Chapter 12 – The chase
Just as the panther changed its stance to a leaping one, I dropped the snake’s body to the side and ran to right from the cave. Currently, that was the best decision for my survival, I was sure that if I entered the cave I would be dead, so my best possibility for surviving is to run away and find shelter the faster the better.
I could hear scary chewing sounds coming from behind me, but sadly they stopped too fast. Then a growl was coming from where those sounds were, the panther was already coming after me. I ran with the best of my abilities, but of course, a simple midget of a bush would never outrun a huge wild cat.
The growl was getting stronger and stronger, after just a few seconds I could hear it right behind me. The big mouth of the cat pierced into my back, then the cat rose me from the ground and started to shake my body around as if I was a small toy.
The cat body was at least two meters high, so lifting me up was easily done be it’s huge and strong jaw. With just a glance I could see that the scary black cat had few purple stripes going from its back to its belly, and his scary yellow eyes would make even strongest warrior fear for life. After few shakes, a huge piece of me was the torn off and my body flew with the momentum six meter away into a tree.
I hit a tree but for my surprise, I almost didn’t feel any pain, I felt more pain from hitting the tree than from getting a huge piece ripped off. I was laying upside down under the tree, my view fell on the panther and in its mouth I saw a bag, it was my bag.
“Why all the monsters destroy my stuff!” The panther started to growl and shake the bag, I thanked god that wasn’t me. After seeing the panther eating my bag with horrifying noises I got scared shitless and my mind screamed: “run, run!”.
I struggled to stand up again and started to run at maximum speed, I knew that the bag won’t hold the panther for long. Thinking of a way to escape from the panther for a while, I found something strange.
I turned around to look back and saw nothing, “Did it leave me alone?” I asked myself in confusion. Suddenly I felt something disturbing and it was as if two big eyes were watching me, but I couldn’t see anything at all. “Does he have the special stealth skill?” I imagined the worst and continued to run.
I ran and ran at the night. For my surprise and luck I didn’t see much monsters at all, but few times I ran into few low-tier monsters. Even though I used my stealth skill they still could see me, they were monsters of the night so that was easy for them, but when they approached me they didn’t care about me at all, or they growled in a low sound turned around and went on their way, that was alarming on its own, but I didn’t mind it and continued on my way.
At all times when I ran deeper and deeper into the forest, I still could feel those two huge scary eyes on me, but no matter how many times I turned around, I still couldn’t see anything. I even used my detection skill, but there was no response from it as well.
“Something wrong.” I said with fear as my instincts were screaming: “You are in danger”, but I couldn’t put a finger on it not matter what, even though I couldn’t see anything at all I knew that I still was chased.
As I ran more and more, despair slowly started to fill my mind, I couldn’t understand what was going on, the monsters around me were acting strangely. And this crazy feeling didn’t leave me for a second. I used the detection skill, again and again, few more times to make sure I won’t run into a monster, even though they don’t mind me much, but I can’t be so lucky every time.
I stopped behind two big trees for a small break, but just as I stopped the strange feeling became much much stronger, and I had no other choice but to continue my run. Every step I took became heavier and heavier, from the surroundings I could hear howls and from behind I could feel the eyes.
The pressure slowly was getting thicker and thicker, because of it I was slowly going insane. “Shit what kind of monster did I encountered, did it do something to my body? *Self Awareness*.” Without further ado, I checked my self awareness status.
-Ontopary bush Lv5-
Experience: 11/45
Rarity: Common
Health: 3/7
Mana: 8/17
Stamina: 2/4
Race: Berry bush.
Status: Unique-Intelligent, Shadow Mark
Skills:
*Magic Perception Lv3(Active)* *Self Awareness Lv2* *Calm Mind Lv4* *Inspect Lv3* *Rage Lv1* *Killing Intent Lv2* *Pain Resistance Lv1* *Mana Manipulating Lv1* *Wood Element Control Lv3* *Dig Lv2* *Stealth Lv2* *Detection Lv2* *Lifesteal Lv1* *Poison Resistance Lv1* *Item Crafting Lv1*
Titles:
*Clutz Lv1*
“Shadow mark?…” I didn’t think twice about this weird status as I inspected it. ” Inspect *Shadow Mark*.”
*Shadow Mark* – Curse of the shadows, those who are marked by this mark, cannot escape the user inside the shadows because the user will see them whatever they be.
“Long range detection skill!!!” I exclaimed with worry. “But wait, I am glowing and the forest around me is glowing, there no shadows around me at all.” I looked up and saw the dark sky above, and a thought came into my head “Impossible! Don’t tell me by shadows it means the night, damn this explanation!” the inspect skill yet again wasn’t accurate, and I was forced to gather the strings together myself.
I continued running like a mad man deeper and deeper into the forest. I passed the area where I was familiar with, long time ago, and now I was running like a headless chicken not knowing to where inside the forest. But what could I do, every time I tried to stop even for a second, I could feel like huge claws were pressing on me from above.
After running for another thirty minutes I ran out of my fortune and met a monster that didn’t back off at all, It was a big red fur bear. The bear fur was bloody red his eyes were black as the night. His claws were much bigger and darker than the claws of normal bears, that I knew from the pieces of my memories. His size was almost the same as the black panther, and it was two meters tall little bigger than the panther.
We were less than ten meters away from each other, our eyes met just for a second, but I already could feel his killing intent towards me. “As I thought the scariest monsters coming out at night.” I thought before that the monsters that come out at night are most vicious, and they would attack anything that moves at sight, and for not many surprises I was correct.
With a scary bear-like roar, the bear charged at me. All my leaves were standing up, as I saw that huge half ton of muscles and fat rushing at me. With panic, I turned around and started to rush, but I knew that I won’t be able to outrun the bear.
I could hear the weight of the bear as it ran after me, with a *tap* *tap* ,*tap* *tap* sounds as the sounds got only stronger and stronger. It didn’t take long for the sounds to be so strong that even the ground around me started to shake a little.
I was sure that at any moment the bear would tear me to one million little pieces. But for my surprise that moment never came, what came is a scary roar of a panther. If I had blood in my body you would be sure one hundred percent that I am a ghost, because I was so scared that even my soul could leave my body at any moment. Not only a huge bear chased after me from the back, but now the devil cat came as well.
The bear slowed its advance, at that moment I saw a shadow of a huge panther jumping at me from the front. I wanted to stop, I wanted to turn to the side and dodge, but it all happened too fast. I wanted to close my eyes, I wanted to escape somewhere far away but I couldn’t, all what I could do is see the panther get bigger and bigger in my view.
I felt cornered and devastated, there were nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. I saw the panther right next to me, I could hear and feel his heavy breathing on my leaves. All I could do is stop at my track and tremble in fear, but the panther just passed above me. No don’t get me wrong, he didn’t miss me, I was never his target from the start, his target was the huge red bear that was behind me.
From behind two strong roars could be heard, again and again. One came from the panther and another from the bear. With the roars sounds of immense blows and sounds of ripping flesh could be heard as well, as the claws of the beasts torn each other flesh.
I looked behind me and saw the crazy battle between those two demonic beasts. The panther dashed from side to side, and I could see a black aura gushing out of his body, it looked as if shadows were emerging from his fur. Every slash of his claws would follow with an afterimage of a dark shadow, and it would see as if shadows were dancing around his claws.
On the other hand, the huge bear was standing on its back legs and it would seem as if his body grew up by a half meter, his fur was standing upright and a glint of metal could be seen coming from it. His claws grew much much bigger than his body, they were at least twice their original size. Now the bear resembled demon from the depths of hell, more than a bear.
The fight was almost even, the bear had few bloody marks on its body, and the panther had only one. But from the looks of it the wound on panther body was a heavy one, on the other hand, be comparison the wound on the bear were shallow. The toughness of the bear was much stronger than that of the panther, because of that the bear had an upper hand.
“Why did the panther saved me?” I asked in confusion of course I couldn’t answer that question, but I was sure for one thing that it didn’t save me to be its friend.
I didn’t care whoever would win this battle, but I hoped it was the bear. Currently, both of them were a crazy dangerous factor to my life, but the stupid devil cat could know my exact location no matter where I was, so it was much better for me to it to die.
I wasn’t stupid to stay and see who would win with my own eyes, and become their meal of victory, so I inspected both of them and ran away like a madman. I should have done that before, but it took me some time to get out of shock.
-Shadow Predator Lv11-
Health: 52/88
Mana: 32/48
Stamina: 15/22
Status: Shadow aura
-Mountain Lord Lv13-
Health: 98/126
Mana: 12/23
Stamina: 42/56
Status: Iron fur, Enlargement
Two statuses popped inside my head, I wasn’t stunned from them, but only could confirm my fears. “NO, NO, HELL NO! I will never face those monsters, never!” I scream from fear and only increased the pace of my running. Those monsters were the scariest thing that I saw in this world, and they were so strong that their health alone was ten times bigger than mine.
“If I would face them and won’t get the title *crazy insane madman* I would be surprised.” I ran through trees that were in front of me to an open area, and slowly decreased my pace until I came to a complete stop. What was in front of me got me even more worried, because it was a fifteen-meter high cliff that went down.
Fun fact: Only grizzly bears roar in the wild.
One Of Many - Web Novel 