Luke pushed aside the thoughts plaguing his mind and promptly sprinted in the direction of the forest. However, he was yet to take more than three steps when he felt the rumbling of the earth once again.
"Shit!" Luke cursed as he jumped to the side and rolled out of the way.
Bang!
A tree shook violently as its leaves fell off their branches and rained down on the boulder beast as it uncurled itself. The tree trunk caved in, with countless web-like cracks spreading across the tree's body.
Luke knew if he got caught up in their deadly death rolls, he would be crushed into a bloodpaste.
Rumble!
Luke's gaze narrowed as more rumbling sounds rang across the field, prompting him to abandon his plan to run into the forest and look uphill.
Luke swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he felt a cold chill run down his spine. What he saw was numerous boulder beasts rolling down the hill in his direction from the sides of the hill and at a terrifying speed.
In the forest, he had never been in a situation where he had to deal with so many beasts all at once. However, Luke did well to suppress the anxiety plaguing him and think.
After spending so much time in the forest and having a few brushes with death, Luke had learned to keep a levelled head and think even amid chaos.
Luke's gaze shifted to the boulder beasts behind for a moment before he shifted it back to the incoming boulder beasts. His eyes narrowed as he realized that although it seemed these beasts were just coming at him at random, the truth was that they were also barring his path into the forest.
This left him with only one option… Move uphill!
Luke shot a final glance behind him and silently lamented. He knew going uphill was far more dangerous, but he didn't have a choice in this matter.
"I was so close!" He cursed as he began charging uphill.
He knew that his best chance would be meeting them in battle uphill, that way the boulder beasts would lose the advantage of the speed which they gain when they roll downhill.
The only problem now was that if he managed to get to the top of the hill, what next?
He had no idea what was on the other side of the hill and even if there were something there, he wouldn't be able to go downhill since it meant the boulder beasts would regain their advantage.
This left him with a question
'Try and kill them?'
The thought crossed his mind as he glanced to the sides only to see the boulder beasts getting closer. The closer they got to him, the more he realized how huge and strong these things were, which brought a lot of doubt.
'I am not even sure my weapon can penetrate their body ' he thought while running.
It was then that he began noticing cracks on the hill floor. As he ran up the hill, the cracks seemed to be getting bigger, leaving Luke frustrated. Not only did he have to find a way to deal with these boulder beasts, but he also needed to remain aware of his surroundings so as not to fall in.
"Just wonderful," Luke cursed as soon as he felt running uphill was only getting more tiring
He ended up expending more energy to jump over the crack. Keeping his eyes on the cracks and the incoming boulder beasts was also mentally draining.
He glanced at his sides again to know the positions of the boulder beasts, but it seemed the heavens planned on playing an expensive joke on him.
Unable to manoeuvre while they rolled down the hill, Luke had run past them. This left the boulder beasts with no choice but to run uphill on foot, but this was where the heavens decided to toy with him.
He had originally thought that the heavy bodies of the boulder beast would make them slower, but to his greatest surprise, they were much faster than expected.
The boulder beast closest to him charged in his direction, which caused the ground to tremble with each step it took.
Bang!
Bang!
Each step the beast took made Luke's body shiver, and his heart raced with each passing moment. In the presence of the massive boulder beast, Luke felt human and powerless.
The only good thing was that the speed of his ascent was still faster than that of the boulder beast. However, Luke was already getting exhausted, and his speed was dwindling with time.
It was only a matter of time before the boulder beast caught up to him.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Luke continued to run uphill. As he moved he felt the hill trembling even more but from another direction.
"Shit!" Luke cursed as he looked at the top right.
It was a boulder beast charging in his direction on foot. Judging based on its speed alone, it was clear to Luke that the beast would catch up at any moment.
Bang!
The boulder beast jumped into the air with its rocky fists clasped together.
"The hell?" Luke yelled out in shock as he promptly jumped to the side.
Boom.
The ground shook violently as the boulder beast struck it, leaving behind a web-shaped crack where it struck. It quickly turned and charged at Luke once again.
Seeing this, Luke took a few steps back as he grasped his weapon tightly and waited for the enemy.
Swoosh!
The boulder beast swung at Luke, but he dove under its fist to evade the attack. His reaction speed was much faster than the beast, and he quickly turned while still on one knee and stabbed at its waist as hard as he could with his bone weapon.
Tink!
Luke frowned as he felt his hand go numb from the strike. He looked up to meet the cold gaze of the boulder beast.
Swoosh!
The boulder beast swung its leg at him with full force. Due to the distance, Luke could only cross his hands above his chest and brace for impact!