'Shit,' Jack cursed internally. The skill required him to actually hold a weapon.

Having the spears holstered on his back didn't count.

He could pull one out, but that would mean Demonhand wouldn't be doing the damage.

He wanted to test the demon abilities specifically.

'Screw it,' Jack decided, dismissing the failed skill activation. 'Thunder Mantle will have to be enough.'

Jack thought quickly and returned his classes to Demonbound and Arc Mage.

[Active Classes: Arc Mage, Demonbound]

The Glowcap had recovered from its momentary hesitation and resumed its charge.

It closed the distance between them in three massive strides, far faster than something that size should be able to move.

Jack raised his transformed demon hand to block, expecting a wild haymaker.

Instead, the Glowcap's right fist snapped out in a textbook jab.

The blow caught Jack on his raised forearm, the impact sending a shockwave through his bones.

Before he could counter, the Glowcap pulled back and threw a left hook that Jack barely managed to duck under.

'It actually knows boxing,' Jack realized, his respect for the creature growing despite himself.

The Glowcap pressed its advantage, throwing combinations that would have made any professional fighter proud. Jab, jab, cross. Left hook to the body. Right uppercut that Jack had to lean away from to avoid.

Jack tried to create space, but the Glowcap cut off his angles like it had been trained to do exactly that.

Its footwork was surprisingly light for something so large, and it kept its guard high between strikes, protecting that glowing blue cap.

A straight right punched through Jack's guard and caught him square in the chest.

[HP: 2,625/3,375]

[-250 HP]

The impact pushed him back two steps. The Glowcap didn't give him time to recover, immediately following up with a left hook to his ribs.

[HP: 2,375/3,375]

[-250 HP]

Pain bloomed across Jack's side. His armor absorbed some of the impact, but the sheer force behind the blow was impressive.

This thing hit like a truck with the precision of a trained fighter.

Jack tried to counter with his demon hand, slashing at the Glowcap's torso. His claws connected, tearing through the creature's pale flesh and drawing four parallel lines of dark fluid that might have been blood.

[Glowcap - Adult HP: 1,530/1,850]

But the Glowcap barely seemed to notice. It stepped inside Jack's guard and drove a brutal uppercut into his chin.

Jack's head snapped back, stars exploding across his vision.

[HP: 2,125/3,375]

[-250 HP]

He stumbled backward, trying to clear his head. The Thunder Mantle around his arms crackled more intensely, responding to his distress, but it wasn't doing much to slow down the Glowcap's assault.

The creature pressed forward, throwing another combination. Jack managed to block the first two strikes with his demon hand, but the third, a devastating left hook, caught him on the temple.

[HP: 1,875/3,375]

[-250 HP]

Jack dropped to one knee, the world spinning. His demon hand pressed against the ground, claws digging into the soft earth to steady himself. Blood trickled down from his nose, and his ears rang from the impact.

The Glowcap stopped its assault.

It stepped back, raised both fists above its head, and let out that steaming sound again, louder this time, triumphant.

The gesture was unmistakable. It was celebrating, like a boxer who'd just scored a knockdown, waiting for the roar of an imaginary crowd.

Its blue mushroom cap pulsed brighter, almost like it was feeding off its own sense of victory.

Jack's vision cleared, and he looked up at the celebrating Glowcap with growing annoyance. His jaw hurt. His ribs ached.

His pride was bruised from getting schooled in hand-to-hand combat by a sentient mushroom.

'Enough of this,' Jack thought, anger cutting through the pain.

He slowly stood, wiping blood from his nose with his left hand. The Glowcap lowered its arms, settling back into that southpaw stance, ready to continue the fight.

Jack took a different approach. He stepped back, creating distance of about two meters between them. Then he raised his demon hand and prepared to strike, but didn't move forward.

The Glowcap's cap flickered with what might have been confusion.

Its body language suggested uncertainty. Jack was too far away to actually hit it from this position, but he was clearly winding up for an attack.

The creature kept its guard high, fists protecting its cap, waiting to see what Jack would do.

Jack started the downward slash with his demon hand, his entire body committing to the motion. The Glowcap tensed, ready to block or counter.

Then Jack activated Abyssal Steps.

Reality folded.

One moment Jack was two meters away, mid-swing with his attack going nowhere. The next moment he was directly in front of the Glowcap, inside its guard, his demon hand already coming down in a devastating vertical slash.

The Glowcap's eyes, those two simple features on its otherwise featureless face, widened in shock.

Jack's claws connected.

They tore through the creature's raised guard, past its protecting fists, and carved a line from where its eyes were down to its groin.

The black talons cut deep, rending through pale flesh with the enhanced strength of his demon form multiplied by his base stats.

Dark fluid sprayed across Jack's armor as his claws carved through the Glowcap's torso.

The wound was massive, exposing internal structures that glowed faintly with the same bioluminescence as the creature's cap.

[-1750 HP]

[Glowcap - Adult HP: -220/1,850]

[Enemy Defeated!]

Wait, no. The notification corrected itself.

[Glowcap - Adult HP: 100/1,850]

The creature staggered backward, its previous confidence completely shattered.

Both hands pressed against the massive wound running down its front, trying futilely to hold itself together. Its blue mushroom cap flickered wildly, shifting between blue and red and yellow.

The smaller mushroom had its hands up and had healed the mushroom before Jack's attack connected. Leaving with barely any HP left.

Then the Fear status activated.

[Status Effect Applied: FEAR]

[Target: Glowcap - Adult]

The creature's cap flared bright red. That steaming sound came again, but this time it was high-pitched, panicked.

The Glowcap turned to flee, stumbling over its own feet in its desperation to escape.

Behind it, the juvenile Glowcap that had been watching the fight from the safety of a nearby tree started making distressed noises.

Its green cap pulsed erratically as it saw its protector, maybe its parent? Trying to run.

The adult Glowcap, even in its fear-addled state, seemed to recognize the juvenile's distress.

It reached out with one massive hand and shoved the smaller creature away, pushing it in the opposite direction. The gesture was clear. Run, save yourself.

The juvenile stumbled from the push but didn't run.

Instead, it stood there, its small body shaking. Then it made a sound Jack hadn't heard from either creature yet, a low, mournful wailing that sounded disturbingly like crying.

Jack felt something twist in his chest at the sound.

These weren't just monsters. They were... a family? The adult protecting the juvenile. The juvenile refused to abandon its wounded guardian.

For a brief moment, Jack hesitated.

Then he remembered where he was. What he was.

What he needed to become to survive this tower and return home strong enough to face whatever war was waiting for him.

'Hesitation gets you killed,' Jack thought coldly. 'Mercy is a luxury I can't afford.'

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