CHAPTER 55: MINDLESS BEAST

Drew walked haggardly, eyes completely wide, and somewhat lifeless. When one looked at him long enough, it was as though he had lost his will, and something else was now puppeteering his body.

If not for how fluidly reckless and disjointed his footsteps was, those who were watching from outside, would have thought the same too.

Ironically, said disjointed steps, was what made his movements, be suspected of puppetry in the first place.

If he truly was being puppeteered though, then it would have to be by a highly skilled puppeteer, or an otherwise clumsy one.

A clumsy one would have been noticed long ago, and it was impossible for an out-worlder to be skilled enough to fool the senses of thousands.

There was also the fact that whether he was being puppeteered or not, hardly did any of them give one damn... What they were most interested in, was the inevitable clash, that was bound to soon occur.

Across from the haphazard looking Drew, was a creature that was odd, even amongst out-worlders, who were already an oddity, just by virtue or vice of their existence.

It looked like a human male... Well, the closest thing an out-worlder could be used to compare to a human male.

Like it’s kind, it was completely hairless, red skinned like tomato and stark naked. Its body was muscular and built for heavy duty, and short... Calling it short was giving it credit... It was a like a dwarf.

Its face was tight with lines and deep wrinkles. If one took out the bald head, and stark hairless features, it looked every bit like a weird, dwarf uncle.

More accurately, it was like the dwarfs of fantasy novels, if not for the physical oddities.

But these were not the things that made it odd, rather it was its bearing.

Out-worlders were known to be mindless beings... Like zombies in a sense, with completely mysterious origins, resembling different fantastical creatures, but lacking the intelligence of one.

The one before Drew however, stood calm, composed and was not mindless. Out-worlders like these, were considered dangerous... Very dangerous.

They were walking calamities, with at least basic or instinctual intelligence, comparable to beasts and averagely smart domestic animals.

Generally, they were incredibly hard to come by, and reportings of them, said that they were very strong. Compared to the Stage-2 Sean had fought, this was on another level.

It hard to be remembered that just a few weeks ago, Sean was unable to move a muscle, his whole existence shaking with fear and dread, when he encountered a Stage-2 beast.

Under its gaze, he had sensed the presence of death. And now Drew was ready to clash against a creature that was just as dangerous, or even more dangerous than that was, when one factored in the harmful effects out-worlders had to the human system.

It was almost ironic how the roles were reversed, on one hand, the supposedly intelligent human, appeared like a mindless creature, while the supposedly mindless out-worlder, stood calm like a human scholar.

The moment Drew came too close, the out-worlder moved. No flare, no noise.

*BOOMM!!*

Almost instinctively, Drew reacted on time, the air before him exploding in flames, throwing both himself, and the out-worlder back, and further worsening his face injuries.

The out-worlder made it to its feet and roared, its calm and composed attitude, giving way to a savage, beastly presence.

Drew mirrored its roar, letting out one of his own, as though tapping into the beastial instinct that was continually driving him.

They both shot off their positions, mist spreading out of Drew’s figure and fogging the area, while the ground shook and rumbled with each step the out-worlder made.

Inside the mist, Drew’s speed seemed to have touched on another level, as he advanced, shifting fluidly off the path of a spike that protruded abruptly off the floor.

Rocks formed a gauntlet against the short out-worlders fist, as he unleashed a punch that blasted the air apart.

*BOOM!*

However, as though already predicting the attack before it occurred, Drew had already shifted out of the trajectory, unleashing a punch of his own.

His fist connected with the creature’s face, and flames exploded between the point of impact at point blank range, blowing the creature’s head back, and throwing it away like a ragdoll.

Not letting up, Drew followed, cocking his arm for another punch even more powerful than the former.

He unleashed his fist just as the out-worlder made contact with the ground, only to greet a wall of stone that had erupted off the ground at the last minute.

Like before, flames exploded point blank at the point of impact. This time though, it was Drew that was sent flying.

The stone wall shattered on impact, the power of the explosive flames, overwhelming its hurriedly compounded structure.

It did serve its purpose though, defending against Drew’s attack, and buying some much needed time for the out-worlder to regain its footing.

The creature made it to its feet again, Drew too doing likewise.

A soft tremor ran through the ground, and Drew jumped to the side, as just a second later, a sharp spike shot off the earth, wanting to eliminate him.

He advanced after his successful evade, mist pouring out of his body so thick, the visual detectors began to have problem picking up his movement within the fog.

This time, the mist spread all-over, covering both himself and the out-worlder, as Drew stopped holding back.

Flames erupted in the air in a continuous fashion, causing just flashes of light and fire, to be picked out from their battles.

It wasn’t Drew’s fists doing the ignition this time, as he caused his mist to explode into a combustible form of gases that quickly died immediately they finished burning.

The explosions blew out at point blank on the out-worlder till bleeding, overwhelming its senses and reaction speed.

Each clumsy barrier conjured by the out-worlder, was destroyed one after the other... Until Drew’s fist met its face, flames erupting between his fist and the flesh of the out-worlder, and another one exploding behind its head.

The mist slowly cleared out, and those watching saw Drew standing quite hunched, heaving steamy breaths, while the out-worlder laid dead at his feet, its head completely charred.

A few seconds later, Drew moved on from the scene, the bloodlust in his eyes, only deepening further as he he sought out his next target.