Picture this.

A bull centaur with a dried lava-encrusted upper body, majestically prancing through the snow—if 'prancing' meant running for dear life. Not only that. This bull centaur was also whipping himself as he dashed to the edge of the cliffs with ferocious red monsters on his tail. And all along the way, he yelled, "This is it! This is it! Time to meet your doom, you murderous furballs!"

Truly a rare sight, not only on this mountain but the whole of Hierakon.

That bull centaur was me.

"It's do or die!" Or rather do or sleep, maybe die and sleep. If I failed here, I was going to bed even if I had to take the sleeping pills I kept for jet lag during business trips.

I ran as fast as I could to put as much distance as possible between me and my pursuers. I hoped it was sufficient space that the Mirdabons wouldn't be able to catch up as I slowed down for a gentle drop. The perfect spot was coming up.

Checking my stats, I confirmed I had capped the stacks of my [Ancestral Constitution]; my maximum health was as high as possible. Using Snivel Pods, I healed the damage from hitting myself with the sling.

The fall was only a few meters away. I abruptly stopped running, digging my hooves into the snow to brake myself. I didn't want to overshoot the thin ledge I was aiming for right below the edge of the cliff.

Unfortunately, the momentum of my humongous bulk continued to push me forward. The slope of the terrain didn't help either.

"I'm not going to fail here!" I forcefully said through gritted teeth as I struggled to keep my front legs straight. They were threatening to buckle, and if they did, I was going to end up rolling down. It wasn't the time to find out if those cartoon characters turning into snowballs were realistic.

I leaned my upper body backward as if a horizontal bar was coming up and I was doing the limbo dance. It wasn't enough to weigh down my lower body. I bent my hind legs and kicked forward, almost backpedaling. I continued to slide down, plowing through the snow. My bull butt almost touched the ground and I considered sitting down to stop myself.

And then I did stop.

My eyes widened in disbelief. My front hooves were a couple of centimeters from the edge, the snow they had raked in my efforts to brake fell over the edge. Snarls of the Mirdabons were in the distance, the slushing noises as they rolled through the ice becoming louder and louder.

I positioned my body parallel to the side of the cliff, with the drop to my right, so my arms could grab onto the ledge at the last moment. I also bent my knees while shuffling sideways to further shorten the distance between my heavy torso and the ledge below, and also to cushion my fall.

Then I went over the lip of the cliff.

My hands scrambled to grab the rocks, failing to hold on because I wasn't strong enough to support two sizeable bodies merged into one. Nonetheless, it did slow my fall and, with any luck, increased my chances of survival. I sustained minor damage from scraping against the cliffside, but my health regeneration patched me back up. I also ate a Snivel Pod to completely fill my health bar just before I—

WHAMMM!

Hard hooves hit the surface of the narrow rock shelf. My immense weight forcefully bent my knees, the rest of my body slamming down hard. Through a blurry vision, I saw my remaining health. A sliver of red, indicating I was near death. Two health points left.

Two is not zero! Herald Stone, Legendary Mathematician.

But before I could celebrate, the earth beneath me grumbled about my heftiness. Worrying cracks reverberated.

I pushed myself up as while consuming the rest of the healing items in my inventory with a mental command. My vision gradually became clearer. As I tried to stand and steady myself, the rock under my right hind leg broke off. I leaned to the left, pressing against the wall of earth.

I carefully shuffled forward along the ledge with only three legs as the rest of the spot I had dropped on crumbled away. The path narrowed ahead. I crossed my front legs to fit in, teetering on my tapered base. My right hind leg dangled freely as the other struggled to keep me balanced.

Good fortune provided me with a couple of protruding rocks that were the perfect handholds. "Yes! I'm alive! I did—!"

"GRAAOoargh!" Something red flashed past me, falling to the clouds below. I jerked back in surprise, nearly unbalancing myself. The vicious growls faded into nothingness.

Is it working? I held my breath, concentrating on not falling to the side. Two more red balls fell.

"RRRWAAaargh!"

"HRWAAAoorrr!"

And then two more.

Five? Nic mentioned the smallest pack that Luds had found was five Mirdabons, but the usual number was six. If only I know how many they were behind me, but I couldn't check them earlier. "Did I only pull five or—FUCKING HELL!"

The wind caressed my ass as something huge whooshed downwards behind me. I looked over my shoulder, careful not to snag my horns on the rocks to my left. Nothing was there. But the echoing roars swallowed by the winds told me a Mirdabon nearly took a bite of my butt. It probably fell through the gap in the ledge that had collapsed from the impact of my fall.

"Six!" I yelled in celebration. "Wait a second...What gives?" I still hadn't leveled up.

Were those bastards still falling? I tilted my head to the side and looked down. I didn't bow my head because it was too heavy with the horns and tusk that I might tip over.

When were those furballs going to die? I'd assumed they would’ve slammed against the jagged rocks by now.

Don't tell me they can survive this, I thought as my brows furrowed in worry. Even if they had special mechanics, they were still low-level monsters. If they had died, but I still hadn't gained the Essence and Gli, then that meant the entire pack wasn't eliminated yet.

Something huge blotted out the sun, casting a shadow on me. I looked up at something massive falling down. It bounced off a small hump of earth about three meters above my head, falling to my front instead of right on top of me. The ledge shook as it crashed.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed, holding tightly onto the rocks, fiercely hugging the side of the mountain as if I was making love with it. "I'm not going to die here!"

The dust, revealing the [Mirdabon Lvl 8]. It was probably delayed falling because it was busy transforming after the first few Mirdabons of the pack died.

From a ball the size of my head, it had now doubled and still growing. Its deep crimson color darkened further to that like dried blood, black streaks flecked its fur. When it saw me, it bristled in fury like an extremely irritated cat, its fur standing on end. And that was when I realized the black streaks were huge spikes—each one was the length of my hand and as thick as my finger. It was slowly turning into a porcupine!

As a consolation to my desperate situation, a fourth of its life was gone from the fall damage. Rocks loosened by its bumpy drop fell on it, causing more damage. But it wasn't enough.

"HGRWAARGH!" It roared, baring rows and rows of sharp teeth inside its mouth like a shark's. And it wasn't done leveling up, now becoming level 9.

"All, that hard work," I muttered, "and one bastard just refuses to die."

But all hope might not be lost. The path between the two of us was too narrow for it to cross. Perhaps if it'd roll forward, it might accidentally fall off. The crack of breaking rocks also filled me with hope. It wasn't the ground beneath me that was giving way.

The flimsy ledge under the Mirdabon shifted downward. It rolled forward to save itself.

I equipped the sling and slotted in stones—thankfully, the developers allowed thought commands for convenience instead of sticking with realism. Using my free right hand, I swung the sling forward, the rock sailing through the air and hitting the Mirdabon.

"Blessed waste!" I cried out, almost falling off the ledge. My left arm strained to hold on. I tensed my body so I wouldn't sway each time I shot with my sling.

My attack barely did any damage, as expected given the gap in our levels. But it did make the Mirdabon angry—angrier, if that was possible.

Its mouth frothed like a rabid dog, and its fangs grew so large that they crowded against one another inside its mouth. But it hesitated to roll forward. Parts of the ledge behind it broke off. If only it made more movement to dislodge the shelf it stood on or if it shifted forward to the narrow part. Staying still, it was a waiting game of who between the both of us fell first.

I need more aggro! And that meant I had to continue attacking.

Slow and steady, I thought as I swung my right arm again. But not that slow that I'd lower my threat level in its eyes. Also not so fast that I'd get off-balanced.

Just attack...and then attack...and then attack...

Its health gradually lowered. However, it was now [Mirdabon Lvl 10] and appeared more dangerous than before. Another set of glowing red eyes opened on its forehead. Several of the spikes covering it grew twice, some thrice their original size. I feared it'd gain a ranged attack as it leveled, and perhaps be able to shoot me with the spikes.

And that wasn't my only concern.

The ground beneath me was moving ever so slightly with each swing of my sling. I had no idea how long I could hold on. Given the Mirdabon wasn't moving and I was, I might be the first to go. I was also the heavier one.

Attack me! I yelled in my head, wary that if I called out loud, I might make sudden movements to hasten my fall. Another stone, and another, and then the burn effect of the sling caught on.

Tiny embers laced the Mirdabons fur, indicating that it was inflicted with the burn negative status. The additional damage from the burn was barely noticeable, but it was the last straw for the Mirdabon. It perceived me as enough of a threat, the aggro reaching past an unknown threshold, that it finally decided to attack.

"GHHHRWRAAAR!!!" It squished its body down, and then like a rubber ball that had just hit the ground, bounded itself forwards. But the rock shelf beneath it gave way. The Mirdabon ended up with a flaccid jump and wasn't able to clear the thin portion of the ledge and get to me. Flecks of its angry saliva reach me as it snapped at the air.

However, it didn't fall down yet. It managed to hang on, sinking its teeth into the side of the ledge. Cracks raced from the holes made by its fangs. It needed a tiny helping hand.

More stones flew at it—I tried to calm myself even as success was a hair's breadth away—and the Mirdabon squirmed in anger.

Just attack...and then attack...and then attack...nearly there…

"Rwargggh!" Was the Mirdabon's last words as the piece of the ledge it bit finally broke off. It chewed rocks as it fell and disappeared into the layer of clouds.

[ Loot: 86 Artas, 5 Patches of Fur, 4 Small Fangs, 6 Black Spikes ]

[ Quest Completed: Proving Your Worth! ]

[ Increased: Player Level to 2! ]

[ Increased: Player Level to 3! ]

[ Increased: Ancestral Constitution Level to 2 ]