Once Alaric was done with his meal, Scarlett managed to work her way into his plans of laying low for some time, convincing him to go on one more hunt while they waited for Sariah’s reply.

  It was to be a quick hunt during which they’d snag a few aether cores and get their money’s worth—nothing to be worried about.

  As it turned out, preparing for quests was not as easy as Alaric had thought. Since demons and Aether Beasts lurked beyond every Holy Barrier on the Valerian continent, adventurers were meant to be careful when taking on dangerous quests, especially quests that happened outside the Purified Zone.

  Because of this extensive preparation, Alaric was forced to remain patient. The pair dashed through the trees of the Purified Zone like two mirages, moving faster than the human eye could follow.

  Alaric’s vines were spreading further away at a pace faster than he’d ever pushed them. However, the further he pushed them, the paler and more confused his expression got.

  After running for twenty minutes, they’d covered the greater part of the Purified Zone and yet… nothing.

  Scarlett was next to the boy a moment later, keeping up with his speed as they dashed under the cover of the trees, “I don’t like this. Where are the Aether Beasts?”

  Alaric pushed his powers even more… “I can’t see anything. The woods… they are too quiet.”

  “I know what you mean,” the girl replied.

  This was far too strange… Before they could decide on anything, however, something caught Alaric’s eye and he shifted his attention to his left.

  At the edge of the Purified Zone, he caught sight of movement, “I’ve seen something.”

  The pair shot off in that direction, with Alaric in the lead. A gale of wind blew back in their wake.

  It wasn’t long before they slowed down and came to a stop, drawing their weapons and getting ready.

  “What is it?” Scarlett whispered.

  “Some kind of tiger,” Alaric replied.

  The girl went still and failed to move forward, “Tiger? What colour is it?”

  Alaric looked at her briefly then turned his attention back to the creature. He could see it clearly so describing it was no problem, “Well, it’s white. It has these crystals mixed with metallic spikes on its back. Then, there is its tail… Are those bones?”

  “Alistair,” the girl whispered, gripping his shoulder so tight he thought she’d break his bones—and that was saying something considering he was of the Wood Temper Rank— “Tell me… Does the tip of its tail have some kind of blade?”

  “Let me see… Oh yeah, it does. How did you know?”

  “Let’s leave it alone, then,” the girl responded, visibly sweating. That’s a Three-Cut Bone Tiger.”

  “What’s a Three-Cut Bone Tiger?” the boy asked, even more curious to find out what the creature was.

  “One of the few Aether Beasts you don’t want to be caught dead fighting. If that knife on its tail cuts you three times, you die,” the girl responded with panic in his voice, “Let’s just pray it’s not a high-level one.”

  Alaric took a step back but then froze. At that moment, something happened that made Alaric freeze on the spot. Chills went through his back and he turned to look back in the direction of the beast. His gut had been silent this whole while… but now, it screamed one thing:

  RUN!

  Before he could take his gaze off the beast, it opened its deep blue starry eyes and stared straight into him. The only problem was that he wasn’t looking at it with his own eyes, instead, he looked at it through the trees his power was controlling. Given the various perspectives, this kind of sight gave him, it shouldn’t have been possible for anything to gaze at him directly.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  This was the gaze of a creature so powerful it defied nature’s laws. “Humans are stupid in any generation.” The creature’s voice rumbled in the Old Tongue as it stood up from its sleeping spot to stretch.

  “He spotted us,” Alaric whispered to his partner.

  “Then run,” Scarlett didn’t waste time after saying this as she shot off with the speed of a bullet. Alaric was only one step behind her, dodging the edge of a bone knife by a hair’s breadth.

  A chilly wind blew at his back as he shot off, wondering when it was that the beast had crossed the distance separating him from it.

  “Running won’t save you from me,” the beast’s voice rumbled in the Old Tongue.

  Alaric was running faster than his legs should have been able to carry him. The Old Tongue hadn’t censored the beast’s words, which could only mean.

  ‘He’s not lying…’ Alaric gasped.

  [ Dance of the Mantis ] The boy’s guardian spoke.

  Alaric didn’t need to be told twice. He easily changed the way he was holding his sword so it formed the similar hook a mantis made with its front claws.

  The Dance of the Mantis was built on the foundation of agility, high speed and fast reflexes. Alaric didn’t have the time to think as he shot forward with his attention staying on the pursuing tiger.

  The beast kept up, “What an interesting human! Your meat should be tasty and your skull should make a worthy trophy.”

  Alaric was beside the tiger in the blink of an eye, his sword flashing only to clang with the steel bone of the Bone Tiger’s tailbone knife.

  They locked eyes before Alaric vanished with a quick step that placed him high up in the branches of the trees. The Tiger followed from the ground without skipping a beat, leaping from one tree to another before joining him in the canopies in a matter of seconds.

  “Perhaps we can talk this out,” the boy started.

  “Ohoho! You speak the Old Tongue. How did a human like you achieve such a thing?” the creature mused. This time though, it was on top of Alaric before he could even attack.

  His blade blocked the creature’s steel-like claws, then three strikes of the steel bone knife before separating as the pair nearly crashed into a tree. This was a moving battle… and one that neither party was willing to lose.

  “Don’t waste your breath, human. I will listen to nothing you have to say. Your only escape is through defeating me. I’ll even make you an offer. Defeat me and I’ll answer one question you have,” the creature responded.

  Alaric’s blade flashed through the air, blocking the bone blade just in time. His body rattled with the shock of blocking the menacing attack.

  Something was off.

  Fighting like this, the boy realised one thing. He was fighting with one hand and the blade in his hands was too heavy for the Dance of the Mantis. Holding a sword this way was stupid, of course. Its balance was off and it should have been unwieldy… but the strength he attained at the Wood Temper Rank made up for it.

  Of course, he could improvise… but that would never compare to if he had two small blades. The Dance of the Mantis was the perfect counter for the Dance of the Tiger and when he fought this beast, he saw it…

  The pair darted about, clashing faster than the human eye could follow. Alaric was keeping up… but he was slowly falling behind. His blade flashed faster than it should have all to compensate for the lack of a second one.

  His muscles burned and…

  SLASH

  Alaric’s eyes went wide as he shot off into the sky, having put all his might into his legs for this one jump. His body shot through the trees and continued past the canopies and out into the sun above.

  Pain shot through his side and that’s when Alaric saw it… A cut on his side. It wasn’t deep enough for him to worry but it hurt like a torrent of flames had been poured on it.

  [ Two cuts left… ]

  This won’t do…

  As the boy’s feet touched the leaves of the canopies on his descent, his body turned leafy and changed form, merging with the nature around him.

  [ I thought you were done using this power… ] Alia smirked.

  [ Yes, I am… I just need the right weapons. ]

  Kilometres ahead, a red-haired girl continued dashing at insane speeds without wasting a moment to look behind. Alaric had never seen her run so fast before.

  “Did you leave me behind?” the boy’s astounded voice whispered.

  “I would never,” the girl responded.

  “No kidding!” the boy scoffed.

  “How are you talking to me?”

  “Never mind that. I need two short knives. My sword is too heavy for this fight. Drop them on the ground and I’ll pick them,” Alaric’s voice echoed.

  The girl picked two beautiful blades from her storage ring, “Do you still remember where we fought the mudhounds?”

  “Yes… I do.”

  “Find me there,” the girl responded before throwing the blades to the ground and shooting forward even faster.

  Alaric’s body began reconstructing itself haphazardly as he came running. In the middle of the forest, a foot appeared, dashing fast but without a body to be seen. Another foot then joined it, the pair made of vines before they weaved an intricate body above them.

  With each part, the body grew clearer as it formed Alaric’s human form right in time for him to slam his foot between the short blades. The force of the stomp sent the blades flying into the air and right into his hands. Like well-fitting gloves, the knives took their place in the incomplete Dance of the Mantis.

  Now, Alaric was ready for a rematch. The ground shook a ton from the footfalls of the pursuing Three-Cut Bone Tiger. He turned his head for a split second for a look over his shoulder even though the flashing mess of green would have made it hard to see.

  For a brief moment, he caught a glimpse of the vicious maw of the attacking fiend. “Like I said, human,” the tiger roared with glee, “RUNNING WON’T SAVE YOU FROM ME.”