"Haah!"
With a shout, Lu shot the dagger out of his hand with a concentrated burst of world essence. It was a secret skill Jim had taught Lu after the latter defeated Tiger Junior.
'With this, I should have made you proud…—'
Lu's thought, as if honoring a lost comrade, was interrupted by the fact that his dagger hadn't done all that much.
After flying out of Lu's hand with a surprising speed, it had just grazed the beast. It trimmed its fur without even being able to cut through its hide.
"Fuck!"
At least the burst of world essence had distracted the fox enough for Lu to get his legs up and kick the fox off of him. Lu rolled around and stood up, clutching his fractured arm.
"Stupid fucking secret skill!"
Lu hobbled in the other direction as the fox also got to its feet. If the advanced air-grade essence art Jim had taught him didn't work, neither would anything else Lu had in his repertoire.
Even if he reinforced the dagger while it was in his hand, it wouldn't be any more powerful than when he used Motionless Throw to send it flying.
The fox-like beast had to be at least introductory water-grade for it to withstand Lu's attack. And considering the ease with which it had done so, its grade was most likely even higher.
For Lu, who wasn't even introductory air-grade, it was suicide to face it head-on.
Lu's only hope was that the moon would break through the clouds and give him a way out.
However, it wasn't looking up.
Lu glanced at the dark sky, the clouds obscuring the faintest of light, turning the world into a den of darkness.
"Mister Fox, I'm sorry, all right? You can have your wife back!"
Mister Fox growled. But it didn't stop running to catch up with Lu. And it wasn't difficult for it to do so. The fox had six legs. Lu had two. Even without considering the difference in their strength, the fox had an easy time catching up with Lu.
However, Lu's luck hadn't completely run it. It had just hit a shallow enough low to tell Lu to be careful in the future. That future was the immediate future, but that didn't matter.
Lu took a deep breath as strength washed through his body.
Without realizing it, the moon sent an arrow of light through the clouds to greet Lu.
But that was all. A single beam that refilled Lu's strength for a moment wasn't enough when he stepped out of its cover a moment later. He needed a stretch of unobstructed moonlight to perform his Stroll.
Even if there was a wide area of moonlight, he couldn't pass through shadows or interruptions in the moonlight.
Lu's step through the thin strip of moonlight had given him enough power to take a long leap away from the fox, narrowly avoiding its bite. But it wasn't enough. The fox was catching up again.
Fortunately, the arrow hadn't been alone, and after sprinting through the first one, Lu made a conscious effort to aim for where the moonlight was instead of just following the road blindly.
The fox was a natural at running through the forest. But so was Lu.
He had spent his childhood running into and through the forest around Bika. Sometimes, he even had to outrun people who were displeased with him repossessing their belongings. As a kid, he was naturally nimble. But when it came to outrunning trained adults and experienced hunters with their Blessings at Deeper Insight or higher, Lu had needed a lot of practice before he could successfully escape every time.
Lu put all of that experience to use as he darted through the forest with his injured arm. He dashed behind trees, sprinted up trunks, and tugged on branches to let them smack the fox in the face.
But the water-grade fox was superior to Lu in every way except experience running away. It was faster, stronger, more durable, and had sharper claws. It could follow Lu around the trees with ease.
When Lu jumped up the trees to spend a few strides hopping between low-hanging branches, the fox was right next to him, jumping from even smaller branches without sinking to the ground.
The only good thing going for Lu was the beams of moonlight dotting the ground like stars.
It seemed like the sky was on the verge of clearing up, especially in the direction Lu was headed. But a few straws of moonlight were barely enough to keep Lu out of the fox's mouth, much less secure his escape.
'If only I could…!'
Whenever Lu stepped into one beam, he could see another far away. If he could jump from one piece of moonlight to another, he wouldn't have any trouble escaping again!
However, it wasn't that easy.
Or was it?
Lu pondered for a moment.
When he turned into a streak of light, he dashed through the air. That was why he needed an unobstructed path of moonlight. Otherwise, he would just hit the wall between light and darkness and stop Strolling.
But what if he didn't need to travel in a continuous line? What if he could just go from one place to another? Instantly.
Wouldn't that make things so much easier?
Lu had no idea how it would work. But what did that matter? No one knew how Blessings worked.
Lu tilted his head for a moment before leaning to the side and letting the fox fly over him.
Was there a reason why it wouldn't work?
'Nope.'
Lu shrugged. He couldn't come up with a reason why he shouldn't be able to teleport between different places blessed with separate showers of moonlight.
'Let's try it.'
Lu looked at the furthest stretch of moonlight he could see. He imagined himself appearing there instead of staying in place.
Meanwhile, the fox crouched and lunged.
Lu hastily glanced at the fox. He stuck out his tongue as his vision turned white.