The Manaverse

Northwest of the Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

"That's good. Now fifty more." Jonny said to Jut with a grin as the latter completed a cycle of perfect one-handed swings with his bat.

Jut gritted his teeth and began another set. He had slowly gotten used to the work out routine the large man had forced on him over the four days he had been hunting with the soldiers. It was hard, but he could handle it.

Handling it would have been too hard if Jut hadn't been able to see the results between sessions. It wasn't a change to his physique, but how well Jut now fought. The drilling of proper swings had made it so he no longer hesitated when in a fight. He also, more often then not, made successful attacks that destroyed most, if not all, of the monsters he went up against.

Jut was by no means a master of combat. Yet, he had taken far less damage over their time together than before he joined their group. He contributed that to how much more confident he felt with his own power now.

Jonny hadn't allowed Jut to use his skill, Magical Strikes, at all until he had killed ten monsters on his own. It was a task Jut completed relatively easily. When Jut asked the man why that was so important, the answer gave Jut a lot to think about.

"We can't let you use your skills as a crutch. If you can't handle the job without the skill, what happens when you run out of mana in the middle of combat?" Jonny had said with his serious look that he usually reserved for when they were fighting.

Ever since Jut had taken down his first cat monster with no fear, and zero damage, he had subscribed fully to the teachings Jonny was giving him. He was going to make himself survive in this new world.

Over the time they had spent together, Jut had shared his quest to rescue more survivors with his new party. He wasn't too surprised when they received the quest themselves once he had offered to share it. However, they were not given a share in his current progress.

Indeed, whenever their party found a group of civilians in hiding and escorted them back to the safe zone, each member of the group received one point for each individual rescued. This made everyone reach a count of fifty two people saved as of that morning with Jut sitting at a little over four hundred.

With only one day and some hours left before the end of the quest, they had decided to expand their search parameters even further. Everyone near to the Safe Zone had already been rescued or had died, so they needed to venture further out.

The same was also true for pre-system supplies. All the stores and storage centers nearby had been wiped clean, leaving them little choice but to look further and further away from the Safe Zone.

Jut finished another set of swings, Jonny joining in with his huge club, just as Brick, Randy, and Larry returned from scouting with all three of the pets.

It was their usual routine that Jonny and Jut would stay at a relatively safe location and train while the others would explore the blocks around them and report what they saw so the party could strategize. With Gunther, Lily, and Randy's German Shepard, Nox, they had no problems avoiding the monsters until the group could venture out as one to deal with them.

They party would then clear out a few block's radius of monsters and look for survivors. They would fill up their inventories and, once those were full, their backpacks to haul stuff back to be turned in to the Safe Zone. If they found people along the way, those people getting to the Safe Zone became their priority.

Overall, the routine had served them nicely. It felt to Jut that the number of survivors out in the city had significantly reduced, probably because anyone still alive had already made it to the Safe Zone. At least, he hoped so.

"We've got a pack of dog monsters to the north, a Minotaur to the west, and a small colony of scorpions to the southwest," Randy reported. "A strip mall that looks fairly intact is past the Minotaur and we found a group of survivors in a building just past the scorpions. Unfortunately, we couldn't tell how many or make contact." He was rubbing down Nox as he spoke, the shepherd's tongue lolling out with happiness.

As Jut was allowed to stop his practice during reports, he was crouched by Gunther and Lily who had both run over to him the moment they got back. He was scratching their heads and inspecting them for wounds. They each looked content and to be enjoying the attention.

"So, the plan is to take out the pack, then the Minotaur, and clean up the scorpions before we rescue the people?" Jonny asked Brick.

Brick smirked and shook his head. "Nah. We're going to have Larry and Randy, along with the animals, take out the pack while you and I massacre the scorpions."

Jut's eyes bulged as he looked at Brick, reading between the lines. "You don't mean that I am going to..." Jut trailed off.

"I think it's about time we picked up the pace. We are running out of time on the quest and we need to clear this block out before lunch. Besides, Jut is ready." Jonny nodded. "I approve this plan. Are we sure there aren't too many of the insects for two of us to handle?"

"Positive," Larry added while looking back and forth with his eyes shaded by his hand before holding up three fingers. Jut had come to learn that meant that Larry had been thorough in his investigation and that there were three scorpions.

"But...wait. I don't think I am ready for this." Jut said, a bit of panic in his tone.

"Yes, you are, Recruit. If you aren't ready yet, you will never be. Now, let's move." Jonny ordered.

It did give Jut some confidence when both Brick and Randy gave him a thumbs up. That didn't stop the fear from building in him as they marched to an intersection and split up. His pets had no problem following Randy and Larry. Gunther did give him a look Jut took as concerned, but the rotti kept following Nox.

Jut understood that they did need to move a bit faster. There was only a handful of blocks left in this direction before they reached the edge of the city. With the army and other hunters handling most of the other directions, he hoped most of the city had been cleared out. He tried to avoid thinking about that mob of monsters that were gathering on the east side of the Safe Zone. He doubted anyone could impact that grouping.

Jut walked along slowly, trying to build up the courage he was going to need for this fight. Sure, the party had taken down a couple Minotaur together, but that was a full party endeavour. They always had Jonny upfront with his shield. He wasn't confident he could do this alone, even if every other member had done so at least once. He wasn't trained like they were.

Jut still remembered the massacre that had been the soldiers who fought the Minotaur at the mall. The last thing Jut wanted was to be turned into paste.

He scanned the street before him slowly. When he didn't register the Monster he was looking for, Alex's chat window popped into view.

Look closer. To your eleven o'clock.

That's where Jut saw it. A bull's horn was sticking out from behind a pile of rubble.

Think we should try a surprise attack? Jut thought to Alex as he crept closer.

Are you quiet enough to get that close? You're not Randy.

Before Jut could retort with indignation, the Minotaur rose to it's full height and stared right at him. With two steps, the monster walked out from behind the rubble and hefted his club onto his shoulder, watching Jut intently.

Guess I'm not. Jut conceded. He too squared up to the Minotaur and took a firm grip on his bat as he pulled it from his pouch.

"Heya, big fella." Jut said calmly to the Minotaur, giving the monster a small wave. "What'cha doin' over there?"

The Minotaur snorted and stamped his hoof against the concrete.

I guess he thinks you're mocking him.

I'm not. It's not like I know his name or anything. What else should I call him? Jut thought to Alex.

"By any chance are you related to the other Minotaur we've fought?" Jut asked nervously. He knew he was just trying to delay the fight, but he couldn't help it.

The Minotaur snorted again and appeared to stand a bit taller. He looked identical to every Minotaur they had seen before. He had soft brown fur, huge horns, wore leather armor, and carried a large club. The ring in his nose looked silver and he had the red eyes of a Monster.

The Minotaur gave Jut a slight bow and held his giant club in a ready stance.

Jut cocked his eyebrow, bowed back, and fell into one of the stances Jonny had pounded into him.

That seemed like an awfully cordial challenge for a monster.

Alex added quickly before their chat screen vanished so it was out of Jut's vision.

It was true. Most of the time, Monsters just blindly attacked them on sight, even the other Minotaur they had fought. This one seemed more intelligent. Jut expected to feel fear when he realized that. It surprised him when he felt a sliver of excitement woven through that fear.

This was going to be his first real challenge after the intense training he had been through and it made him grin.

Jonny's words echoed through his mind from when he had granted Jut permission to freely use his attack skill.

"Your skill is a drain on your resources. Choosing when, and how, to use it is is even more imperative for you than it is for Brick or Randy. If you leave it on through the whole fight, you could hit a mana crash. If you don't have it on long enough, you might not cause enough damage. You need to learn to activate it and deactivate it between attack combos to allow some recharge."

"Let's do this thing." Jut yelled at the Minotaur.

The Minotaur echoed Jut's challenge as an angry roar.

As one, the two charged each other.

The Minotaur raised his club for an over hand swing as he closed in on Jut. The concrete cracked beneath the huge club's head as Jut sidestepped the attack with a twist. Jut used the momentum from his twirl and smashed a backhanded swing into the Minotaur's leg, activating his skill just before his attack hit.

Jut's bat made a loud thunk sound as it landed. The Minotaur responded by swinging his club at Jut's body from where it rested on the ground. Jut ducked and dodged forward, the club swinging over his head. He managed to hit the exact same spot with his bat again in the process. Jut then deactivated his skill and took a few steps back, out of range.

The Minotaur glared at Jut, shaking out his leg. Jut had done some damage, the leather covering the leg was showing some cracks. Jut smirked and gave the Minotaur a "come and get some more" gesture. The Minotaur snorted and lunged a thrust of his club at Jut's middle.

Jut activated his skill again and bent to the side to avoid the strike. Then, he slammed his bat onto the Minotaur's hand with a sickening crack. This caused the beast to let go with that hand. Now the monster could only use one, reducing the threat he posed.

Randy's advice flowed through him from a couple days before. "Using smaller weapons can be a challenge, especially against larger monsters. I just don't hit hard or deep enough to do much damage. I get around that by attacking areas I know I can deal more damage to, such as extremities. You'd be surprised how lopsided a fight becomes when your enemy can't put pressure on a leg, or use their arms anymore. Remember, though, the same goes for you."

So, Jut did just that. He carefully watched the Minotaur's attacks and dodged. When he stayed calm, it was easier than he thought it would be. He would activate his skill and strike the Minotaur in the same few places whenever he could. He would hit the Monster's legs, arms, and hands with all the force he could muster. He would strike the Minotaur's body when he could get a clear hit in with no recourse of a counter swing.

Soon, the Monster was limping, could only use one hand, and had to have at least one broken rib. Jut, on the other hand, had not taken a single blow.

However, there was something Jut had not considered. The Minotaur's rage. It was becoming clear the Monster was not happy to be played with. When Jut made a decisive blow to the Minotaur's side once more, the monster dropped his club and Jut became a little cocky, going for another attack.

All of Jut's confidence fled when a meaty hand curled around his throat and he was lifted off the ground. The Minotaur had let Jut hit him so he could grab the much smaller human.

Being nearly eight feet tall to Jut's five and three quarters left Jut dangling nearly two feet off the ground with the life being choked out of him as the Minotaur squeezed harder. Jut had done enough damage to the monster's other hand that squeezing him or smashing him against something were the only options available to the creature.

Snorting and staring right at Jut, the Minotaur was watching as Jut choked and burbled. A small grin crossed the Monster's lips. The bastard was going to watch as he slowly killed the tiny human by strangulation. The Minotaur's grin changed into a wicked smile when Jut kicked feebly.

Jut's panic grew as his vision started to go black and fuzzy. He used his left hand to try and pry the large fingers from his throat, but the monster's grip was too strong. Jut desperately clung to his weapon and tried to think through the fog that was building. If he didn't do something quickly, Jut knew he would die.

So, Jut kneed the Minotaur in the face as hard as he could with no leverage. The monster dropped Jut and covered his nose with both his hands, moaning loudly.

Normally, Jut would be trying to back away and regroup. Instead, as he struggled to get a full breath, Jut slammed the tip of his bat squarely into the Minotaur's stomach. When the monster bent forward from the blow, Jut made sure his skill was active and brought his bat down with both hands on the back of the creature's head as hard as he could. The Minotaur slumped forward and Jut followed up with more strikes.

Jut didn't stop bashing the Minotaur's head until it was a ruined mess.

Breathing hard, and putting his hands to his damaged throat, Jut nearly collapsed. He forced himself to take deep, slow breaths. Each was painful. His guide's chat window appeared.

Not to interrupt you while you are dying or anything, but you need to loot the body.

Without thinking, Jut placed a hand to the body and activated Monster Harvest. He was lucky he wasn't out of mana as the skill activated. He watched as the Minotaur rippled and faded away, leaving behind some loot. Jut wasn't sure what was there as he allowed himself to collapse onto his back, breathing deeply.

"I did it!" He rasped out.