Hydra’s eyes instantly jolted around while scanning the bushes and tall grass for even the slightest movement. His ears acutely focussed on listening out for footsteps. He attempted to follow the shadow that originally dashed past them, but he couldn't even track the shadow with his eyes. This lead to questionable looks from Albus before carrying on at their normal pace.

Must of been my imagination, He did say we were getting hunted though. I’ll keep an eye out.

Keeping the slow pace, they kept walking with no idea of how much time had passed and when the trial would even end. Hydra took the lead using his sword to slice the heavy grass apart while also attempting to conserve as much stamina as possible.

The pair came to a halt as a cold shiver was sent down their spines, this time both eyes darted around to again see a lightning fast shadow shifting around the darkness, this time it was not planning on leaving. Hydra instinctively noticed a pattern in what looked like random movements.

“Watch out, it looks like it is getting closer by circling around us and using trees for cover”

Albus snarled at Hydra’s words as he felt like he was treated like a child, he had already taken a combat stance behind Hydra positioning himself so that Hydra could guard against a sneak attack with his shield.

Quickly forgetting his anger towards Hydra, he started to grin as his first battle was about to start. The endless possibilities of what he would be fighting against excited him to the point that he started to cackle under his breath.

“Haha! Hopefully they brought some food! I’m starving!”

With both of them on high alert and searching for the foe that was still prowling in the shadows, neither could make a move. Causing the fight to become a silent standstill, seconds became minutes. Five? Ten? twenty? Possibly even thirty?

The wind blowing through the jungle-like surroundings became ice cold on their necks as the chills worsened. Albus started getting irritated and impatient as he had already suppressed his urge to break the silence. This impatience lead to a timid rowdiness as he stepped away from Hydra’s immediate proximity. The emotions he had held back pushed him into a burst of energy, Sprinting towards the tree line, he planned to make the first move.

“Hold it! You’re putting yourself-...”

What lurked in the shadows leapt out instantaneously and struck his arm. Blood burst from his shoulder and forearm and he had been left in a state of shock. Only 2 metres away from Hydra was a huge beast, a black panther.

There was no hope to escape now as Hydra had planned to. Albus quickly regained his balance after been thrown to the floor. He tightened his fists and gritted his teeth.

Hissing from the attack, Albus returned a strike after dashing towards the Panther, trading blow for blow but the Panther’s attack dealt ¾ of his HP whereas Albus’ attack didn't seem to nudge the HP bar hovering over the panther.

Going in to finish the job it lunged towards Albus once more. Its claws made a sharp clashing sound as they struck a towering shield blocking the way, sparks spat out of the clash and the panther was starting to overpower Hydra resulting in his stance and balance to be thrown off. The panther’s weight and strength flung Hydra to the ground.

Hydra lay for a very short moment while in shock, Afterall, he felt his pride was on the line here especially in front of such a cocky new player like Albus.

Its strength must be extremely high to be able to overpower this shield! It’s gotta be at least level 5… What is Xaecies thinking putting level 1 players against this!

Hydra was unable to land a strike before but this time he planned to. He walked closer towards the Panther to attract its attention while Albus gathered his thoughts and was ready for another round of blows. Once Albus readied his stance to charge towards the Panther, Hydra instantly sprinted in a shoulder barge position while holding the shield out in front of him.

The shield had successfully slammed into the Panther, restricting its attack movements while leaving it in a slight daze for a brief moment.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Thuud! Thuuud! Thud!

Multiple squeals and yelps bellowed from the Panther following the charge as Albus took the opportunity to swing around the right side and strike the stomach with three uppercuts. During the barrage of uppercuts, Hydra stabbed the chest where the heart was in an attempt to weaken or distract the Panther from returning blows, also this was to draw the panther’s aggression towards Hydra so that Albus could retreat safely.

Hydra took a leap backwards while still holding his guard up, He had still lost ⅛ of his HP from the knockdown before. Instead of attacking, the Panther retreated back into the shadows. The pair stood back to back in the bloodstained tall grass. This time they were focussed and dead set on survival.

A growl echoed through the trees amplifying its terror, instinctively Hydra faced the direction of the noise while tugging Albus’s sleeve signalling to stay behind him. Both Albus and Hydra took short quick breaths continuously as their stamina was running low.

This time the Black Panther couldn’t find any openings so it went for a head-on attack. The beast flung itself out of the shadows and leapt towards Albus. Hydra pivoted his feet while swinging his shield around as fast as he could to protect Albus. This time there was no screech of the claws scraping against the block of metal and wood but instead, blood splattered across Hydra’s face and he was met with a blinding red light towering into the sky originating from where Albus was stood.

The Panther dashed off to the side dodging Hydra after claiming its first victim. The shadows pranced around Hydra in a circular motion, it was like the panther was playing with its prey, trying to suck it dry of stamina and willpower before devouring it.

Dammit, I'm not fast enough with these stats. I need to remember that I am level 1... I can’t even overpower it with my puny 10 Strength.

Damn, the panther still has half of its HP! Maybe if I can just time a few blocks perfectly, I might be able to turn this around by whittling its HP down.

Hydra readied his shortsword and puffed up his chest before releasing a deep breath to focus on the next trade, afterall, one more hit would most likely kill him judging from the damage it dealt to Albus.

He decided that the best course of action is to risk it all. If he could completely nullify the Panther’s attack then he could force it to lose its balance and launch a counter attack.

Hydra purposely left his back unguarded and left a weak point for the Panther to be lured in. By now he had already figured out the speed and pattern of the Panther's constant circling.

As predicted, it leapt out wielding fangs. It looked to be empowering itself with the skill as the teeth looked larger and had a glowing red aura surrounding them.

Watching the Panther in the corner of his eye, Hydra spun around and started sprinting towards the endpoint.

But knowing he couldn’t outrun it, he put faith in his ability to dodge this attack and maybe then he could counterattack.

Watching its prey run, the Panther growled as it chased after him, it seemed that leap attack trades in some mobility to increase its power.

Grunting, Hydra ran as fast as he can, watching as the Panther slowly caught up and got in range.

Trusting in his instinct, Hydra rolled to the side just barely dodging the fangs of the beast, quickly getting up he slammed the shield with all of his upper body strength into its head doing small damage but briefly dazing it by the looks of it to buy more time.

Starting to sprint again towards the end point, he was able to pick up some distance from the Panther. The surroundings of thick foliage and jungle started to thin out and slowly become more scarce, almost like a field or plane of tall grass.

Not having time to think, Hydra heard a low pitched growl turning his head he looked and spotted the Panther limping out of the foliage due to its injury which must of rattled its brain.

Damn it, looks like that didn’t do much, but it will take a bit of time to catch up.

The Panther sped up having its prey in sight and started mad dashing towards Hydra. The distance decreased slower than before with the unstable jungle of obstacles and uneven ground not in the picture anymore. To Hydra this was a blessing as he could run at top speeds without worrying about tripping over thick vines or tree trunks.

Soon the panther closed the distance but for some odd reason it wasn’t using its leap attack. It seemed to be saving it or maybe it wasn’t able to. Either way, Hydra couldn’t get into combat with it.

The growls got closer and closer from behind him leading Hydra to look behind and the Panther was almost at him. It’s teeth sparkled and so did it’s claws with a faint green glow that would be easy to miss.

Fuck… that’s why he waited for so long, If it leaps from such a close range I won't be able to dodge it in time with these stats. Attempting to roll at this range would lead to instant death...

Watching the Panther jump towards him, Hydra cursed inwardly once more as he spun around to brace the attack.

I can take a hit but that would put me on my ass and it can finish me off. I need to daze it like I did last time.

Hydra raised his shield and swung it towards the Panther in an arc causing its head and claws to meet the shield’s sharp edge sending the Panther a good 2 metres away and knocking it to the ground.

[After purposefully repeated use of an action during a special condition a new skill has been granted]