Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening-Chapter 169: Source II

"Where the hell did he head to?"

Jake muttered, stopping in his tracks.

The scent of Kieran’s blood had vanished a while ago, just like the soldiers he couldn’t track down anymore and he was starting to get worried.

At first he had just assumed that whatever wound he had which had made him bleed had just closed up. That was reasonable, considering how fast he healed, but now, his body scent which he had been following had also vanished abruptly, like it was was never there.

He had managed to follow the scent to the hall way they stopped before returning back earlier, and honestly, he had no idea why they did that.

Despite looking around, all he could find were a few blood stained glass shards, Kieran’s blood, which meant he had been here.

’I’ve searched everywhere else.’

"Where could he have gone in this place!"

Jake muttered, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"!!"

His head shot to the side, looking far ahead.

He had just felt a busrt of energy from afar. It was impossible to miss, considering how still the whole facility was. Unnervingly so.

"The core! How did I miss that!"

He exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the railing, preparing to lunge forward.

CRACK! TSSSS!

He was held back by a clear crack sound which rang, followed by the sound of flowing gas.

"What’s that?"

Jake’s eyes narrowed, his ears perked and his head turned to the direction of the sound. It came from an opposite direction from the core where he was about to head towards.

’I better go check it out!’

He thought, bending back.

His figure became hunched accompanied with cracking sounds, as his body became inflated, claws grew out of his hands, hairs on his body growing out excessively and his legs bending back in a weird position.

"Grrrr!" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Jake let out a low growl after the transformation was done, sniffing the air once again before bolting towards the crack sound was heard.

BANG!

His figure landed with a large crash, breaking the floor and sending dust flying about.

’It’s here!’

He thought, sniffing the air again. There was an unnatural chill in the air here, the whole atmosphere was different from the moment he arrived.

The dust settled down and his eyes narrowed as he saw the source of the sound which brought him here.

The barrier, there was a huge crack on it through which the fog rushed in.

It had already filled the entrance and kept on seeping in fast.

That wasn’t all though.

"Grrrrrr!"

A deeper, threatening growl escaped his mouth as he beared his fangs in warning.

Around him were the very soldiers he had lost scent of.

He wasn’t even sure what to call them, but he was pretty certain these weren’t any soldiers.

Unlike the others, Jake had a higher affinity for beast aura, considering that his ability made more or less like one, and he could tell with a single glance that these were all monsters that had taken on the appreance of the soldiers of the camp.

’Researchers!’

His eyes flashed as he spotted some of them clad in white lab coats in the group surrounding him.

Whatever this was, it had taken over the place long ago.

’So that’s where they went!’

His eyes darted around carefully, observing the frozen figures who had their eyes locked on him and the fog which creeped towards them fast.

’Can’t believe I fell for this!’

He had ever reason to believe this was a trap set up for him seeing how everything had been in place, simply waiting for his arrival.

Whatever was happening here, it was reaching its end it seemed.

’If you aren’t gonna come, then I will!’

Jake let out another threatening growl, getting on all fours, his posture imitating that of a werewolf.

As if getting the signal, the monsters appearing as the soldiers and researchers of the outpost all moved at once, unnervingly in sync with one other.

The sound of cracking bones was clear as thay all became disfigured, different appendages ripping out their bodies.

With the fog rolling in at a quick pace, the sky above the barrier cleared for a moment, revealing the cold light of the twin moons of this planet. It was night time, and they had no idea how long they had spent there.

The sight gave Jake who had yet to figure things out some comfort. As for the other apparitions, it was like the long awaited sign as their mouths stretched open grotesquely and a loud screech came out, like metal grinding against metal.

That was the first attack!

A larger crack appeared on the barrier, followed by the sounds of shattering windows.

Jake who was at the center of this felt his brain rattle in his head, he couldn’t even feel the blood drop from his ears and nostrils from the disorientation.

Disorientation. The opportunity they sought for, and they took it, lunging at him all at once.

It was basic instinct for beats to overwhelm stronger opponents with their numbers. This case wasn’t any different.

Getting himself together, Jake’s eyelids snapped open revealing his blood shot eyes, but the creatures were already on him, clawing their way at him, following the primal desire to rip him apart.

"Aaaaarrgghhhh!!!!"

Jake let out a roar of his own, filled with pain and anger, his eyes becoming more bloodshot as his bloodlust exploded forth, making the monster which had yet to reach him, pause for a moment and rethink their choices in a short moment of clarity.

A beast like aura burst forth from him, flooding the area, crashing against the combined aura of the monsters, not even losing a single beat to them.

Jake didn’t even try to fight back as he felt his sanity slip, becoming more like starved beast.

With an ability like his, what better way was there to fight a group of monsters than as a higher monster?

His fangs elongated and his jaws clamped down on the monster right in front of him, and with a violent jerk, he ripped of whatever he had clamped down on, licking the blood off his lips with a beastial smile.

This was Jake and he was perfectly in his element.

Flexing his muscles, he swiped his hands violently, throwing off the monsters that had pounced on him.

And just like their instinct told them—don’t give him a space to breathe, flood him!

His instincts told the same, and he complied gladly, lunging himself upon breaking the first bombardment.

The monsters closest to him were the first and fastest to die, their bodies getting ripped to shreds with single strikes.

They couldn’t withstand the heavy hits coming from Jake, and despite trying to overwhelm him with their immense numbers, a predator was a predator, not a fool.

Even with his human sanity being suppressed and acting like a beast, Jake wasn’t stupid, he had fallen for that trick once and had observed it.

He wasn’t falling for it again.

Jake didn’t stay in one spot for more than a couple breaths, moving around and going to them rather than letting them flood him.

As the fight progressed, he subconsciously pulled further and further away from the crack at the barrier.

The fog had started to take over the area, and he could feeling that there was something about it worth being cautious of.

Despite dragging the fight away from there, the fog had still risen dramatically, crawling all the way to knee level.

It was rising faster than he had anticipated, and it was starting to fill the entirety of the outpost.

"Sscreeeeeeaghh—"

Jake grabbed the monster letting out a screech by the neck and weilded it like a club, smashing it down on the other ones around, till there was nothing but a splattered mess of black blood and body parts.

All that was left of the monster was the crushed neck he held in his hand.

"Screeeeeee!"

"Screeeeeee!"

"Screeeeeee!"

"Screeeeeee!"

Several monsters around started screeching again, with each one picking up on it till they were all letting out the same sounds.

The odd thing was their retreat they let out with the screech, each of them backing away with their eyes still locked on him threateningly.

With the crowd around him cleared out, Jake’s figure was revealed and he wasn’t far off from some of the monsters around him.

His uniform which had been torn a little by his transformation was gone, in tatters, revealing a body filled with lacerations and cuts of differing levels.

There were several patches of ripped hair on him, and the black blood which painted his figure blocked away some other injuries.

For Jake though, this wasn’t something too serious as the smaller injuries started to close up slowly while he observed the creature’s retreat.

With each step backward, he could see them fade further into the fog. It was clear that something was commanding these creatures seeing how they refused to lunge at him despite their crazy faces.

His eyes sharpened, catching the shadow of a bigger figure, almost as big as him approach from the cover of the fog.

The mere presence of the approaching opponent, put him on edge as he took a few steps back, letting out guttural sounds in warning.

A big one was here.

His attention was completely trained on the approaching figure, missing the fog that had now reached his waist.