“Were you waiting for me? I’m ready now, I’m confident I can draw the durability rune.” Edward announced with self-assurance.

“You know, ever since you came here, life has been pretty hectic. First, there was the expedition that went missing, and then, as soon as you managed to come back, bloodthirsty monsters are threatening the village.” Balin shook his head in disbelief. “But I must say you are brave enough to face all those dangers. You really are destined to become an adventurer. Even I am hesitating to leave the village to hunt monsters when we are surrounded by them”.

“Edward is a real trouble bringer, that's for sure. But I’m glad to have him by my side. If this plan work, it will change the whole village for the better.” Caspian added.

Edward rubbed his head awkwardly. “Thanks for the compliments. We shouldn’t daily dally. If everybody is ready let’s begin the hunt.” He said to change the subject.

Balin and Caspian didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when they heard him trying to change the conversation so obviously. Caspian lightly tapped his shoulder, before ordering him to open the gates. The group was ready to leave.

They departed into a jog quickly reaching the forest. “We will stay on the path. We will be visible but it’s the fastest way to find a Bloodmaw. We can’t stay away from the village for too long. It’s a hit-and-run mission. We find a Bloodmaw, we kill it as fast and quietly as possible and we run back to the village.” Caspian said to make things clear.

They didn’t have to run for long before spotting a Bloodmaw. They had only been gone for half an hour before seeing one in the middle of the path. To be fair, the Bloodmaw saw them at roughly the same time as it was discovered by the group. He looked in surprise at the three humans charging toward him. Understandingly he didn’t take it well and he roared in defiance before charging right back at them.

Edward clenched his jaws. So much for a silent kill. We are on a timer now. We have to kill it and come back to the base before the other Bloodmaws can spot and surround us.

As the monster was charging the group, the three of them separated before the Bloodmaw could reach them. Edward teleported on its back, impaling it with his daggers. Balin went on the left and Caspian on the right, both of them drew their swords in a horizontal slash, using the force of the Bloodmaw against it. The monster’s momentum was pushing his body deeper into the blades.

As the monster was turning back after its charge to face them, Caspian didn’t give it the chance to take back the initiative. He activated his power, muscles rippling with power, before hacking down at the monster with as much strength he could muster. A deep gash was cut in the Bloodmaw’s right forelimb. The monster actually leaned down, the cut was so deep that it couldn’t put all its weight on this limb. It was destabilizing him and he was now limping heavily.

Edward was still on its back and he used his position to stab the monster a few more times. Meanwhile, Balin ran forward, holding his sword like a lance, and impaling it deep inside the monster. The Bloodmaw was overwhelmed and already seriously wounded, it couldn’t do anything as the group finished it. The fight hadn’t lasted more than a minute. A Bloodmaw was the equivalent of an awaken in a fight, but it wasn’t devious, its fighting style was plain and simple. Having the experience of already fighting one, and at three against one, the group had completely dominated it, not even giving it the chance to use its strength.

Edward quickly drew the durability rune on the Bloodmaw’s corpse before its power could begin to dissipate. Caspian still in his muscular form, picked up the body with difficulty, carrying it on his back. Blood from the monster was dripping on him from all its injuries. This was a loss for the guards back at the village, but at the same time, it was supporting Caspian with a constant stream of power. The Bloodmaw was large enough so that the loss wouldn’t be too significant, there would be enough blood left for the guards.

Several roars echoed in the distance. The three of them looked at each other with worry. “Caspian, Balin you should go right now, we don’t have time to lose. I will distract the incoming Bloodmaws so that they don’t catch up to you.” Edward told them firmly.

“Are you sure? I can stay with you.” Balin answered him worryingly.

“Don’t fight with me on this. Caspian can’t go back to the village alone, he needs someone to defend him while he is carrying the Bloodmaw.” Caspian was indeed having some difficulties carrying the corpse. It was bigger than him, and he needed his full strength to carry it. He wouldn’t be able to fight in this situation. “And besides, I’m the only one with a chance of making it out of here alive. I’m the one with a teleportation power you know.” Edward said while designing himself with his thumb, a smile on his face, however, this smile wasn’t reaching his eyes.

“Fine, but do make it out alive. Seriously, I will have to pay you a drink after that.” Balin promised.

“Let’s go already.” Caspian snarled angrily strained by the effort.

Edward watched the two of them leave while the roars were getting closer to him. He let out a breath before his attitude turned stern. You can do this. You survived the ruins, being chased by a horde of Bloodmaws twice. You can do it again. For Agripin, and Adrien.

Actually, this is not so bad. It is only when I’m pushed to my limits that I can really discover what I’m capable of.

Edward had realized that he wasn’t a simple boxer anymore. Ever since he went on that climbing excursion alone in the mountain, without any safety equipment, he realized that what was holding him back was fear and lack of imagination rather than physical limitations. His body was stronger than normal humans, his space awareness had been enhanced thanks to the Teleportcrows, and he realized that even his senses had gotten sharper.

He hadn’t noticed the changes before because they had happened gradually, but his vision and hearing were more acute. And on top of that, he had a teleportation power. He was basically a superhuman already, and the best way to shatter his biased about his capabilities and to discover how far he could really go was to be pushed to his limits. He had only begun to use his teleportation power correctly when he had to fight for his life against a whole group of Teleportcrows.

As he was still standing on the path, clearly visible to anyone, the first Bloodmaws arrived. There were only three of them right now, but Edward knew that more would come. It was fine, his aim wasn’t to win this fight, it was just to delay them enough for Caspian and Balin to make it back to Agripin. And then to escape the horde of monsters that would run after him. He couldn’t lead them back to the village. His plan about hunting Bloodmaws would make the village stronger, but it would take time. The village wouldn’t be able to survive a full horde of monsters right now.

As the Bloodmaws caught sight of him, Edward fled toward the forest, sensing them running after him thanks to his aura. He was confident about his capabilities but he wasn’t stupid either, he knew he couldn’t face this many Bloodmaws frontally. However, the forest would give him a lot more opportunities.

The more hazardous the terrain the more it would give him an edge thanks to his teleportation power. As one of the monsters was rapidly catching up to him, Edward run towards a tree. Before the Bloodmaw could catch him, Edward jumped and used his momentum to run upward the tree trunk. The monster impacted the tree as Edward pushed on his legs to make a backflip, landing on the monster’s back, and quickly whipping out his daggers to stab it. I always wanted to do that.

Before the other monsters could strike him, he teleported away. The Bloodmaws didn’t seem to care about each other that much, they didn’t hesitate to attack Edward even if it meant further injuring the first Bloodmaw.

The latter was now suffering from some light stab wounds, and from a swipe for its fellow congeners. That swipe had actually injured it more seriously than Edward’s attacks. As for the impact with the tree, it had been negligible, Bloodmaws were robust and could endure such shocks quite well.

Edward flew once again, his strength was coming from fast and unpredictable attacks, not from a prolonged engagement. This is it. Back at the village, I was in the open and I had to use my teleportation power to avoid their attacks which left me with fewer opportunities to go on the offensive. In a complex environment like this forest, I can use my teleportation power to either retreat after an attack or go for an offensive. I don’t have to stand my ground, I can just run and whittle them away bit by bit.

Edward couldn’t run for too long at once since the Bloodmaws were running faster than him. While running away, he jumped in front of him, before teleporting while still in mid-air to the back of the group. He landed on a tree trunk which he used as a foothold to jump on the last Bloodmaw. This time he wouldn’t let the other monsters the possibility to intervene. He stabbed his daggers deep inside the monster, using them as holds while the monster was still running. I wonder if I can...

This time instead of letting the daggers absorb the monster’s power on their own, Edward used the technique he learned in the village to absorb a monster’s power. He sent his aura through the daggers to actively absorb the Bloddmaw's power. He felt a surge of energy flow into him as time slowed down to a trickle. The absorption process was far faster this way, the Bloodmaw roared in anguish as it felt its life force fleeing away. The other two in the front turned back when they heard it roaring in pain. Edward teleported away before they could try to jump at him.

I feel like I could take down the three of them.

However, he heard leaves being trampled upon as more Bloodmaws were coming toward him. He had been too focused on the fight and hadn’t sensed them coming. Four more monsters had now appeared behind him. Tche, I’m getting surrounded. Playtime is over, it’s time to escape now. I hope I bought enough time for Balin and Caspian to make it back.