Grey woke up groggily, his entire front side painted red by the blood of the Beast, his head spinning. He struggled to his knees, before looking around.
'Wha, what happened?' He asked Fallen Star.
- You passed out from running out of Mana, it's not uncommon but should only be done when supervised. Loss of Mana in the body is extremely dangerous. You were lucky that the dead Beast carcass didn't attract another. -
'I see.'
Grey shook his head to remove the fog that clouded his thoughts and got up onto his feet. He walked to the corpse, grabbed his spear along the way, and then poked the corpse with it.
'Murderous intent is very useful, it seems. If only it didn't drain as much Mana as my 3 Rare Elements.'
- Of course, but then it would be a bit too strong, no? The universe is about balance, as long as you don't count God. He's a bit overpowered. - Fallen Star commented.
'I guess. Now, let's go back. For some reason, I'm still tired, even after all that sleep.'
- It's only natural. The body sleeps to restore fatigue, but this time, it slept to restore Mana, so it was working round the clock, instead of resting. -
'Makes sense.' Grey was intrigued by what he had learned, as it wasn't covered in the biology that he had learned, but he knew that there was a time and a place for certain things, and that certainly wasn't the time nor place for a conversation.
He stared at the remains of the tiger, before raising his spear high and hacking at the Beast's neck. It dug past a third of the tiger, reaching about halfway through the Beast's spine. He swung again, this time lopping its head off completely.
Grey grabbed the head by the scruff of its neck and left the cave. The weather was still windy, but it had picked up since he last was outside the cave.
'How long was I out?' He asked.
- About 6 hours, give or take 30 minutes. -
'Not good.' The forecast for the Beast Domain, something provided for all Hunters, had said before he left that there would be a blizzard, and the wind that had increased was proof of just that.
He hurriedly jogged to where he had left his bag behind, digging it out from under half a meter of snow. Once he could grasp its handle, he yanked it out of its hiding spot, and quickly opened it, looking for the blanket.
He pulled it out, wrapping the head within its warm confines. Using some rope, he tied a knot around the loose ends of the blanket, fastening it into a makeshift sack that he could carry over the shoulder.
He shook the bag to remove any snow that still lying on its surface and placed it on his back. After, he hoisted the head over his shoulder using his left, and carried the spear in his right.
Grey didn't want to stay any longer than necessary, so he speedily set off.
The trek back was much faster than the one on the way there. Although the snow was much deeper, Grey's memory was the perfect counter. Even if all the tracks were removed, he would still know the way back.
Eventually, he reached the intersection where he found the blood. He jogged past it, ignoring the now clean spot, intending to go home as fast as possible.
TING!
Grey lashed out with his spear, catching the claws of a bear on the blade. At the last second, his body screamed at him to dodge or defend, and he chose the latter. The snow was too deep to do the former.
It was a black bear with golden spots, signifying that it was a DL-Bear, one of the most dangerous combinations for a Beast to have. The bear withdrew its claws quickly, before swiping again.
Grey was forced to drop the sack with the head in it, giving himself the ability to wield the spear with 2 hands. He narrowly parried the attack, before countering with his own.
Grey was in a hurry to end the fight, so he used one of the moves of 'Are's Cry', Pierce.
His spear moved at a superhuman speed, hard for even him to see, so he expected it to pierce the bear's heart.
What happened, however, was the opposite. The spear was deftly caught in the bear's large paw, so he was forced to withdraw. However, he had managed to draw blood, only thanks to the spear's quality.
From the exchange, Grey knew that he was no match for the Beast. Even if he could hold off its attacks, how long could he last? What if another Beast came?
The bear was going to attack again, raising its paw again, so Grey reacted by switching to a defensive stance. He braced himself for the impact, keeping an eye out for a chance to counterattack.
Yet, the attack never came. The bear seemed to have realized that it had been hurt and was intensively sniffing its own wound, as if in disbelief that it had been attacked.
Grey used the chance to grab the head of the tiger and run away.
'Fallen Star, what rank would you say that bear is?' He thought as he moved swiftly between trees.
- I think it's around D Rank. You won't win. - It analyzed.
'I see.'
ROOOAR!!!
The bear let out a ferocious howl and began to chase after him. It must have recognized that it had made a blunder and was now furious.
Grey looked back, only to find the bear steadily closing in on him, so he boosted his physical abilities with Mana, giving him a few seconds respite, but the bear removed his disadvantage in seconds, also boosting itself with Mana.
The cogs inside his brain span rapidly, and their answer was to run evasively. He would have to lose the bear before he could go back to the Border.
He began to veer off course, dodging through trees that were not very far apart, randomly heading to the left or the right. Anything to shake the bear off.
However, it was futile. The bear was sharp enough to follow his tracks, and he couldn't put enough distance between them to allow him to falsify any.
He spotted a brook close by, so he ran toward it, weaving between the trees gracefully. The bear followed, slamming into the trees as it moved behind him. Waves of snow undulated as it traveled, and the noise was horrendous.
Grey jumped over the stream, rolling through the snow to soften his landing, and then continued to run.
The bear chased, never letting its sight leave its prey, but it came to a stop just before the stream. It could jump, but it wasn't sure if it could make it. The water was too cold for it to test it, but the prey would get away if it didn't.
The bear ran back a bit, then sped toward the brook, jumping over it. It continued the chase.
Grey watched the bear do all that, his emotions going from panicked, to happy, back to panicked.
He knew that he needed an idea; he couldn't keep running.
'Ah, I've got it. Fallen Star, since I can't do it, I need you to alert the guards.' He said.
- How do I do that? -
'On my hologram.'
- Obviously, but where? - Fallen Star said as it scoured through the hologram.
Grey continued to swerve through the trees, almost slipping several times on the ice below the snow.
'Hurry!' He cried, looking at the hologram that Fallen Star was scrolling through. 'There!'
Grey mentally pointed at the location where a Hunter could put out an alert to the Border Guard.
- I see. - It commented.
'Good, then do it faster!' Grey said, turning to the path that would take him back to the Border Wall.
- Done! -
'Perfect.'
ROOAR
Grey continued to run when the roaring got closer to him. He turned behind, only to be tackled onto the floor by the bear. Upon impact, he dropped the items in his hand.
It had used his change in direction to catch up to him.
Grey and the bear tumbled to the floor, rolling in the snow. The bear had one of its paws wrapped around his back, so he had to figure a way out.
He swiftly used the Paw, one of his grandfather's martial arts in an attempt to get out of the ensnarement. He smashed his elbow into the bear's interior arm joint, causing its arm to spasm and weaken, allowing him to roll out of its embrace.
He scrambled up to his feet, looking for his weapon. Whilst he was doing that, the bear also clambered up.
He promptly spotted the spear and ran toward it. However, the bear was quick to catch up. In an attempt to avoid the bear, Grey leaped for it. However, the bear was just behind him.
He grabbed the blade by the very bottom of the shaft and swung it around, trying to get the bear out of his range.
"ARGH!" The bear took the swing with its arm, using its other to slice open his Achilles tendon. He cried out in pain, but bit down on his lip, ignoring it and digging his spear into the Beast.
ROOAR
The bear roared in pain, backing away from the boy.
Grey scrambled up to his feet, limping away from the bear, grabbing the sack with the head. He continued toward the Border.
'I'm close, I think.'
The bear watched him limp away from it, with a smile on its face. It was sneering at him.
Grey ignored the provocation of the bear, choosing instead to get as far as he could before it came for him.
'I won't die today, buddy.'