To get a better view of the region, Edge stepped out of the tall grass and cut across a field of pink and blue wildflowers. They had a spicy aroma that he found quite pleasant. While he walked, he started looking around to see what he could reach before he lost the light.
He needed to cross into another sub-biome if possible. Staying in the grasslands after dark was a bad idea. It would be far too easy for a predator to approach him unaware.
By now, the shadows were growing longer by the footfall. The sun was dipping below the horizon, like a great crimson eye that was slowly closing. The sunset was spectacular, but Edge didn’t have time to watch. He needed to find somewhere to hole up for the night, and he was running out of time.
On a brighter note, his reservoir was nearly full. By the time he woke up, Skill-Eater would have finished digesting the shadowreaver’s rare skill. In addition to gaining an awesome new power, it would free up [Extraction] to start stealing more.
Ten minutes later, color was fading from the world, but he’d managed to come up with a plan.
Edge was heading for a series of low hills in the distance. Ground covered in boulders and shrubs instead of an endless sea of stalks. It was still far too close to the grass. But if something found him there, at least he would be able to see it.
He was hoping to avoid confrontation until the night had passed. While he couldn’t do anything about his scent, he could duck between the rocks and try to stay out of sight. He would be safer with the boulders against his back anyhow.
It was the best Edge could do in the little time he had left. At least most of the grass in this region was white, which was shorter than the yellow and easy to cross.
Now he just needed to hike one last mile and wait for the sun to rise. First thing in the morning, he would look for something to eat, then resume his journey to town. Maybe I can hunt an animal or another small beast, then find some way to light a fire. The fantasy of grilled meat set his stomach growling, but it would have to wait at least a little longer.
That was when matters took a decided turn for the worse.
As Edge was crossing the final stretch of prairie between his location and the hill, he felt the ground rumbling beneath his boots. A faint vibration began to build, growing stronger by the heartbeat until the nearby flowers were shaking. That’s not an earthquake, it’s local. Hurry, Edge, it’s time to go.
He quickened his pace, hoping to get out of the way of whatever was happening. However, it was clear within a few seconds that something big was following him from below the soil.
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He knew it was bad right away, but it took him a minute to remember the video where someone described the phenomenon. The clip had covered the skill that created it, and what manner of beasts used it to hunt. Something with burrow is coming for me.
“Shit.” Edge started running as fast as he could, as a crackling tide of adrenaline went racing through his veins. While not every beast that used burrow was dangerous, the fact that the rumbling was following him was a sure sign of a predator intending to ambush him from below.
It was a bad matchup for his current skillset. Depending on what other skills the beast had, it might go for his legs. Or worse, launch an attack from within the soil, making it difficult to dodge and impossible to fight back.
Lacking anything that could counter creatures dwelling underground, Edge knew what he had to do. The best outcome would be to outrun it before it gets too dark to see. Second best is to make it waste mana chasing me with burrow turned on, until it’s forced to emerge and face me on the ground.
At the very least, he needed to reach favorable terrain before the beast caught him. Ground that would slow it down or convince it to abandon the hunt. Solid stone would be best, but failing that, some rockier soil, or at least a big boulder to stand on.
He kept on sprinting as fast as he could, cursing his low speed all the while, as the sensation of something digging up from below grew closer and then closer still. I’m not going to be able to reach any of those, except maybe the last.
While he ran, Edge started looking for the best place to make his stand. His gaze landed on a cluster of large boulders nestled between two hills. There.
It wasn’t ideal. But it was the best that he was going to get with the final few seconds at his disposal. If he was fast enough, once he was out of the grass, he could try circling the hillock, draining the beast’s mana as planned. If that didn’t work, he would get up on the rocks where he’d be able to see its attacks coming.
His burst of speed had let him open some distance from his subterranean stalker. But then Edge hit a patch of grass that was thicker than the rest. It was the damned yellow grass too, slicing his flesh as he forced himself past. He lost precious seconds before he broke through, pumping his legs like mad.
By now, he’d arrived at the bottom of the hillock, where the stalks were soft and thin. Although he had lost most of his lead, the beast hadn’t been able to catch him. Unfortunately, he no longer had time to do anything other than head straight for the rocks. He sprinted with everything that he had, pulling ahead of whatever was trying to eat him.
Just when Edge thought that he was going to make it after all, a creature stepped out from behind the boulder that he was planning to scale. Fuck me. It’s a nymph.
The instant that he saw what was waiting for him, Edge realized that he’d been driven into a trap. Because the beasts coming for him always hunted in pairs. One was blocking the path to the boulder, and the other was closing from behind.
I can’t go back, and I can’t go around. That only leaves me with through.
His only chance was to hit fast and hit hard and pray that it was enough. He had to take the first nymph out, before he was caught in a pincer attack.
As the last ray of sunlight vanished from the air, the next battle for his life began.