Chapter 65: Speed (Patreon)

*Beast Identified* [Empowered Azure Sky Ram (common)] Level 27.

The lightning striking the ram had received had leveled it up into a monster. Its eyes were now burning pits of blue fire and all of its previous wounds had healed. The knife that I’d thrown into its side was now lying on the ground nearby. Even if I wanted to, there was no way to get to it without fighting the empowered ram. Not that I wanted to do that. This thing looked well out of my league at a full seven levels higher.

It took a step towards me, and I found myself taking one step back. The ram was tough and strong. If it ate some grass to add speed into the mix, then it was well and truly over. My only hope was that I’d put enough points into dexterity to still outrun it.

Elise, bloodied and bruised behind me, reached for her staff. The ram’s eyes snapped to her, and she froze. I didn’t know what she was thinking and so I went into party chat.

[Lucas Hudson: It’s level 27. When I say go, I want you to use one of your air blast spells to launch yourself over this hill and escape to the temple where Hemi is waiting.]

She frowned and shook her head

[Elise Evans: You can’t be serious. The ram is way too much for you to handle on your own.]

[Lucas Hudson: I’m the highest leveled person in the group and the least injured. Couple that with my blood healing and I have the best chance with this thing. I don’t have to beat it. I just have to survive it.]

[Elise Evans: Fine. But you better come back.]

[Lucas Hudson: I will.]

[Elise Evans: Or I’ll make Hugo grab your spirit and summon you to be our maid.]

[Lucas Hudson: Okay, I get it.]

I moved my hand to slowly rest on the handle of my Viper Fang knife. The ram snorted and moved a step closer to Elise. I had to recapture its attention.

I thought about drawing my knife and sword. To move forward and attack, even if the odds of landing an effective blow were bleak. I didn’t do any of those things, though. This monster had a presence to it. A giant deadly aura emanated from within it that paralyzed me with fear. Imagining myself fighting it made me feel like a mouse battling a giant.

Still, I had to do something.

I forced myself to take a step forward. Rather than continue its staring contest, the empowered ram charged at me without warning. I tried to vault over it and heard a snap as my wrist broke during the attempt. I cried out as my body flopped over the back of the animal. It was like trying to vault over a speeding car. Rather than turn around, the ram looked over its shoulder and kicked me with its back legs as I was trying to get up. All the air whooshed out of me as I went sailing across the field and landed in a pained, bruised heap. The only comfort was seeing Elise had recovered and was running away towards the temple.

I couldn’t fight this thing head on and I couldn’t outmaneuver it. The only thing left was to run away.

I ignored the throbbing pain in my chest and wrist as I got up. The empowered ram was walking slowly towards me when suddenly it noticed something behind me. I heard a sound and looked. It was another ram.

I started laughing. I just couldn’t help it. As if one wasn’t bad enough now, it was two at once. Okay, in my current condition, the laugh was more of a wheeze, but still.

Suddenly, the empowered ram rushed forward. I pulled my knife out and waited. But instead, it ran right past me and collided with the regular ram. The empowered one knocked it over and then stomped on its skull, killing it.

The empowered ram doesn’t recognize the others as the same, so now it's fighting them for territory as well.

Another ram heard the commotion and wandered over the hill. I took that as my cue to leave. But my injuries were bad. I needed healing. In my current state, the empowered ram would kill its cousin and then run me down before I made it to the temple. So I did the only thing that made sense. I pulled a bunch of Mountain Swiftleaf out of my inventory and ate it.

[Mountain Swiftleaf bonus activated]

[Dexterity has been temporarily tripled]

I didn’t have time to think about everything that that meant. I ran away towards the hill and suddenly I was there in the blink of an eye. My body felt like a rocket ship. I just pointed myself at a target and then I was there. I turned to look around and saw the next hill I needed to cross before I could view the temple. In a flash, I was there. The speed felt amazing, but unsurprisingly, there were drawbacks. My legs wobbled when I stopped and I thought for a moment that they might buckle.

Looking back, I saw the empowered ram in the distance coming after me. I turned back to set my sights on the temple. Suddenly, I slammed feet first into the temple steps and collapsed onto them. Dimly, I then understood why the other ram would charge at me like a bullet and then have to stop and reorient itself. The Swiftleaf only increases my dexterity. It does nothing for my perception or constitution, which explained why I had such trouble controlling my body in this state. The speed was too high for my current perception level and very hard on my legs. To me, it felt like a disorientating form of teleportation, with every muscle, tendon, and joint in my lower body screaming at me. Had my constitution been much lower, attempting to run on Swiftleaf might have crippled me.

Elise, Hemi, and Hugo were further up the steps. I had to make sure they were aware of the dangers of the grass. They’d seen me shoot towards the temple at an incredible speed, but they had to know about its limitations. The trio had seen me land on the lower steps and wanted to come down to help me, but the sight of the empowered ram stopped them.

The ram approached the edge of the steps slowly. It was so close to me. Just one more step and it could start stomping me to death. The ram bent down and sniffed at the stairs. It snorted and turned away in disgust.

I laid back on the stairs and let out a sigh of relief. I was right. The temple wasn’t considered part of their territory and, for whatever reason, they steered clear of it. Maybe the System had simply programmed them that way to maintain variety across the level? Or more likely, they were sensing something about the temple that I couldn’t.

Elise got to me first and handed me a health potion to drink. It was a red, syrupy liquid with a sweet, flowery taste. I found it strangely enjoyable, and it was a novel experience for my first time drinking a health potion. I considered taking them more often in the future until I realized the downside of them. The healing they provided was far slower than my blood healing. I had to lie there in pain for a full ten minutes in order for my body to fully recover. I also didn’t dare move, lest the Swiftleaf accidentally launched me into a completely different area. Finally, I got the message informing me that it had worn off.

[Mountain Swiftleaf bonus has ended]

“Sorry,” Elise said for the fifth time. “I’ve only got weaker health potions left in my inventory and someone is out of healing power.”

“I just need to rest,” Hemi complained.

I looked up at the crow. “And where were you?”

“I was scoping out the temple. There wasn’t a lot else for me to do out here,” Hugo said testily.

I let it slide. There were no vantage points or trees for Hugo to hide in. Out in the open he’d be forced to keep flying to stay out of the way and considering how close we’d all come to getting hit by the lightning. I guess I couldn’t blame him for seeking shelter. Even if that shelter was incredibly foreboding.

“So what’s in the temple?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Hugo said. “It’s just a bunch of empty rooms.”

Somehow, I doubted that would be the case once we all got up there.