Chapter 382: One Versus Three: New Trait in Action

"Whatever happens, try your best to not get it killed. I'll be keeping a watch on it too." Just when Jyorta planned to move forward, a staff's voice resounded in his ear. It seemed to be from a male in his thirties, judging by the tone of the voice.

"Yes sir, I plan to experiment with its power further." Jyorta nodded, commanding the River Whale to move. The River Whale swayed its tail from top to bottom as it started to move. On seeing that the staff didn't comment on the matter further, Jyorta continued with his task.

Seated in the principal's office, Madam Mary was sipping some tea when the staff stationed at the entrance seeped his psychic arm through the hole in the door, relaying her a message. The teacup shattered as she gripped it with more strength than usual.

Just when the tea was about to spill on her, a tiny wave of psychic energy vaporised the contents, same for the teacup. Madam Mary stood up, her lips curled up into a smile, "This guy…"

She chuckled, relaxing on the chair, "The moment we hinted of our support on him, he surprises us like this."

She tried to control herself but felt her lips curling up into a smile, her mood brightening up. Through her domain, she focused on Jyorta, watching the evolved Steel Porcupine swimming beside him, "Nice."

The River Whale soon approached an area where three Rigordiles were lying in wait within the water. It moved closer to the ceiling, far beyond the range of their attacks. It was just Jyorta exercising caution, unwilling to be attacked by his foes.

After all, layer 3 was dangerous enough for him to exercise caution. And, as he planned to proceed to layer 4 and beyond, he didn't wish to be injured so early.

Jyorta looked at the Steel Porcupine, seeing the other party tilt its head while looking at him. After evolution, its limbs had disappeared, making it look no different from a serpent. But, it still retained larger eyes than what a serpent possessed, ones suffused with intelligence and a child-like curiosity.

It made circles in place, occasionally revolving around Jyorta as it let out squeals of laughter. Even its voice had changed, only sporting little resemblance to a Steel Porcupine. It was almost like a new species.

"I can no longer address it as a Steel Porcupine. It should have a new name." Jyorta watched its antics, feeling amused as he gazed at the three Rigordiles on the ground. "Now, shall we test your strength?"

Jyorta gazed at the evolved Steel Porcupine, watching it nod in return and swim to the underside of the River Whale. 'So, it could understand me through my aura.'

The River Whale steadily reduced its altitude, watching the three Rigordiles look ready to retaliate. The moment it had closed the distance to a fair extent, the evolved Steel Porcupine made a jump, exiting the film of water as it made a beeline towards the foes.

It aimed at the space between the three Rigordiles, curling itself into a ball to reduce its surface area. The Rigordiles stood on their hind legs, brandishing their claws to hack it. The evolved Steel Porcupine shifted its body weight by expanding, curling its body into various shapes to dodge the first wave of attacks.

When a Rigordile's claw neared it, about to slam head-on into it, the hair coiled around its body stood up, coiling into a whip that slammed the claw away. The force behind the attack was to such an extent it scraped the scales and drew blood from the flesh underneath. It also stopped the claw, negating the momentum behind its motion.

The evolved Steel Porcupine spun its body, coiling the hair on its body into three whips, lashing them on the three Rigordiles. The attacks caused them to lose their balance, splashing water as they crashed into it.

The evolved Steel Porcupine entered the water with a plop and swam towards the nearest Rigordile, afflicting it with a lot of lash marks. It targeted its right arm, solely focusing the attacks on the area.

The Rigordile on the back got up and leaped onto the evolved Steel Porcupine, wishing to slam it into a pulp when a sturdy arm slammed into its face, the momentum collapsing its balance and sending it tumbling to the ground.

The attacker was a Rigordile, gawking in shock as it gazed at the hand that punched its brethren. It noticed faint hair lodged into the muscles using the places where the tough skin had been peeled off from the last attacks. The hair seemed to course through its muscles before forming a connection with the nerves in the arm, sending false signals through it.

The signals override the ones sent by its brain, causing it to punch its brethren in the face. The Rigordile brandished the claws on its left, using their sharpness to sever the thin hair. Once the connection was severed, it could move its right arm freely once again.

The evolved Steel Porcupine lashed out on its legs this time, with the ends of the whip breaking the sound barrier, producing thunderous claps each time. The impact increased the wounds sustained by the Rigordile.

The Rigordile tried to attack it, but the evolved Steel Porcupine used its whips like rope arms to dodge all attacks, scuttling to and fro between the three foes. It didn't seem disadvantaged one bit, fighting on par with three Frenzy Beasts its level.

But, every time it took control of a limb to confuse its enemy and the connection was severed, the power behind its attacks fell by a level. It didn't seem to possess an inexhaustible amount of hair, and also didn't seem capable of growing them instantaneously.

'So, the hair on its body grows like normal hair that it wounds around itself. The amount of hair it had grown correlates to the strength it could exhibit. It can freely control the hair, making various forms using them to attack. Also, when the hair burrows into the muscles and makes a connection with the nerves, it could override the brain's signal in the area and temporarily control the body part as it desires. Based on its fighting methods, this seems to be the extent of its Trait.' Jyorta thought, gleaning data from each action the evolved Steel Porcupine had taken.

Traits were passive Skills, so they were something that was accumulated over time in the body or generated a certain effect at a constant pace. The Trait of the Floating Spiders fell on the latter while the evolved Steel Porcupine seemed to fall on the former.

'Now, I wonder if its Skills had experienced any changes.' Jyorta thought, recalling the Tier 2 Skill the Steel Porcupine had displayed before. It was the Tier 2 Skill the Steel Porcupines commonly Nurtured—Shoot Burst. It added a spin to their spikes while launching it at speeds greater than normal.

The Skill increased the lethality of their regular attacks. But now, the evolved Steel Porcupine no longer possessed any spikes on its back, so the Tier 2 Skill had become useless. So, Jyorta wondered if it experienced any changes during its evolution.

He kept a close watch on its aura, wishing to be alert when it spiked. For, when Skills were activated, the being's aura spiked accordingly. That was the clue he was waiting for to see the effects of the evolved Steel Porcupine's Skills.

Tier 1 Skills barely caused any fluctuation in the presence, so it was impossible to know when a Tier 1 Skill was activated. But as for the Tier 2 Skill, it would be pretty obvious, for the aura would experience a spike. Tier 2 Warriors weren't known as Amplifiers for no reason.

The evolved Steel Porcupine condensed numerous strands into one, making the tip sharp as it pierced the throat of a Rigordile, drawing out copious amounts of blood. The attack was unable to mortally wound it as the Rigordile still retaliated with a lunge.

The evolved Steel Porcupine curled itself into a ball and dodged the attack, targeting the same area. The Rigordile missed its target during its lunge, the momentum carrying it forward as it crashed into the water. It landed before another Rigordile, getting up swiftly to attack its foe once again.

But without any warnings, it opened its jaws wide and clamped on the shoulder of the Rigordile before it, breaking past its defences, crushing bones while drawing out blood. The Rigordile roared in pain as it brandished its claws on its attacker, smashing its head repeatedly.

Rigordiles were famous for the power behind their jaw that could easily break past any hard shell, including the Lava Turtle's. So, the attacked Rigordile had no hope of escaping from the jaws of its brethren.

It slammed the attacker's head with its free arm, attacking until the attacker's head bled from the shock, its eyes bursting from the repeated attacks. Only then did it notice the hair extending from the hole in its throat and connecting to the evolved Steel Porcupine that had positioned itself between the legs of the two.

The Rigordile roared in anger when the evolved Steel Porcupine shaped its hair into a pair of hands and tripped it to its back. The Rigordile, including its brethren whose jaws clamped on its shoulder, crashed into the water.

The Rigordile was constricted, unable to move a couple of seconds until it freed itself from the hold of its dead brethren. Before it could do so, the shadow of the evolved Steel Porcupine loomed above its head as its hair formed two spikes, drilling into its eyes, reaching its brain, and branching out into individual strands, cutting the soft flesh innumerous times. The two Rigordiles had died as the evolved Steel Porcupine set its sights on the last one standing.

It leaped from the water, making an arc towards its target when the hair on its body expanded like a fan, forming a net as it crashed into the Rigordile.

Bloodcurdling screams followed suit.