Chapter 142 15% Threshold

The ground began to shake. Lee Seng looked up, his eyes following the sound his ears were trying to pinpoint somewhere in front of him. The earth erupted from the hole. People went flying and the cacophony of chaos filled the air. Dirt clouds billowed out from the hole and Lee Seng's ears began to twitch uncontrollably.

'What the hell is happening?' Lee Seng wondered. He pulled his extended tail back to normal length. He could hear people screaming while the noises of things surfacing alerted him. Lee Seng's right hand grabbed onto the strapped katana on his right hip. He could hear familiar noises of goblins screeching and the sound of people fighting.

"GOBLINS!" An adventurer shouted.

"Black ve--" Another adventurer started to shout when a loud piercing noise connected with flesh. Lee Seng winced at the noise. Sounds of fighting grew louder in the dirt cloud. An arrow whizzed out of the dirt cloud, straight for Lee Seng. Lee Seng threw his hand up and watched as the arrow blasted backwards. Gravity split the smoke in half and the scene in front of him unfolded.

Adventurers were fighting with goblins and black veined goblins. Goblins dropped as adventurers aided each other to push back the surprise hit. The earth began to rumble as three blue-skinned shifters blasted out of the hole with goblins in tow.

"Attack!" The shifters shouted. The goblins began to leap off and slam themselves into adventurers.

"SHIFTERS!" Luis shouted. Earth sprayed at the adventurers around the shifters, slamming them into the ground and quickly trapping them within the earth.

'Shifters... Shifters...l' Lee Seng's brain sifted through the large amount of monsters he had memorized. The image of a blue-skinned shifter popped in his head. 'Don't they manipulate the earth?' The ground ripped in front of Lee Seng. The earth began to turn into a wave of rock and dirt.

Some adventurers easily pulled out of the earth while others were forced to ride the wave of the earth. Lee Seng took a breath and pulled his sword out.

"I can't take B-rank shifters with my experience but I can deal B-rank damage." Lee Seng gripped the katana in his left hand and jabbed in front of him. As earth and metal met, gravity erupted out of the end point of the katana. The wave of earth split and crumbled around him, freeing spilling some adventurers from the grasp of the earth wave. Lee Seng jumped over rock, dirt and trapped adventurers and continued forward.

A shifter noticed him and lowered herself onto the ground.

"This human looks different from the rest!" She hissed. "I'll keep you as a trophy!" Earth bent to her will and spiraled around her. She rushed forward and creating a sharp drill around her right arm. She jabbed straight for Lee Seng who blocked the attack with his katana, feeling the rotation of dirt and rock sparking his sword.

Lee Seng forced gravity out of the sword and watched as the drill and part of the shifter's earth armor blasted off. Lee Seng quickly swung his right arm and punched the shifter across the jaw. He retreated backwards and took a look at his katana.

'It's okay.' Lee Seng sighed in relief. The female shifter's face scrunched in annoyance as she wiped the mark on her face. The earth shifted around the shifter and blasted straight for Lee Seng. Lee Seng jumped and dodged, trying to avoid the earth flying at him. Lee Seng landed and felt the earth pull him under. He was immediately pulled halfway in, locking his arms and legs.

Lee Seng grunted as the earth hardened around him. The female shifter's earth armor wrapped around her and the rock and dirt drill spun faster. The female shifter jabbed straight for Lee Seng's face.

"Die!" The female shifter shouted. The drill flew straight for Lee Seng's face. The drill made contact with Lee Seng's cheek. It dug in and ripped at him. Lee Seng felt the rock and dirt sink deeper into his cheek. In an instant, the blood poured out of Lee Seng's torn cheek muscles. Lee Seng cried in pain as the blood splattered all over the floor and down his neck.

Lee Seng felt his body hum. The earth around him began to shake as the female shifter lifted her hands. The bloodied drill spun faster.

Protocol Trigger.

The female shifter giggled as she threw her drill hand forward. Gold and white wisps erupted from Lee Seng's body as the earth ripped around him. The female shifter and everything around him went flying away. Lee Seng cold feel the Protocol coursing through his veins. His veins pulsed black as his ripped cheek began to instantly heal. Now that he was free, Lee Seng climbed out of the huge crater he had created.

The female shifter managed to ground herself and regain her balance. She quickly shot back forward with the push of the earth around her and flew straight for Lee Seng. The earth trembled around her as she closed the distance and swung her drill hand straight for Lee Seng.

Lee Seng pulled the scattered wisps around him and blocked the drill attack. The female shifter swung her other drill hand as Lee Seng forced himself to dodge. He felt the drill connect at the top of his head, buzzing off some hair.

Lee Seng swiped his blade straight for the female shifter's abdomen. The earth-created armor burst from the impact as wisps barraged her abdomen area. The female shifter moved backwards, swatting at the wisps.

"What is this?!?" She screamed. She watched as the wisps pulled away from her. The female shifter felt the energy rip from her. She grunted in pain as she leaned forward. The wisps rushed back into Lee Seng's body, filling him with the taken energy. Lee Seng moved forward towards the female shifter, noticing his slight increase in speed.

'Did the Protocol do this?' Lee Seng wondered as he watched the female shifter scream in anger and rush at him. Lee Seng and the female shifter began to barrage each other with attacks. The female shifter had learned her lesson and strengthened her defenses against Lee Seng's strikes. The earth-made armor didn't shatter on impact which allowed her to focus on trying to land another blow on the human hybrid.

The female shifter's right drill flew straight for Lee Seng's left cheek. Lee Seng barely dodged out of the way, feeling blood trickle as the drill flew by. Lee Seng quickly jabbed at the female shifter's right side and watched as the earth-made armor shattered. As the female shifter pulled back, Lee Seng jabbed another hit onto her side. She could feel the vibrating energy erupt from the jab and force her away from Lee Seng. Lee Seng watched as the female shifter crashed into the crater wall, blood spilling from her mouth.

He flexed his hand, grunting at the negative. Even the White Fox Cloak had its limitations with how much the negative could shave off of his body. He rushed forward, disappearing into thin air. The female shifter panicked and pushed herself out of the humanoid shaped hole she had created. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried to find the human hybrid.

Lee Seng flashed into existence in front of her, stabbing the her. The female shifter's blood spilled from her mouth and wound as Lee Seng watched.

"You... smell like those... goblins... yet you... are aware of it... all..." She mumbled. Lee Seng pushed the katana deeper, hitting the wall behind her.

"What do you mean by that?" Lee Seng asked. The female shifter clutched at the katana. She was trying to pry herself off of the blade. The earth around her didn't shake or move. Her armor spilled onto the floor as she continued to struggle. Lee Seng pushed his arm onto her chest, pinning her into the wall. "<strong>What do you mean I smell like those goblins?</strong>" Lee Seng reworded his question.

"I... I can't..." The female shifter began to say when Lee Seng slammed her against the wall. Lee Seng could tell the female shifter was scared. He didn't know if he was scaring her or not. She shook her head and adverted her eyes away from him. Lee Seng sighed and pulled the katana out and slashed at her neck. He watched as the gravity-infused blade cleanly cut her neck and slowly peel and roll off onto the ground.

'I need to find Akali. The Protocol activated and my veins are black.' Lee Seng groaned, flexing his fingers. He turned around and listened to the chaos all around him. He needed to find his teammates and Akali. He took a step forward and watched as an adventurer was punted into the crater.

A couple of loose goblins jumped down into the crater and began to rush the adventurer on the floor. The adventurer threw up a barrier and covered themselves as the goblins began to bash at the barrier. Lee Seng slashed a horizontal cut in the air and watched as the goblins and the wall on the other side form a clean cut.