Chapter 34 - Lucas Vs. The Sphinataur!

Lucas then placed Anthony in Sally's arms. He then looked towards the Beast that was fighting against him. Sally pulled his sleeve from behind and gave him an earpiece. He fitted it into his ears, and he heard someone speak from the other end. "There is no time for me to explain. We need that Beast captured alive. Either you keep it busy until I get there, or help them both escape", said a voice from the other end.

Lucas was about to answer when a quest popped up in front of him.

[Quest Initiated]

[Capture the Sphinataur 0/1]

[Rewards - EXP +3000, Skill [Rage Mode]]

"What is this Rage Mode? But whatever, let me concentrate on the task in hand", he thought as he looked at the Sphinataur.

[Sphinataur - Tier Unknown]

[A mutation of the Lion, Ape, and Minotaur DNAs. Due to them merging, it is highly unstable and may lose control at any given time. Unable to identify the exact Beasts used in the mutation]

"Wow, something even the system doesn't know", he thought. "Haha. The System doesn't know all. It only knows things that have been recorded down in the history of things", said Valentine. "Yeah, right. I almost forgot. Do you know how these systems came by?", asked Lucas as he picked up his blades. Sam and Kate were about to jump in when Lucas held up his hand.

"I can take care of this. If I cant' just back me up with some spells", he said. Sam and Kate jumped to the back along with Sally in tow. Lucas jumped forward, towards the Sphinataur. It stretched out its hand and flicked its finger at Lucas's forehead. "You... Weak", it said. Every time it spoke, smoke came out of its nostrils.

Anthony began to heal himself, and the dizziness began to face away. He opened his eyes and saw Sally's face. He placed his palm on her cheek. "Hey, I'm alive, aren't I?", he said in a weak voice. Sally burst into tears as she heard his voice. "You are not allowed to do that again", she said as she hugged him tightly. Anthony coughed.

"I can't promise you that. But I can say that I am out of danger for now", he said as he sat up. "Where are you trying to go?", asked Sally as she stood in front of him, her arms spread wide. Anthony smiled and patted the space next to him. Sally sat down, and he laid his head on her lap. "For now, let me watch Junior's improvements since last fight", he said. Sally's face began to turn pink, but then she just nodded her head and began to stroke his hair.

Lucas was getting pummelled each time he tried to attach the Sphinataur. "Weak. Weak. Too Weak", it kept saying in each hit. "Keep saying that. Eventually, you will lower your guard. That's when I will strike", he smiled. Sam and Kate, on the other hand, wanted to jump in. But when Sam saw the smile on Lucas's face, he held back. "He has a plan", he said to Kate.

They didn't know his plan, but they knew the smile he made when he had one. Thus, they stood their ground. "Kid, your HP is dropping low. There's only about thirty left", said Valentine as he watched Lucas getting beat up. "Alright. Now is the time", he thought as he was rolling for how many times, he lost count. He activated his Aura and began to channel it through his muscles.

He then moved from the place he was standing, and the only thing the Sphinataur saw was his afterimage. Lucas slashed his weapon at the back of its neck, drawing blood along with his strike. The Sphinataur turned around in shock. "You. Not Weak?", it said. Lucas smiled wide. "Any potions on you, Kate?", he asked. Kate took out a potion from her small pouch and threw it in the air. The Sphinataur saw this and was about to catch it.

"Not today", he thought as he activated his [Aura Jump]. After he grabbed the potion, he activated [Aura Slash], sending a dark blue slash towards the airborne Sphinataur. It cut through one of its front legs, making it lose its balance for a few minutes. Lucas landed and downed the potion without giving it a scan.

[Advanced Health Potion has been consumed]

[HP +80]

[Remaining HP - 110/100]

"Wow, would you look at that", he thought. He had 10 HP points extra. "It's not going to be there forever anyway. I might get rid of this beast in the meantime", he thought. The Sphinataur began to regenerate its lost limb. "That ought to take some of its energy away", he thought. Just as he was about to engage, he heard Anthony's voice. "Try cutting off its limbs. I'm sure at one point, it will not be able to regenerate", he said.

Lucas nodded his head and jumped back into combat. "Let me test the skills of my new weapon", he thought as he closed the distance in an instant. "[Icy Flame Blast]", he thought and the blades began to light up. The fire blade turned orange while the ice blade turned a chilly blue. Then, energy began to seep out of the swords. Lucas smiled when he saw this.

He did a vertical slash and the energy left the blade, twirling together. The Sphinataur tried to jump out of its way, but it was sadly a bit slow. The blast pushed the Sphinataur back ten feet, and its legs began to freeze.

[Frost-Burn has been applied. Duration - 10 seconds]

"Sweet", he thought. The Sphinataur was wriggling in pain, and its legs gave way. It fell to the floor, and Lucas placed his blade against its neck. "Any last words?", he asked as he activated [Mana Vision]. His view changed as he began to scan for any weaknesses. He then saw a point at the base of its skull. "That must be its knockout point", he thought.

The Sphinataur didn't say anything. "You. Human. So Strong?", it asked. Lucas was about to say yes, but then he remembered many other people who were stronger than him. "No. I am not strong. I am weak. Weaker than you think. Without this weapon, I may not have been able to defeat you. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying", he said as he let out a deep breath, looking towards the skies above him.

The Sphinataur tiled its head, clearly confused. "Human. Defeat. Sphinataur. Human. Strong", it said. It couldn't talk in a flowing sentence, but it tried its best to make one. Lucas squatted before the Sphinataur and smiled. "Yes, I defeated you because you thought I was weak. If you knew I was strong, maybe I will be the one in your place", he said as he faced the Sphinataur.

It turned its head towards Anthony. "Me. You. Change. Human?", it asked. Lucas understood what it was trying to say, and looked at Anthony. "I think it wants you to teach it to revert into its human form?", he said. Anthony nodded his head sideways. "That's not possible. Unless we drain its energy, it can't revert to its human form. But to be able to speak out aloud in its beast form, the person must be very intelligent", he said as he got up from Sally's lap.

Lucas nodded his head. He was thinking of a way to explain it to the Sphinataur when it took the blades from his hand. It slashed at its other hand, and it regenerated. It kept on doing this until it could no longer hold the blade. "Human. Cut hand. I. Change. Human", it said. Lucas didn't want to do it, but there was no choice for him. "Please forgive me, Sphinataur", he said.

The Sphinataur nodded its head, and Lucas slashed off both of its arms. It began to regenerate, but this time the rate was slower than before. Lucas's hand began to tremble slightly as he was about to slash again. "Do it, Lucas. Do it so that you can put them out of misery. This transformation was unintended, and the person is unable to control their powers. Only after reverting, will we be able to teach them to control their powers", said Anthony in a firm tone.

The Sphinataur was now whimpering, and it didn't make a sound. He slashed at the hands again, and he closed his eyes as he couldn't picture cutting it again. "Please, don't regenerate", he thought. His heart was heavy, and he opened his eyes slightly. He saw two human hands in place of the Ape hands. He then looked at its legs and saw that it was still in the form of a horse. He slashed at it, and it didn't regenerate.

The horse form began to shrink back into a human form. "Do I need to slash at its head?", he thought. He was about to when he saw the head turn back into a human. And in front of them laid a naked handsome man, who was snoring out loud. "I am....zzzzz", he muttered asleep.