Since I didn't want to be a meat pancake, I jumped off the griffin's back, and not a moment too late. It was much nimbler on the ground than in the air, and I couldn't entirely dodge the heavy slap of its wings. The mass of feathers, bone and muscle hit me hard enough to make breath leave my lungs, but my malleable body absorbed the impact. A hit that could've fractured a bone and left only an ache that wasn't worth keeping track of.

I landed from my jump just a step away from the edge of the cliff with a grin on my lips. The griffin was back on its feet again in moments, but I didn't feel that bad about losing my grip on its back. No, not when I had a thick line of web running from lips, the other end of which was firmly stuck to the griffin's fur and feathers.

I didn't have time for a well-placed hit when I was close, and smaller hits, even with venom, would just anger the creature like the scratches I left on its head did. But I had time to slap some web on, and so I did, and the other end of this thread was still unfinished.

The griffin noticed it, flapped its wings in an attempt to shake the thread, but it was too sticky for that. The most of the monster's attention was on me, though, and when the nuisance of the web didn't go away, the griffin forgot about and leaped at me.

It really was much faster on the ground.

I jumped away from both the griffin and the edge of the cliff. I didn't want to fall down. That won't kill me, since I could fly, but it would be inconvenient.

The griffin landed where I just stood, the heavy impact sending stones rolling down and making earth shake beneath my feet. Before the griffin gathered itself, I ran away from it. My goal was the nearest boulder, which I used as a cover just in time to avoid the creature's attack as it followed close after me with another screech.

Dodging the griffin's attacks, I ran a full circle around the boulder, letting the web I spun stick to it well and proper before biting it off and launching into the air. The griffin, well and properly agitated by my running, jumped after me without a second thought. Including any second thoughts about the web that connected its wings to the boulder and grew more and more tangled with each passing second.

The griffin didn't manage to even flap its wings once—the tangled web thread forced them shut. For a fraction of a second the creature was frozen mid-air in that moment where the fight between gravity and the impulse comes to a drew. Then the gravity won, and it landed on the hard rock in a clumsy crouch, already fighting its bonds.

They weren't doing to hold on for long, so I jumped right onto the griffin's back. This time, I didn't let it roll me down before I could stab it. My stinger pierced the griffin's neck at the same time my knees hit its back.

The griffin trashed in pain, making me jump off and into the air from it again. I didn't know how lethal was the wound I left on it, but it was serious enough to make the creature panic. It tore the webbing at its right wing, but the left stayed half-folded. Both flapped madly as the griffin slapped everything around in a blind defensive fury.

I buzzed above until that fury exhausted itself and swooped down for another stab of the stinger. This time, the griffin rose to claw at me, but it was too slow even without the wound. With the wound, it was finished.

The next time I got on the griffin's back, I had all the time to find its spine and stab with my stinger right at the base of its skull, severing the nerves and pumping the creature with even more venom.

It crumpled and fell, and at the same time I felt the strange detachment leaving me and placing me back fully in my body. I decided to think about it later. The monster was not an opponent anymore, not a predator, not even a prey. Food. EXP. The sheer size promised plenty of that. I could already see carrion birds gathering in thy sky—I'd better eat faster.

[Creature devoured. Gained 583679 EXP. Gained new evolution options.]

I didn't leave a single feather behind, and this was my reward. A huge pile of EXP was a good thing on its own, but beyond this, the griffin had an ability I didn't have yet!

[Cold Resistance (10 EXP)]

It had a steep price, but despite its ordinary name, I knew this ability wasn't so simple. It was a magical one, because Frost Griffins were monsters with their own magic, even females that couldn't use it actively. 'Berserk' could only be magic, too.

After some thought, I realised that it must've been it, or to be more specific, its evolved version, 'Battle Trance', acting out. It was the first real fight I had since getting it, and it felt like I was in a trance. Battle trance. Made sense, as far as abilities' names went.

It was, without a doubt, very useful. It helped me strategise, and to get the best out of my body, to push out more speed and strength. Not at all as impressive as the sheer power of the original 'Berserk', but fully in my control, and I felt no more winded after this fight than I should've been.

So, EXP well spent. Now I had to spend more EXP well so I could continue my hunt.

I wasn't going to leave this place without eating a male Frost Griffin.