I decided to scout ahead of the main group to help clear my thoughts and some surprisingly conflicting emotions. I actually loved being in a larger company. I hadn’t realized how much I missed being around other people until I’d found Ruby and Steve, and the feeling was compounded now that we’d met up with another team.

Except they were acting like judgmental pricks. Worse, they’d be right to urge me to stop slacking if I hadn’t gotten my unique tier-1 body upgrade. That left me feeling grumpy, but also strangely content.

So I scouted ahead alone. We headed down a wide canyon winding through steep hills that would eventually empty onto a huge open plain. That should be the central valley of the first stage Cyrus had warned us we needed to conquer.

Steve and Clive, who now acted like lifelong friends, followed me, with the rest of the group trailing them. Everyone was in good spirits, and several times a peal of laughter or particularly loud snatch of conversation drifted all the way to me.

Maybe they weren’t worried about monsters attacking our larger group, but I preferred moving with as much stealth as I could. Not that I had any stealth ability, but if I kept practicing, maybe I’d unlock one.

The canyon floor was carpeted with soft, short grass, broken by clumps of thorny bushes and small copses of hardwoods that were only a little bigger than normal Earth trees. The air smelled fresh and clean, and a soft breeze set the trees creaking and leaves rustling.

About 2 miles down the canyon, nearly halfway to the plain, as far as I could tell, a narrow, dark ravine broke the hillside on the left. Shadows hung thicker there, and I paused to study the area. If we were going to run into more monsters, that seemed like the perfect spot.

Steve and Clive caught up and they too studied the area carefully. Not spotting any danger, I led the way again, drawing ahead once more. After only a minute, I stopped in an open glade. Something felt wrong.

I scanned the glade with all my senses, searching for a threat. Eventually, I oriented on a larger tree, closer to the steep side of the canyon. It was a huge tree with large branches extending out to form a spectacular crown.

There! I finally caught the barest flicker of movement and my gaze focused on a shadowy form that had been concealed in the foliage. It looked like a giant cat of some kind, crouched low on a branch at least 30 feet up.

It was nearly 100 feet away from me, but I still felt a prickle of fear. Even at that distance, I could tell the cat was huge. Maybe bigger than a horse.

I got an idea and pulled my sheet of emoji traps from my inventory. If we could bait the monster in, I might be able to trap it. I turned to motion Steve to catch up, but he shouted a warning and started fumbling for his bow, which he’d slung over his shoulder.

I spun back in time to see the cat closing the distance to me like a golden blur. It was even bigger than I’d thought, a huge tawny creature with long, shaggy fur and an oversized mountain lion head. Two saber-tooth fangs extended below its jaw.

“Mammoth Lion. Level 30. Uncommom. These mighty hunters do not stop once they choose their prey. Since you’re reading this, you’re most likely about to die. Sorry.”

Level 30? I dove to the side with a shout of fear as the lion pounced from 40 feet away. Even diving so soon, I barely avoided the monster. It moved so fast!

It landed on the spot I’d just left half a second before, its long claws gouging furrows in the hard earth. I peeled off one of the emojis at random, but the lion pounced again before I could set it.

I tried rolling, and the monster collided with me like a truck, blasting the air from my lungs. We tumbled over each other in a wild melee of thrashing limbs and raking claws. Searing pain scored my ribs, and I screamed.

Then all of a sudden, the world lurched and I found myself lying on my back, facing the sky. The world shook wildly around me as I vainly tried to get back to my feet, but I couldn’t move. Soft fur flexed under my hands and my back.

What happened? It took a second, but finally I realized where I was, although I couldn’t quite believe it. I was lying on the back of the lion, and it was sprinting like a runaway train. I twisted and craned my neck the best I could, despite not being able to move for some reason, and caught glimpses of the landscape blurring past. I spotted Steve and Clive disappearing in the distance, then nothing but trees and rocks flashing by.

I could barely twitch. My entire torso was locked onto the lion. After a few seconds of useless squirming, I finally pieced together my position. I was somehow lying back-first on the rear of the huge lion’s head, with my own head stuck to its forehead. Its huge ears rose to either side of my face, while my back was stuck along the curve of the back of its head.

My legs extended down the back of its neck, and even my upper arms were locked along the sides of its head. The only part of me I could move were my forearms. Its thick, shaggy fur cushioned my back. I was sunk deep into it, pressed hard against its skull.

Every 3 or 4 seconds, the lion lurched harder and the landscape blurred. A trickle of healing power flowed into me and I realized it was using a magical ability. Stuck to its back, Soul Feed picked up a bit. I directed all of it to healing as I struggled to understand what was happening.

I finally realized we were teleporting short distances with each of those lurching jumps. Its normal bounding leaps covered dozens of yards, but the teleporting jumps spanned hundreds.

Then the monster roared, an angry sound as it ducked it head, making the world lurch crazily. One giant paw swept up to claw down my side, ripping new gashes in my jacket and cutting deep into my right arm.

I screamed and thrashed, but couldn’t move. The huge paw swept in again, but this time I was ready. Soulrend dropped into my hand and I managed to angle it to catch part of the paw.

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The lion yelped and retracted the paw, then bounded away again, roaring and howling. The deadly thing was panicking. Did it think I was holding on to its head on purpose?

The lion abruptly twisted and slammed the back of its head into the side of a tree. The impact was so sudden and unexpected, I couldn’t brace or trigger Energy Ward. The tree smashed into my chest so hard, ribs cracked.

All the air blasted out of me in a gasping cry. I coughed blood, groaning in pain. If not for the cushioning of the lion’s own fur, that impact might have crushed my ribcage.

I managed to twist Soulrend down. I lacked any kind of leverage with my hands stuck too close to my legs, but managed to slash through a bit of fur by twisting my wrist all the way over. That seemed to startle the monster because it took off running again. It kept huffing and growling and shaking itself like a wet dog. Every shake rattled me until my teeth clacked together, but I remained stuck fast to the lion.

Thankfully, it didn’t try clawing me again or running into another tree. I couldn’t move my limbs. It was like I was glued to the monster’s shaggy fur. I couldn’t figure it out until I spotted a notification and scanned it.

“Bravestone!” I cursed. This can’t be happening.

Eva read the message for me. “Congratulations, Lucas! You have deployed your first trap emoji. Your binding trap has triggered.”

What she didn’t say was that it had triggered as me and the stupid lion were rolling over each other. Somehow that trap had caught me in the spell too, and now I was bound to the back of the lion’s head. A new timer in my menu said the trap would last another 4 minutes, 45 seconds.

On one hand, the lion couldn’t get me off and eat me. On the other, if the binding expired while we were still leaping up nearly vertical cliffs, I would most likely fall to my death.

And that lion was moving! It seemed intent on escaping me by pure flight and it could move. Even though I was mostly stuck to its head instead of its torso, I could sense its overwhelming, raw power as its muscles bunched and sprang beneath me, catapulting its mass forward in effortless bounds.

In seconds, we left the canyon behind and raced up and over hills so steep, I don’t think I could have climbed them alone. To my left, a huge plain opened wide, giving me a panoramic view of the grassy expanse set in the midst of the mountainous terrain.

“Hello central valley. Good-bye central valley,” I muttered.

Seconds ticked by with excruciating slowness as the Mammoth Lion raced on. It seemed to have endless stamina as it tore through hills and mountains that would have been impassable to me. By the position of the valley, I figured the lion was circling around the southern edges, heading toward the western hills.

I finally stopped my vain struggling and considered ways to kill the beast, but my position made all of my weapons useless. I was in a serious bind, but at least I wasn’t stuck to its belly, or something. It would have ripped me to ribbons if that happened.

Within 3 minutes, we started bounding up a gentler slope due west of the central valley. Dense stands of trees scattered across the slope blocked my view of the wide, grassy valley as we ran higher and higher. A new notification pinged into my view, but I waved it away.

If I could just free my hands, I could use Soulrend and kill the stupid lion. The way I lay with my hands almost directly over my own thighs, I lacked a good angle to stab downward, but I needed to figure out something.

At minimum, it would take me hours to get back to the general area I’d left the others. I’d have to cut through the valley because I’d never make it over those mountains.

Assuming I survived. As soon as the emoji sticker wore off and the Mammoth Lion knocked me off, it would rip me to pieces. I’d never stop a level-30 monster.

I needed to think. I couldn’t let some random monster kill me. I had a super enhanced Intelligence stat. I should be able to think of something, but my thoughts kept scattering as images of those enormous front fangs sinking through my chest kept parading past my mind in gory detail.

The forest grew thicker and the land leveled out. The Mammoth Lion rocketed between the trees, not slowing until I heard the sound of a waterfall nearby. Only then did it pause. The entire monster’s body was shaking, either with fear or exhaustion, I couldn’t tell. It shook again, huffed another grunting bark, then threw itself into a series of full body rolls.

“You . . . Stupid . . . Cat!” I grunted, spitting grass and dirt between each word as the huge animal rolled over and over.

Thankfully we were in a glade of soft grass. Between the grass and the lion’s shaggy fur, I was cushioned enough that its rolls didn’t crush me. Luckily, it didn’t roll over any rocks, but I groaned from the abuse as its weight rolled over me again and again, crushing pressure making my already-cracked ribs scream. I was really starting to hate this cat.

The binding would run out in seconds if the lion didn’t squash me first. Even if I survived long enough to fall free, I was battered and bruised, with cracked ribs and barely sealed wounds. I could never fight it.

Ten seconds left. I wracked my brain, but couldn’t think of anything. I had a couple offensive spells, but lying on top of the monster like I was, I couldn’t deploy any of them properly. I’d probably miss and couldn’t afford to waste a single precious use of those spells.

Soulrend could kill it. I was literally lying on the back of its head. One good stab, and even a monster this powerful would go down. Except, I didn’t have an angle.

5 seconds. Panic threatened to plunge me into unthinking terror, but a single idea rose through the tumult of wild thoughts and I seized it with the desperation of a dying man, which I would be in 3 seconds.

No, it was a stupid idea.

2 seconds.

Still, I hesitated. I did not want to do this. I had one angle to strike, but to use it, I would need to risk an injury I wasn’t sure I could heal from.

1 second.

I tossed Soulrend back into my inventory, lifted my hand as high as I could with my elbow still glued to the monster’s head, then summoned Soulrend back. This time, the blade pointed down.

I slammed Soulrend down with all my strength, screaming with fear and determination.

Then with absolute agony as I drove my ethereal blade through my own right thigh and into the back of the Mammoth Lion’s head. White-hot pain tore through me like a flash of living lightning. My vision went black and I twitched as I severed the spirit of my own leg.

Beneath me, the lion convulsed, just as the emoji trap released. The monster’s shuddering threw me free and I banished Soulrend back to my inventory as I tumbled to the soft, grassy ground. I hit hard, but pain unlike anything I’d ever felt was still tearing up my leg and straight into my brain. It hurt so much, I barely felt my left arm break as I landed on it wrong.

I rolled several times with the impact, still screaming. My vision cleared enough to realize I was lying face down in the dirt. I forced myself over, biting my lip so hard against a fresh stab of pain that I drew blood.

Falling onto my back, I panted with fear and pain, glancing around for the lion. I’d stabbed it deep into the head, but was that enough?

There! It had fallen to the ground barely 5 feet away. It was convulsing, hissing and growling and biting at the earth, its massive claws tearing great divots out of the ground and flinging them across the clearing. We were close enough that it could easily rip me to shreds by accident.

“Die already,” I hissed, trying to move, but I fell back, groaning under a fresh wave of agony. My leg felt dead to me. There was no blood, but I couldn’t move it, couldn’t feel the muscle or skin, or anything. Just never-ending pain.

With a grunt of effort, I lifted my good right hand and summoned Soulrend back into it. The pommel weighed next to nothing, and the ethereal blade even less, but my hand wobbled still.

With every ounce of my remaining strength, I threw the blade.

The move made me fall back with another cry of pain, but I kept my eyes locked onto Soulrend as it soared across the short distance and plunged through the side of the Mammoth Lion’s head, just below one eye.

The lion collapsed in a heap, instantly dead.