Chapter 9

The jaguar was larger, faster, and stronger than the goblin from the first floor. However, just like the slimes, they were ambush predators. The information I’d read on these creatures indicated they preferred to strike their prey from behind, using their powerful jaws, capable of crushing a human skull, to kill its prey instantly.

With its cover blown, and the grass catching fire all around, the creature had to improvise. That didn’t make it any less dangerous. Just, a little more predictable. The hundred plus pound cat, with yellowish tan fur covered in black and white spots leapt at me, paws outstretched, its jaw opening in a roar. If I’d had my shield, I would have attempted to absorb the impact of the lunge, while running the creature through with my sword.

Instead, I sidestepped as the creature flew towards me, my blade slicing upwards in a diagonal slice, from left to right. The blade cut a line across the jaguar’s chest, leaving a bloody line, but it hadn’t been deep enough to slay the monster. Its weight and momentum had been enough to cause my grip to slip on the blade, lessening the impact of my slash.

With an irritated roar the creature landed, and we circled each other, eyes locked together. The creature was about five feet in length from nose to tail, and stood a little over two feet in height, though it was crouched low, its form coiled, ready to pounce. I could feel my heart thumping, blood rushing to my limbs, my senses heightened.

My back shifted to burning grassland, the heat of the fire reminding me of the danger around me, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from the jaguar. I knew to look away now, would be fatal. I needed perfect timing to dodge the creature’s attack. Unlike when using a shield, there was no room for error. It wasn’t good enough to just block this attack by putting the shield in the way. I had to dodge just right, avoiding the attack but staying close enough to launch my own counterattack.

If dodged too soon or shifted away too far from the jaguar’s attack path, I’d only be able to land a shallow strike. If I didn’t move far enough away, I wouldn’t have the space to swing my short sword to attack with. Sure, I could try to impale the creature, but if the wound wasn’t fatal, that bore the risk of having my sword ripped from my grasp, much like how I’d lost my blade against the cow. Though, unlike that creature, the jaguar would most certainly be able to finish me off if I lost my sword here and now.

Finally, I knew if I dodged too late, I risked the jaguar landing a blow on me. Armed as it was with its powerful jaws and razor-sharp claws, I had no doubt if it sunk its paws or teeth into me, with one arm injured, I’d be hard pressed to survive.

I forced my breaths to slow, all of my focus narrowed to the jaguar. We took steps in tandem, circling each other, two predators sizing each other up. Sweat dripped from my brow from stress, humidity, and heat. Meanwhile, the slash across the jaguar’s belly dripped blood, leaving a trail of red as we circled.

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The sleek fur of the creature had a sheen to it, and it seemed to reflect part of the light of the floor as it shifted. Its sleek muscles, the definition of which could easily be seen, told me of the power at its disposal. And even as my nose was assaulted with the growing smell of smoke from the burning grasslands, I could just make out the musty smell of the creature before me.

“Come on then,” I taunted the creature, doing my best to sound threatening. “Come at me.” My sword felt slick in my hand, and my knuckles ached from how tightly I gripped the weapon. I prayed to the Tower that I’d not lose my hold on my weapon. Cursed the floor for its humid air and cursed myself for the grassland flames that threatened to overcome the jaguar and I at any moment.

The jaguar’s ears flicked, and I could see the flames reflected in its eyes. It snarled at me, teeth barred, and flattened its ears against its skull. It stopped circling, and instead took a single step backwards. Then, it took another, distancing itself from me even more. I watched the creature, keeping my guard up, keeping my focus hyper fixated on it. I’d never faced a jaguar before. I didn’t know what it would do, what or how it would actually attack. All I knew was the creature could easily leap the span of ten feet between the two of us. It had done so in its initial attack, and I wasn’t about to let my guard down if it were trying to lull me into a false sense of security.

Another step backwards, and its tail went between its legs. Then, without warning, it turned and ran, leaping far away from me. The suddenness of it left me dumbstruck. Had I stared the creature down and won? Had the monster fled from me? Or had the fire scared it off? It had been clear when I set the grass aflame that the cat was not a fan of the fire. Perhaps fire was a natural weakness to it?

I let my shoulders relax and took a moment to shift my sword to my left hand, so that I could wipe my sweaty palm clean. I didn’t know why the cat had run off, but I wasn’t going to complain. Not now. I was confident in my training, but as I was now, I’d known it would have been easy for that battle to go either way. One slip up was all the creatures would have needed, to end my life. And now, with the battle over, and the threat gone, new emotions flooded into me. Elation, at having faced down death and survived. Exhaustion, the price of having to be so perfectly focused and aware of the creature taking its toll on me. Between that, the heat of the fires, and my other injuries, I suddenly felt sluggish.

I shifted my sword back to my right hand, looking off in the direction the jaguar had run. It was heading towards the jungle. I wondered if that was its natural habitat, if it spent time in the trees alongside those nasty slimes. Or did it prowl through the grass, using the tall vegetation as cover to pounce on its prey. Either way, I had no doubt that I’d face one again. This first encounter had been nothing more than a taste, a lesson, in what would await me in my future climbs.

“Well then,” I said to myself, turning to take in the burning grassland. “Let’s-”

Thwunk, thwunk, thwunk.

Three arrows sprouted from my chest. My body went cold, as my eyes stared blankly at the objects. As I dropped to my knees, my sword dropping from fingers that I could no longer feel, I saw a group of figures in the distance. They looked like goblins, if goblins wore jaguar pelts for armor, complete with jaguar headdresses… in their hands, bows, with arrows just like those in my chest knocked and ready. The jaguar hadn’t run away from me, nor the fire. It had seen the approaching goblin warriors and had fled from them. The realization was almost as painful as the arrows.

The only certainty within the tower, Commander Phyr’s voice echoed weakly in my mind, is death.

“Shit.” I said, as my world went dark.

You’ve Died