He was caught mid-stride as the boars broke off and started running into the forrest. From behind them, the beast emerged. It's green pelt blended well with the surrounding fauna.
Rank stopped dead in his tracks.
The boars scattered off into the forest. They had clearly had a few run-ins with the tiger before.
"You have got to be kidding me." Rank stood face to face with what he could only assume to be the king of this jungle. It's face was covered in blood. "Fresh from a kill? I don't assume you'd be willing to just settle for chasing down a few more of those boars?"
The beast snarled, almost as if to answer "No." Rank gave a glance back at his companions. They were a decent distance away, but still close enough that the beast could easily chase them down if it so pleased.
"The nest isn't that far from here! Gryf or ome of the other fighters should be back by now! Run and get help!" Rank ordered his team. He focused his gaze on the tiger. There was almost no chance they'd make it back before the struggle ended. And there was no garuntee any of the other teams would be available. But he knew. He knew that his team wouldn't just run unless he gave them some other excuse. "I'll hold it back." He whispered. He knew no one could hear, but he felt like he needed to say it. Maybe it was reassurance for himself, or maybe he just wanted his final words to be something cool. Either way, the creature in front of him seemed to respond to his hopeless determination. It began pacing around him in a large radius. He double checked to make sure his companions had started moving, and sure enough they were starting to dissappear into the fauna.
He shot Kodo a look, then focused on the beast again. "Come on big boy, I don't have all day."
The beast didn't need a second invitation. It pounced into action, charging straight at Rank.
"Kodo!" Right on command a volley of embers poured from the lizard's mouth. The beast flinched as bits of flame struck its pelt. Rank leaped into action. He shot out the claws from his gauntlet. The beast jumped back, narrowly evading the initial attack. Rank refused to the beast space to breathe. He used the retraction of the claws to propel himself forward. He stopped right in front of the creature, their eyes meeting for a split second. It seemed angry, vengeful, hateful... And scared. He brought his dragger down towards its neck.
He suddenly felt an immense pressure across his chest and stomach. The beast let out a roar that sent him flying backwards. The stripes on its body glowed a bright, eerie green.
His back slammed against a tree, knocking him back to focus.
Rank readied his blade and claws again. He looked over at Kodo. The lizard seemed to be ready for a second round. He gave him a hopeless smile. "Thanks bud. I'm sure we can take him"
A thought suddenly crossed his mind. He remembered something he wanted to look into. "Bud, I'm gonna need you to hold him back for a second."
The lizard leaped into action, unleashing blast after blast of fire as it charged off to the beast. The beast responded by giving chase to the lizard.
"God I hope thia works." He thought about opening the status window again.
He could see it.
Name: Rank
Class: Support Specialist
Race: Human
Age: 18
Level: 2
Skills(*): Moster Taming(D) ; Translation(E)
Unique skill: Gattler
He focused his mind on the asterisk mect to skills. It had to mean something.
[Skill points available: 1]
[Choose a new skill?]
[Upgrade current skills?]
Taming wasn't going to help him here. He neede something new. Something he could use. He focused on the [New skill] option.
[3 skills available at current level]
[Wind magic (cost: 2)]
[Barrier creation (cost: 1)]
[Support magic (cost: 1)]
He only had one point to spend. Wind magic was out of the question. He considered the other two.
Kodo was flung across the field by a strike from the tiger.
Rank made his decision.
[Support Magic(E) acquired]