In my past life I heard something about lions pushing their cubs off cliffs in order to make them stronger, but I never really believed it. I still don't believe that lions do it, but after today, I think that bloodcats might.

"How could you Mama! Betrayal! You bully!!"

About an hour earlier

Not long after leaving the clearing, we run into a huge yellow beetle that's easily as big as a bloodcat. As I watch the battle between the beetle and Mama Bloodcat from the side, I notice something interesting. Mama is using the same fire attacks that she has always used, but differently. Instead of releasing the attacks from her mouth, the attacks are coming from her hands, and she seems to be able to change the attack's direction in midair. It doesn't take long for the battle to end, and I walk towards her full of questions.

"How did you attack with your hands? Oh, and how did you manipulate the attack in midair?"

"What is 'manipulate'?"

"Oh, to manipulate something is like to control it."

Mama nods her head and changes the subject, "Have you still not awoken your ability?"

I answer a little awkwardly, "Well, I remember you said you awoke your ability while you were fighting, so I guess I just haven't had a good enough battle yet!"

"I see, I see." Mama reveals a suspicious looking grin.

"Uh, Mama? What, um, what are you thinking about?"

She quickly reverts to her normal self, "Oh, I was just thinking we should head that way!" she points in a direction.

A bit nervous, I use my clairvoyance to explore the direction she pointed at. Not far off, I detect a group of entities, and they don't seem weak!

"Uhh, you know, I was hoping we could head this direction." I say as I start walking in the opposite direction.

Swish!

I suddenly find myself leaving the ground.

"Children must listen to their Mamas." Mama smiles as she lifts me up by the scruff.

"Ahh! Mama! I'm sorry! What did I do? I won't do it again! I promise!"

"Oh honey, you have done nothing wrong. I am doing this because I love you. This is for your own good!"

The next thing I know, I find myself in a pit, being chased by a group of black-eyed brown boars that are each easily over five feet long.

"Stupid pigs! Stupid Mama! Just wait until I get out of here!"

Considering how low the sides are, I should be able to escape easily, but when I tried earlier, I got blocked by Mama.

"This is for your own good!" she repeated.

Glancing at the boars behind me, I start getting worried. Before, I could run away easily, but they seem to be getting smarter. Now whenever I get near the edges of the pit, the boars start spreading out to prevent me from escaping! As I near the edge again, I grit my teeth and jump.

I land on the side of the pit and prepare jump over the top of the boars. But mid jump, I notice a boar rapidly approaching me from below.

With a thud, the boar's nose hits my stomach. I don't feel any pain from the impact, but there's another problem. The attack pushed me farther into the air, giving the boars ample time to surround me. As I land on the ground, I realize that there's now nowhere to escape to. Fighting seems to be the only option, so I single out a boar and go towards it!

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Before it can react, I jump on the boar's head, grabbing onto it with my claws.

"Skree!"

Quickly crawling up the boar's head until I reach its neck, I bite it as hard as I can!

Crack!

"Ouch!"

I break its neck causing it to fall limply to the ground, but the bite broke one of my teeth as well.

"Skreee!"

Seemingly enraged, the rest of the boars charge me with renewed vigor. Jumping off of the fallen boar's body, I start fleeing the boars again. As I reach the edge of the pit, I jump on the wall again, but this time I use it as leverage to jump at another boar!

I ram into the side of the boar, sending us both tumbling. Taking the opportunity, I bite as close to its throat as I can.

"Skree!"

Unable to inflict a fatal wound, I try to jump off and flee, but am intercepted by a boar ramming me. Regaining my bearings, I find myself surrounded by boars again, except this time they seem much more wary of me.

"Scared huh? Hahaha!"

Seeing them afraid of me somehow makes me excited! Taking advantage of their fear, I charge one of them again. As soon as they see me move, all of the boars behind me immediately charge, while the ones in the direction of my charge flee.

With my speed, I quickly catch up to my target, tackling it. But this time, instead of trying to bite it, I jump off of it as soon as I can. As I resume running, I look back and see the boars that were chasing me trample the boar that I just tackled, slowing them down and even tripping some of them.

"You guys are idiots!"

Scouring the area, I spot the boar that I had injured earlier. Since it was in the direction of my earlier charge and ran away by itself, it's now all alone. Licking my lips, I start chasing it. As I near it, it starts crying for help. Looking back, I see all of the boars that were chasing me are now quite a ways away.

"Haha, looks like-"

As I turn my head forward again, I notice that the boar has stopped and turned around. Unable to slow down in time, I instead decide to pounce at the boar. As I tackle it to the ground, I bite the side of its neck, but in the process it also bites my front left leg.

"Mfff." I release a muffled cry.

Biting its neck harder, I try to quickly kill it, but suddenly I hear a crunch.

"AHHH!" I'm unable to hold on any longer, as I release a shout of pain.

As soon as I let go of the boar's neck, it also releases my leg and scurries away.

Holding my broken leg, my mind goes blank for a moment, and I quickly find myself surrounded by boars again. There are seven of them left, the rest dead or too injured to fight. Slowly standing up again, I see one of the boars charge. Balancing on my back legs, I try to jump on the charging boar's head. I successfully grab its head, but before I can get a good hold, the boar bucks its head.

Flying through the air, it feels like everything is going in slow motion. As I look sideways, I see that there's already another boar charging at me. I feel a sense of fear, a fear that these things could kill me, but more so I feel angry. The fear and anger seem to combine into a single emotion, as a new sense of confidence starts to well up inside of me.

'You guys are just like that bloodcat! Do you really think I'll just give up without a fight?!'

I start feeling a strange power build up within me. The power seems to naturally move throughout my body, as if it has a mind of its own. Revealing a spiteful grin, I focus my attention on the boar that's running toward me. The only thought going through my mind right now is to kill these cowardly pigs that are ganging up on me.

"You want to take advantage of the situation huh?! You wish!"

As I shout, I feel the strange power flow through my body up towards my head. With my blurring vision, I witness a white beam exit my mouth, piercing directly through the charging boar's forehead.

As I hit the ground, I see the charging boar collapse, no longer moving. My consciousness fading, I am barely able to utter a few more words before passing out.

"Serves you right..."

"-m sorry..."

'What?'

"I am so sorry..."

Hearing Mama's voice, I squirm a little bit.

"Lyna?! Lyna, are you awake?"

"...Mama?"

"Oh Lyna, I am so sorry. Do you feel okay?"

Feeling her squeeze me, I release a muffled grunt of pain, after which she apologizes and loosens her grip. Opening my eyes, I see Mama's face hovering directly above mine.

Looking around, I realize Mama is cradling me in her arms. On the ground, I see numerous charred boars.

"Hehe, Mama, did you do that?" I glance at the scorched boars surrounding us.

"Of course I did, they were trying to kill my child!"

"You're so much stronger than me, Mama."

She is silent for a while. After a few seconds, she slowly speaks.

"That is why I did that. I would love to be able to protect you your entire life, but if ever there is a situation where I cannot, you must be able to protect yourself."

With those few words, I feel all of my previous resentment fade, replaced by a warm feeling in my heart. I lean my head on her arm, "I love you Mama."

She smiles, "Now hurry up and bring out the Eggshell, you must quickly treat your wounds!"

Reminded of my broken tooth and leg, the pain suddenly hits me.

"Owowow, hurry and put me down Mama, so I can bring it out!"

Mama giggles and puts me on the ground.

Fwoosh!

On an empty spot not far away, a large stone platform with half an egg on it that's surrounded by grass suddenly appears. I start limping towards it, but before I can get far, Mama scoops me up and jumps onto the side of the pool. She then gently places me in the pool. As usual, I sink like a rock to the bottom of the tonic.

"Make sure to recover quickly!" I hear Mama say from above me.