Energy Eater - Chapter 22 - Can Bleed (Patreon)

#### Author's Note ####
I really liked how this fight went. Let me know what you think in the comments!
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After ripping out one of the Eater’s legs and screaming, I had a moment to pause. A thick white liquid, similar to milk but somehow emanating a bit of light, spew from both the bisected limb on the ground and the stump on the monster’s body. The attack didn’t make the creature scream. In fact, nothing about its movements made it seem like it even acknowledged what had just happened. Then again, it also wasn’t struggling to stand up.

For the first time, I took a proper look at the creature. Not at the fear covered concept of the nightmare, but what was actually in front of me. This Eater wasn’t as big as it seemed. Its mouth should be reaching around my chest, the legs and tentacles went a bit above, but they were thin. It very much looked like it was trying to appear bigger than it really was. To be fair, that is a common trick. Several animals had ways to do that, in order to seem more intimidating to predators. But if that was the case, why would Eaters need to ward off predators? Was there really something that considered them prey?

The monster shifted, turning so that its wound faced away from me. Its tentacles reached upward, flailing around wildly. Anyone could tell that it wasn’t just a random movement. Despite the apparent frenzy that had purpose, I just didn’t know what it was.

{Formless Steps of Prey} was still active, but there was no time to waste. Letting the Eater do whatever it wanted sounded like a bad idea, one way or the other. Moving towards it, I made sure not to hold back on using the skill for a moment. The best part of it was the unpredictability. As I got closer, my legs pushed harder against the floor, while my body still acted as if it wasn’t a big strain.

Before I could reach it, the tentacles lashed out, a couple coming in wide arcs towards my torso. With a kick, I jumped over them, spinning in the air over the creature. Once more, my aim was to break one of its legs, but expecting the same thing to work twice in a row ended up being a bad move.

Most of the tentacles gathered above the Eater’s mouth and coiled, forming one single massive drill that shot out towards me. I had no way to maneuver while jumping, however, I was already mid swing. Changing the target, I aimed at the tentacles themselves. The impact shifted me enough away not to be skewered, but not enough to get out completely unscathed. The blow sent me spinning as the drill hit the side of my stomach, ripping part of the skin and the flesh. At least the heat emanating from the creature was not enough to burn the wound instantly.

Tumbling on the floor, before quickly getting back to my feet, I considered using {Body Regeneration}, but I only had 2 Energy left. A sharp pain washed over my back, the wound created in the beginning of the fight flaring up with my movements.

Then again, what was the point of saving something if I died before being able to use it.

Hiding behind the large rock for a moment, I called the System in my mind, ‘Sys, can you control {Body Regeneration}? Make it focus on the dangerous wounds while I keep fighting?’

I could hear the Eater moving, but it seemed like it was also taking this chance to do… something.

[System is able to perform said function. However, unlike actions taken during integration, current control would create a weaker result than if user controls the skill herself.]

‘I’ll do that later, for now. Make sure I can fight, and survive,’ I asked before activating {Body Regeneration}. That skill saved my life once and was about to do that again. The odd sensation of sometime leaving me by going inside happened again and quickly spread to my wounds. My stomach, my back, and my shoulder, which I didn’t even realize was wounded after the Eater slammed me into the ground.

Pushing those thoughts away, I emerged from the other side of the rock, ready to fight. Only to be struck by a tentacle acting like a whip. The strike opened a gash in my arm, but the SP responsible for {Body Regeneration} quickly went to work, focusing first on the muscles so I could move normally.

Ignoring the pain, I lunged at the monster, this time staying on the ground while my staff slammed against the joints of the legs. I still wasn’t sure how I was supposed to kill it, but making it bleed out was the first idea that came to mind. The staff hit the creature three times in a row as the spinning motion allowed me to deliver a flurry of attacks while dancing in front of it, evading the large attacks that tried to pierce my body. But my greed was punished by the smaller tendrils that lashed out, cutting up my face and poking small holes in my chest.

If I was a man, that attack might have pierced my lungs, or heart, but my breasts saved me. Another reason to like them. The fatty tissue was the only thing damaged as I scurried away, getting some distance between us. Still, progress was being made. The leg I started attacking cracked, which could only be seen due to the milky white liquid seeping from the fractures. At the same time, the particles started to close the holes in my chest. They worked quickly, just patching things up and numbing the pain before returning to the gash on my back.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins stopped me from realizing how badly that injury actually was, and how much worse I was making it by moving around so much. Still, there was no other option.

I moved in again, attacking the same leg I already started my work. A single strike, then I pulled back, escaping the tendrils that reached out. Repeating the process three more times, all of them with just one single blow. It was all I could muster while being safe. Anything else and I risked getting hit by the smaller tentacles again. The larger ones weren’t able to hit me, they moved too slowly when trying to grab something that was so close. And I was going to take advantage of that.

After the fourth attack, where the creature couldn’t do anything against my quick movements, it lowered its body. The sound of metal being strained coming out of it. Followed by a bouncy noise as the creature jumped high in the air, before coming down towards me. It was hard to understand what it was doing. Sure, if that hit me, I was done, but the attack took so long that I didn’t even have to run to get away from the landing zone.

Once it reached the ground, one of the larger tentacles on its back began a wide arc. I moved back, ready to evade the attack, but it came faster than I was expecting, not just that, but the tentacle seemed longer and I could tell that wasn’t a skill. How? I wasn’t sure, but a part of me knew.

Quickly leaning back, I ended up losing my balance and falling to the ground, my shoulder plates hitting a rock, sending a jolt of pain all over my body. Right after that, I saw another tentacle coming down towards me like a whip. Pushing myself to the side, that milky white liquid splashed around as the rock that just hurt me was evaporated with the strike. That wasn’t a tentacle.

My eyes followed the Eater, getting wider and wider once I realized what happened. The monster jumped to grab its broken leg, and now it was using it as a weapon to strike me. I tried to get to my feet again, but another slam forced me to jump away, tumbling on the ground. The shock wave caused by the attack sent out jagged pellets everywhere.

The broken leg was being held by a large tentacle, but that also meant that getting closer to the main body might be safer. Being the only idea in mind, I rushed forward, starting to attack another leg. This one was mostly unscathed, even if it was closer to the stump.

Small tendrils lashed out at me again, and I did my best to avoid them, but the focus was on the offensive. As long as they didn’t hit my eyes, I would ignore the cuts and holes being created in my body and let {Body Regeneration} take care of it. It was a bad idea, I knew that, but things were going south fast. The Eater showed no sign of stopping and now was even using its own weapon. Unless I was able to deal a significant blow, the fight would end with me as a corpse.

I attacked again, and again, ignoring the searing pain caused by the small tentacles. Cracks began to appear as I danced around the leg with the help of {Formless Steps of Prey}, using any brief momentum to increase the power behind my attacks.

The larger tentacles came at me, forcing me to jump, but the smaller ones moved right after it, stopping my movement and slowly pulling me towards its mouth. I pushed away, hitting the leg again with my staff from above and finally breaking it. The monster tilted to the side, but that wasn’t enough to stop its movements.

Did those fucking things didn’t even feel pain?

Pulling back the staff, I pushed it against the side of the creature’s mouth, using all my strength to stop the tentacles from getting me there. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the tentacle holding the leg starting to move, and its intentions were clear. The Eater was going to use the leg again to push me into its maw.

I needed to get out. I needed to move away, but it was too much, too many tendrils were holding my body. The large tentacle moved, at the same time I triggered {Compression}, the sudden growth of my staff being just enough to free myself from the tendrils. I flung my body forward, hugging the metal pipe and let the broken leg of the water pass through me, and go directly into the creature’s mouth.

Yet, there was no damage. The Eater was able to stop it before it touched even a single one of its teeth.

But it was inside, the massive leg was still inside the creature’s maw, and somewhat deep inside it. Going for a hail Mary, I reached out and touched the broken leg that was being used as a weapon and triggered {Compression} once more. But not aimed at my staff, but at the leg itself. After all, it was now a weapon, not a body part. The skill couldn’t work with living creatures, but it worked on pelts. Same principle.

The instruction was simple, grow. I commanded the skill to make the leg grow as much as it could as fast as it could. Suddenly the already massive black limp rushed towards me, pushing me away from the Eater and snapping the tip of my staff. I fell to the ground and quickly got up, ready to attack again, but I stopped.

The leg of an Eater is similar to the exoskeleton of a bug. It’s incredibly sturdy and made to withstand most types of damage. They are not indestructible by any means, but it is the more resilient part of the creature. So much so that the moment the leg grew, it crashed against the monster’s teeth and continued. It pressed forward, forcing the Eater form to expand beyond its natural size before the skill couldn’t push back any longer. The creature was able to stop {Compression}, or at least stop the energy behind it, but it came at a heavy cost. All over its midsection were countless fractures, only seen due to the milky white liquid dripping from the cracks.

In addition, the leg had went all the way to the ground, which wasn’t anything special since the mouth of an Eater was a literal hole in the middle of its body, but the leg now became a stake, that stopped the creature from moving.

‘Sys, can I use {Compression} through an object?’ I knew there was one more use left of the skill, maybe that would be enough to finish the job. But the tentacles were still moving, the smaller ones at least. The larger ones were holding on to the giant broken leg, trying to pull it out of the ground.

[Yes.]

The System replied, understanding my idea. I grabbed my staff and approached the Eater, the smaller tentacles trying to reach me, but to no avail. With the metal pole, I poked the leg trapping the creature and triggered {Compression} one more time. Again, telling it to grow as much as it could.

The SP flew off of me and through the staff, reaching the broken leg before starting to push again. More cracks appeared around the Eater and the ones already there only grew, but the creature was still moving.

‘Fuck. How long until I get more Energy?’

[10 minutes if user takes the Energy available in {Energy Storage}. Alternatively, System can drink the white liquid coming out of the Eater. If it is the same liquid that was present in the Eater user killed before integration, Energy will be recovered in a matter of seconds.]

I glanced around, the second leg that I broke was a bit far from the monster. And it was leaking that liquid. The idea of drinking… whatever that was, didn’t sound good, but it was better than letting this monster live. I quickly pulled the leg away, evading the tendrils and a pitiful attempt of the Eater to stab me with one of its remaining legs. After taking a whiff, and realizing that at least there was no smell attached to the liquid, I steeled myself and took a swig.

It was… surprisingly ok. It tasted like water and metal. But that was it.

‘Sys, are you messing with the taste?’

[No. User has recovered 1 Energy.]

A sip was enough to give me 1 point of Energy? Ok, I get how the System saved my life then. Taking a couple more sips, I refilled my energy to 4 points before tossing the leg back to the ground and walking over to the Eater again. {Compression} was triggered five more times, each attempt increased the number of fractures, and by the last one, the pitch black form of the creature was now pure white, completely covered in that milky blood. With one last push, the broken leg finally became too much for the Eater, and its body was broken into several pieces.

I stepped back and started laughing, the rain still hitting me and washing over all the mud, grime, and blood from both of us that was still stuck to my body.

A victory music from an old game played in my mind, making me laugh even harder. Yeah, that one I deserve.

[Congratulations user Cassandra. You have reached level 2 of tier 1. 1 skill available]