Alaric shot through the forest with a sense of clarity, unlike anything he’d ever experienced. The reason for this was simple. He was fighting for his life and couldn’t afford any distractions. He didn’t even allow his heart to beat with fear or for the pain from the cut at his side to muddle his thoughts.

  It was just him, the Three-Cut Bone Tiger and the forest that was their battlefield. In these woods, one of them would die while the other would live… and Alaric wasn’t planning on dying today.

  The boy’s mind filtered through all the information flowing into his mind at a frightening speed. Since he was using the minor faucet of Old Thomper’s power that allowed him to see everything in his surroundings, he had no blind spots.

  Having used this ability so many times in the past, he wasn’t new to the sensation of witnessing many things at once. He’d even grown adept enough to ignore what he didn’t need yet still keep himself vaguely aware of it.

  What remained new to him was how fast he was supposed to be processing information in this battle. The Three-Cut Bone Tiger was an impressive foe. Far stronger than Darth even. The only difference here though, was that Alaric wasn’t the same as he’d been when he’d fought Darth.

  He’d improved drastically since then. Not because he’d been training but because his body had risen far beyond what it was when he faced the Stone Rank mercenary.

  The difference between a Wood Rank and a Stone Rank was large indeed but considering Alaric’s view of that gap was skewed by the fact that he’d killed a Stone Rank before he’d even started Body Tempering. Perhaps someday he’d come to understand just how different a Wood Temper Rank was from a Stone Temper Rank… but now, he didn’t.

  He believed himself stronger than the Copy Viper.

  As Alaric’s blades clashed with the tiger’s steel claws as well as the knife on its bone tail in a metallic song of death and destruction, he came to understand one fundamental concept behind Body Tempering.

  It wasn’t enough to say that his body had grown stronger. Instead, it was more accurate to say that his body had risen to the rank of his battle proficiency. Alaric didn’t have to struggle to keep up with his mind anymore. The two worked together as one.

  His body moved as fast as his thoughts could, and together, his figure blurred across the forest floor in a chaotic motion that sent tremors through the Purified Zone and elevated him to the level of the Three-Cut Bone Tiger’s incredibly lethal prowess.

  As the Bone Tiger attacked with the might of the steel cables of muscle in its limbs and the aether flowing through its system, Alaric met its attacks with the speed, agility and ferocity of a mantis’s claws. His movements were more refined than when the battle had started.

  When he parried the blade at the tip of its bone tail, his other hand was already on the way to block the beast’s steel claws. The second paw never found him in the same place as he blurred away from the beast.

  [ Why can’t you see that opening? ] Alia wondered.

  Alaric panted his answer back, [ I’ve been trying… but one more cut from that thing and I’ll be one step closer to death. ]

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The guardian shook her head, [ And yet the more you let this battle drag on, the more you risk becoming an easy target when exhaustion sets in. Make up your mind, Alaric. Die fighting or die playing tiger and mouse. ]

  ‘Shouldn’t that be Cat and… Never mind,’ the boy gritted his teeth and shot for the beast.

  This time, the beast attacked with its paw, then the other, both of which Alaric managed to parry. Naturally, he now expected the blade to come for him only for the beast to open its abhorrent maw and reveal rows of terrifying razor-sharp teeth.

  The boy sighed.

  From the bracelet on his hand, a glint of silver shot out as he leapt back and watched the tiger bite down on the sharp edge of his longer sword. Blood splattered out of the creature’s mouth before it spat the metal out, “Sh-neaky human! Puny tricks won’t save you. Two more cuts from my blade and you’ll…”

  “Oh! Stop bragging and do it already,” Alaric goaded the creature.

  The Bone Tiger roared out loud and shot straight for him… Alaric, continued running, weaving behind a tree and jumping into the branches before the pair collided on the other side. He was all over the place, jumping high into the canopies only to shoot for the ground when the beast tried to join him on higher ground.

  His heart beat fast as he vaulted over the creature’s back. His blades stabbed it several times before the two fell away. The Bone Tiger crashed into a tree and growled with rage. Alaric wasn’t about to ask why it was so pissed though.

  He ran like his life depended on it.

  “Get back here, Cowardly Human!” the beast yelled out loud.

  Alaric was getting the hang of the creature’s blind spots and he was using them. The only problem was that his attacks didn’t seem to have an effect on the beast. It was bleeding in several places and the boy was sure it had a few broken ribs but none of that seemed to slow it down. If anything, the Bone Tiger was charging even faster…

  Alia, once again, shook her head in disappointment, [ It’s like you’ve forgotten all the magic I’ve ever taught you. ]

  The sentence hit like a slap to the brain. Of course, there was a way to get an edge in this battle. His knives were dealing damage… but it wasn’t enough. Why this hadn’t occurred to him earlier? He had no idea.

  It wasn’t long before his blades were humming with the fiery power of the Constellation of Flames, Incendio. Alaric was going to have to put enough firepower into the blades to make their effects more potent though. More than once he’d cut the beast now and he could say with certainty that he’d never faced an opponent with a hide as tough and thick as this creature.

  When he clashed with the creature next, his blades left scorch marks on the tiger’s steel claws. This time, the beast wouldn’t attack with its maw.

  ‘One paw… second paw… and weave…’

  There it was. The opening he’d been hoping to take advantage of since this whole battle began. He’d managed to fight his instincts and get in… but now, his heart was beating even faster.

  Alaric blurred past the tiger’s defences and went for its side. For the first time, he had the view of the much softer underbelly. As he dashed through, he locked eyes with the creature’s ocean-blue starry eyes.

  Those were not the eyes of a creature that was panicking.

  [ ALARIC ] Alia yelled out.

  Alaric’s blades flashed, protecting his vitals while unleashing a torrent of flame so powerful that the dark forest lit up in bright amber and filled with the roar of an explosion.

  BOOM

  Alaric’s body went flying and he crashed into a tree. An ugly cut ran along his hand, deep enough to make fighting with the hand next to impossible. [ That thing was aiming for my head. ]

  [ Yes, Alaric, he was. Now run! ]

  He didn’t need to be told twice. Alaric shot off like a stray lightning bolt, just in time, too. A fraction of a second after he’d taken off running, the Bone Tiger struck the tree with full force felling it in the process, the glee of a gambler who’d won it big burning in the beast’s eyes only to be shocked at the last moment.

  The image of the boy in its claws vanished—an after image.

  The real boy was running for his life, never looking back. A smirk made its way to Alaric’s face. The clearing they’d killed the Mudhounds was right up ahead… and he’d seen everything his partner in crime had done to ensure their victory. He just needed to make it past that clearing.