Chapter 19: Reënboog Forest (3)
*CROOOOAAC!*
The deafening croak alerted the soldiers that they were about to fight for their lives. Across the clearing three angry toads glared at them with wild, wide eyes.
"Shit! You dumb*ss Schalk! Let's stick to the plan!" Zander shouted, blaming his friend Schalk, disregarding that he was also laughing out loud seconds ago. Now they had no choice but to react! Wasting no time, Zander targeted the nearest giant frog and opened fire!
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The bullets flew towards their target, the frog wasn't near as fast as the black panther and the projectiles easily reached his body… Or so they thought, as they soon realized that it had no effect on the beast. It was as if the bullets hadn't even disappeared halfway through.
TUMP!*
With the momentum of its two powerful hind legs, Zander's target frog flew through the air towards the group! More than a hundred feet had been covered in a single leap!
"Engage in close combat, now!" Seeing this, Zander threw his machine gun to the side and ran to engage the frog. With no need for another word from their captain, the division began to reorganize itself into four groups. Throwing their machine guns to the ground, they also went to fight the monsters.
Running ahead, energized by the Qi coursing through his body, Zander was about to get in front of the frog, when suddenly:
*BRUAGH!*
The giant scaled frog quickly opened his mouth and spatted his tongue! It was a pinky and wet tongue that flew fast through the air in Zander's direction.
Fortunately, the captain had quick reflexes, enhanced by Qi, and managed to dodge to the left, narrowly avoiding the attack. Unfortunately for him, not everyone was the same. The tongue didn't stop there and went straight for a soldier who was behind Zander!
"Be careful!!" Zander tried to warn, but it was too late.
The wet tongue hit the soldier in the chest, stopping the man on its track. Contrary to Zander's expectation, it didn't break the armor off, instead it glued to the soldier!
"Help! Somebody get this thing off me!" The soldier despaired as he understood what would happen next. He struggled in vain trying to remove his tongue, but each time he moved he became even more glued. "Heeeelp!"
Momentarily the soldiers just stood there, looking at his companion. Zander too didn't touch that tongue with his hands, even with Qi on it.
But that moment didn't take long as seconds afterwards as the giant frog in question opened his mouth even more, pleasure was visible in his eyes. Suddenly, his tongue went back as fast as it came, taking the soldier with it. The frog then closed his mouth, trapping the soldier within its stomach. It was pretty hard to imagine how the soldier could fit inside.
"Be careful with that tongue, engage now!" Realizing that staying away they would be sitting ducks waiting to be eaten, the squadron ran faster towards their targets. A second later, Zander arrived beside the giant toad, which now had a swollen belly. Without wasting any moment, he punched in with his right hand into the beast's body.
*BANG!*
A hollow sound permeated the forest, Zander felt like he had hit a rock! Looking closely he noticed that the frog's entire body was made up of scales, on the frog's back were like large and small bumps around the body where he had hit. At first glance, he only noticed the scales on his back from afar... That would be a problem. At the same time that his mind was thinking of alternatives, he quickly jumped back avoiding a strong kick from his hind paw.
At that moment, the rest of his group came to help him. Soon, punches and kicks with Qi were delivered to the frog.
Around fifteen men were ganging up against one frog!
[Why does this feel so wrong?] Schalk at his side couldn't help but to try.
"Its whole body is protected by scales…" Zander used that moment to warn the soldier through the ARGP-100.
*BANG!*
*CRACK!*
Perhaps distracted by Zander's warning, a blond soldier wasn't so lucky and was hit by a back kick. When he landed on the ground a few meters away, his chest armor was broken into pieces and he fell unconscious, his state unknown.
The animal's eyes shifted from soldier to soldier, looking for his next target. Fortunately, it was not fast and from such close quarters it was difficult for it to use his tongue efficiently.
[That is it! The eyes!] Zander suddenly realized, that was the beast's weak spot!
Wasting no time, using as much Qi as he could in his right arm, he jumped forward and threw a punch!
*BANG!*
"CROOOAAACCC…." The beast howled in pain as its left eye was completely destroyed and green liquid splashed in the air.
But that was not the end!
"Now, Schalk!" Shouted Zander.
"Right, Bro!" The man acted fast and used every single bit of Qi he had, which was way less than the Captain. With an impulse, he appeared right in front of the giant frog and punched it!
*SPLASH!*
Green liquid sprayed the ground again!
*CROOOAC!*
The beast rolled on the ground in pain, his four legs spasmed erratically. Another unfortunate soldier got hit by the strong rear leg. Luckily, he was able to block it with both arms but his armor shattered instantly and he was sent flying away, his arms hanging by his side, clearly broken as well.
But there was no time to waste, the beast was still alive! Looking at the frog's chest area Zander noticed that there weren't any scales protecting it. Wanting to finish it as soon as possible, Zander used the last bit of Qi he had stored in his dantian and punched it!
This time his punch hit the frog's chest and pierced its body without any resistance, exploding its heart.The giant scaled frog twitched and died on spot!
However, before the group of now twelve men could celebrate, they heard shouts nearby. Zander turned his head at the exact moment when another giant frog spatted its smelly tongue towards Pyong Tay.
"Care…!" Tried to warn but it was too late once again.
But the next scene left him completely dumbstruck.
As a ninja, Pyong Tay easily escaped the clutches of the wet tongue. With a single movement he dodged to the right, lowering his body and unsheathing his sword, slicing upwards the frog's tongue!
"Amazing!" one of the soldiers exclaimed.
"Come now, let's help them!" Zander ordered his group.
*********
A few minutes later, the Pathfinder Division was out of breath. Even though the battle ended quickly, they were completely exhausted. It could be said that this was the first real fight they had while using their Qi, it might not be the most glorious fight of their lives nor even the one that would echo for generations to come, but they did well defeating three giant toads and completing their quest.
In the end, eight men were lost but Zander still thought that this was a good result overall. They fought for the first time a monster never seen before and were victorious! Now, their mission was complete, they got a lot of samples and two new things:
A book and a small white flower!
Even though the flower looked majestic and dedicated at touch, Zander could feel a great amount of natural energy inside it. Not knowing if the thing was venous or not, he chose to hand it to the scientists. Now, the thing that interested him the most: the old book. The captain held it in his hands carefully, its yellow cover emitting a mysterious aura that they already experienced. All the soldiers flocked near their Captain, trying to take a small look at what the book contained. To ease his men's minds, Zander read the title out loud.
"Five Palms of Fire, Battle Technique!"
"Oooh… that sounds incredible!" One soldier exclaimed
"Yeah… Can we take a look Cap?" Another chimed in.
The soldiers were elated. They knew what a cultivation book implied, but what about a battle technique? No one here had ever heard about it, but it would be incredible as well, right?
"Let's first return to our base and then we can discuss it..." The captain dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Go back to position, don't forget that we are still inside the forest!"
Zander said while walking ahead ignoring them. He opened the book and started flipping through it, Schalk went behind him.
Zander knew he probably wouldn't have a chance to get this book once it was released. Because of that he had only a few minutes to memorize everything the book contained.
"Don't forget the bodies!" He said aloud, leaving the soldiers confused, was he talking about the giant frogs or their dead comrades?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
GmsNick
GmsNick Hello guys!
Today is my birthday, so here is your gift.
Now give me mine, support me!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone