As night fell and Dallion prepared mentally for his inevitable battle against the pack, one thing became alarmingly apparent: while wounds didn’t require medical attention while in the awakened state, the pain and discomfort remained. Doing a few mocks attacks, even after a bit of rest, remained sluggish, especially the attacks. The annoying creature that had annoyingly managed to wound his sword arm had significantly reduced the boy’s flexibility.

The boy focused his attention on the mountain peak. Any creature coming from there would be considered a greater threat. With luck, there wouldn’t be any. So far, he hadn’t seen any dark rocks or mucky streams in that direction. However, he was only able to examine one side of the mountain. A lot of things could be hiding in the back.

It didn’t take long for reality to prove him right. A faint rattling sound caught his attention, coming from below. With the realm being composed of rocks and water, it was almost impossible for anything to approach unannounced, especially if those approaching had large claws.

There were a variety of things that Dallion could have done. He could have taunted the creatures to take advantage of the higher ground, he could have attempted to sneak to them and take them out silently, he could also have charged at them as a reckless hothead. Unsurprisingly, he did the latter.

“Darude!” Dallion yelled, gripping his short sword with all his might. The boy knew that the creatures wouldn’t get the reference just as using said reference made little sense considering the realm was completely deprived of sand or sandstorms. Still, that was the closest thing he could think of as a battle cry and didn’t want it to go to waste.

The beasts froze. Up to now they had never experienced someone charge at them, let alone shouting. Moments of confusion infected their beings, as they hesitated how to react. Those moments proved to be more than enough for Dallion to slice through them like scissors through silk.

Realm section mended!

Overall completion 63%

Nice! The boy thought. If all his fights could be like this, mending the well would be a piece of cake. The burning pain in his leg and forearm, though, disagreed.

Dallion tried to stop in place, but the inertia of running downhill proved too much. With the grace of a sack of potatoes rolling down a staircase, he went from one defensive stance into another, then seeing that it wouldn’t work, turned to the left changing the direction of his run back up, until he finally came to a standstill.

Sweat and shame drenched his clothes. Good thing there wasn’t anyone to see. If this had happened on Earth, he could have gone viral as part of YouTube’s most embarrassing video clip compilations.

I’m definitely not doing that again, Dallion told himself. Not until I get to learn acrobatics.

A series of green lines—seven, from what he could tell—appeared all over the front of the boy’s body. The trial run was over. From this point on, the pack wouldn’t let him have any free kills.

Damn it!

Dallion spun around just in time to see four panthers heading his way. They were using the same tactics as before: two were attacking low, two were attacking high, with the rest waiting in reserve. This time, though, he was prepared. The boy took a sidestep to the right, then slashed at the leaping creatures. The action caught the duo by surprise and completely unable to avoid the attack.

“Not so confident now, are you?” Dallion followed through by matching the red-green footprint markers to spin in place, then slash at the remaining two ground attackers.

COMBINATION ATTACK

Dealt damage increased by 200%

COMBINATION ATTACK

Dealt damage increased by 200%

Two more enemies poofed into nothingness. As successful as the attack was, though, it wasn’t without cost. Two bolts of pain shot down his forearm, almost making Dallion drop his sword. His leg wasn’t feeling all that better either. Combat twists and turns had become among the things he shouldn’t do for the rest of this battle.

Realm section mended!

Overall completion 71%

So, this is what status effects feel like in real life.

Dallion looked around. There was no sign of the rest of the pack. It appeared that the cracks were going about in packs of four. Provided that remained to be the case, he had four groups left. Not an impossible task, though no walk in the park either.

Breathing through his nose, Dallion waited for the next attack. Moments turned to seconds, then to minutes, yet nothing came. Was it possible that the rest had given up? If a guardian could do it, why not these creatures?

Hopeful, the boy turned around, searching for a notification rectangle. Alas for him, there was none. Instead, he noticed a rather large black dot further up the mountain. Initially, it looked like a trick of the light, a cloud shadow, or just a figment of his imagination. Slowly the dot grew. In several seconds it had acquired the unmistakable form of a panther… a very big panther… an incredibly big panther. By the time it had come close enough for an attack, Dallion wished he had run all the way off the mountain. Interestingly enough, no green markers had appeared.

“Aren’t you a big one?” Dallion asked.

If the other creatures were an indication, the lack of a white rectangle suggested that the giant panther would die with one hit. Somehow, though, Dallion doubted that to be true.

“Where’s the rest of your pack?”

The boy looked around. They had to be here, especially if this beast was their leader.

“Are you taking me on alone? That’s noble of you. I don’t suppose we can call it a draw?” It sort of worked in Monty Python.

The monster growled, but it was more than a growl, as if a dozen growls had merged into one. Eight pairs of eyes emerged in the creature’s body, each with their own set of jaws underneath.

Dallion swallowed. The giant panther wasn’t the leader of the pack, it was the pack.