As the smoke cleared a chill crept down his spine as a peer of void black steered at him. Adjusting his stance, he finally caught sight of a strange humanoid creature with metallic skin, void black eyes, a sword in hand, and a diamond-shaped object embedded in its chest.
Jack was still trying to process what the creature was when it suddenly shot forward with insane speed. Jack's pupil dilated, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he side-stepped, narrowly dodging the creature's blade, but he underestimated the creature whose reaction speed was insane.
It was quickly followed by a side slash, which made Jack's eyes widen as he raised his arms to block the strike. A low grunt escaped him as the force of the strike sent him sliding several steps back. Raising his arms, Jack blocked a high kick aimed for his head, but the force of the blow sent him crashing to the ground.
Jack felt a bit dizzy from the sudden, relentless wave of damaging attack that he was having a really hard time following, but he was given no chance to dwell on it as a sword strike was already aimed at him on the ground.
Slapping his hand on the ground, he managed to propel himself upward and dodge the attack.
The creature's blade mercilessly aimed for Jack's neck, but he crouched down, managing to dodge the merciless attack with his heart pounding wildly against his chest.
Jack was completely furious as he could clearly tell the creature was only fighting with one goal in mind; to kill.
Still crouching, Jack propelled himself forward, planning to deliver a serious blow, but Jack was stunned as the creature caught his punch in a seemingly effortless manner, and it followed with a vicious swing of its blade.
Jack blocked the strike with his arm, sending sparks flying on his power armor. A heavy punch slammed into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and his body lifted a few meters in the air. A kick slammed into his ribs, sending him flying to the side and he crashed heavily into a tree, sending several leaves down from the impact.
Jack gritted his teeth tightly, his breathing was ragged as he was in serious pain from the attacks. Clutching his side, his gaze was fixed on the strange creature as he managed to help himself up with the tree.
"Why?" he asked with his breathing uneven, but the only reply he got was a merciless charge from the creature.
Jack somehow was already expecting such a vicious reply from a creature who began attacking him for no reason, and he himself now only had one reply in his mind: run.
Jack swiftly turned and bolted, since the creature wasn't one he could reason with; his only goal now was to run towards the exit of the forest, where he might be lucky to meet the awakened warriors that would be able to help him.
The plan quickly formed in Jack's mind as he began to run with gritted teeth, his bones ached from the vicious blows they received. Suddenly, he felt something behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the creature was directly behind him, and it slashed with its sword.
Jack stumbled to the side, barely managing to steady himself. As if it was already expecting that move, the creature leapt towards Jack with bursting speed.
On instinct, Jack got down on his palms, and he twisted his legs, slamming them into the sides of the creature, sending it flying like a rag doll. Jack continued running, not even bothered if he had dealt any serious damage to the creature.
All that was on his mind was to leave the forest as soon as possible.
Focused on his exit plan, his body suddenly tensed, the hairs on his body stood on edge, his heart rammed wildly against his chest and all his senses were on edge.
His head snapped to the side, his eyes widened as he saw a beam of light mere meters away from crashing into his side.
He could feel the spiritual energy keeping his armor activated was almost exhausted, gritting his teeth, Jack twisted his body to face the approaching beam, and he tried crossing his arms in front of his chest.
The sound of an explosion filled the forest as Jack's body was sent flying like a broken kite, his body crashed into a tree and it was destroyed, his body slammed into the ground, his power armor deactivated as his body slammed into the ground again before sliding to a stop.
Jack lay motionless on the ground for a couple of seconds, and his body suddenly shuddered violently. His entire frame was covered in injuries, a deep gash was on the side of his head, his vision was blurred with blood, and his head was ringing badly.
A vicious kick suddenly slammed into his stomach, the air was knocked out of his lungs, and his half-lidded eyes snapped open from the intense pain. His body slid backwards, and he coughed out a mouthful of blood mixed with saliva.
Jack blurred in and out of consciousness, his half-lidded, bloodied eyes caught sight of the creature approaching at full speed with a vicious glint in its eyes.
"A..am I going to die?" Jack thought to himself. Almost immediately as this thought crossed his mind, a strange light flashed past his eyes and his pupil dilated. A strange energy surged through his veins followed by a burst of adrenaline.
His mind cleared, and the pain subsided; he could feel the pure and untamed energy surging through his veins.
An untamed roar escaped Jack's lips as he stood up with a burst of insane speed. The creature charged at Jack with a burst of insane speed, his sword aiming to end Jack then and there, but in the eyes of Jack, the creature was not as fast as it used to be.
Jack leaned to the side, casually dodging the attack, but the creature followed with a side slash. Jack's hand suddenly shot forward, grabbing the blade. He swung his other hand at the blade and it broke into two.
The creature froze for a bit, it released the blade and swung its fist towards Jack, who grabbed the punch with ease.
He pulled the creature towards himself, and he slammed his knee into its stomach. The creature was lifted a few meters in the air, but Jack pulled it back. A low growl escaped from his lips as he slammed a punch into the side of the creature.
Before the creature could crash on the ground, Jack followed with a relentless wave of attack, punches, and kicks.
Soon cracks began appearing on the creature's metallic skin as it couldn't defend itself from Jack's relentless waves of attack. Jack's fist surged backwards and burst forward in a blur.
The sound of something being pierced filled the air as Jack's hand pierced into the chest of the creature and came out of it with the diamond-shaped object clutched in his hand.
Jack mercilessly pulled his hand out of the creature's chest, and it stood still for a few seconds before crumpling to the ground.
Jack collapsed on the ground, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The adrenaline slowly disappeared, the strange energy also disappeared, and he could feel the pain returning, this time even stronger.
Jack screamed in pain, grabbing his head as a blinding headache crashed into him. His fists clenched tightly as he fought against the blinding pain he was feeling.
Unknown to him, his hand clutching the diamond object began to glow faintly, a stream of energy began flowing into him, his body began to heal, and the pain slowly disappeared. Jack's eyes snapped open, and his gaze moved towards his hand clutching the diamond-shaped object.
He could tell that he was somehow absorbing the energy from the object, but how? he suddenly felt a large wave of energy flow into him, and a low wave of energy escaped his body. He had successfully broken through to level 2, but at that moment, he saw the diamond-shaped object turned to dust in his hand.
He was surprised, and a certain thought crossed his mind, but before he could even dwell on it, he could hear several footsteps moving towards his direction. His head snapped up, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.