Nilbog ran through the uneven earth, dodging and weaving through the uneven earth and unstable ground. His lightweight and wide, flat feet, allowed him to quickly traverse the bog, something that could not be said for the army of red Ants following in his heel.

Their sharp legs sunk deeply into the ground and would have completely hindered their movement if they weren’t a couple of meters wide each.

Their jaws, two large claws at the end of their mouths’, clicked and snapped at Nilbog, causing him to jump and yelp each time the sounds got closer. Anything that was in between the jaws of the Ants was quickly cut in half, the venom seeping out sizzling against the ground. Trees, rocks, and even each other at times were quickly snapped in half.

Arrows, axes, and the voices of humans sounded behind him. They taunted him, throwing vile insults, but when Nilbog glanced behind he saw nothing but the stampeding Ants.

He faced forward, and then strangely, slowed down, instead of speeding him. His heart raced, feeling his limbs sink into a numbness. He attempted to force himself to move quicker but his commands fell deaf on his body, as if his limbs were held back by metal chains.

They're quickly catching up...move! Move! Mo-

***

Kara’s relaxed jog turned into a struggled walk, wincing as her Rat’s Soul began to fluctuate within. The emotion that surfaced was dreadful, to say the least. She doubted he was having a good time.

Well, at least this tells me he still hasn't perished yet.

Her apparent lack of concern made the men behind her more livid. The nearest one to her leaped high into the air with his axe, using some type of Gap-closing skill, probably Warrior's Leap, and was wanked back to the ground by an Ent’s branches.

An audible crunch was heard. The man did not die but his Body Empowerment skill cracked, reducing his power substantially.

The rest of the fools were no better off as the Ent’s rose from the ground, upturning the earth. Their branches, now seen to be giant claws, either smashed against the ground or on soft flesh, helping it raise from their hole.

Once out, these Ents stood several meters. Two of the Ents had two legs and distinguishable claws, while the two others had four legs and several smaller, more flexible claws that camouflaged as branches.

The inflexible wood forced the more humanoid Ents to swing their entire body in one direction, slowing their attacks down, while the other two with smaller branch tentacles were quick but relatively tame with their damage.

Though they took great damage from the ambush, their axes, large blades, and mostly strength based builds enabled them to chop off the limbs of the Ents.

They were foolish but they were not completely inept. Instead of spreading, the men instead fought within the same field, using the Ent’s cumbersome size against them. They consistently circled the Ents with multiple limbs and made certain that they would use a different Ent’s body to block the others.

They made decent progress and got into a rhythm. The Ents were relatively unintelligent creatures and were easily provoked into swinging their limbs towards opponents intent on dodging.

Once their branches and claws dimmed the ground with their strength, there was a short period of downtime where the party was able their offensive skills in abundance.

Powerful Blow, Charged Blow, Life Force Boost, and party-wide buffs enabled them to deal decent portions of damage. They chopped off the wood and dug into the stiff flesh underneath, causing ooze to splutter out of the wounds.

The creatures were resistant to bleed and slash attacks, but having the branches being chopped off began to hinder the monsters. The two people that wielded swords focused on being a distraction, while the one man with double hand axes was the core damage dealer.

Being one man down did not seem to hinder the party’s performance much. Their Ranger also proved useful, serving to be both as a distraction and a damage dealer. He hopped and weaved within the cluster of humanoid Ents, using their unmoving branches as stepping stones, aggroing them with Penetrating Arrows. His attacked punctured through the light layer of wood, though it was obvious that he would run out of arrows well before he could bring a single one of them down.

That was the issue with the Ranger and Mage classes. Though their contribution was great, they were more limited in ammunition and mana.

This Ranger, however, was both skilled and intelligent. Instead of using his arrows to deal damage, he instead used it as a catalyst. The Ents swung at him as he hopped across their giant bodies, unaware, or uncaring, that their claws smashed into their brethren. A wicked crash was heard as the Ent fell with a groan, the Ranger jumping to his next victim. He climbed, circled, and repeatedly dodged near-fatal hits.

That was a Ranger's job. So many backline archetypes believe themselves to be the DPS while in fact, they are the utility of the party.

At this point his bow was strapped to his shoulders, his focus resting solely on dodging the Ents. He was playing a dangerous game, but a very rewarding one. His sharp focus and natural flow made his movement clean and crisp, a true veteran of his trade. He fell two Ents and hopped onto the third, throwing his arm into the air to catch a branch.

Pure instincts saved him from being skewered by Kara as she also leaped at the same time. They flew towards each other, Kara’s blade aimed at his stomach in mid-descent, but his flexible body somehow allowed him to twist his body just in time, avoiding a fatal strike and escaping with a slight gash.

Minor penetration!

You have dealt 6 damage!

Miniscule Bleeding Damage applied

He missed the branch and tumbled through a few with his back before his found something to grab, by which Kara had already landed on the other side, turned, and hopped back onto the Ent.

She hounded him from Ent to another as the giant creatures moved and swung their limbs. Both had to constantly abandon the current Ent they were straddling and to leap onto the Ent which struck their own down, which involved not only dodging the claw, but also the thick branches which grew around it.

The Ents hindered her as much as it hindered the Ranger, who struggled with the large amounts of things attempting to kill him.

Then again, all he had to do was to hold on. Though the Ents that fell did not die, they were greatly damaged. They made easy prey for the rest of his party.

All he had to do was stay alive long enough, and to keep an eye on her.

Kara couldn’t leave him. He was too much of a danger to stay alive. Dodging swords was one thing, but dodging Empowered arrows was a whole different story with this body. The Energy cost would be too great, and she could already guess that it would be the same for the Equanimity cost if she would to use the Third or Fourth Movement.

Though Kara was skilled and experienced, her enemy was no amateur. With his greater Speed, she simply could not catch up to him. In addition, the sword which she held made climbing and swinging difficult. It allowed the Ranger to get ahead far ahead of her and to climb to the Ent’s top, by which he had the luxury to toss his bow from his shoulders to his hand.

When the Ranger leaped from an Ent, he began to twist his body around.

Now! Infusing her legs with Life Force, Kara leaped after him, channeling Kinetic Energy to further push her from behind.

By the time the Ranger had his arrow pulled back, she was mere feet away, her sword reaching for him. Fear was clear on his face but in mid-flight and at such a short distance he held all the advantages.

Even though the Ranger was still out of her reach, Kara stabbed with her blade.

The Ranger released the string, causing the arrow to leave his bloodied fingers in a snap.

The arrow was too quick for her eyes to catch it, even while they were Empowered, but her Notes could. The arrow struck the flat end of his sword, and bounced off, striking the Ent behind.

The Ranger tossed his bow at Kara alongside a weak Life Force Emission blast, slowing her down by a few seconds.

The Ranger landed on a branch with the tip of his toes. He did not slow down as he leaped across, escaping her. He gained back the lead with a few hops, pumping Life Force through his body without care.

It was not a Speed which she could possibly catch up to.

Full Penetration!

You have dealt 35 damage!

You have dealt Devastating bleed damage!

Kara’s sword impaled itself through the Rangers back. He glanced down mid-leap, seeing the sharp metal bulge out in between his chest, and then glanced back, to see her a few meters off, his hands stretched forward.

“You...actually threw your sword?” the Ranger wheezed out as struck a few branches, and fell to the ground.

“Swords are just oversized knives,” Kara said as she landed on his body, took the blade out, and jumped to the side as an Ent’s foot crushed his body.