Chapter 60: Cleaver The Awakened Ability

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Cleaver The Awakened Ability

With his bat raised, Victor charged in without thinking twice, meeting the two D-Rankers head-on.

Unfortunately, it went badly almost immediately.

What was he thinking? Fighting against two D ranks with only his E–rank strength?

What a disaster.

The first one caught him with a kick to the ribs that sent pain lancing through his whole side.

He barely managed to block the second one’s follow-up swing before a fist connected square with his chest, driving the air from his lungs.

He hit the ground hard, bat rolling to the other side of the room.

He was up again before the pain even fully registered itself in his mind, throwing himself back into the fight.

It didn’t get any easier.

Whatever instinct and raw strength he’d carried into this fight wasn’t enough against two men who clearly knew exactly how to fight, or exactly how to read an opponent who was improvising every single move.

Of course they were not fast like Mira, but they were strong, and more importantly, they were trained.

Another hit landed across his jaw, and Victor tasted his blood.

They both smiled, seeing how easy they beat him up.

One signaled to the other and stepped forward, lunging in for a finishing punch.

However Victor had had enough.

He caught tge man’s wrist mid-swing.

The other D-Ranker swung from the side a half-second later, and Victor caught that one too, one hand on each of them, both men suddenly frozen, confused by the grip holding them in place.

"I was right. I’m not strong enough to handle the both of you, old washed men."

The realization stung, but it made him make up his mind for a certain release.

[BERSERKER INSTINT — ACTIVE]

[Berserker Instinct — Lv.1]

Duration: 45 seconds (while active)

Cooldown: 12 hours

Trigger condition: Activates involuntarily above 40% Skin Synchronization when taking damage in combat.

Once trigger conditions are met, skill becomes (Active Skill).

Effects while active:

Strength +60%

Pain Resistance +80%

Attack Speed +35%

Perception narrows (tunnel vision — reduced awareness of non-hostile targets/allies)

Victor’s muscle and veins visibly bulged underneath his black clothes, as strength surged through him all at once.

The D-Ranker in his right hand felt it first, a sharp crack as his wrist snapped backward under the pressure.

"AHHH!" The man screamed.

Victor didn’t stop.

He couldn’t.

Berserker only allows me 45 seconds to act. I am not skilled enough to match these men.

All I can do is overwhelm them with superior strength.

He drove his other hand forward, a sharp jab straight into the second man’s throat, and as the guy staggered back choking, Victor followed with a spinning kick that caught him across the jaw.

The man’s head snapped sideways, and he went down hard, skull CRACKING against the concrete floor with a sound that made Victor’s stomach turn.

"Shit!" Victor cursed. He hadn’t meant for it to look like that.

He was still not used to this skill, and controlling his strength while in it was not something he was yet capable of doing.

The C-Ranker, mid-exchange with Mira, caught the whole thing out of the corner of his eye.

"TOMMY!"

His voice cracked, panic evident in his eyes. Instantly, a shimmer of black and white light burst around his body like a dome enveloping the entire place.

Every one felt it, Mira included, as the world lurched.

Victor blinked, and suddenly he was standing four seconds in the past, mid-swing, the kick that had just connected now hanging in the air, Tommy’s head still intact and upright.

But just as the attack to about to land this time around, Tommy leaped away from it.

It also affected Mira’s battle with the C Ranker.

She froze mid-strike against the C-Ranker, her baton stopped halfway through an arc that should have already landed.

Victor leaped back.

She did too.

Both of them were equally stunned. After all, the fight around them had visibly rewound itself.

Mira frowned. "An awakened ability."

Victor realized it half a second after her.

He knew what they were. Sometimes, Rankers did not just awaken enhanced strength, senses, stamina, speed or durability.

They also awakened abilities.

Victor had lied to Hook about having one back at the Dark guild.

These abilities were also graded according to their effectiveness, range of effect, and damage.

Although they did not know it’s grade, it was clearly time based.

"No wonder these scum were able to create such a large gang." Mira commented, clearly annoyed.

Victor even sensed a bit of jealousy underneath her tone. She was also a C–Ranker, but did not have an awakened ability. Or at the very least had not discovered one.

Tommy chuckled as he massaged his neck. "Thank you boss Cleaver. That was a close unexpected one. I thought that kid was an E–Ranker, but he suddenly exploded with surprising strength."

"It’s no problem. As long as you are alive and we can get rid of these vermin." His one good arm wrapped around a pole he picked from the ground.

The other D–Ranker also chuckled. "You two are finished. This is the true reason the boss is called Cleaver, and named the gang the cleavage. His ability cuts through the norm of time, bending it to his will.

And now that you have seen his awakened ability, you two are finished." They stepped forward, but not attacking.

Just then, something clicked in Victor’s head. He drew closer to Mira. "They are... stalling." He whispered.

’What?’ She thought. Not understanding what he was saying, but she could see the seriousness on his face.

"If that ability is so good," Victor continued, then how come they are not attacking even though they have the upper hand. They are just pushing us to the wall.

And how come that C–Ranker has only one hand?"

Mira’s eyes brightened. "There is an opening window."

Victor nodded. Although as a gamer, he did not agree with what she called it.

Victor better knew it as the Cooldown period. Even his Beserker skill had one.

Victor guessed that D–Rankers knew it too, and they were not going to let their advantage slip.