In the moment Alex didn’t know how to respond, couldn’t really. Between the pain and his all-encompassing focus on the battle, the substance of the words had barely reached him. The voice, however, was easily identifiable. The same melodic tones he’d heard for much of the prior day so prominent he could immediately recognize the speaker. He tried to respond, momentarily forgetting he was on a battlefield as his concussion made itself known, but failed to get the words out. The pain in his chest and shoulder amplifying from the low vibration his attempt had resulted in.
Alex slumped to his butt, the feeling of his leg impacting the ground sending another wave of agony rippling out. Just as he was starting to feel his best option might be to lay down where he sat, if only to ease his suffering, a new sensation began to fill him. Alex heard the voice speak once more; words easy to ignore as the relief of healing overshadowed the pain. It started with his head, the liquid seeping through skin and bone to clear away some of the agony that had plagued his thoughts. As he opened his eyes, getting his first real glance at his own body, Alex quickly came to miss his ignorance.
He tried to sit up as the added vitality of the potion began to work on his chest, the onyx spike sending another jolt of pain through him as it was pushed out. Across his torso both cuts, and the more blunt force injuries the ground provided, were healed the act turning weeks of recovery time into seconds. Janet was off to the side, forcing Alex to painfully twist his neck to get a better look at her.
She used two small daggers, body a dark blur of movement as she danced around the three beasts in an attempt to keep them away from Alex, though she made no effort to outright kill them. He didn’t know how she knew not to, or even why she was here for that matter but had no time to ponder the thought before as a tingling sensation in his upper leg made him look down. His tibia was such a mess of crushed and splintered bone he wondered how the limb was still attached. The sight almost made Alex lose his breakfast, then as the potion effects began to move lower, he did.
The liquid healing reached his leg shortly after he finished marring his clothes in their newest bodily fluid, and he began to dry heave once more as he watched the process, a morbid curiosity holding his attention fixed. Marrow first reversed its flow, the bone pushing out what it determined as unsalvageable, before growing anew to fill its place. Spongy porous material was covered by a smooth surface, then shielded by the light blue of cartilage. The tendons were next to develop, their rubbery form quickly overlapped by the deep red of muscle, which was when the pain reasserted itself.
For the entirety of the healing process thus far, Alex’s pain level had been decreasing as the injury was repaired; the sensation in his leg fading into a dull ache. Now, Alex realized it was because the limb had lacked the resources necessary to truly announce its injury. As his nervous system reasserted itself, every cell screaming in a symphony of pain, so did he. While it could have only taken seconds, the next few were a whirlwind of agony until finally, blissfully, the skin closed. The last vestiges of a mangled leg disappearing as Alex fell back against the blood-soaked dirt.
He just wanted to sleep, for that matter, if the healing process was so painful while conscious, he wished he’d already passed out. But Janet was still speaking, and with the help she provided the least he could do was-
“Listen,” Janet said, standing stock still as she turned to look at Alex. Just then two tails cut around her, one in front and one behind, but she didn’t budge, the woman’s dodge so efficient the movement looked choreographed, with the panthers acting as willing participants. She turned back as another of the beasts swiped at her head, then briefly stretched to punch another who looked ready to charge at him. When that proved to not be enough she vanished, reappearing in front of it before kiting the beast back toward the others.
“If you’re done crying back there, I could use a little help. Not exactly at full strength. You said you have a quest, right?” She paused, going through another intricate set of dodges and counters before continuing, her voice slightly heavy. “I wanna hear more about that later, but it better involve you killing these bastards alone, or we’re gonna need to have a much,” She parried the blade of a tail, the motion so fast Alex barely saw it. “Longer.” Sidestepping a paw swipe Janet began to retreat, jumping up and over him. “Conversation.” And suddenly, barely halfway to his feet, Alex was being charged at by three twintails, all ready to tear him to pieces.
Both mana and stamina somewhat replenished from his “break,” Alex immediately activated Silent Strike, the enhanced speed allowing him to stand completely upright in an instant. Sixth Sense was becoming easier to hold subconsciously, but the skill had failed at some point during his beat down, so he reinitiated it at five mana per second. With three panthers he felt the extra range would be necessary. For the entirety of the brutal attack that had almost ended him, Alex had managed to remain a hold of both his weapons, at least up until he’d been thrown. Back stepping a few feet to grab his sword from where it lay Alex applied Thorn’s Touch to both the blades.
Ready as he could be Alex faced the charging beasts. The events of the day were starting to catch up to him, but with the quest and the memory of getting chewed on by a twintail fresh in his mind, Alex knew rest would have to wait. The two panthers, as they pounced for him a second later, seemed to agree, and suddenly they were on top of him.
Dropping to a knee Alex dodged under the two leaping panthers, rising to dash pass them as he tried to end the fight best he could. Odds what they were Alex knew his best option was to take the weakest one out first, meaning the beast whose tail he’d severed earlier, but it seemed the other two weren’t going to make it easy for him.
Four tails shot out as he ran, each aiming for one of his limbs. It seemed the passing panthers weren’t ready to give up on their opening attack just yet. Their follow-up missed, the short gap he’d made giving him enough distance to thwart their efforts, if not their advances entirely. Alex continued to run, watching in his bubble as the beasts rapidly looked between Janet and himself, before ultimately settling on him; because of course they did.
While not far from the others, the last panther had clearly lagged behind. The presence of its allies seemed to have bolstered it some, but its movements showed the caution it treated him with after having been maimed. The beast’s body was littered with evidence of their earlier battle, formerly pristine black fur now dirty and matted by its own blood. He guessed the effects of Thorn’s Touch were still present, though the injuries were clearly leaking less than they had been. With only one tail, and Alex back at full strength, he was at a clear advantage against the panther. If managed the fight correctly he could deliver a killing blow before the other two even reached them.
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Slowing as to not fall victim to a sudden attack, the creature let out a deep growl as he approached. While meant to be threatening Alex paid it little mind, the other panthers were already running back towards him, and he only had a couple seconds before they arrived. If he wanted to even the odds some he’d need to act immediately. Luckily the panther presented an opening.
The beast whipped its blade down in a diagonal slash, the attack slower than earlier ones, but more than enough to slice through him if it connected. Alex let the strike follow its natural course until, as the blade neared the ground, he moved. Kicking a foot out he stomped on the panther's tail just below the spike, trapping it under his weight. Compared to the strength of a panther who could easily toss his body around like a chew toy, it was barely a token resistance, but the action gave him the purchase he needed.
Aided by his movement skill, Alex set the blade of his dagger behind the trapped tail, leveraging every point of strength he had to hold his footing, while the panther’s higher stats did the actual work. Blood flew as the beast pulled, its tail coming separating with a snap. The flow of blood that followed reminiscent of a fountain as Thorn’s Touch showed its worth, the panther yowling in pain as new red littered the clearing. It backed, looking ready to run from him altogether. Alex wanted to chase, a few more stabs and beast would bleed out sooner rather than later, but it wasn’t an option. His sensory skill showed the other two panthers approaching from behind, forcing him to shift focus as to not take another injury.
Four tails shot towards his chest, Sixth Sense clearly telegraphing the now familiar opening salvo. The flurry of blades left him on the defensive, and Alex used the time to study the creatures. Both had a similar build to the first one, smaller than the most recent panther and sporting shorter tails allowing Alex to stay closer to striking range even while dodging. Neither of the of them were visibly injured, so Alex figured it didn’t matter who he targeted first, though he’d need to fight both simultaneously. Janet didn’t seem like she would be much more help and a brief pulse of Sixth Sense showed most fights across the clearing were ending.
He separated them first, positioning himself so one was to his right and the other on his left, before initiating the fight in earnest. From the first exchange the battle was tense, but twintails were rather one-track in their fighting style so while not easy to counter, Alex could see himself winning the fight. Parrying a tail from one as he ducked further into the other's guard, he spotted an opening and used the opportunity to stab out at the creature’ exposed flank.
Just then, as he repeatedly punctured the creature, Alex felt the influx of power a level granted him; the third twintail had died. His momentary distraction caused him to react late to the next attack, and he barely dodged to the side as a paw made to score him from behind. While his movement had been enough to avoid the worst of the attack Alex felt blinding pain as a set of deep cuts opened on his arm.
Too late he saw another follow up in his sphere, a dagger tipped tail shooting straight for his face. He had no more cards to play, not even Silent Strike would allow him to move in time, but it seemed Janet could. She appeared in front of him once more, the tail stopped by her body alone. Stunned Alex could only watch as she fell to the floor then completely vanished. He saw the other beast moving again and forced himself to focus on the fight. If both beasts were in peak condition, he would have been in trouble but his weapons skills had already proved a match for them holding nothing back Alex dismantled them.
Jumping away as he landed a stab to the neck of the last beast, the attack adding to the many others that littered its body, Alex all but ending the fight. The outpour of twintails from the forest had stopped completely, with only a few others left fighting the midnight-colored beast. Sixth Sense showed the majority of teams had grouped up and were chatting amiably while listening out for others that might need help. Janet was still nowhere to be seen and Alex wondered about her as he watched the kill counter in his vision tick up once more. He was finally finished.
Walking a few feet to grab his sword from where he’d dropped it, Alex stored both blades in his inventory. He’d need to clean them though he had no idea how and that was likely the least of his problems. With the immediate danger over, the cut in his arm was making itself known, blood still leaking from where the twintail had managed to land its claw strike. He needed to get a heal from Natalie, and only his proximity to one of the panther’s bodies made him pause.
Bending down to touch the corpse he wondered if he could… The body disappeared as he thought and a flash of instant regret hit him as he remembered that was where he kept all his food. He mentally shrugged since actually performing the action would have been a poor choice. Walking over towards two of the other nearby bodies he grabbed them as well before deciding to call it. The field had already been mostly emptied of the slain beast, though he’d missed what happened to them.
Wasting no more time as the pain in his arm reached new heights Alex began shuffling his way to where he believed Natalie and company were. He barely made it halfway to his presumed destination before someone called out to him, an attractive man in robes, asking if he needed a heal. Like before, the healing hurt nearly as much as the original injury, but after the seconds it took to be completed Alex was eternally grateful for the man's intervention. From there his walk sped up immensely, until soon, only a little away from where he’d expected, Alex spotted Jamie’s large form. The man’s gleaming metal armor a beacon in a sea of people.
“Complete your quest,” the big man asked as he approached, a wide grin on his face. “Still alive so that’s what really matters.” Alex nodded giving a tired smile. The man didn’t know how right he was. “Then were you wanting to join back with us for the next wave?”
Letting his shoulders slump as he spoke, Alex denied the man’s offer. He knew there would be more waves, but he felt he was done fighting for the day. At least he hoped. Levels or not with the way those last few fights had gone, Alex doubted he’d even be able to kill any other beast that left the forest solo. Level grinding with the group had its benefits, but one mistake could make all the work he’d done to survive pointless. He had less than two months, but his for two days he felt his gains had been good, it was what he hoped anyway. Not going into detail, he said as much to the group.
“Aye, that’s the right choice, the smart one. A smart warrior knows when to fight and when to quit, right now you don’t look like someone needn’ a fight.” Similar messages of agreement echoed out from Natalie and the sniper-wielder of the group and Alex didn’t know how to feel about the statement, but the muscled man continued on before he could think on it too much. “Still, that was some damn good fighting for your first day out here, don’t think I could have pulled off anything close in the F grade. Me and the group sometimes go to the Dog n’ Bone after these. It’s in Mendel, by Royal Road off Ander Street, you’re welcome to drink with us.”
As he nodded genuine appreciation at the offer, Alex turned and made for the gates back into the city. His shoulders were getting heavy, and, even as a rumbled from the forest made its way toward him, he didn’t look back. Missing out on better quest rewards ate at the perfectionist in him, but in the moment, just leaving with his life felt like a win.