With a Focused Leap I rocketed high into the night sky on a ballistic arc, feeling the wind tear at my eyes. Looking down I felt wild terror grip me as my fear of heights reasserted itself even as I frantically reminded my hindbrain that the skill rendered me immune to the kinetic shock of impact. That fear mixed queerly with my bloodthirsty longing for combat and predatory delight at seeing the pile of drowsy boarillas scanning the landscape beneath me. I fired off a Lunge to correct my trajectory and Bunker Down to curl into a nice defensive ball.

  I wasn't looking to be a spear tonight, I wanted to be a "CANNONBALL!"

  As I streaked towards the ground I found my vision obscured.

  –Event Quest in progress Under Siege–

  –Join Quest?–

  –Y/N–

  I frantically hammered yes and shoved to pop ups out of the way desperate to see where I was going before impact.

  I caught just a flash of the boarillas looking up in shock, a few trying to run as I impacted the ground with an earth shattering kaboom. The impact threw chunks of dirt and meat flying hundreds of feet into the air, looking and sounding like a multi-ton bomb had gone off. The impact was heard for miles and served as a very clear signal that the counter attack had begun. I was only tangentially aware of this, as while I was not damaged by the impact, The G-Forces left me more than a little punch drunk.

  –Leap leveled up–

  –Gained 3xp–

  Cackling wildly, I pulled myself free of the tons of dirt raining down on me, whooping with delight. I felt full to bursting with wildly churning power as, despite taking no damage, Bunker Down had banked a sea of energy from the impact and falling debris. I was even able to 'see' fairly clearly through the massive dust cloud thanks to all the shockwaves being made from torso sized chunks of earth slamming into the ground. As such I was very aware of the crowd of maybe ten boarillas running towards my impact site to either investigate or try to help the pigs I'd just rendered into fine salsa.

  I showed this new group no more mercy than the last as I lunged from the thick cloud of dirt swinging my surfboard of a tail blade in a wide horizontal sweep. All that power roiling around inside me shunted itself into the swing, making the air around me thunder from the near supersonic attack. Needless to say, a multi-ton blade moving that fast produced more of a wet burst than a slice as it tore through eight of the ten pigs. The momentum of the swing spun me almost completely around and added the slightest bit of dizziness to my already addled state.

  –Bunker Down leveled up–

  –Gained 3xp–

  A quick glance at the two remaining pig monkeys revealed one of them on the ground bleeding heavily from the bone shrapnel embedded in its side, unmoving. The other was fleeing with loud fearful squeals.

  Instincts both old and new locked onto the runner in an instant as I cheerfully declared, "Nope!" Thrusting my head forwards I enveloped the upper half of the runner in my mouth and lifted him effortlessly into the air. A cruel cackle bubbled up as I felt the boarilla struggle futility to force my Jaws apart and I bit down. It only took a second before I was rewarded with a dry crack, a wet splat, and the metallic stench of blood flooding my mouth alongside a familiar pork flavor.

  –Grappling Strike leveled up–

  –Gained 3xp–

  –Constrict leveled up–

  –Gained 3xp–

  Flinging the carcass aside and doing my snakey best to spit out the blood, pigs were hardly known for being free of disease and parasites after all, I tilted my head and listened to the suddenly noisy night. Frightful and furious squeals filled the air, often accompanied by the shriek, roar, and howl of a dozen other monsters. This felt right to me. I was exactly where I was supposed to be doing exactly what I had been born to do. A laugh forced its way out of me as I listened, that vicious part of me I constantly fought to suppress reveling at the sounds of battle and slaughter. It called out for more and for once I was happy to indulge it.

  I slammed the flat of my tail against the ground twice, the vibrations rapidly shooting through the ground and returning. The system granted sense translated the return echoes into a mental wire frame of several buildings, electrical/sewer lines, and dozens of boarillas under attack by a menagerie of monsters. One nearby group of nearly twelve individuals was not currently under attack and appeared to be locked in a heated argument. I decided to render their argument moot by inserting myself in the middle of it via a Focused Lunge.

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  My multi-ton form plowed through the building between me and them, a single story house, rolled over a couple of pigs that I could feel being ground to meaty mulch beneath me, before slamming into another house to halt my momentum. I crowed out an exuberant, "Caught ya sleepin'!" as I looked down on the gang, eyes lit with a wild energy and my smile painfully wide.

  I tried to wrap myself around the entire group while they were surprised. Sadly, with how spread out they were, my need to pull myself free of the half collapsed house, and the boarillas' agility I only managed to trap four of them between my razor sharp scales. They still squealed with intoxicating terror as I began to squeeze, spurring the remaining members of the group into action as I cackled out, "I gotcha where I wantcha-"

  Six of the seven remaining pig beasts threw themselves against my side, pushing against my torso to try and forcibly loosen my coils. The largest of them hung back and squealed something that made the four in my coils begin to resist my crushing force in a more organized manner, actually managing to temporarily halt my attempts to squeeze the life out of them. Then the big one charged my face with a battle cry, lifting high a crude metal weapon made by a length of highway guardrail.

  I simply laughed at their efforts. "Now I'm gonna getcha!"

  Focusing on my Myoelectric mutagen I let the electricity storing organs in my muscles discharge a localized storm into the ten intelligent beast attacking me causing them all to hoot in shock. The boost to my strength let me easily grind the trapped four against my side into broken meat as the other six collapsing in a twitching pile.

  –Suidarian is Stunned! x9–

  The last remaining gorilla shaped pig of the group stumbled in its charge as it suddenly found itself alone against me. I gave the lone boarilla a wide toothy smile as I pulled the pile of stunned pork into my coils and began to slowly squeeze.

  "Whatever will you do now Porky?" I teased, "Run away and leave everyone to die? Or fight a futile battle you have no hope of winning?" A few of the electrocuted boarillas in my coils began to weakly protest as my coils slowly tightened. "Decisions, decisions." An evil chortle bubbled free as the sounds of combat filled the night around us.

  The lone boarilla seemed caught in indecision, looking around helplessly in the dark for aid, its ears locked on the weakly squealing pile of allies trapped in my coils. Its beady eyes and posture radiated a sense of helplessness as the cries of death and battle filled the night, but only for a few seconds. The boar quickly seemed to gird its loins, its half hoof hands tighten around its weapon as it looked me in the eyes and let loose a loud series of oinks and squeals before charging me.

  "Ha! I respect your courage, little pig!" I cheered, smiling wide even as I raised my tail's blade into a high ready, "I, Joe Palmer, First of his name, accept your challenge!"

  I swung my massive weapon in a low sweep at around the pig's waist, my smile only grew wider as the pig managed to hop over my first swing. Quickly spinning the momentum of my swing around into an overhead backswing, the lone boarilla threw himself out of the way, briefly scrabbling along on all fours to continue his charge towards my main body, eyes locked on my own with a toothy snarl. I responded by simply sweeping the blade and tail along the ground towards him. The pig, lacking sufficient footing to try jumping again, raised its guardrail weapon like a shield, blocking my razor edged scales, but still getting swept off his feet.

  As the lone boarilla tumbled across the ground, I reared my head back and struck, seeking to impale him with my bladed nose. The pig's eyes widened in fright as it saw me coming and threw himself into the roll, letting him avoid being impaled, but still suffered a severe gash along the back of its right shoulder. The pig cried in pain, but recovered in an instant, grabbing hold of my nostril with its left hand and using it to rip itself up to lash at my eye with the weapon on its right. I closed my eye and felt galvanized steel scrape harmlessly along my tungsten scales before using my superior mass to simply shove the pig away with the shake of my head.

  The boarilla warrior was flung nearly twenty feet, landing heavily enough to suffer some serious road rash as he tumbled another fifteen feet before stopping. He grunted with pain as he forced himself upright and raised his weapon in defiance, seeming completely undeterred by his complete inability to hurt me thus far. I barked out a laugh as I uncoiled to face this lone man facing down the unkillable beast, I would give him the attention he deserved.

  "I didn't hear no bell either."

  The warrior squealed out something as he slammed his weapon on the ground. I knew exactly what he was doing, I could clearly feel and hear the dazed steps of the still half stunned and badly injured boarillas behind me staggering away. It would take me only an instant to turn and kill them all, to extinguish all hope and drown this lone pig in despair before I killed him. Why bother though? Killing the pigs in and of themselves provided no rewards beyond a moment's satisfaction, and would render this warrior's courageous sacrifice meaningless. I was not so cruel.

  Besides, this one boarilla was far more fun than all the others put together.

  I gave the retreating pigs a single glance, simply to confirm they weren't trying something sneaky before returning my attention fully to lone warrior. I gave him a lone nod as I readied my blade again much to his apparent bewilderment.

  I opened with a thrust he barely managed to poorly block, biting into and partially through his weapon into his arm, blowing him off his feet. I followed up with a downward slash he rolled away from, using the anchor point to drag my main body closer as he regained his feet. I did the equivalent of shoulder checking the warrior by slamming a fold of my coils into his chest, the sharp scales flensing away thick hair and flesh. Shockingly he managed to keep his feet and struck back, doing nothing to my bloody scales leaving himself open to a thrust from my head. He just managed to get his weapon between my nose and his head. I felt the galvanized steel shatter along with his hand and arm as the force of the blow sent him spinning down into a small creek that was flowing alongside the road we were fighting on.

  He slowly and painfully tried to rise to his feet again, but he was too slow. I was on him, using a bit of Focus on my prehensile tail to widen it into a broad fan and slam him down into the mud and pin him in place. I dangled my head above him, the sharp shovel point of my noise above him like a waiting guillotine. The defeated warrior simply smiled up at me with an expression of tired satisfaction as he seemed to sigh out a defeated grunt.

  I paused, as even with my battle high filling my blood, making my thoughts fuzzy, I found I didn't want to kill this one. He'd shown such courage and honor in sacrificing himself for his fellows I had come to respect him. I really should spare him, maybe he could instill such virtues among the rest of his kind. Yes, a second chance. Because if this bastard ever pulled this shit again I'd not hold back and simply destroy him. Best put some sort of mark on him to make him recognizable.

  Lowering my bladed nose slowly towards the warrior's face I slowly slid the edge through the flesh over his brow, digging it deep to help ensure it scarred. Lifting my nose free and sliced another deep cut in his face from temple to snout leaving an easily recognizable bleeding cross in the man's face. He looked up at me with both pain and confusion writ large on his boar face.

  "For your skill, sacrifice, and valor I grant you the greatest gift I can bestow upon you. Mercy," I whispered down to the defeated warrior. Seeing the flowing creek next to us, a random impulse flits through my head that I choose to indulge. "and Salvation." Wrapping my prehensile tail around him, I shift him to just above the flowing waters. "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Immersing the warrior in the flowing water briefly before pulling him out as he gasp and sputters. The newly baptized warrior looks at me in confusion, seemingly unable to understand what has just happened. "I dub thee Chad, go now and live with the blessing of God, child."

  I set the wet and bleeding man down on the road and turn away. I listen for the next closest sound of combat and Leap towards it, this quest is still far from over after all.