You are [Bleeding].

Yeah, thanks, I sarcastically thought to the boxes as I winced in pain. Just… gotta get… to the cave…

My senses began to dull as my wound bled, and I heard Grenzer’s angry shouts from behind me.

Thunk!

A knife slammed into a tree as I ran behind it, vibrating intensely in the trunk. I shook my head, trying to keep myself from passing out.

This guy’s still after me?!

Of course this couldn’t be an easy stealth mission. It would just have to turn into an escort one, instead. And it would involve a deadly hunt. Just my luck.

Knives whistled after me as I sprinted between the trees, weaving as best I could with my muddled thoughts. My foot caught on a root, and I fell forward, nearly avoiding a blade that would’ve stuck me.

But I was on a slope littered with branchless trees which stuck up out of the hill at an angle, and began to quickly pick up speed, rolling downhill between the jagged spars in the dirt until I landed at the bottom in a heap.

I glanced back up to see Grenzer’s face glare down at me angrily, but he didn’t throw a knife, as expected. Instead, he yelled something in Yatten, and then drew his bow.

You are [Bleeding].

I blinked, darkness creeping in my vision.

Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't bled out, yet.

A mewling sound like a kitten reminded me that I was protecting the furball, and I staggered to my feet. He looked at me with concern in his eyes, placing a clawed hand on my chest.

Thanks for caring, mate.

Then I picked him up and dashed forward, being careful not to stumble again. An arrow thunked into a tree behind me. It seemed Santa wasn’t so good with bows, after all. Maybe that’s why he had elves.

A grunt of frustration signaled Grenzer’s descent down the hill, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him jumping down the hill, landing on the nearly horizontal tree trunks like ledges.

You are no longer [Stunned].

I picked up my speed as the numbness faded away, my senses returning a little bit, and suddenly it seemed like I might get away from my pursuer after all!

The smooth whistling of the arrows returned, and this time I just stopped in place. The arrow whizzed by in front of me.

“Saravani skar!” Grenzer shouted in frustration.

He was much more accurate that time.

Another glance revealed he was nearly at the bottom of the slope, with only a few trunks left. He’d taken aim at me from the edge of one of the spars, I guess thinking that a more horizontal shot would be more accurate for him. But then he jumped the rest of the way to the ground, and was now running toward me at a full sprint on the ground, slinging the bow over his shoulder and screaming angrily.

Sorry man! Can’t stop, won’t stop!

But despite my sass, Ki Grenzer was gaining on me. I needed some ability. Some power that could help me escape.

Magic boxes, I pleaded. Please show me that my stats sheet has something useful!

Baby Dino

Level:

15 [---/---]

Health:

17/380

Stamina:

67/198

Traits

[Nocturnal]

[Lvl 4]

[Gourmandize]

[Lvl 1]

[Guided Evolution]

[Lvl ---]

Skills

[Claw]

[Lvl 7]

[Sprint]

[Lvl 7]

[Sneak]

[Lvl 6]

[Stomp]

[Lvl 5]

[Punch]

[Lvl 5]

[Kick]

[Lvl 5]

[Swim]

[Lvl 4]

[Feast]

[Lvl 4]

[Slam]

[Lvl 4]

[Blend]

[Lvl 4]

[Leap Strike]

[Lvl 4]

[Bite]

[Lvl 3]

[Climb]

[Lvl 3]

[Headbutt]

[Lvl 3]

[Dig]

[Lvl 2]

[Grapple]

[Lvl 2]

[Sneak Strike]

[Lvl 2]

[Regurgitate]

[Lvl 1]

[Corpse Hatching]

[Lvl 1]

[Dirty Trick]

[Lvl 1]

Instincts

[Observe]

[Lvl 10]

[Fearful Flight]

[Lvl 5]

[Watervision]

[Lvl 3]

[Blend]

[Lvl 2]

[Risky Business]

[Lvl 1]

[Pack Mentality]

[Lvl 1]

Languages Yatten [Lvl 1]

Nothing? Really?! Nothing!?! What the hell am I supposed to do then when THAT is approaching?

The warrior chasing me didn’t have a sword, thankfully, or he’d probably be chopping down every branch in his way.

Useless! Agh!

A branch smacked into my face as I hastily read through the boxes, folding out of the way when I continued running through it. I dismissed the boxes, catching a sight out of the corner of my eye.

A familiar little black dinosaur, who’d been snoozing under one of the bushes I’d trampled near stared wide-eyed in my direction. It noticed Grenzer and scampered away into a small hole in the ground.

“Khkhkh krk!” the little dinosaur choked out as I stomped away.

But that little dinosaur was holding something. Was it holding… a fruit?

Then I smelled it. That heavenly smell. That smell that smelled so… yummy.

It was the Skurgis fruit. The one I’d nearly died for when I tried to steal it before the other lizard had shown me what happens to fools that go after the fruit. And then Little Dino Foo Foo had shown me it was possible to get away with them, if you were fast enough.

But I wasn’t capable of the kind of speed necessary to get away with one.

An arrow whizzed by my head, the hunter cursing when it missed.

I guess I wasn’t capable of the kind of speed necessary to get from the warrior either.

My eyes wide, I followed the projectile’s trail as it continued in a downward arc, smashing into the ground.

Right next to a pile of Skurgis fruits. I looked up. Yep. There they were, just hanging in the trees as expected.

And the pile was directly in the middle of my trail. I veered to the left to go around, then stopped, and glanced at the pile of fruit again.

Hang on…

Ki Grenzer was grinning ear-to-ear and nearly foaming at the mouth as he approached. He was only a few feet away now. Within striking distance if he had a sword, really.

His hand slipped down to the mace at his waist.

Or a MACE.