Uruvi spun around and saw three of the remaining five Pisacha sprinting towards her. They were no longer flailing like an inflated balloon, instead looking and acting like more humans. She tightened her grip on the stick, waiting for the two monsters to reach her.

  She pulled the stick behind her back and uttered, “Domino.” She slammed the head into the chest of the first Pisacha, filling the air with a loud screech. Almost immediately, the chest of Pisacha behind it also collapsed as it bent forward in response. The hit propagated to the third one as well, but the effect on it seemed to have waned.

  Domino – A portion of the attack on an enemy can be transferred to a nearby enemy. Damage limit: 40 percent. MP cost: 10. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

  She couldn’t stop herself from grinning. Before the monsters could recover, she delivered yet another blow, this time right to the face. The Pisacha staggered back, falling onto its fellows, who immediately propped it back up.

  “Tch!” she said, looking at the health bar of the monsters. The first one was at sixty percent, while the other two were at a healthy green. ‘I guess that is the end of easy thrashing.’

  The Pisacha before her swung its right arm at her, slamming the back of its hand into her. The blow was powerful enough to send her crashing into the cubicle wall. Dull pain radiated from her back, making her grit her teeth. ‘Thank God it used the back of its hand. Otherwise, I would have had a wide-open wound on my chest.’

  The three monsters bumped into each other, staggering as they tried to regain balance. ‘They may be an upgrade, but they still seem uncoordinated.’ She hunched down and slipped under the gaze of the Pisacha, landing before the elevator. Hopping back onto her feet, she delivered another hit to the monster at the back. “Domino!”

  The monsters staggered forward as their health bars were drained. The Pisacha countered by whipping its hand at her, but she leapt back and dodged it with ease. She delivered another hit to the monster’s head, sending it staggering momentarily.

  Her eyes shifted to the Pisacha stumbling about in the maze of cubicles. ‘Wait… I can use the landscape to my advantage.’

  She saw that the Pisacha in front of her was still preparing to attack. Seeing it as a window of opportunity, she took a sharp left turn and sprinted through the narrow paths between the cubicles. She noticed that her Charge skill had reset, and the monster seemed to have noticed her. She lunged at it, swinging her stick, aimed right at its head. The Pisacha swung its arm, its razor-sharp claws coming close to her throat. A golden hue appeared around her as the stick smashed into its head, crushing it. Its claw was carried forward by the momentum and struck her near the jaw and just above her shoulder blade.

  She let out a loud cry as the sharp pain radiated from her shoulder blade. She placed her other hand on the wound, but once the initial pain subsided, she noticed that the wound was only surface level. She ran her fingers along the lower half of her helmet and saw that a good chunk of it was exposed. ‘Whoa! Would that have killed me?’ Her health had dropped by a mere 5 percent.

  She breathed easy as she turned to face the other monsters. One of them was rushing towards her through the narrow lane. Her eyes caught a glimpse of an office chair, sitting at arm’s length away from her. She pulled it into the lane and pushed it into the path of Pisacha, who was stopped dead in its tracks. She rushed forward and pushed on the chair with her right leg, holding the monster back. It swung its arms wildly but was unable to reach her.

  Just as it was about to bend down, she struck it in the head with an uppercut. It staggered backwards, letting her push the chair forward a little more. She put her foot down and leaned in, striking it once again. Its health bar fell into the red.

  She jabbed the monster's head, which seemed to irritate it. It began to swing its arms wildly, but she used the chair to maintain distance.

  “Calm down!” She kicked the chair with all her strength, knocking the monster backwards. With one mighty swing to the monster’s face, she set the health bar to zero. The monster fell to the floor, turning to dust, revealing the other Pisacha heading towards her.

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  ‘Let’s finish this level.’

  She grabbed onto the armrests and pushed the chair towards the monsters. Just as she reached them, she stopped and kicked the chair towards them. The Pisacha stopped, almost falling over the chair. She sprinted towards them before using the seat of the chair as leverage to gain height over them.

  A golden hue appeared around her as she shouted, “Domino!” She swung the stick downwards, like the swing of a golf club, striking the first Pisacha in the head. The hit propagated forward, striking all three monsters. The first monster’s head exploded, and so did the second one. But the third one fell back, its health bar in the red.

  ‘It’s not dead yet!’

  She stepped on the cubicle’s wall and leapt onto the Pisacha, bringing her stick down onto its head, crushing it. Its health dropped to zero as it lay on the ground, lifeless, before it began to turn to dust.

  She felt breathless, but her body felt alive and hungry for more. Never before in her life had she felt this way. It was addictive. ‘So, this is how gym rats feel… I like it.’

  She looked at her screen and saw her XP grow; it was short of next level by about fifteen percent. “Onwards…”

  ***

  She climbed up another flight of stairs, reaching Floor 2. She peered through the window to see two Pisacha roaming about. These looked even more human-like. They had faces like humans, but no eyes, nose, or ears, just large human-like jaws with massive, sharp teeth. She took another look and saw no more monsters.

  ‘Only two?’ she wondered.

  “Warning! Facing a new enemy, Manv-Pisacha. After consuming enough flesh, Pisacha evolve into more human-like creatures. They are capable of greater strength and intelligence,” said the Robot.

  ‘Whoa! Need to be careful with these in that case.’

  She pulled the lever down, and a click echoed through the floor, drawing the attention of the monsters. They looked at her and let out a loud roar before pouncing onto the door, slamming back at her. The window glass shattered, sending shards of glass at her, which bounced off her helmet and fell onto the floor. The Pisacha gripped the door by the edge of the window and tried to rip the door open, only for it to swing open.

  Uruvi used the opportunity to deliver an uppercut, powered by the Charge skill. “Domino!” she shouted, and the hit propagated to the other Pisacha. The monsters stumbled backwards.

  She eyed their health bars, both of which shrank by about twenty percent. She let out a battle cry and charged at them, delivering a flurry of swings. The monsters began to block her attack by crossing their arms. When one monster became defensive, the other would pounce at her. However, they were still slow, allowing her to switch up and strike the aggressor.

  She could feel their bodies toughen up when she struck them. The previous ones felt squishy, like a punching bag. But striking these felt like she was hitting a human body, with flesh and bones. Nevertheless, as long as she was doing damage, she was good. The monster’s swings were no longer wild and random; they were precise and timed well. However, she found them to be much easier to anticipate and dodge.

  She began to understand the rhythm of the fight. Her skill and spell had the perfect intervals for an ideal rotation. Hit, hit, dodge, hit, cast spell, hit, dodge. Every ten seconds, she would hit them with a charged attack, getting to delete a massive chunk of their health.

  “Domino!” she shouted as she smashed a charged hit into the Pisacha’s belly, sending a chain reaction into the other one. The monsters froze before falling onto the floor with a dull whimper.

  “Fuck yeah!” she cried out, seeing them turn to dust. Her XP bar filled up.

  A loud ding was followed by the announcement, “Progressing to Level 3. 5 Attribute points, 1 Skill Point, 1 Spell Point gained.”

  She felt like her battle instincts were getting better, and she knew the reason for their speedy progression. Skill – Reinforce. (Passive skill) Every successful battle reinforces the rhythm of battle into the body.

  She did not understand it fully but had an idea of how it worked. During her short time training, her master talked about how the body learns from experience and will adapt subconsciously. She expected this to work in a similar fashion, and it appeared that she was right.

  ‘More points to assign!’ She opened the Attribute tab and began to think about which ones to assign. After a good amount of thinking, she decided to choose Strength, Toughness, Renewal, Valor, and Dynamism. She figured it was best to hone in her existing skills before diversifying.

  She switched to the Skills tab next and her eyes shifted to the Spirit tree. “Should I unlock it?” After much deliberation, she decided not to. Instead, unlocking the fourth skill in the Body tree – Adrenaline rush. It was a powerful, but dangerous skill. It, however, fit her playstyle.

  Skill – Adrenaline Rush. Increase attack and speed by 15 percent for twenty seconds but lose 10 percent of health.

  When it came to Spells, she found herself in a dilemma once again. “Let’s just upgrade Rejuvenate.” It was a wise choice.

  Now, it was on to the next floor.