...However, if what Handler said was true, then why was the empire using Lance for such a mission?

Grrrhhhh...

The whale shook beneath their feet before Soren could dwell on the thought.

The whale they stood on—like the others—was engaged in a brawl with Lance.

Wuuuhummmm ...

"Slacker! Time?" Handler screamed.

"Eight minutes since we got here." He replied casually, touching an ore stone.

"Good, we get to use four more minutes, people. Let's go."

Vinegar turned to him, "Just four?"

"No time, just go go go," Handler encouraged.

Soren stood on his feet, running behind them.

They were fast. Very fast.

As they moved, Vinegar explained that each battle only lasted a total of ten minutes. And within that time, they were required to get as much ore as they could.

The points were divided this way.

Each region was assigned points.

Each ore stone in the tail region was worth ten points.

Each stone in the middle region was worth one hundred points.

And in the head region, one thousand points per stone.

Vinegar explained that any person to reach 100 thousand points was instantly set free and even paid reward money for their hard work.

Yes, the goal was to get 100 thousand points.

However, Soren quickly understood that this goal was not easy to reach.

"Shit... I'm lagging behind." He lamented giving it his all to just barely fall behind Slacker, who was the slowest.

He looked ahead. There she was. Vinegar.

She traversed the space like it was a playground.

She would twist in the air, using the grabbing rig attached to each arm like an extension of her body, pulling herself when it was needed and dodging the Antibodies.

Many blows and attacks should have riddled holes in her body, but it was like... she had eyes at the back of her head.

No, like she had eyes everywhere. It was nearly mesmerizing to watch.

He had never seen anything like it.

Her orange hair danced in the wind, and her body moved like... she was made for this.

Even though she was surrounded on every side with danger, she still had that wide smile on her face.

The sweat glistening on her purple skin was the final touch that made Soren think.

An angel.

"Dodge!" Handler's shadow pulled him by the shoulder.

Just in time too.

Sizzle...

"Where is your head, amigo?" Handler shouted.

"Sorry." Soren shook his head. Handler was far ahead, just behind Vinegar, but he still managed to save him.

The man really had an eye on everybody.

But for the first time in his life, Soren realized why people said F-rank was trash.

Handler was no doubt an A-rank Soulbound warrior.

His shadows covered a huge area like the appendages of an octopus, carrying his intention and soul energy.

He did not even need to touch the ore by himself.

The moment his shadow brushed against it, his soul energy corrupted the stone—and it fell away.

He was extremely efficient.

Ratler was B-rank.

He moved through the terrain like an actual rodent.

On all fours. His weight and size did not pull him back in any way.

He ran wild on the battlefield, tongue out, saliva everywhere.

His Shade allowed him the ability to make mirror images of himself—clones.

This way he covered more space and touched even more ore in time.

Slacker was the only one Soren could not figure out. He did not use any abilities and just ran around, touching the ore stones.

Soren was F–rank. He did not have any special ability that allowed him to utilize skills like the others.

None he could use in front of people without consequences.

He would only imagine the kind of trouble that would come his way if he used fire now and earth and ice later.

Also, he could not use his First Form. It consumed far too much Soul energy.

Only skills like the one from the Bulb, but that would require he make contact with the antibodies. And that was also not a good idea.

Note to self, practice the abilities of every soul you have consumed. But for now, come on, keep running.

He begged himself, touching yet another Ore.

However, when he looked behind, he noticed three Antibodies chasing after him.

'Yelp!"

He barely dodged an acid spit aiming for his head.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

That attack provided even more encouragement for his legs to move faster.

The distance from the tail region to the head was just about 1000 meters (give or take).

But the distance seemed longer simply because of the antibodies swarming them with attacks.

Sizzle

Acid spit grazed his arm. Luckily, the orange-issued jumpsuit absorbed most of the corrosive liquid.

But it still burned.

With only three on his tail, Soren quickly made the decision not to touch any more Ores—if he was not interested in dying a pathetic death, of course.

Grrrhhhh

The whale shook again.

Handler looked ahead. He frowned. "Switch whales!" He yelled.

Vinegar, far ahead, heard his screams. By now, she had over 100 antibodies chasing after her.

Yet, she glided through them like a seal dodging sharks.

It was both terrifying and amazing to watch.

She nodded. Turned about.

Then she ran back to Soren.

Seeing the army of scary antibodies coming behind her, Soren paused, feet screeching against the ground.

"No! No!! No!!! Stay away..."

She smirked, grabbing him by his waist. "Hold on tight, princess."

The grappling rig screamed again, pulling them up to the Whale just above them.

Once more, gravity had changed perception.

However, when Soren looked below, he saw something unbelievable.

Lance delivered a finishing blow to the whale below, bringing it crashing down.

But the antibodies. They shot sticky substances like webs from their mouths, hooking to the whale above.

Yes, even after the whale they occupied died, they still did not give up on their pursuit.

Soren cussed in his heart, greatly appreciating the idea not to touch more ore stones.

"Trust me," Handler said, glancing back at the Antibodies. "You don't want to think too much about it. Once we touch land, they'll give up. But while we're up here? It never ends."

Vinegar dis not wait. The moment she let him go, she was on the move again.

He was already grateful she did not leave him down on the dying whale.

But Soren quickly realized that his problems were just starting.

Why?

Up ahead.

He spotted Sausage Neck, and the brute, fighting off antibodies, just saw him.

Sausage Neck grinned... maliciously.

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