The jobo roared and came charging straight in. It bounded across the grass in alternating steps that launched it forward in a furious blur of talons and naked pink skin. Shit. It’s really pissed off. That must have been a good nap.

Edge didn’t panic as his heart began to pound. He just readied himself for a fight.

It’s going to be a brawl after all. Although this engagement wasn’t going the way that he wanted, he’d known that there was a good chance this would happen, given how little he’d used his skills and his limited hunting experience.

He found that a part of himself relished the impending violence to come. The chance to put his new body to the test. Edge had grown an incredible amount over the last few days. Now it was time to find out what he could do.

His muscles were stronger and more responsive than before. His upgraded eyes could track the beast’s movement with crystal clarity. His double-tank reservoir was overflowing with magicytes, and his reactor was ready to burn.

Don’t get cocky and keep your head in the game. It’s time for plan B. Even with his recent gains, the jobo was stronger and faster than he was. It had him beat as far as weapons went too. Edge was still confident that he could win. It just meant that the battle was going to come down to how he used his skills.

Right now, he had a significant advantage. He knew what skills the beast could use. But other than entangle, his were a mystery to it. On top of that, he had far more skills than someone his stage should be able to slot, which would make his moves impossible to predict.

He would save shadow step for an emergency escape or to set up a killing blow. It made sense to keep the mana-intensive skill a surprise, since he couldn’t afford to use it often anyway. Edge had used regeneration to trick his opponents before, and he would try it again if given the chance. But it would be better not to get hurt to begin with if he possibly could.

He wouldn’t be able to land entangle against a mana-sensitive opponent unless he managed to score a disabling wound. But it might still come in handy later in the fight. That meant he had to create an opening using slash and elemental blade, wounding the beast badly enough that it couldn’t leap away.

The basic skill was cheap to use, but it only increased his offense by a modest amount. His uncommon iceblade did excellent damage and could cripple with its chill, but the skill drained his mana too quickly to use it carelessly.

Edge didn’t have his claw-sword this time around, since it was being refined at the Forge to make something better. What he did have was the knife that Trapper had given him. It only extended his reach by about six inches, but it was the sharpest blade that he’d ever seen. If what she had told him was true, and it probably was, the weapon was incredibly resilient too.

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It might not be easy to slash with the knife and deal a serious wound. But it would score long cuts with ease. Painful injuries that would distract his opponent for the rest of the fight. They would bleed if he landed a solid attack, wearing the jobo down over time.

All of that passed through his mind in the blink of an eye. He raised his blade, waiting for an opening to appear.

Edge thought that the jobo would keep coming straight at him. He began planning out a counter while getting ready to move out of the way. Which left him completely unprepared for what actually happened.

When it was still a good twenty feet out, the beast switched up its stride. After one last bounding step, it brought both feet together and set them down at the same time. Then the jobo ignited its core and made an explosive leap, transforming its forward momentum into a rising arc.

It was so fast that it caught Edge by surprise, although it was one of the moves that he’d been planning to deal with.

He looked up to track the creature’s progress, as adrenaline sang in his veins... Only to find himself staring straight into the sun, nearly blinding him before he closed his eyes. In that moment, he learned a valuable lesson. Powerful senses could be a double-edged sword.

The big bastard did that on purpose. I’ll have to remember that trick. The jobo would come streaking back down a heartbeat later, wicked talons slicing deep with the weight of its body behind it.

The problem was, Edge couldn’t dodge what he couldn’t see. He could shadow step, but he would reveal a critical card without gaining much in exchange, placing him at a severe disadvantage for the rest of the fight. But then he realized that he had another move he could make. Maybe two can play that game.

Conceal. He turned on the skill as he dropped to the ground. He curled into the tightest ball he could make before looking up again, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. All within a fraction of a second.

Edge wasn’t sure how well the skill would perform against something that already knew where he was. But he figured that this was worth a shot. The jobo couldn’t alter its trajectory mid-flight and had been targeting him center mass.

If this didn’t work, he would call it his loss and retreat using shadow step. Then come back another day with a better plan and better gear.

But conceal must have had at least some effect. Instead of correcting to cut him to ribbons, the beast’s talons came screaming through the space where his throat had been half a second before, leaving the creature off balance when it didn’t encounter the resistance it had expected.

Edge had been ready to turn into shadows and make a break for it. He let out a sigh of relief when the beast went soaring over his head before landing with a ground shaking thud. He had dodged its talons with inches to spare, although it had been far too close for comfort… which reminded him that the jobo was longer than it was wide.

Before he could get out of the way, the tail came down with a hearty smack, sending him rolling in the dirt. It would have been worse if it had been a planned attack instead of an incidental hit, but it still really fucking hurt.