Lucas' POV
Gigantic heterochromatic trees stood confidently before me. The dense canopy of flora repelled the morning glow of the autumn sky, causing the forest to assume a depressing degree of light, but not too much to halt my visibility.
I maneuvered my way subtly through the forest with strict caution.
The screech of a diabolic beast caught my attention from a distance.
I quickly and agilely climbed a tree, hiding myself from the approaching creature.
Having done thorough research on wilderness survival before I slept the previous day, I had found online, a perfume that could hide the scent of a human from the prying, ravenous noses of daibolic beasts.
However, this extremely expensive and rare perfume that costed about 3 million student credits could last at most 4 hours before it's effect would wear off.
Honestly I was densely surprised by the degree of it's scarcity, since I was very fortunate to purchase the last one available at the only campus apothecary shop that was rumored to have dealings of this rare treasure in the city.
''Crap, I can't believe I almost forgot to spray myself with the perfume. That beast almost spotted me'' I sighed, quickly spraying myself to cover my scent from the predator that was hunting me.
From the top of the tree, I perceived the creature roaming around on the soft ground , sniffing for the aromatic scent of the creature who's silhouette it had spotted a few seconds ago.
However, there was no way the creature could trace my scent due to the effects of the spray.
This creature was an arachnid, ... a ginormous spider to be precise. It boasted fiery red eyes, and the usual four appendages of arachnids. It's carapace was eerily red.
Just from a single glance, shivers run down my spine. I had read about this creature. It was an a C rank daibolic poisonous spider.
The creature's affinity, was a secretory liquid that paralyzed their prey.
It would secrete the paralytic liquid and shoot it it towards it's target, rendering them paralyzed, and non resistant to it's predatory gluttony.
The creature also had a certain degree of a natural hyperactive sound detection ability. It was truly a hegemon amongst C rank diabolic beasts.
The only thing I could do at this moment was hide. This was no novel... This was reality. This creature was two ranks above me... there was no way my current strength and skills could close the power gap between me and this colossus, it would have squashed me like an ant if allowed my pride to get the better of me. I was no overpowered gentleman, at least not at that moment. If I made a run for it, although my scent could not be traced by the creature, it would follow the direction of my movement with it's sound signals, causing it to spot me and come after me.
The bad news was that the creature was not planning on leaving anytime soon. It spread it's appendages on the ground, probably awaiting the appearance of prey.
I was in a stalemate.
The more I waited for the creature to leave before advancing, the more the time for the effects of the spray to wear off would draw nearer.
''What if by time the spray's effects wear off, the creature will still be here?... That would mean death for me...
What do I do?... '' I sighed, racking my brains for an alternative out of this situation.
As though a bolt of lightning had struck my mind, I thought of an idea.
''I could create a diversion whiles I make a run for it...At least, if I manage to cover a large distance, whiles it's focus is deterred due to the diversion I create for it, I would be gone if not far away before it detects my presence.. It's a gamble, but it's better than staying here to become a delicacy''
I heaved a sigh of nervousness, then proceeded to begin my plan.
[Pyromancer's slug activated]
Whoosh!! Whoosh!!!
I quickly launched some flame bullet towards a nearby dense network of yellow shrubs, causing them to roar aflame.
Without waiting for the creature's reaction, I initiated the second part of my plan in the blink of an eye.
[Lightning maestro activated]
[Flame maestro activated]
[Monumental skin activated]
A silver sheen covered my body from head to toe, blue flames dancing around my body with lightning crackling silently above the flames.
With my affinities bolstering my defenses in case of any unforeseen encounters, I bolstered forth with lightning and flames predominantly fueling my feet with bursts of speed. Scared out of my wits of what unforeseen circumstances awaited me if I pridefully considered a taking a non aerial approach in my escape, I maneuvered one tree to another, leaving trails of extremely weak flames on the dense and thick trees.
Splatter!!... splatter!!..
A green steamy liquid shot past my ear , landing on the branch of a tree before me...
I had underestimated this maleficent predator....
Even after my plan to lure it's attention from me had been executed, and I had been able to escape it for a short while, it had quickly detected the sound of my movements and caught up to me...
Still, I had no choice...
It was either I run or I die...
Deeper and deeper I went into the forest, complicating my motions by avoiding a straight forward migration, managing to narrowly avoid the deadly paralytic liquids the monstrosity which pursued me at a very close distance now
However.... in the region where I had arrived, no tree was present... It was a natural expanse of water...
Who knew what deadly creatures lurked in the depths of the lake...
There was no way forward then... '' I'd prefer the arachnid to battling all the dangerous creatures in the lake'' I mused to myself.
Also...
My speed was slowly reducing, I was starting to have headaches, a feeling of physical fatigue starting encumber me. I could not keep dragging this on. I had to do something...
''I can not keep running anymore... ...I'm putting too much burden on myself anyway by keeping this up continually... If I keep this up for long, I'd only lose consciousness and become it's lunch... I have to try and face it now before the worst happens..'' .. I sighed nervously.
My cells were slowly growing overexerted . The prolonged and stacked up use of all my skills were putting a huge burden on my E rank body constitution.
I was .... scared...
''I cannot die here...'' I could hear my own heartbeat... I was sweating buckets...
I leaped off the tree... landing softly on the ground...
My affinities were still at play...as I ignored the headache and the fatigue that troubled me...
I stood with my back facing the dark colored, eerily calm lake...
Screech... screech..
The towering arachnid whose height was thrice as mine appeared before me, it's red eyes glaring at me menacingly...
I muttered to myself ''I cannot die here...''
I didn't know how I was gonna defeat a creature two ranks above mine... However, one thing was clear to me.... I had to come up with a way to kill it...
I was not gonna die here... not to a pathetic beast... I did not give up on suicide...
only to die to a beast...