A tear in the void adjacent to him opened up, a fact that would no doubt have startled Tom if he were not the one to have willed it. His [Inventory] seemed to require that there be no beast or, more accurately, no hostile entity in his immediate vicinity to answer his call— atleast that was what his instincts told him.
The [Elfinclaw] had already exited the range of his furthest attack, namely the [Water Propulsion] card, so Tom believed that to suffice. Of course, Tom did not have any naive ideas of pushing the [Elfinclaw] in the void tear that had opened up, as he clearly remembered the [Divine System] specifying that it could only store items/remains that were considered non-living.
Though he had attempted to deposit a duplicate [The Flame] card, out of sheer curiosity. The experiment had resulted in disappointment, as the card simply phased through the other side, as if the tear in the void simply didn’t exist in the physical plain. Tom had retracted the duplicate card along with his hand, not willing to play too deeply with forces he didn’t understand.
That experiment had resulted in some disturbing revelations, but Tom had comforted himself, or rather, convinced himself that the term non-living did not necessarily imply the opposite for items he could not store.
He passed the [Water Propulsion] card to his other hand, before reaching inside the void. A mental image painted itself in his mind, allowing him to accurately reach out towards the item he sought.
His skin brushed against a wet, furry material and when his hand grabbed it, it made a sick, squealching sound. Tom yanked the dead [Elfinclaw’s] pelt out, still wet and matted in blood— in the exact same condition as he’d deposited it, as if it had been frozen in statis.
Tom had thought the situation through, almost certain that the female [Elfinclaw] was the last denizen of the mountain-like structure. It only had to howl or yelp for backup and Tom would be the one fleeing, not the beast. Besides, the small mountain-like structure didn’t seem like it held the girth to hold more than half a dozen beasts and the half-eaten corpse just left untouched outside further gave credence to his theory.
Shit.
He was really going through with this plan.
Tom had no idea if it would work. He’d been observing the female [Elfinclaw] carefully, and so far the only chink in its armor he saw was that it genuinely seemed to care for the well-being of its mate. If Tom had to draw a parallel to an animal on Earth, then the [Elfinclaw] reminded him of wolves back home— fiercely loyal to each other and the pack, but holding no mercy for their prey, almost always eating their ‘food’ alive, as it bled to its death.
That would’ve been his fate if he allowed the Elfinclaw to approach him.
Bleeding to death, watching as a lupine animal mercilessly ripped open his entrails.
Tom refused to die that way.
A predator could not show mercy to its prey, otherwise it would starve to death.
Such was the law of nature.
Biting his lip hard, till the metallic tang of blood seeped into his mouth, Tom braced himself. Pulling back his right hand, he chucked the pelt forward. The water and blood seeped into it gave it weight, enough to make it feel like it weighed atleast a kilogram. The pelt arced through the air, right for the [Elfinclaw], who easily sidestepped it by a generous margin.
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Tom swapped his [The Flame] card to his right hand, and stepped out into the clearing. His [Elfinclaw Bone Shield] was held at the chest, protecting his vitals. Tom wasn’t sure if the shield alone would suffice to get the [Elfinclaw’s] attention, shrouded and heavily modified as it was so he’d had to resort to a more direct method.
The Elfinclaw cared for its mate.
It would be furious with him.
It would want to kill him.
Anger would bleed into a potent rage.
Rage into recklessness.
And Tom hoped to exploit that burst of irrationality.
The moment of truth arrived.
The [Elfinclaw] stopped evading, roughly twenty meters away from Tom by this point. Only five more meters, and it could disappear into the forest— Tom would have no hope of chasing it at full speed.
It’s snout twitched as it began to rapidly sniff. It’s neck angled itself in the direction of the bloodied hide.
It’s eyes shot open.
Tom’s strike had been accurate, as the female [Elfinclaw’s] eyes were bloodshot. Unfortunately, Water was not the best element at dealing damage— besides the reddened eyes, it seemed like it could see fine.
For in the next moment it let out a mournful wail, a deeper undertone of pure, abject hatred overshadowed by the grief it felt in that moment.
Tom banged his hand, which held [The Flame] card, against his [Elfinclaw] shield. Once, twice, thrice… Tom continued to beat against his shield with a quickening tempo.
That caught the female [Elfinclaw’s] attention.
Tom didn’t know if his intention would translate correctly, but it was as primal as he could make it— A declaration of war, an admission of guilt.
“Come at me!” Tom roared, his heart beating so fast that he felt it would almost explode in the next second. His head glanced from behind the safety of his kiteshield, carefully observing the [Elfinclaw’s] every moment.
[The Flame] card was primed to fire at a moment’s notice. [The Shadow] cloaked his figure, allowing him to see in the night. [Earth’s Vitality] was clenched in his left hand, behind the safety of the kiteshield— allowing him to heal as and when he willed it. His other two [Deck Cards] had been placed in either pocket.
Fire was an element he knew to be effective, and his SP reserves were high enough to keep it going for minutes.
His [Ankra Bone Dagger] was concealed in the bushes, three or four meters behind him, a last ditch safety measure in case all else failed.
The female [Elfinclaw] met his challenge by letting out a furious roar, echoing the promise of a bloody and painful death.
Take the fucking bait.
The [Elfinclaw] did, charging straight for Tom, a translucent silver glow illuminating the areas it passed by.
Fast. Incredibly fast.
Now that the [Elfinclaw] had opted for a head on confrontation, it held nothing back as it rampaged forth with the intent to tear Tom’s throat out.
Tom fought the urge to tuck his tail and make a break for it in the other direction.
He wasn’t the same person he used to be.
But that didn’t make it any easier. His hands were trembling, his expression incredibly tense as he struggled to track the silvery blur headed right for him.
Tom wanted to wait until the last possible moment, but he… couldn’t bet his life on timing it perfectly.
The moment the beast crossed the ten meter mark, his survival instinct took over. The [Elfinclaw] was dangerously fast, yes, but surely it couldn’t pivot at those speeds. His level 3 [The Flame] card would only need thirty or so odd seconds to severely wound the creature, and if it kept charging the way it was all it would accomplish would be colliding against his shield.
Searing hot flames exploded outward from his right hand, [The Flame] enjoying the increased range from reaching [Level 3].
A few seconds passed, but Tom didn’t hear the sizzling of flesh, no agonized cry or a whimper followed by a hasty retreat.
Fuck.