He put down the cart and slowly drew his sword.  Fos had always liked swords that where a little longer but that you could still use whit one hand, that way he could make some use of his longer reach. With his 185 cm you could say he was a bit taller than average and the “a bit taller” was something he put childish pride in.  

The big cat hadn’t moved since he stopped with suited Fos just the same as he could prepare and plan how he wanted the battle to go. It was a majestic animal that with its black fur blended with the shadows in a way that made it impossible to make out the specific race. It actually didn’t matter ether way but you don’t want a wind-cat or a thunder-cat out in the open fields.

The last thing he did before the battle was to take of the left glove. How many times had he incinerated a glove out of laziness or because he forgot? It was a thing to laugh about really, how can you forget a thing like that? By stretching and at the same time put on the little leather hat he was done. Hopefully the cat was oblivious.

Suddenly he rushed against the cat with long strides and as soon as the cat realized that the cover was blown it went on the offence.

Such speed! It won’t stop accelerate! It was many failed attempts before he had learnt the trick with aiming with the left hand while running and holding the sword in the right. But many teeth later (that he had to purchase a regrow pill that had cost a fortune. Sad prices really!) and a lot of patience later he had succeeded. Slow!  

Totally surprised that its inability to run the way it wanted the monster toppled forward and for a short while it was totally defenseless. But it was an experienced beast and was soon up on its feats.  With more caution it change to target the ground behind Fos more than the man himself. Seeing this Fos started to run in a diagonal to hinder the beast from getting to the plains. Fos wanted to battle in the forest where the beast lost its agility and the cat aimed at the plains for the same reasons.

Suddenly the cat stopped and swiped with its paw sending a strong gust of wind that nocked Fos of his feets and as Fos tried to find his footing the monster change direction.

Another wind attack sent him falling and he had to save his fall with a roll. Ahhh! A wind-cat! But it is totally black!? It was a fact that had eluded him since it came out from the woods. It is a fact that magical creatures have a way that the magic have transformed its look. It was supposed to be visible at the black fur but… nothing?

Back from his thought Fos once again focused on the battle. Bind! He hadn’t practiced his magic the last years and the attacks wasn’t what they used to be. But, it was enough to bind a leg and that was good enough.

With a roll forward they met and the melee began 10 meters out in the field.

Knowing his ‘bind’ had ended he ducked the incoming paw and tried to cut in the artery in the armpit. But he missed and could only land a superficial one.

Fos failed to take the wind attack in to account and was once again lifted up in the air and was sent flying. And as they both found their footings a brief ceasefire erupted. Totally focused on each other time stood still and at the same time they began circling. The beast wanted to get the back against the field to open up the battle, Fos wanted to hinder it. Neither Fos nor the cat seamed to want the initiative.

What a beautiful beast! The fur is at least worth a weeks living! Not to count in the blood or meat and everything else I can salvage! It is a bit sad to kill it but… money is king!

Suddenly the ceasefire ended and another wind came crushing at Fot, but this time he were prepared. Rush!

By using ‘Rush’ Fos came up by the side of the beast an swiped at the tendons of the back-foot. This time he, although missing the tendons, found enough muscles to cripple it. Realizing he had the upper hand Fos kept the heat on with furious attack. But the beast managed to dodge all the incoming attacks and from time to time give one back and one of them landed on Fos head. The attack lost power drastically as it slipped in the little leather hat but enough power remained to knock Fos of his feets.

Once again it became a waiting-game before the cat started to glow green. Excited about what would come next, Fos prepared his strongest defensive spell. But he soon realized that the attack he waited for weren’t about to come as all the cuts and bruises he had accomplished where being healed.

Ahhh, come on Fos! Rookie-mistake! Get your head in the game! You are rusty as can be! But before he could react he saw the cat sending another wind attack. While Fos was occupied with dodging he could see the cat making its way to the forest.

”AAAAHHHHHH!” Furious at himself, he yanked of his hat and threw it at the ground. “How could you let it go? Have you grown so old? Become strong or become a liability!” If it had been a year ago the cat would be dead within seconds but he couldn’t kill it at all and even let it slip through his fingers! It shouldn’t have lasted more than the first contact but not at all? But since he had putt so mush of his focus to help preparing, his battle capability had sunken like a rock. The knowledge was still there but the body couldn’t keep up. Nor could his magic.

Training is a given, and hunting like crazy! More skirmishes and more training the remaining time. But what was that animal?

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Emily/Skotia pov

Just a bird? Since she woke up in this world or game or whatever (What do you call it? It’s a game but so nicely programmed!) all she heard was this mysterious noises and she was now convinced at least 10 bloodthirsty monsters had their eyes on her. If it had been a year ago she would have been scared to death in a situation like this but as the year had passed she had developed a kind of apathy that scared the one close to her.

Will probably just wake up in my room if I die so what does it help so be scared about it? But even if her parents abandoned her, she had a feeling Tom wanted her there more for her sake. She didn’t like to disappoint people that trusted her. So let’s not die this day!

The forest and the nature felt so incredible natural in some way and she was in no way a novice. She and Lucas used to play this kind of games together, big part of the family buisness after all as one of the big 12. But none of them had seemed as real as this.

Suddenly she heard a something a little further in the forest. Hopefully something different than a bird this time. The forest became awfully quiet witch made Skotia move a bit stealthier than the other times. Wonder if you could learn skills in this game? Feels like all I’ve done in-game is trying to stalk birds.

When she came to a place she thought was appropriate to get a good peek she craned her neck and tried to get a grip on the situation.

A couple of meters away a big black cat was about to lay itself down, it seemed exhausted and good for her. That big cat could probably have killed her of with a swipe of its paw and here it looked like it had run a marathon while carrying big bags of sand. It laid its head down to rest and under the minute it looked like it was asleep.

After 5 more minutes Skotia made the decision that it was sound asleep. What to do? It is just a game so why not kill it to see if it gets me some benefits? But how? She looked around to find a way to kill it, the best would a quiet and quick death.

The cat had its back against a wall that led to a small cliff as a way to take shelter from the wind, maybe she could take advantage of that? It would take a stealthy climb a little further down the way she came but it looked like it was her only way. So she had to sneak her way back and at the same time keep an eye on the cat because if it attacked her she was toast!

After a quite boring climb she laid down to catch her breath. So let us find a big stone and go smash some skulls! She found a stone that, with the right accuracy, could bring the beast down. It was heavy, almost too heavy for Skotias petite built but she managed to lift it and take it with her to the ledge.

Perfekt! Let’s see if the game give me some perks!

The stone dropped and landed with a thud and rolled to the side showing a smashed skull. Did it! A blue box appeared in front of her which she once again couldn’t read. But it felt good that the system worked! Nice to see some progress coming her way!

Once she was down by the cat’s side she got stunned of its size! What a monster! If it wasn’t so winded it would probably kill me with a swipe of the paw! And as she stood there mesmerized by the big animal a new sound could be heard only meters away.

Fos Pov

Have chased this stupid cat for what? Hours? And now someone kills it before me? Not even a dropp of blood on her! How did she do it?

Fos had no idea what went down. What he came to in the clearing was a young woman, totally without a weapon who looked at the big, really dead monster in front of her with a kind of curiosity. The animal, even when it lying down was terribly intimidating, but she just stood there without fear and it looked like she was investigating it. That the animal was dead was a fact proven by the amount of blood still dripping from the crushed skull but the question was how? The woman in front of the animal was a petit, unarmed and what he could see unstained. So the logic said that she was a powerful magician. But she was poorly dressed! She even had dirty clothes on! Maybe it wasn’t such a easy win after all?

All this made Fos a little scared to get closer to them but he could all butt hear the coins dripping away in the same pace as the blood. So he gathered all the courage he could and went in to the clearing.

“Hi! Can’t but congratulate you for killing such a beast! But I’m happy to my service in the skinning, draining the blood and such! It may sound brutal but it is a quick way to make some coin.”

In front of Fos there was a big warrior. He had decided that it was due to misfortune that she was stained with dirty water. She wasn’t winded and had probably taken out a animal that escaped him, with one blow. All that without getting any blood on her! Who wouldn’t be dirty in the wilderness? It’s part of the experience!

As he received a nod in response he drew his knife and pulled out a sack for the blood. 

Note:

in the future I'll have to start using the nice blue box. :)

But since I don't know how I need help. If you know how, please contact me ::)

happy reading!