After the preparations are all in place, the last minute ticks down. A red dot shows up and we all intently look at the screen. About two hundred miles south, but still close enough that we can catch up.

Running to the central square, we all get in the flying craft as Richard waits in the pilot seat. He turns the altitude control knob all the way and pushes the thrust lever halfway waiting for enough altitude. Getting four meters from the ground and nearly scrapping the tanner shop’s roof on the way out he pushes it forward the rest of the way.

After a minute accelerating, he pulls it back most of the way leaving just enough output to sustain the designed cruise speed of 170 kph as we all head in pursuit of the beast.

“Comm center to Air Force One.” The sound runes blare as they are connected to the 15 meters long communication rune that flows from bow to stern on the poles extending forward and back.

“I thought I told you guys that we don’t want to be called Air Force One,” Richard says.

“Too bad, everyone on the comms center already agreed.”

I just shrug as he looks at me for help.

“They can call it whatever they like,” I say.

“But…”

With a cheer on the other side, I smile and throw a bucket of ice cold water to douse their enthusiasm.

“That doesn’t mean we have to call it that, but hey, it’s a free… instance, they can do whatever they like.”

“Take that,” Richard says. Though we are heading in danger, at least we can all laugh for a few seconds. I see another light popping up in the comm panel, this time from the Map room as a different voice checks in.

“We found the beast. It is still heading in a straight line in the same direction as when it crossed the first detection line.”

“What is it?” I ask kicking myself for not thinking to check when it was still within range of the roots in the couple of seconds after it was detected.

“We can’t identify it, but it looks to be a lion.” The comm operator chimes in.

Richard says: “Too bad we stopped cataloging the beasts just short of the location.”

I reply. “It wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Not unless people were pocking them enough to get combat data on each and every one of the beasts. ”

The comms operator continues: “Well, at least we know that if it is a lion it will have average speed, slightly higher strength and slightly lower stamina.”

“Anything more about its combat style?” Greg asks looming tall as his head just brushes the ceiling.

“No, we are contacting other villages to inquire they have any more information, but so far no luck.” The operator says.

Greg asks: “How long will we be in comm range of the village?”

I say: “Within a hundred miles of the village constant communication and within a couple of miles of in the lines between villages or the detector lines we can also use the comm at a minimal mana cost.”

“Do you think we can confront the beast still in range to keep constant contact with the village,” Greg asks.

“We have been running a few simulations based on the behavior of other attacks in the last couple of days.” Says Charlie from the other side, after which Richard completes:

“We assume so. This time we managed to get a real-time satellite view of the beast with the map room. Even if they lose it, the other detection lines mean we can pretty accurately predict where it’s heading.

“And if we really want we can pay the price in mana to keep the link up even at greater ranges,” I say.

After settling the rest of the details and getting everyone is up to date, we turn off the link. Even if it is not that big of a mana drain given the short range to the thousands of comm runes spread all around throughout the underground root network.

I sit at the back as usual and start a meditation session. I run each of the scenarios and permutations based on everything I read and experienced in the encounters with these mobs. So far we were only a little more well prepared than last time and we don’t have proper identification of its exact species or level, but that is not a huge hindrance.

Scenario after scenario runs through my head even after the couple of days I spent working on it and I don’t rest for even a moment because to do so would be stupid. Not while I’m still coming across things that I had yet to notice while rifling my memories.

I mentally walk the beginnings of a mental palace and open a door for the hundredth time. I witness all that happened in the last attack, down to the minutest of details. That this is one of the exercises that I wanted to do because it was the only chance of regaining even a fraction of my memories on the second level of the trial, and the dual purpose of this meditation session brings a smile to my face.

Maximum efficiency in all my actions. That all my actions serve multiple goals at the same time.

The hours pass as we approach and the beast crosses the second line while the map room still has the beast in sight. Every few minutes a quick text update shows. With time to adjust, the loss in time to encode each text message is an insignificant consideration. That will not be the case while we are in combat.

All else that is happening in the craft is on the back of my mind until we stop in the path of the beast. As everyone else waits, I take the large seeds from my inner world and start shooting them in the vicinity. I don’t know exactly where we would meet, but if it is anywhere near here I would have an option or two more while still in range of the network.

Mana flows to the four forearm-sized seeds planted underneath us and I start extending the network at unprecedented speeds. Each seed extends to the next one, and I send mana through the link bridging the couple hundred meters so they touch the next seed in the line.

Even being relatively nearby, the number of tendrils soon growing become overwhelming and I focus on the few more important ones on the edge of the growing circle.

“Five minutes.” Says Richard, moving us over about a hundred meters to the north and lowering the altitude to just skimming above the trees.

Still unsure if this is the place the beast will cross, I open portals near the ground and start dropping a dozen of the recovered formations on the ground and grow them.

I keep quite a few in reserve if it changes direction and we have to move away but as the minutes tick it seems less and less likely the beast will go astray.

“Ninety seconds.” The operator says and not waiting for the others I open a hole in the wood underneath my seat dropping the 12 meters to the ground.

A pulse of mana infusion in my body an instant before my feet hit the ground is all I need to land safely. Though pain still shoots up the balls of my foot similar to when I used to jump from about 2 meter high walls when I was little. Nothing overwhelming that would keep me from doing it again in the future, but not something that I should just ignore.

I instantly connect with all the roots even deeper than a moment ago and let the full power of my skills come to the surface including my class skill: nature connection.

Merlin gets to my side and the 20 soldiers and Greg and Alex stand at the front. All of them clad in the same gleaming armor as last time with all the damage perfectly repaired.

I take trusted staff from the inner world which grants me a couple of extra stat points and a small boost to my magic. Nothing overwhelming, but enough that I don't ignore it. With the bonus for magical attacks, it is definitely something I should use.

“Thirty seconds.”

I spread my awareness out and after two seconds pin the beast down with my extended perception field. I summon a small light in the distance and say:

“I’m lighting up the beast.”

Everyone nods as they stop and hold their breath for the beast.

The moment the beast notices us, a good 150 meters out the slight shift in its direction is impossible to miss with the perception field trained on it. The fast pace it was keeping is gone as it starts sprinting in our direction with mana overflowing from its frame as its paws propel it forward at twice the speed it was running just moments before.

I se the last few seconds to pull up a wall of thick and strong roots and firmly attach it to the ground in front of everyone, but the beast instead of heading straight in like the last time, shifts to the sideand with a strong pulse of mana to switch directions to flank us. I raise another shield to our left flank before doing the same all around us forming a complete dome. Encased in a thirty meters wide protective shield that I can selectively control to let the besat pass through.

The lion doesn’t manage to stop in time and it bounces off the shield losing all its momentum.

I open the section to avoid the mana disruption attack in its claws after managing to blunt its first attack.

Striped Lion - Lv. 141

As it advances on the others, I raise the shield at its back to limit its maneuvering options.

We continue for a few seconds to press the beast as much as possible and the fire turrets poke out of the inner world an opportune moments shooting in the direction of the beast. In coordination with Merlin, I manage to surround the beast with attacks forcing it to chose to take one of my fireballs.

I hold my breath for the result, but a swipe from its claw dispels my hopes. The attack fades harmlessly like I just threw a cotton ball at it.

“That’s not fair,” I complain.

“It seems you are going to have to keep your will behind the attacks if you hope to do any damage.” Says Merlin.

I nod waiting for him to conjure up the next magma ball as I prepare mentally.

With the formation advancing on the lion Greg and a few others pulse their mana trying to infuse their movements and gain a little speed, but none of them have the intelligence and willpower of the magical classes and their control of mana is not quite up to snuff.

Still, a couple of them are marginally successful gaining enough speed and strength to hold the lion back for a moment or two.

Surrounding it over and over, the beast knocks down the fighters it judges to be the weakest. A strange flowing balance is achieved, something only possible because Alex keeps on the beast’s tail the entire time.

They also must have practiced together to achieve this level of coordination. I didn’t see any of these sessions, but it’s no matter.

Holding four fireballs in place and Merlin holding his single magma ball we wait for an opportunity.

That single magma ball may have less mana than my fireballs, but it looks nasty. It will probably do more damage to the beast with a single hit than with all my four attacks.

We see an opening and the five attacks hurtle through the air. Behind each fireball goes mine and Aspen’s will. We manage to time it so that the beast has to choose which two attacks to run through. It goes to the left careful to doge the magma ball.

It swipes trying to eliminate both of the fireballs in a single action as it positions its body for a quick turn around to run on the spear fighters. With the claws wielding a minute amount of mana, with dexterity belying anything that we had seen from any other beast type, the first fireball pops and my knees fail as I start coughing blood.

Even as the beast follows its paw swing, I redouble my efforts bracing for the feedback, which never comes with intensely as I dreaded. The second fireball hits the beast and doesn’t just singe the lion’s fur, but blackens its pristine claws and nearly melts its thin hide.

With a roar, it stares at me with a deep hatred but I don’t let that rattle me. Finally, we see the first real sign of damage. At least from a magical attack.

But just like the Wolfkin, when the lion gets pissed, his movements just become faster and more precise. The people surrounding him who before were managing to barely hold their ground are suddenly overwhelmed.

Mana surrounds the beast in the closest thing to a sign that it doesn’t have infinite stamina.

A stumble from one of the soldiers opens him up to one attack and a moment later he is forced to retreat with a dislocated shoulder outside the large shield surrounding the beast.

More and more of the fighters are injured and forced to retreat, but the timer is on with the limited stamina and mana stored from the beast. We all pay attention to Richard coordinating and trying to maintain control of the tempo of the fight, but with each fighter lost the pressure increases. I start multitasking, shooting fireballs every so often in concert with Merlin but nothing does more than skin-deep damage.

I try to maneuver the beast on top of one of the freezing formation, but it avoids them like the plague and it keeps its distance from us almost like it know Merlin could disable it if it gets too close.

That all comes grinding to a halt when the lion knocks down one fighter with a broken foot, while neither Greg nor Alex are in a position to drive it off. With a sickening crunch that will stay in my memory forever, we lose the first combatant to this enemy.