment to announce the start of the hunt.
"Alright everyone, let's go! Good luck to everyone!"
...
They slowly approached the swamp which housed the Water-Claw.
Generally speaking, Water-Claws didn't survive long in the wild. After all, they were easy prey during the early stage, and even after ranking up to rank 2, their ability was still kinda useless. As a matter of fact, Cane had already hunted a rank 2 Water-Claw previously.
The upside to this - and of course, for every downside there is an upside - was that as long as they stayed alive, they could theoretically grow infinitely strong.
This group of Water-Claws must've been shipped into The Hunting Grounds at a young age. Without any natural predators, it thrived in this environment. However, that also meant it was soft - inexperienced in combat and lacking training with skill proficiency.
All in all, this Water-Claw was the perfect target.
And currently... it was taking a nice, long nap on a rock - after a day of ambush hunting. A nap which was about to be interrupted.
"NOW!" With Cassidy's shout, Gabriel began singing to activate Battle Song. Frytz activated Rush and Hook, making him zoom towards the Water-Claw's snout like a tracking missile. In the next moment, he clamped down on the snout!
Rooaar!
A muffled roar escaped the Water-Claw. As expected, it couldn't open its mouth anymore - even though a human who was below it by 1 rank was doing it. With that in mind, the Water-Claw quickly prepared to whip Frytz with its tail.
Grab!
Jeremy, bleeding and covered in knife wounds, had already grasped onto the Water-Claw. In that moment, with the boost from Battle Song and Desperation, he even managed to begin pulling back the creature.
At this point, the job was almost done already. With this in mind, Cassidy activated Nightmare to wear it down further. Gabriel used Blind, and even Susie joined in, activating Summon and getting her phantom dog to nip and bite at the legs.
The Water-Claw continued its struggle, and after a brief moment, it could only stop to take a break. In that moment, Cane struck!
He leapt forward, dagger out.
Squirt!
It plunged into the Water-Claw's eye, causing immense pain. Cane then pressed the button on the back, making the blade shoot forward and bury itself deep within the creature's brain.
The Water-Claw, a fearsome rank 3 monster, had died just like that. The 5 were stunned for a moment, somewhat marveling at how quick and easy it was to kill a rank 3.
With sufficient teamwork and preparations, of course.
Susie took the chance to begin healing Jeremy, while Cane had already activated the Omnitool and gotten down to skinning the creature. He'd just gotten the meat divvied up into parts and handed over to the group - along with the head - when a sudden splash rang out from behind them.
What Cane and the others hadn't noticed, was while he was busy working with the carcass, some blood had managed to seep from the body into the water. A rank 3's blood naturally held great benefits, capable of nourishing and strengthening creatures.
"Uhhh... sh*t, I didn't plan for this fight." Cane leapt backward, pulling out his Plasma Pistols and aiming towards the splash zone. After a brief, tense silence, a creature suddenly leapt out from the water.
It was... a large frog.
"WAIT!" Cane shouted at the others, stopping them from moving in. "That's a Poison-Skin! If you couldn't guess by the name, it delivers a deadly poison when touched. We have to go ranged combat!"
The group instantly backpedaled as well. However...
Cane stepped forward. He was the only one who had long-range options. Thus, it could only be left to him to fight the Poison-Skin. Cane beckoned behind himself.
"Susie, prepare to keep me constantly healed. Gabriel, I'm gonna need a Battle Song. Also use Blind. Cassidy... I'll need a Nightmare as well."
In an instant, the Poison-Skin was blinded and plagued with mental pain. It began to thrash and move erratically. Right on the heels of that, Gabriel prepared another Battle Song.
Seeing this take place, Cane began to blast high-calibre shots at the Poison-Skin. It wasn't very effective - the rubbery body and wet, slimy skin of the creature allowed most of the energy and force to be negated. It could definitely do something over time, as the slime in the areas which Cane hit would dissipate. However, it'd take too much time.
Once Cane saw this scene, he switched out to his dagger. Even though he'd hoped in his heart that the Plasma Pistols could do something, maybe he knew, deep inside.
It had to come to this.
Cane first covered himself head to toe in with the Omnitool. Then, he began to use one of the oldest strategies in his book.
He pointed the dagger at the Poison-Skin. Then, he fired it - the sharp, piercing point penetrated into the creature instead of doing nothing. Finally, he dissipated the clone dagger, re-replicated it, and fired again.
As time went on, the daggers began to drive themselves deeper into the Poison-Skin. Cane also used Divine Treasure Eyes to peer for weak spots. After all, the more valuable the body part, the more the Poison-Skin would need it. Which meant attacking said spot would be a good strategy.
The daggers began to fly faster and faster. His replicating speed, his dissipating speed, his endurance in using Divine Treasure Eyes. It all began to build up. During this process, Cane took out his rank 3 meat.
And ate it - raw.
In an instant, Cane could feel something magical happen to himself. He'd been wrong. Rank 3 meat didn't quadruple his speed - he couldn't tell how much, but Cane could tell that the boost he'd been given was far more than it should've been. In that moment, the other prodigies could feel it too.
Cane was reaching full rank. Although they hadn't known, previously assuming he was also a full rank Combatant like them.
The moment he reached a full rank combatant, he could feel everything triple. His physique, his skills, everything. The average Apprentice Warrior was about 20 times stronger than a regular human. Cane?
At full rank Combatant, he'd surpassed that number by a wide margin. He was... 41 times stronger than a regular human. That is to say, he was twice as strong as an Apprentice Warrior, while only being a Combatant.
Truly, the feeling of getting stronger is so good.
Cane smiled, and laughed. In a flash, so quick the others could hardly keep up, he appeared behind the Poison-Skin, punching it into the ground with so much force the skull caved in.
The poison? Cane ignored it, letting it sizzle on his hand. At this moment, even though he didn't have any new skills, he was already as strong as an Apprentice Warrior. Meanwhile, his skills got interesting upgrades as well.
Cane opened up his skill menu, realising the new facets his skills had taken.
Holy sh*t, this is crazy.