Well, looks like he can outrun the creatures, if barely. Running down the river bank, the gravel crunching beneath his feet Matt focused on not tripping or running into something. He could hear the creatures running behind him, hissing and snarling as they gained on him. How did he know they were gaining? He felt as they entered his material perception, and continued to sense as they grew closer.

This wasn’t sustainable. He was losing energy and the creatures didn’t look like they were going to let him go. Thinking about what would help him, Matt remembered his earlier plan on what to spend his Points on and decided that was as good a plan as any.

Without opening his status, Matt tried to feel through his soul the same way he has before and focusing his intent on spending a point on the concept of Weight. Feeling the property settle into his soul, he immediately began to Shape the wood armor he was wearing and his bat, making them lighter. He had no idea how it worked, but he immediately felt the burden lessen. Shaper magic was awesome.

Picking up a bit of speed now that he was less encumbered, Matt bought himself a little bit of time to think of the next part of his plan. He was still moving north so eventually he would leave the forest and maybe find help, but he couldn’t rely on that.

Because the last one of these he killed was trapped, he didn’t know how strong they were. He could tell that if it had been left more time to struggle against the bindings, it would have broken free. It had already done a lot of damage to the wood, so killing it quickly was a must. And definitely not letting it attack him.

Reaching to his belt while he ran, Matt grabbed the face plate he made for the bucket helmet and moved to attach it before thinking better. Limiting his vision wouldn’t be good, but he wanted to protect his face… Using a bit of Connection, he Shaped the mask onto the helmet, but he had made it so it no longer reached his eyes and just covered across his mouth and nose. That would have to be enough.

He was running next to a river, could that be his escape? The creatures didn’t look like they would be all that great in the water but he wasn’t sure. And even in the best circumstances he isn't a very good swimmer. He might be fine, but the currents are a bit faster then he would like, and there are plenty of jagged rocks that would not be fun to collide with. Scratch the river, actually, that sounds really bad.

Okay, game plan. Could he trap them like the first one? He could run through a bush and turn it into a cage. But he could only shape one, and without the durability Shaping he doubted it would stop it for long. None of the bushes looked like they would be enough to grab both at the same time unless they were touching, and they had spread out at least three feet apart while chasing him, so that would only be one trapped at best. And even if he could trap one of them temporarily, what was he going to do with the other monster? He could try and hit it, but it was pretty agile.

The only reason he was able to clobber the first one was because it was taken by surprise. Okay, can he surprise either of these monsters? Is there something he could possibly do that would turn the scale. Well, if he turned around quickly that would probably surprise anyone. Or even anything, so that's an option. Okay, that might work but it isn’t enough so he’ll keep that in his back pocket. It might be helpful.

What else did he have? Twenty feet of rope, armor made of wood, a baseball bat, and maybe half of his Connection left. Is any of that enough to make a plan? Well, he could probably run through a bush, make a cage as he pushes through and hit the one that isn't trapped, then try and take care of it before the other one gets free. If he can kill the second wood creature in time, he should have enough connection left to keep the last one trapped. And if it is trapped, he should be able to finish it off.

Okay, okay, that is somewhat of a plan that could go well. Matt's heart raced with adrenaline and he was starting to approach his limit. It was do or die, and Matt verry much didn’t want to die. Well, die again. One time is plenty for anyone, and it was not a hobby he should pick up. Crafting was good enough for him, please and thank you.

Shaking himself out of the distraction, Matt scanned the approaching environment for a suitable location. Thankfully just up ahead the river started to curve slightly to the left, making it so he could run in a straight line and breach the tree line. In a particularly dense bit of foliage, some bushes closed off a gap between two trees. That would have to do.

The wood creatures had closed the distance a bit more, so he just had to hope that he could pull this off. Approaching the bushes, Matt passed the point of no return. Thinking last minute, Matt grabbed the rope off his belt and tossed it behind him hoping to slow or maybe even tangle the creatures up. Unfortunately, they just batted it out of the sky and were undeterred. Unfortunate, but it was worth a try.

As soon as the bushes entered his range, he reached out and bonded to them, sending Connection through the bond and forcefully shoving the bushes out of the way. It used quite a bit of his Connection, but it was a necessary sacrifice. Matt jumped through and cleared the unobstructed path, landing on one leg and pivoting with a slide so he was next to the bushes and facing them, his bat held high and ready. This was it.

Thankfully when he tossed his rope, one of the creatures moved forward to attack it, so it was slightly in the lead. When the lead monster jumped through the bush path Matt had made, he caught it by slamming the branches back into position and snaring it. However he didn’t have enough time to appreciate his work or take advantage of it, as the other creature also leaped above the bush, clearing it entirely.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

It was a good thing Matt was used to hitting things moving at a fast speed. In fact, the things he usually hit were much smaller, and he couldn’t feel exactly where they were in relation to himself. So when the creature came flying over the bush, Matt's bat met it head on directly in its face while he not only released the Shaping reducing its weight, he also cranked it as high as he could in the short moment. In fact, both the bat and creature continued moving forward, its thin and flexible neck bending back as the bat moved forward and hit hard into the creature's body.

Unfortunately, the tumbling over caused Matt to stumble in the direction the creature started to fall in. And even more unfortunately, the creature wrapped a tendril around his bat and arm, tugging him down while he was unbalanced. And most unfortunately, while definitely injured and dazed, the creature was not incapacitated enough to stop attacking, and it was mad.

Rolling over each other, the creature pulled Matt to the ground where he landed on his back hard. While his vest and shirt padded the impact a bit and the backplate was expertly shaped, it still was not pleasant and knocked the wind out of him. He was thankful for the padding in his helmet, as the impact didn’t hit his head toochard. It still hurts.

It hurt enough that he was dazed for a moment, which was enough for the creature to recover and attack Matt. It smacked its thorn clawed limb uselessly into his chest piece for a moment before deciding that wasn’t working and tried to slam its face into his neck. Seeing as how that was his most vulnerable part of his body right now, Matt had objections to this.

When he was falling, Matt was able to keep hold of his bat which he quickly brought in front of himself and directly into the creatures approaching maw. The sharp teeth dug into his bat, making Matt cringe a bit at the thought of how it was strong enough to get through his Shaping. That just solidified how much he did not want the thing to actually bite his flesh.

Struggling as the creature brought its weight into pressing down against Matt. His arms shook from the pressure, this thing was shockingly strong when not being restrained.

Watching as its weird sappy drool fell from its mouth onto his bat and armor. Matt was able to keep it at bay, but he was stuck and unable to free himself. The creature's back legs unfurled and were wrapping around his legs and waist, and its front legs were starting to wrap around his arms. The small thorns ending each tendril were poking through his clothes a bit, but it was minimal and most of it was blocked by his armor. It still stung though.

“Aggh, Dammit!” Matt cursed out as he struggled to try and find a solution. As the creature kept wrapping him up, he was having a harder time defending and eventually the trapped creature would get free and tear him apart while he was distracted. He and the monster he was fighting had tumbled away from the bush where he sprung his trap, far enough away that it was out of his material perception, which meant he had no idea how free it was.

Focusing back on the thing that was trying to kill him, Matt tried to pull away somehow but the creature had him restrained tight. Matt might have appreciated the irony if he wasn’t scared out of his mind and focused on not dying. Trying to find anything, Matt looked with his material sense but all he could feel was the creature, some twigs, his armor and his bat. His bat was currently held in the creature's mouth. Creatures mouth…

Having a flash of inspiration, Matt bonded with the bat and got to work. Since the creature was biting down around the halfway point, Matt Shaped material from both sides of the bat to lift up and connect to each other, then tightening around the creature's head and neck, keeping the bat trapped around its head. The monster looked surprised at the sudden pressure around its head and tried to pull back a bit, but Matt didn’t let it go.

Focusing his Connection as hard as he can, Matt started to shape the part of the bat that was still in the creature's mouth into a spike and pressed it into the back of the creature's throat. Now sensing the danger, the creature tried to let go of Matt so it could retreat but he was relentless. He stopped bonding with the bat for a moment so he could shape the various parts of his armor to move and lock the creature in place.

Now that he was the one holding the monster captive, Matt focused back on the bat and shifted the handle slightly so he could keep the creature held while he let go off the bat with one hand, pushed himself up quickly and then grabbed the throat of the creature as he turned the positions over and he was now on top, holding the monster down as he now started using his body to drive the spike through whatever skull it had.

The creature thrashed around, trying to get out from Matt's hold but both being restrained and not able to use leverage properly the creature wasn’t able to use any of the strength it had. With a rough scream, Matt pushed forward and felt something in the creature give way as the spike went straight through its head, leaking sap blood down into the dirt as the creature gave one last twitch before falling limp.

Matt just sat over the creature, panting for breath as he trembled slightly from the exertion, adrenaline and relief. He did it, he fought a creature that was surly stronger then he was but managed to overpower it in a direct fight. Sure, he got the first blow with a sneak attack but these things didn’t care about fighting fair. And he still won! He would not let this world's monsters kill him! He would survive!

And then he heard the raspy hiss to his left and felt wood moving quickly toward him with his material perception. Oh right, the last creature… Matt didn’t have the time, reaction speed or Connection to do anything besides turn his head towards the creature. And there it was, having torn itself free from the trap and barreling towards him. Mouth open, aimed straight for his neck.

Well, he had a good run. He did his best, and that's all anyone can ask of you. Frankly, he did downright commendable considering the circumstances. He made some incredible things, and had some good moments. Matt gracefully accepted his fate…

You know what? No! Matt doesn’t just give in. He tried his hardest and he did damn good. Screw just giving up, he was going to take this thing down, even if it killed him. And if he couldn’t kill it before he died, he was going to give it indigestion on the way out. This thing would not win!