Hera kept running through the woods. Since the panther had no intention of letting her rest, she might as well try to reach the settlement earlier. Usually, she would need some time after waking up before being able to do anything, but being woken up by an attack was more effective than a cup of black coffee. Even though she was running and there was no noise coming from behind her, Hera had a nagging feeling that the panther was right behind her. She had given up the monster letting her go. It's been close to a week since they first faced each other, and the creature showed no signs of giving up the chase.

Her mind was in overdrive, thinking of ways to stop it or to have a chance of fighting back. She couldn't be counting on her luck anymore. The first time, she only was able to run away from it because it was weaker. Then she had to use other monsters as a distraction, or the discovery that her poison spray is flammable. Even so, it was clear that the creature wouldn't die just by being set on fire. She had to figure out a plan, something that could give her an edge, anything. Her first thought was the crystal scale, but that was a long shot at best. She had no idea how much it would increase the power of a spell or if it would be enough for killing the panther. She was starting to get tired and would have to stop sprinting soon. She needed a plan fast.

'Ok, Hera. Think, what do you know about it? It's strong and intelligent, so any obvious traps would be useless. Trying to hide is a bad idea. Predators tend to have sharp senses. The thing is chasing after me, so it's angry? Maybe I hurt its pride. Pride... can I use that? ... no, it's a monster. Even if I try, there is no guarantee that it would work. But it is chasing me, so I can try to be the bait. But what about the trap? What do I have?'

Hera made a mental inventory of everything she had on her. The stones could only serve as batteries. The water bottles were useless for a fight. It was the same with the rations. The only things that could be used for a fight were her weapons, spells, and relic.

'Yarnball can give me 10 meters of string that takes its strength after me. If I find a good place with a single entrance, I could make a tripwire.'

She grabbed her relic and asked, "Where can I find a place with a single entrance large enough for me to fight the panther?"

Hera felt some of her mana leave her body, and the string pointed to her left. She pivoted her body and ran towards the direction Yarnball told her. Hoping it wouldn't be a place too far away. She pushed herself to run for another twenty minutes until she finally found a small ravine in the cave wall. Right in front of it, there was a tree on one side and a large rock on the other. Hera placed her pack deeper into the ravine and ripped part of her sleeve, putting it in the middle of the path inside the gorge. She hoped that would be enough of her scent to distract the creature. Hera then quickly used Yarnball's string and made a tripwire at the entrance of the ravine. She tried to spread the thread to avoid being easily seen and hid behind the rock, activating her [Hide]. The monster wouldn't be able to jump over the tree, and if it jumped over the rock, she could have a free shot at it.

While waiting, Hera tried to recover both her mana and the mana in the stone. She was going to need every point she had for the fight. The new method got much easier with practice. Every time she had to recharge her camping gear, she would use it to recover. She still kept her ears peeled for any movement coming towards her. When she was halfway through charging the mana stone, a notification popped in front of her.

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Skill Acquired

Mana Recovery (Rank 1)

Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery.

By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you become unable to recover mana for 30 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique.

Passive Recovery: 15 mana per minute

Active Recovery: 20 mana per minute

Mastery: 10%

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Hera glanced through the skill and decided not to try its active effect right now. It would still give her less mana than doing the cycling on her own, and losing the mana recovery would be terrible. She tried to use the basic cycling technique and was surprised with the result. Just by using it, her mana recovery went to 25 points per minute. She could cycle and move, even if at a slower pace. Now she would be able to keep a light spell for much longer, although it still wasn't enough to be sustainable. Hera shook her head and focused on the area once again. When she got home, she could test this as much as she wanted, but now there were more pressing matters.

Hera was already feeling more rested when she heard a twig being broken in the forest. Activating her Pulse, she was able to sense the panther on the edge of its range. The monster started rushing towards the ravine and jumped over the rock, avoiding the tripwire. As the creature flew above her, Hera was able to see the extent of the damage the fire had made. Its entire lower body was covered in burns and blisters. She took the opportunity and swung her handaxe upwards, trying to hit its stomach. The attack hit the panther, but its movement worked against the impact. .

The monster tumbled to the side and quickly got back up on its feet. It growled at Hera as she held her weapons close to her body. She took Yarnball out of her waist and pulled the tread, making her relic retract, unmaking the tripwire she had set up. The noise made the panther jump to the side as if it was evading an attack. Hera took the opportunity to send a poison needle at the creature. She didn't place too much mana on it since she didn't want to be with no mana for the fight. The monster's hesitation was enough for Yarnball to finish retracing, and Hera clip it to her belt once more.

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The panther started to move to the side. Hera took a few steps forward since she didn't want to be stuck in the corner while fighting. The two kept moving around, staring at each other. Hera could only hear the sound of the footsteps she was making, eyes locked with the beast. She noticed the creature's back legs tensing and jumped forward at the same time the monster did. She tried to slash its face using her handaxe, but the panther sidestepped. Simultaneously, she threw her chakram to the side, making it hit the monster's face. That created a small cut above the beast's eye. The panther did something similar, sending its tongue at the same time, making a cut on Hera's cheek.

The monster zigzagged towards the explorer who took a step back, pulling the chakram back to her hand using the string. The weapons' movement confused the panther. It jumped back not to be hit by the attack. Hera sent another poison needle towards the creature and saw the spell hitting the burned part of the monster's torso. The panther ran towards the explorer, closing the distance in a flash and trying to bite her legs, Hera stepped to the side, but it was too late. The monster's fangs dug into her ankle. She started attacking the monster's face and neck with both her weapons until it finally let go.

As the monster moved back, Hera threw the chakram in front of it. The attack was a feint, and just as the blade seemed to miss the creature, she jerked it back in the opposite direction, making the weapon dig deep into her target's front leg. The panther ran towards her once more, zigzagging and jumping at the explorer's head. Hera dove under it and pulled back her chakram, causing the creature to fall to the ground on its side. This time, Hera went into the offensive, jumping on top of the monster and slammed her handaxe on its stomach before it could get up again. Simultaneously, she used her chakram as a fist weapon hitting it repeatedly at the creature. The monster tried to get away from the attack, clawing Hera with all its four legs. In between strikes, Hera kept sending fire arrows and poison needles at the panther.

The creature's claws kept digging into Hera's skin. She could feel the blood coming out of her body and the sharp pain that went with each impact. However, she also noticed that each strike hurt less than the previous one. At first, she thought that her body was too mangled to feel, but the strength behind each claw was also fading. After what felt like an eternity, the monsters finally stopped moving. Hera kept hitting it for a few moments, not realizing that her prey had fallen. What made her snap out of it was the notification that popped while she was attacking.

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Level Up

Current Level: 5

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When she realized that the panther was dead, she let out a long scream in a mix of pain and celebration. Before anything, Hera started using her mend spell on her body. She didn't want to cauterize any wounds again, but that was still an option. She crawled to her pack and took one of the water bottles out. Using part of the water to clean her wounds, she drank the other part and placed the bottle inside the bag again. She looked back to the panther and saw the creature unmoving as well as the trail of blood that she had made.

"What the hell is that thing?" she asked as she activated her [Inspect]

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Wendigo Remains

A creature that grows as it devours its prey. It can absorb part of the abilities of whatever it eats.

This specimen had an advanced hiding skill, minor camouflage capabilities, and reptile-like characteristics.

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Hera started laughing, "I'm a fucking idiot."

For a moment, she suspected that the creature was a Wendigo, but she was sure it couldn't be since they were only supposed to exist on the 25th layer. She adjusted herself by the wall, feeling the tiredness wash over her body. This was a secluded place, and there were no monsters around.

"I can close my eyes just a little bit, right?" Hera mumbled to herself self, letting the exhaustion take over.

"NO!" Hera jolted up, "I've bled a lot, and I don't know if there are monsters around here. I need to go to the settlement. It's Just a few more hours west."

She got up and got her pack once more. Before leaving the ravine, she looked back at the Wendigo.

"Shit. You might help Helena," Hera turned around and grabbed the creature's leg. It would take longer to reach her destination, but the monster's body could give some clues to healing Helena. It wasn't something she could just leave here. Since there were no guarantees that another beast wouldn’t show up and eat it.

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It was close to noon on the settlement by the turtle dungeon. The area had a few places for tents and a small shop that sold food and supplies. The dungeon wasn't difficult, just annoying to deal with since it required people to protect the baby turtles as they went to the ocean. The entire settlement had the feeling of a campsite. People laughed and told stories as they waited for their meals, while others came back from the dungeon, celebrating a rare drop. It was an area where monsters were scarce, and any who got close just became barbecue for the campers.

"Hey, what's that?" a man pointed towards a figure that was emerging from the woods.

It was a blonde woman, covered in dry blood and with a burn on the side of her head. There were several wounds on her legs and arms, and she seemed to be dragging something behind. A few people gathered to see what was going on as the woman got closer.

"Is there a healer around?" the woman asked.

The man who noticed her looked back at his group and received a nod from their healer.

"Yeah, we have one here," he shouted as the woman nodded and approached him. He led her to the healer who immediately started casting spells.

"What the hell happened to you? Did you fight a Wendigo or something?" the man asked the woman who needed help even to sit down.

"Yeah, actually," Hera replied.

“Haha, funny joke," the healer replied.

"Don't believe me? There is the proof." Hera said, pointing towards the corpse she was dragging.

The people who were around all used their [Inspect], and the silence washed over the settlement.

"By the system. Those things are here?" the healer gasped as her spells started to work on Hera's wounds.