After all the preparations were done, the elven hunting squad, together with Aurora, Rejoke, and Elise, resumed their march once again.
They headed straight. It was quite possible that many of them would perish in this battle, yet despite knowing that, none of the elves faltered. Their steps were steady, their heads held high.
On the other hand, Aurora, although not worried much either, wasn't as motivated to fight. She hardly ever felt motivated to fight in the first place. She fought for survival, for growth. Unless the fight was one she was looking forward to for a long time, she wouldn't really get all worked up about it.
Of course, this didn't mean she would take it easy. Even though she was much more powerful than in the past thanks to her new title, equipment, and extra levels, fighting against a second-rank being still wouldn't be easy at all.
'Elise's help might even come in handy if I wish to minimize the loss of the elves. If her support spells can maybe boost my stats or something, she could become a game changer.' Aurora thought as the group moved forward.
Although the plan they had formed was simple, there were still many things that could go wrong with it. And if Aurora wanted to minimize the chances of something actually going wrong, Elise could be the key to that outcome.
She didn't know what kind of support skills the elven princess could use, but if they were anything close to what Aurora thought they might be, they would definitely be of a huge help.
'Here we go.' It didn't take long at all. The group soon arrived at the place. Aurora could feel those two powerful presences; they were close. Just up ahead.
Seeing the small fox stop walking, the elves did the same and took their positions. Soon, the group heard something approaching as huge pressure fell upon every single elf. It was then that the two beasts finally revealed themselves.
'Sabertooths!?' Indeed, the two beasts were almost identical. They both looked exactly like saber-toothed tigers; their front fangs easily gave it away.
One of the two tigers had pure white fur and was similarly big to Rejoke. The other tiger looked almost the same, only its fur was pale blue instead of white. The prominent front fangs of the two beasts were made out of deep blue ice that glowed with intricate white drawings.
'They have runes on their fangs?' Aurora immediately recognized those drawings.
They looked exactly like the various runes she had seen in the dungeon and on Elusia's hut. However, up until now, she had thought that runes were some special magic drawing that had various effects. But runes on the body part of an actual living being? Was that even possible?
"They aren't runes, at least not the ones we know. I'm not sure what they are, but they don't give off the same feeling." Yuki commented, her eyes locked on the two beasts.
Actually, Aurora felt the same as her sister. The runes she had previously seen all gave off a faint feeling of magic as well as mana. However, the drawings on the fangs of the saber-toothed tigers weren't the same. All Aurora could feel from those was the beast's frosty mana, but the special, tempered mana of the runes.
'Maybe, unlike the runes, these drawings don't manipulate mana. Instead, they just act as powerful conductors as well as storage space for the tigers to gather their mana at.' It was but a theory, but it was the best Aurora could come up with in such a brief encounter.
"Unless we clash with one of them, we don't know for sure. Though I have a feeling your idea isn't too far off from the truth. Maybe those fangs are a way for them to easily imbue their physical attacks with magic." Yuki added, further improving Aurora's theory.
'Whatever. Get ready; I doubt they'll be willing to wait for much longer.' Taking a deep breath, Aurora took her stance, emotion disappearing from her face.
'Now, how do we separate them?' It was only then that she realized this little detail. The plan would only work if the tigers were separated; otherwise, this fight wouldn't go well.
"Grrr." Seemingly running out of patience, the two tigers shot forward with incredible speed.
The tigers were even faster than that second-rank human Aurora had fought against. With absurd agility and nimble movements, they both appeared in front of the group in an instant, barely giving the elves any time to react.
Just as the tigers slashed forward at the group of elves with their claws, they suddenly stopped mid-attack and quickly jumped back. Moments later, two arrows glowing with faint silver light pierced into the ground where the tigers stood.
'You just made it easier for us.' Aurora snickered internally. In fact, the move the tigers just did will be exactly what will allow Aurora and the hunting squad to separate them.
"Kyu!" As the tigers were still in midair, Aurora glanced over at Rejoke and let out her usual foxy squeal.
"Woof!" Rejoke responded immediately, dashing towards one of the tigers. The wolf's body grew by half in a few seconds, the whole process easily visible to the naked eye.
Just as the two tigers were about to rush forward again, they saw Rejoke already closing the distance between them. Reacting to the wolf's attack, one of the tigers slashed forward with its claw, resulting in a clash between the two beasts.
'Once again, bad decision.' Aurora smirked as she saw the tiger getting easily pushed back by Rejoke, forcing it to jump back further to not get wounded.
Rejoke's natural stats were nowhere near the level of a rank 2 beast. However, his overall physical strength was a different talk. With five different treasures boosting his strength and his skill increasing his natural strength by an absurd amount, Rejoke's strength easily matches the strength of an early second-rank beast. Not to mention these tigers that seemed to specialize in agility.
Seeing his partner getting pushed back, the other tiger immediately lunged towards Rejoke. The wolf obviously wasn't able to match the tiger in speed, so by the time he could even turn around, they had already closed the little distance that was between them in the first place.
Yet, despite the impending attack, Rejoke didn't panic at all. Because just like the tiger, he also had someone to help him in a difficult situation.
*Cling*
With a metallic sound, Aurora's claw stopped the lunging tiger in its path, using her strength, which was basically equal to Rejoke's, to push this tiger back as well.
Aurora didn't end there, because just as she had sent the astonished tiger flying backwards, she had already cast a simple fireball. The fireball shot out at an incredible speed, reaching the tiger in no time.
*Boom*
With a small explosion, the surrounding snow got blown away, creating a soft cloud of snowy particles.
"Kyu." Aurora briefly glanced over her shoulder, and Rejoke did the same. With a small nod, they both dashed forward in opposite directions, each aiming for a different tiger.
"Get moving, guys! Assume your positions and get ready to intercept the tiger fighting with Sir Rejoke! We absolutely cannot allow it to join up with the other tiger!" Elijah exclaimed loudly, he and his elves immediately joining the battle.
'Phase one completed successfully. Now, we can only do our best.' Aurora thought, disappearing in the cloud of snowy mist.
The fox never stopped moving. Currently, she couldn't see the tiger, and somehow, she couldn't sense the beast's aura either. The tiger must have either suppressed its own aura or it has some special skill to hide its presence.
The first option, while annoying, wasn't that big of a deal. It was quite natural for a second-rank beast to already be quite intelligent, so something as it being able to suppress its own aura wouldn't be too surprising. It was inconvenient, but it wasn't too bad.
However, if the second option turned out to be true, then the difficulty of this battle would rise to a much higher degree. If the tiger was actually able to hide its presence completely, it might even be able to sneak past her during the battle, allowing it to join up with the other tiger. This would be a huge problem and could easily mean their doom.
Not only the elven party, even Aurora would be in danger. If the two tigers fought together against either the hunting squad, it would be the end of the elves. The same applied to Aurora. If the tigers both fought the fox at the same time, she would have no shot against them.
'Let's hope the worst doesn't happen.' Aurora sighed and got ready as the snow slowly settled down.
Just as her vision slowly returned to her, her entire body immediately tensed up, and she instinctively turned around, slashing her claw horizontally.
*Clang*
Similar to clashing swords, the claws of two beasts met, letting out a loud metallic sound. If Aurora had defended just a second later, the tiger's claw would have already pierced her head.
'Fast bastard.' The fox cursed inwardly, her claw lighting up with a bright orange flame.
The force behind Aurora's claw increased immensely, forcing the tiger to retreat. However, Aurora wasn't done, as she nimbly closed the distance between them and slashed upwards.
Contrary to what she expected, the tiger didn't try to dodge. Rather, it lowered its head down, meeting Aurora's claw in its path. Surprisingly, the long, prominent fangs of the beast were able to hold off Aurora's burning slash without any problems.
"Dodge, quick!" It was not like she needed Yuki to say it. By the time her sister said anything, Auroea had already jumped back.
Just then, the white drawings on the tiger's fangs glowed, and no more than a second later, white mist erupted from within them.
"They really use them as catalysts. Those fangs are dangerous. Somehow, those weird runes empower their magic by a large amount." Yuki warned her sister.
Aurora merely nodded faintly, her eyes never leaving the tiger. That white mist just now was very similar to her own Freezing Snow spell. It felt almost identical, with this one being much more intense in comparison.
'Better avoid that. I'm already barely able to match this guy's speed. If he even managed to lower it further with a debuff, I would be done for.' Making a mental note to avoid the tiger's fangs as much as possible, Aurora once again got ready for another attack.
She didn't have to wait long either, as the tiger soon disappeared from its place and appeared back in front of Aurora. Of course, Aurora was able to track his movements. With her agility being one of her three highest stats, she wasn't too far behind the tiger. So although it was really fast, Aurora was still more or less able to keep up with its speed.
The exchange of blows between the two continued. Neither had the upper hand, because while the tiger had a slight advantage in speed, Aurora had a large advantage in strength. Besides, the speed difference became nil thanks to Aurora's sharp senses, so the tiger could use advantage only when it was defending.
'This can't go on. I can last for a long time, so I doubt I'll lose a stamina battle. The problem is the other group. I have no idea how they are holding, so I can't afford to drag this out.' Aurora gritted her teeth, blocking another incoming slash.
Just as she was thinking of a way to somehow finish this quicker, she felt the tiger's movements becoming slower and more readable, as well as her own speed rising.
[Blessing of Lesser Speed is active. Your agility increases by 30 points for the next 3 minutes.]
'Huh? A buff? Blessing of Lesser Speed? Where is this coming from? I'm sure none of my skills or titles do such a thing.' Aurora thought in wonder, using her new speed to actually dodge the tiger's attack for the first time.
Currently, she was really confused and surprised, but even then, thanks to her absurd skill that was Perfect Mind, her body was able to dodge on its own. And just as she was wondering where the sudden buff came from, she received another message.
[Blessing of Lesser Strength is active. Your strength increases by 30 points for the next 3 minutes.]
'Huh? Another one? Wait...' Aurora parried an incoming attack and jumped back, creating some distance between her and the tiger before she glanced behind her.
There, a certain elf girl was paying close attention to the fight with a serious expression.
'I completely forgot about her.' Aurora's eyes widened when she finally realized what was happening.
'Heh, I guess she wasn't lying when she said she was a good support. These buffs are amazing. Good work, Elise.' Aurora smiled and once again dashed forward, now feeling much more confident than before.
Seeing the fight resume after the brief break that only lasted a few seconds, Elise smiled and immediately prepared to cast another buff.
'Lady Aurora, I said I could help you!'