There was no sound, not a growl nor the sound of bark being ripped from the tree. Silence followed the blur as it pounced from the side of the tree to swipe at her.

Having already made contact with her dagger’s grip. Her rough movements actually brought with it both the blade and sheath. Having adjusted her daggers.

They normally at her sides, had been moved closer to the front. Thus, while she slept, her hands were held on her lap. Only needing to adjust herself very slightly to make contact with her weapons during the night.

A crushing force shoved its way through her arm as both the dagger and her arm were rammed into her chest by the force created by just making contact with the claw. Making matters worse, she was thrown from the tree.

With an awkward roll, she grunted painfully as she failed to time it correctly. Trying to keep her eyes on her opponent, she looked up to see an empty branch with a shadow approaching her from below.

Climbing down the tree, the beast seemed to know how to use the shadows to its advantage. Having lost its movements, Jessica was slow to react as a tear and the scent of blood spread through the air.

As if going from bad to worse. Without being able to get a clear view of the creature attacking her, she could only tell it was a feline type creature with incredible speed. By this point, she knew what she had to do.

Ignoring the burning pain, the ripped coat and shirt, she didn’t hesitate to borrow the force of the attack to retreat. Even picking up on what she intended to do, habits were difficult things to break. Glee flashed through Jessica’s eyes.

D

From the sounds behind her, she knew the creature was not taking a direct line to her. When its first attack failed, the creature retreated immediately. It didn’t take the direct route to pounce on her. Instead, the creature went behind the tree, using the shadows to make its appearance as late as possible.

Running as fast as she could, Jessica didn’t know where she was going. She wasn’t going in any specific direction. She could only grit her teeth as the claws ripping the ground beneath its feet continued to grow closer.

Using a patch of trees to duck and weave through them, she was able to finally see that the creature was a black panther. Though, identifying it with such bland generalization was impossible. Jessica was able to identify one important aspect.

With a pale face reflected by the moonlight, she could only curse under her breath, “Grade D…”

Using only a split second looking back, the creature dug its claws into a tree as it hung on at an impossible angle. As if standing on solid ground, the feline creature retracted in as it hung sideways on the tree.

Following an explosive amount of Grade D mana, there was a sound of thunderclap as a loud creak following the storm of dust and loose pebbles, blasted in all directions in the wake of the fallen tree. Even dodging with the fastest speed.

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Jessica had a green and brown coat. In between the two colors was insulation. Depending on which color she needed, the coat was reversible. Underneath was leather body armor along with some leather wrappings for her upper arms and lower arms, leaving her elbows unrestricted.

At this moment, the coat had now fallen to the sides. Having a rip down one side, combined with the bit that caught the claw of the feline, half was taken by the beast. The other half fell to the side, showing a tattered dark tanned leather body armor.

This leather was not plated, it wasn’t meant for heavy attacks. She was used to using her speed to her advantage. Only in desperate situations where no manner of intelligence would help her, she was in desperate need of something.

Struggling with all her might not to panic, she could only continue to run with the best of her ability. Ignoring the pain that now strung not just her chest but back. As she continued to run, the sweat, cold and hot, continued to add fuel to the flames that was her pain.

Cursing under her breath. The creature chasing her was worse than she imagined. The entire night there were always sounds of fights and disputes along with sounds of what she contributed to warnings or possible arguments equivalents for beasts.

Outside of her breath and far distance noises, far outside of anywhere she could reach with this creature chasing her. There was nothing. Not a growl, not a roar, nothing.

With another tumble, she was able to dodge a swipe from the side successfully. There was joy on her face as she rolled to her feet, as she stumbled for a step before dashing in another direction.

Two suppressed growls escaped from this direction. Doing her best to listen. Once or twice she lost track of the beast behind her, before finally picking it up again, closing in once more. Afraid to turn around again, it would make her lose some speed.

Finally dashing between the large shadows. Both were ready to fight before they, felt a shift in the air. Before either of the two could attack her or each other. A shadow pounced from above.

Landing on the shell of one of the two creatures. A large thumping echoed into the now silent night. The creature that had just been slammed into the ground was a type of tortoise. With razor sharp edges, its shell was gigantic, being two to three times the portions of its body that were outside the shell.

Once the dust cleared, there were fine cracks on the shell as the panther like creature swiped at the shell a few times before giving up. The tortoise rough skin with protruding edges had long since been withdrawn into the shell.

A large wild dog, the size of a horse, was kneeling on the ground, not letting out a whimper. Both creatures were Grade E. They were so fierce when she appeared. Now neither of them even dared to make themselves known. Trying their hardest to make their large bodies as small as possible.

Possibly bored. Possibly satisfied with their reactions. The panther only swiped at the shell a few times, seeing that the shell was a tough nut to crack, it lost interest. Without even a single glance at the dog, its attention was drawn back to the woman that was backing away slowly.

It was then she realized the creature wasn’t trying to kill her. She was nearly killed because the panther enjoyed this game of cat and mouse. Feeling the cold filling her limbs, she knew her option of last resort had come to fruition.

It wasn’t just the two creatures that drew her attention. The then soft sound now raging river behind her also drew her attention. Only, if these were the creatures on land, she feared greatly what was in the water. Only on land she was very likely to die, there was higher possibility of surviving the river.