Sellas pushed herself away from the second tree a half-second before the boar smashed its skull into the trunk. Its tusks splintered — then caught in — the tree's outer bark as she dove to her left, ducking behind one of the forest's shrubs. There, she attempted to catch her breath.

The creature had spotted her nearly a minute ago now and had immediately charged. Its interception had forced her from her path while the run left her scraping the edges of her stamina.

She was exhausted.

It was the third day since Sellas had leveled her [Barkeeper] class and received the new Skill. Three days since she'd first tried using it and ended up hurling across the grass. She'd been practicing keeping the Skill active — holding the door compressed as she paced around in one place — but there was only so much having done so could help.

Still, it'd gotten her this far; she was a scant two minutes out from the clearing she'd been trapped in for so long.

Panting from her crouched position on the ground, Sellas took another quick glance around at the surrounding trees. The forest had thinned to a surprising degree in the short distance she'd traveled, both in tree density and trunk-size. None of them were large enough to support the door's frame— she wasn't able to release the Skill.

A minute running through the forest didn't sound too terrible, but with the added strain of [Minor relocation] weighing in, it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. Sellas winced and tried to blink away the growing throbbing in her head, then readjusted the orb of wood in her grip, tucking it beneath an arm.

With a splintering screech, the tree lost its grip on the boar's tusk. The creature turned its eyes towards Sellas's bush and snorted, shaking its head before beginning another charge.

Sellas ran. Through a mess of branches and past a waving clump of suspicious thorns, she weaved through the woods. The low, sickening throb at the base of her neck transformed itself into a spike of continuous pain somewhere along the way. Her body felt like it was burning, but she continued her sprint. She needed to stay ahead.

The boar trampled through the bushes behind her. Hurdling an upraised root, Sellas stumbled as she changed directions, diving to her right. The boar skidded across the grass, slamming into trees as it followed her turn.

A lungful of air turned into another heave— Sellas recovered from another near fall. Then she saw something. It was a small flash of white caught from the corner of her eye— possibly nothing, but still, a chance before the boar ran her down.

She ran. Out from the trees and into an opening in the canopy; out into a second clearing. The sudden blast of sunlight nearly sent her staggering as her boots slung dirt out behind their heels. Forwards. Faster. The boar let out a squeal as it followed behind. It plowed through the white flowers that covered the ground, sending their petals flying.

Her sight returned in blurry form, and Sellas hacked out a breath. It wasn't what she'd wanted; the empty space had nothing to set the door against. It was a field of sweet-smelling flowers, silent but for the two's chase— a poor mistake of a choice. The boar was catching up, and Sellas continued to flag.

Still, looking forwards, she did her best to pick up speed. Further ahead was a second chance— a cliffside. It was a raised wall of dirt and stone, protruding from the rolling forest hills, just barely lower than the trees. The cliff became her new goal.

Sellas ran. Her legs flew as her consciousness wavered. They burned, worse than the rest of her failing form, but she couldn't stop. The boar was right behind her. It was charging, sending clods of dirt and petals flying back behind in with a noise like a—

Like a—

Sellas slowed as her boots finally left the clearing, and she slumped next to a tree, ready to push off its side. Then finally, she flipped around. The boar wasn't behind her. It'd stopped the chase, lying squealing back in the middle of the fields. She leaned forwards as blood rushed to her head, gulping in air.

Why had it stopped? Had she intruded on its territory and only now left its range? It was still calling out, still moving, just not towards her. The boar thrashed and swung its tusks around where it stood, but there was nothing there.

Letting out a bitter chuckle, Sellas wiped her face against her sleeve. She took in another stuttering breath and began to stumble towards the cliffside. It was terribly hard to move, but the pain in her legs was disappearing as she continued to walk forwards. She blinked, then slammed into the rockface shoulder-first, the last few meters covered unaware.

A hand drew the sphere from the crook of her arm, and Sellas held it out in front. Her vision wobbling, she pressed it forwards and tried to activate her Skill, praying that it'd work. The sphere sunk into the stone and began to expand. Sellas closed her eyes again.

When she opened them, the bar's entrance was fully present before her. She leaned forwards, pushed open the door, and made her way inside. Her mind went blank as she flopped into a chair.

And then it turned back on.

Blinking blearily, Sellas opened her eyes. She was still in a chair, head bumped forwards against a rounded table big enough for three.

Her legs itched.

Sellas scootched back her chair and scratched at her knee before making to stand. There was a draft in the bar— a cold wind that blew through from the front. The door had been left open after she'd entered, and the fire was out.

Bringing a hand to her head, Sellas shook it, trying to focus. She was... she needed to— Sellas took two steps towards the open door with a halting gait. She slipt on the third, elbows slamming against the ground. Her vision swam as she pulled herself back up.

A thin trail of still-wet blood coated the way from the door to her seat.

Sellas sucked in a breath. Hesitantly, she patted herself down. There were no head injuries; her arms were fine; her torso was sore but unwounded; and though her legs were practically numb, they felt—

Sellas flinched back as the tips of her fingers touched the skin around her calf, only to come away wet. Curling her legs in, she leaned closer to take a look and hissed. The uncovered skin between the tops of her boots and the bottom of her shorts was littered with cuts; long, jagged rips broke through the epidermal. Though the majority of the wounds had already clotted, she could see thin drips of blood continue to leak down from where some had reopened after she'd stood.

Carefully, Sellas probed at the skin again. She couldn't feel a thing; nothing hurt below the knee.

An anesthetic? It had to be— but when had she gotten cut? Clearly, it'd happened during her chase with the boar. Given that she hadn't noticed anything for most of the run, however, it seemed likely that it'd happened during the latter half.

Moving slowly back to the door, Sellas leaned against the frame and peeked outside.

The field of flowers ended where the cliff's afternoon shadow touched the ground. They swayed slightly in the same breeze that flowed through the door while separating her from the trees. The two features encircled her; the cliffside sat at her back, while the flowers lay to her front.

Sellas could see the boar laying silent in the middle of it all.

The flowers around it were red.