Axel stared fiercely at the Extremats, who were ready to continue their onslaught. His breath came in ragged and hard, but he was determined. His face carried a brave look. For a split second, the Extremats stared at him. In that moment, Axel looked like a competition.
"Halt your move," he said, his voice commanding.
The Extremats didn't stop. Instead, they exchanged glances, then scoffed. "Finally, a bit of competition. Let's get started," the first one sneered.
Axel clenched his fists. Heat pulsed through his veins, igniting something deep within him. His body responded instinctively —fire licked at his fingertips, his aura flaring brighter than ever before.
The room grew hotter. It seemed like his powers had engulfed the whole place. He stood gallantly, staring at them, his expression emitting braveness and a spark of power.
"Since you don't want to stop the easy way, I guess we'll have to do it the hard way," Axel said, stepping forward. His eyes burned—not just with fire, but with purpose.
The Extremats laughed with an electric, sonic-like voice. They exchanged looks, and the second said to Axel, "Good of you to be brave. At least that's how superheroes should behave. But if you're doing it for nothing, no matter how many flames you radiate, it results in nothing. I will still get you killed."
Axel shrugged, and with a grin, he said, "Then go on with it."
The Extremats hesitated. Just for a second.
Then they attacked.
Axel swerved to his right, dodging a heavy punch. He somersaulted forward and, with a duck, gave a punch to one of the Extremat's thighs. That made him reel backward a bit, and Axel, not hesitating for one bit, saw that as momentum. He ran forward very swiftly and made himself a spear, throwing himself into him.
THUD!
The Extremat fell onto the ground, cracking it. Axel rolled on the floor very briskly, even forgetting to breathe. He ran to safety. The other Extremat was now pulling the trigger of his high-tech gun.
Axel had known he would do it and so had two seconds of prep time, and his prep time was rolling on the floor and swiftly putting his feet on the wall, taking three steps on it.
BLAST!
The Extremat shot the bullet. The one that had murdered Ember Lancer. Axel, without even looking at the electric ball bullet that was heading his way, somersaulted down from the wall.
It felt like an unconscious move. The flames all over him slowed down a bit. It did so with that motion.
Axel forgot to panic. He forgot to be nervous. He forgot to be human.
He learned to be a superhero!
Damn!
He landed on the floor and threw himself upwards again, this time in flight.
The whole time, the remaining superheroes had been staring at him—surprised, stunned, bewildered, in awe, in shock, in astonishment, in amazement.
Royal Cloak's eyes were wide open the whole time. Surprised. He had underestimated what Axel could do, and now, him taking on the almighty Extremat all alone—he had exceeded expectations. He had done the impossible. He had… he was…
…Inhuman!
Axel blasted white fireballs from his hands at the Extremat who had shot the bullet.
He didn't even know he could do so. Doing it— it was cool as hell. It was impressive!
He had always watched anime where the characters did so. It had felt cool watching them do it. And now, him doing it —it was unreal.
The Extremat was taken aback by that, and so it staggered backward a bit.
The Extremats paused now and looked at Axel, who was flying above them, ready to defeat them. They stared at him grimly, with a dry look that Axel noticed was void of human sympathy.
"I underestimated you," the first Extremat said. "I mean, I had thought you would be easy. But seeing you now, I'm impressed."
Axel didn't say a word. He only stared at them in disgust.
The villain continued, "You should be happy I'm praising you. It's not every day you see an Extremat do that. We only acknowledge worthy opponents, and quite frankly, you're—"
Axel cut off the talk and scanned his inventory now, trying to find the perfect weapon to end this.
He squinted his eyes:
[Hero profile complete]
He released the squint, doing so with less effort.
[Hero Profile]
Name: [Axel]
Rank: [Amateur] [F] →
Hero Points: 0/800
[Attributes]
Power: 40
Speed: 70
Endurance: 25
Intellect: 65
[Hero Skills]
1. [Active Skill] Power Punch (Rank F) – Throw powerful, tooth-aching punches. (Next Upgrade: 10 more uses required)
2. [Passive Skill] Battle Instinct (Rank F) – Slightly enhances reaction speed in combat. (Next Upgrade: Defeat 3 Elite Enemies)
3. [Unique Ability] ??? (Locked) – (Unlock at Rank C)
4. [The Pinch Swoop Loop] {RANK 1} – Takes your opponents on a swoop loop, flinging them to the sky.
[UPGRADABLE]
[Inventory]
Golden Armor (Rank F) – Makes your flames golden and fierce. Can burn opponents easily.
Inferno Sword – Goes through opponents with the similitude of flickering flames.
Axel shrugged. That was an edit to the former description.
Basic Combat Suit – Offers minor protection. (Upgradeable at Rank E)
Energy Potion x2 – Restores stamina in battle.
He thought and calculated. Which could go to use? Which one would defeat these villains once and for all?
The Basic Combat Suit was a big no. It was as useless as a broomstick.
He would use the Energy Potion when he had been beaten real badly and was on the verge of dying.
The Pinch Swoop Loop was interesting too. But it was grabbing the pinch that would be the problem, and with these guys, it would be really hard.
His hope— and what he had decided to use, actually —was the Golden Armor and the Inferno Sword. To him, the new description made it more epic.
Axel came back to life just now, just in time to hear the ending of the Extremat's words, which, apparently, he had missed many of.
It was:
"Then, we were playing. Now, we get to action."