The lynx stared at Ian as it growled low. It circled the fire, never looking away from Ian.

  Ian didn’t move from his position, eyeing the lynx carefully. This was not an opponent he could take lightly.

  The lynx kept a hostile appearance the entire time, but it never attacked. Once it was on the opposite side of the fire from Ian, it approached.

  Ian was quick to take a defensive stance, pulling out his daggers. He waited patiently for the lynx to make a move. However, it never did.

  All the lynx did was approach the fire and take the rest of Ian’s meal. It never waited to fight Ian. It only blasted Ian to get him away from the cooked bird. Even though it was one of the four most dangerous creatures in the forest, it was not dumb enough to fight someone like Ian.

  Ian was dumbfounded seeing the lynx not attack, but instead go for his food. He lowered his guard for a brief moment as he processed what was happening.

  After his moment of confusion passed, Ian yelled out, “Hey! That’s my food.” He then rushed forward to attack the food thief.

  The lynx saw this and immediately jumped away. It didn’t want to fight Ian while it ate his meal. It only taunted Ian as it continued eating.

  This enraged Ian. he angrily yelled out, “You little bastard! You think you can barge into my area and steal my food?! I’ll make you regret that.”

  After speaking, Ian launched towards the lynx, throwing a flurry of slashes with his daggers. The lynx, in turn, flapped its wings to fly backwards, away from Ian.

  Its speed with its wings made it difficult for Ian to catch up to it while running. The lynx kept its distance from Ian, not getting too far or too close to him. It was taunting him.

  Ian got more enraged by this. He quickly switched things up and started using the terrain to his advantage again. Using the trees, rocks, and vines, Ian moved faster, catching up with the Lynx.

  The lynx panicked a bit seeing this, so it flapped its wings and flew into the air. Flying above the trees, the lynx felt safe. It knew Ian couldn’t fly, so it continued eating the rest of the meat. Once it finished eating the bird meat, it smugly looked down at Ian before flying away.

  Ian was beyond pissed at this point. He could’ve just let the lynx go, but he couldn’t let a creature get away with stealing his catch and not fighting.

  Ian took a moment to calm down and think of a plan. He looked around at his surroundings, thinking carefully. A few seconds later, he smiled and dashed forward.

  Using the terrain, Ian gained momentum. His speed increased to as fast as he could before launching himself at a sturdy and flexible vine. He grabbed onto it, spinning around a branch. As the vine wrapped around the branch, Ian’s speed increased even more. Using the centrifugal force from spinning around on the vine, Ian launched himself towards the lynx in the distance.

  As he flew through the air, Ian yelled out, “You’re not getting away that easily, you bastard.”

  Ian’s sudden approach caught the lynx off guard. It turned around to look at Ian and possibly dodge, but it was already too late. Ian was mere inches away when it turned around.

  He grabbed onto the lynx’s leg before he lost too much momentum. The lynx panicked as soon as Ian latched onto its leg. It began flying erratically, trying to get him off. However, Ian’s grip was firm, never letting go.

  The constant movement through the air made it difficult for Ian to do anything. Even so, he pulled out one of his daggers and thrusted it into the Lynx’s side.

  The creature cried out in pain as it flew down to the ground. The sudden change in trajectory made Ian lose his grip on his dagger, losing it to the forest below.

  When the Lynx flew back into the forest, it slammed Ian against a few trees, hoping he would let go. Ian’s grip on the creature’s leg never relented. Even after getting slammed against a few trees, he still wouldn’t let go. This only enraged him more, making him pull himself onto the lynx's back. Pulling out his other dagger, Ian cut off one of the Lynx’s wings, making them both fall to the ground hard.

  The Lynx roared in pain as its wing was removed. Slamming into a tree, it came to a full stop before getting up to face Ian.

  Ian had a rough landing. Once he removed the lynx’s wing, he fell off its back, landing face-first on the ground. He got up in a daze, feeling pain throughout his body. Luckily, he hadn’t taken enough damage to get teleported out of the forest.

  Grabbing his dagger, he stood up to face the Lynx again, only to be sent flying back by a blast of air. Ian left two small trenches in the ground. Even though he was blasted back, he didn’t lose his balance.

  The attack was powerful enough to hurt, and yet it didn’t hurt as much as he expected. Looking at the lynx, Ian thought, “Hmm, for a red band, this lynx’s attacks are rather weak.”

  Ian tried not to overthink things. He quickly switched to attack mode, rushing forward.

  Not being able to fly away, the lynx had no option but to fight Ian. Ian’s dagger was dangerous, able to easily cut through silver-ranked creatures. The lynx knew it couldn’t let Ian get close, so it opened its mouth, roaring out to send blasts of air towards Ian.

  Though Ian was fast, he wasn’t fast enough to dodge all of the attacks. He had to resort to blocking the blast of air. It was no easy feat, but using the dagger, Ian sliced through most of the attacks. The damage he had taken earlier was also slowing him down. The thing pushing him forward was hunger and anger.

  Seeing its blasts of air not working, the lynx switched to a different attack. It twirled its body in a circle, using its one wing to send out blades of wind that cut through the surrounding trees.

  These attacks were harder for Ian to block. He had to use more strength to parry the attacks. His pace dropped to a crawl, approaching slower. His focus never leaves the lynx.

  Panic settled into the lynx. It had successfully defeated a handful of students earlier, and yet here it was struggling against a copper rank. However, it didn’t know Ian was a copper rank. It just assumed Ian was a fairly dangerous silver rank, which is why it was being cautious. Ian was different from the others.

  It had no choice but to use its strongest attack. Turning to its side, it flapped its wing, creating a gust of wind. The wind grew stronger, slowing down Ian once more. Eventually, Ian was stopped in his tracks. The wind grew stronger, pushing Ian back a bit. Finally, the swirling wind became a small tornado.

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

  The tornado’s winds were too strong for Ian to withstand. He had to anchor himself to the ground. Using the dagger, he stabbed it into the ground, holding himself in place. However, the tornado moved over him, sucking him up and sending him flying away.

  Ian landed a few meters away with minor injuries. He wasn’t hurt enough to get teleported out, but he was exhausted. He decided against chasing after the lynx, choosing to retreat and rest.

  It took him a bit of time, but he eventually found both of his daggers. After finding them, he returned to his area, only to see that most of the creatures he had killed were gone. Only one remained, a small squirrel-like creature.

  Now wasn’t the time to complain. He grabbed the creature from the tree and began to prepare it into something edible. If he was going to get his revenge on the lynx, he needed to rest and eat. Fighting on an almost empty stomach wasn’t going to help.

  The first night of hunting was successful, but it then turned into a disaster. The sun would be rising soon. After eating the squirrel-like creature, Ian climbed up his tree to rest. His body needed to recover for his next fight.

  While Ian rested, the students who survived the night began to recuperate. Though they were also tired from fighting, they had to start foraging and hunting for food. The exhaustion they felt was going to make the day more difficult.

  As the day progressed, many of the students barely managed. Hunger was still a problem for many, but they could only do so much in their states.

  Once the afternoon passed, Ian woke up from his slumber. He felt sore, seeing some bruises across his body. The pain was noticeable, but not unbearable. He gathered what few supplies he had before heading out for some food as well.

  Scavenging for food was easy to do. Ian was able to find edible plants and mushrooms throughout the forest. However, if he wanted to recover better, he needed some protein.

  After some searching, he was able to find a blue band creature. It was a small mouse-like creature. It barely had any meat on its small body, but something was better than nothing.

  Ian was easily able to catch the creature, bringing it along with him. He explored the forest for a while longer, catching a few more blue band creatures and one green band.

  Bringing them back to his campsite, Ian stuck them all on a stick over the fire. Five small creatures should be enough to sustain his hunger. But he wanted to save room for his main course. The lynx.

  After cooking and eating the creatures, Ian rested a bit longer, wanting to rest his aching body a bit before heading out to look for his target.

  Finally, sunset came, and Ian awakened once more. His body wasn’t fully recovered, but he didn’t care. Compared to what he did to the lynx, his injuries were nothing.

  He removed the roof made of large leaves from his shelter, wrapping it around himself like a cloak. He put on a hat made from shrubs and covered his face with mud. If he was going to take down the lynx, he was going to need to land a critical sneak attack.

  Grabbing his daggers, Ian ventured into the forest in search of the lynx. He returned to where their last encounter was, looking for any clues. Luckily, he found what he was looking for. A trail of blood.

  Ian followed the trail for a while until he came across a massive tree. It stood three times taller than all the other trees. At its base, there was a large opening leading into a hollow crevice in the tree.

  Resting there was a badly wounded lynx. The injuries Ian had left on it had taken their toll on the creature. It had lost a lot of blood, but it wasn’t near death. Given some time, it could recover except for its lost wing.

  “Something doesn’t seem right. A weakened creature like the lynx would normally become a target for others, and yet none were around. Why is that?” Ian thought to himself.

  Ian had to be cautious. He could risk losing the edge he had. Before doing anything, he scouted the area, making sure there were no unwanted visitors or traps. Luckily, he didn’t find anything.

  With the coast cleared, Ian finally steeled himself. He took his normal stance, ready to pounce on the lynx. His body was like a spring-loaded weapon ready to be fired. His eyes once again took the form of a predator.

  Using most of his strength, Ian launched himself forward, his dagger stretched out to stab the unsuspecting creature.

  His blade was mere inches away from entering the threshold of the tree’s entrance. However, before it could get anything closer, his blade was stopped by an invisible force field. He tried to push the dagger forward, but he was ultimately blasted back.

  Ian stumbled back a bit from the unexpected blast. His face was a mix of confusion and shock. Then it turned into one of anger and irritation.

  “A god damn wind barrier. You sneaky little rat. That’s why you’re not hiding.” Ian’s voice was filled with annoyance.

  Ian shook his head, refocusing himself. He then tried to attack the lynx’s wind barrier. He used a multitude of attacks, but none could fully break through the barrier.

  His annoyance with the situation was growing by the second. Each failed attack fueled his anger for the lynx. However, Ian kept his cool.

  After attacking the barrier, Ian realised something. He smiled to himself before turning to look at the lynx.

  “You fool. Your little wind barrier may be strong, but it's nothing compared to Annie’s. I trained against her for over five months, and I can say that yours is weaker. I’m going to break that damn barrier and claim your band,” Ian proclaimed.

  Ian stepped back a bit, taking a deep breath. He took a casual stance, holding a dagger in one hand. In the next second, he twisted his body to throw the dagger like a baseball. He used all his might in his pitch, sending the dagger flying straight into the barrier.

  The tip of the dagger buried itself only an inch into the barrier before stopping. It was going to get pushed back again, but before it could, Ian rushed forward as fast as he could. He performed a long jump towards the dagger in the barrier, drop kicking it deeper into it.

  Once again, before the barrier could repel the blade, Ian took the opportunity to take out his other dagger and bury it in the same spot as the first one, with its edge facing the opposite direction.

  Holding the two daggers in place, Ian began to pull them apart, ripping the barrier. It took a lot of strength, but he was slowly ripping the barrier apart.

  Feeling something tear into its barrier, the lynx woke up, turning to face Ian. It hadn’t expected Ian to pierce through.

  The Lynx looked exhausted and irritated. It stood up to face Ian, watching as he kept ripping through its barrier.

  After almost a minute, Ian managed to tear open the barrier, yelling as it fell apart.

  Even though it was still tired, the lynx didn’t waste any time attacking Ian. It raised its claws, swinging them towards Ian.

  However, Ian was ready for this. He used one of his daggers to parry the incoming strike. The collision created a metallic sound.

  The two then started to send multiple attacks at each other. Each one was carefully parried or dodged. The area was filled with the sounds of metal colliding and terrain being destroyed.

  The tree they were fighting in had taken so many strikes that it started to tip downwards. It came crashing down with a loud boom. The sound alerted not only the students but also many of the creatures in the surrounding areas.

  Their fight was attracting a lot of attention, but nothing dared to get close to the area. The two of them were both tired and injured, but neither of them cared. This was a battle that only one of them was walking away from.

  They were both nearly evenly matched. The lynx’s injuries weakened it drastically, making it slow enough for Ian to keep up. And since Ian was so close, it couldn’t use its wind abilities properly. Most of its wind attacks were easily dodged by Ian.

  Ian’s injuries seemed worse than what they were. His body was mostly sore and bruised. Thankfully, nothing was broken. The training he had been doing for nearly a year had strengthened his body to endure more damage. Even so, he had taken enough damage to weaken him slightly.

  The two kept fighting for a few minutes, attacks colliding against each other. But this fight was determined before it started.

  The lynx’s claws were strong, able to cut deep into a tree. And yet, they weren’t able to leave a mark on Ian’s daggers.

  Ian’s weapons were extremely hard and sharp. They were easily able to cut one of the lynx’s wings clean off. A blade that is considered silver rank wouldn’t have been able to do such a thing. It would have taken a bit of power to cut through.

  Even Ian knew this. He thought to himself, “At first glance, these daggers didn’t appear to be special, but I could tell they were stronger. They must be upper silver to lower gold class.”

  Ian kept moving to attack and parry, pushing the lynx back slowly. His eyes were laser-focused, staring deep into the lynx’s own eyes.

  This determined look made the lynx flinch for a brief moment. That moment was all Ian needed to finally close the distance.

  Using both daggers, Ian parried an incoming attack while also stepping forward to slash at the lynx’s throat.

  Blood flew as his blade cut across his opponent’s neck. The lynx stumbled back in pain and fear, creating another opening. Ian took this opportunity to bury one of his daggers in the creature's eye.

  It cried out in agony. However, its cries were quickly silenced by Ian stabbing his other blade into the creature's neck, cutting it fully open. With one more swift movement, Ian lobbed its head off. The lifeless body of the lynx fell down as its head tumbled to the ground.