As the starlight hit the tops of the trees, an hidden birds chirped relentlessly in his surroundings, Audric awoke groggily.
As one might imagine, sleeping in a tree was not the most comfortable venture.
Audric quietly observed his surroundings before hopping down from the tree. Today's objective was to find food and more permanent shelter, hopefully in the mountainous area. He was still quite a distance away, but if he was able to find food quickly, he would make it by nightfall.
~ A FEW HOURS LATER ~
The sun quickly reached its zenith for the day.
Audric had been fairly lucky, and had found a few herbs useful for first aid. He also found a type of berry called a Bubbulberry, which his eyes told him were safe to eat.
After harvesting the whole bush, he also decided to take the seed pods, in case he couldn't find food and would have to grow it himself.
Putting away everything he had collected, Audric decided to continue his journey to the mountain.
On the way, he decided to observe any wild beasts he came across, in case he would have to fight them later. One thing to note was that he had not spotted any more beasts that appeared 'mutated'.
In the trees, he saw a very small bird beast called a Twilight Sparrow. They would sleep during the day, and at night the would hunt in large flocks. They were called Twilight Sparrows because they had extraordinarily deep blue feathers that could reflect moonlight, rendering them almost invisible at night.
Audric was able to capture one of these Twilight Sparrows to cook later.
Another beast that he saw was the Twin-tailed Scorpion. As the name might suggest, these scorpions were named as such because they had two tails. What the name did NOT suggest, however, was that an adult scorpion was around three feet long and a foot and a half wide.
Audric promptly avoided this one and added a mental note to his list of 'things to avoid'.
Other than these two beasts, Audric could sense a third watching him, but couldn't find it no matter how hard he looked. This unnerved him to a large degree, so he made up his mind to get to the mountain as fast as possible, even if he had to walk through the night.
Having a beast following him, ready to strike at a moment's notice, was not a comfortable feeling. If he was able to make it to the mountain and find proper shelter, the beast would have no choice but to leave or confront him directly.
Time passed quickly as Audric hurried towards the mountain. The sun hung low from the sky, but he was still a distance away. There were too many wild beasts to take a straight path, so he had had to wind his way around the majority of him, drastically lengthening his travel time.
He had stopped sensing the mysterious beasts gaze on him a while ago, but this did not soothe him. Rather, it made him incredibly nervous. A vast majority of beasts would never give up on an easy prey like himself.
As Audric continued walking, he found himself standing at the edge of a wide river, much too deep for him to cross. He began to feel the beast's eyes on him once more when suddenly, the bushes behind him began to rustle.
He quickly turned to find a large cat-like beast staring at him with predatory eyes. As soon as the beast realized that it had been found, it pounced at Audric with incredible agility.
Audric barely had enough time to raise his spear and block its sharp fangs. In the brief moment that the two were deadlocked, Audric took the time to observe the opponent.
Once he realized what type of beast it was, a cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
The beast was a Cloud Leopard. Even an infant was on par with a Fourth Rotation Apprentice. The Cloud Leopard was one of the fastest beasts below the Disciple stage, and an adult could easily rival a Ninth Rotation Apprentice.
His only stroke of good fortune appeared to be that this Cloud Leopard was still an infant. If he had encountered an adult, he likely would've had no idea how he died.
This was not a time to fight. Audric had to flee as soon as possible, or he'd become this Cloud Leopard's next meal.
He quickly rotated the haft of the spear, flipping the Leopard over onto its back. He then turned his body to begin running away, only to realize that he was stuck. His foot had been entwined with the leopard's tail.
This was a concerning development for Audric. Not only was he unable to flee, but this Cloud Leopard appeared to be mutated. The Cloud Leopard in his eyes' memories only used its tail for balance: it did not have much dexterity, certainly not enough to wrap around his leg and restrain him.
Upon a second analysis, this Cloud Leopard also had a much longer tail than usual, almost three times as long.
Audric hurried to think of his next plan of action as the leopard righted itself.
It launched itself at him once more, but this time, rather than block it, Audric opted to roll to the side and avoid it.
He was now absolutely sure that this was an infant Cloud Leopard, as its movement pattern was very linear: it did not have the skilled hunting instincts and experiences of an adult. It would also explain why the Cloud leopard was so cautious in its hunting that it waited for a full day to attack him.
Audric grit his teeth and firmed his will. He would not be able to run from this enemy, so he could only fight.
He tried to sweep low with the spear, but the Cloud Leopard simply jumped back and then rocketed forward again. Audric dodged by a hairsbreadth and then rotated his body, bringing the full momentum of the spear along with him. He was about to land a solid blow when the Cloud Leopard blocked with its tail.
Audric then quickly dropped to the ground and put his full weight on the tail. The Cloud Leopard hissed in pain. While it was distracted, Audric drove the spear right through the tail, pinning it to the ground.
This removed the Cloud Leopard's two greatest advantages: its agility and its tail. It was now confined to a small area around the spear.
If Audric was thinking clearly, he would have taken this time to run, although he would have to sacrifice the spear. However, adrenaline had long clouded his judgement. His brain had already deemed running impossible, and his instincts followed that judgement.
His mind frantically searched for a solution. Unfortunately for him, the only way to win was to fight barehanded in close quarters. If he took the spear out of the leopard's tail to fight, he would die.
Close combat was not Audric's strong suit. His weak, 6-year-old frame did him no favors and his opponent had strong biological advantages against him, such as immense agility and sharp claws.
Regardless, Audric had no choice if he wanted to live. As the leopard took a large swing at him, he ducked under and gave it a glancing blow on its underbelly.
The leopard howled in pain, leading Audric to see a glimmer of hope. The Cloud Leopard naturally had low defense, even more so since it was a newborn, but it was still substantially stronger than Audric. However, because this beast was mutated, the mutation may have had drawbacks towards its natural abilities in return for strengthening others.
He rushed back into the fight with renewed vigor. His fists became like little rockets, his legs became as swift as the crack of a whip. Each blow added up more and more against his opponent. But not all was in his favor.
The leopard had been fighting back. Audric bore a long gash down the side of his leg, a deep bite mark on his arm, and a scrape across his forehead. Both the leopard and Audric were on their last legs.
Suddenly, Audric did the unthinkable. He pulled the spear out of the ground and used its momentum to hurl the leopard towards the river!
The leopard scraped against the haft of the spear, leaving a long white mark. It was determined to take Audric down with it. Both Audric and the leopard plummeted into the water. They thrashed against each other in a desperate struggle to end their opponent.
One moment, Audric would be above the water, the next, the leopard. Neither side would give up until the bitter end. After a full five minutes of struggle, the Cloud Leopard let out a single cry and dispersed into motes of light.
These motes rapidly entered Audric's body, but he himself was too tired to notice this. He promptly fell unconscious and drifted away with the current, his destination unknown.