The dramatic escalation shocked everyone present. The pause gave Yaren enough time to draw his axes as he glanced at the small screen in the corner of his eye.
*Ding* <[Quest Recieved: Hunted]
"The Red Silk Group has sent people after Warren. A change in events has led you into a confrontation with his Trackers."
(Requirements: Repel or defeat the two people after Warren
Failure: Warren Dies, Possible Death
Rewards: 20 Attribute Points, 1 Skill point, 1 uncommon techinque.)>
Yaren felt his stomach churn as he looked at the penalties for failure.
"It's only been a week since I've awaken and I'm already facing death." "On the plus side the rewards look pretty good.."
Not wanting to waste his chance he quickly opened up his stats.
Evolution: First Race: Gnoll Class: None Bloodline: [???]-Locked Traits:[True Fervorus Body], [???], [Blessing of Yassuie] -Stats- Hp: 400 Energy: Fervor - 0 Mana - 40 Strength: 33 Vitality: 30 Dexterity: 28 Agility:31 Intelligence:13 Attribute Points:10 Skill points:1 Skills: Monster Language, Violent Rush Lvl1 , Zealous Fervor Lvl1 Techinques: Feral Wolves Dance Lvl1 > [Feral Wolves Dance] "A strange movement techinque handed down through generations of the Kanki Tribe. It is said that a Primal Spirit worshipped by the tribe taught them this technique after gaining it favor. The user's graceful steps are reminiscent of a wolf on the prowl." Yarens uneasy frown slowly broadened into a grin as he remembered his training with Fragnir. " Even though he sucks to be around, that short time with him really paid off." Even though his strength didn't grow much, the constant beatings toughened his body, is only a small amount. The greatest gain he had acquired was the movement techique that Fragnir had taught him. "I wouldn't really call it teaching though, I just paid attention to his movements as I pressed my attacks, and tried to copy them when I was supposed to defend." Yaren would never forget the expression on Fragnirs' face the first time he was able to replicate the steps. An abrupt rumble snapped Yaren out of his daze as he looked over to see Skrid leaping back as the mans mace smashed into the ground, causing a large hole to appear. A giggle sounded in Yarens ears as he looked towards the woman still on her horse. "Are you sure you can afford to watch their little show...? Well I'm all for enjoying those two go at it, but.. hmm.. I wonder.." Her voice trailed off. Her eyes narrowed as a taunting grin spread upon her lips. Yaren simply stared at the woman as she spoke gibberish to him. "I can't just stand here, I will make sure she doesn't interfere with Skrid and hope she doesn't kill me." He could only pray that Skrid the ability to either win, or hold his own against the man. The woman was peering down at him from atop her horse when from the side of her, another crossbow bolt whistled through the air before piercing the lungs of the horse. Upon impact, the shrieking horse threw the woman off its back. Caught off guard the woman still managed to land on her feet, albeit in an extremely awkward and vulnerable manner. His blood already pumping from the effects of Skrids battle, Yarens pupils dilated as his instincts took over his body. Seeing the woman clumsily land on her feet he lurched forward activating his Violent Rush Skill. The woman already caught off guard eyes turned into saucers as she attempted to leap back narrowly avoiding the sudden attack. Yaren clenched his war axes harder, disappointed that the increased damage hit from his skill missed, however the sudden leap backwards left the woman fumbling on her bottom for a brief second. Pressing his advantage he swung his left arm down hoping to land a decisive blow, but his opponent deftly rolled to the side causing his axe to get stick in the ground. Intent on getting a hit in on his enemy before she steadied herself, the Bloodlust laying dormant within him suddenly erupted. Gnolls are a naturally warlike race, so while not always evident on the surface most Gnolls have sharp natural latent bloodlust and Violent tendencies. The sudden increase in stats from his physique during battle enabled Yaren to act quickly. Seeing the woman roll to the side he left his axe in the ground while cleaved his free axe down towards the woman. Attempting to continue to roll past his swing the sudden boost In his attack caught her off guard, causing his axe to form a large gash on the side of her torso. The woman grimaced after being struck by the axe, the wound was deep, and left untreated would be a serious liability to her. She looked at the beast in front of her with hateful eyes, hurling curses at him with little regard to whether he understood her or not. The gnoll turned to pick up his other axe that was left embedded in the ground. The woman, an expert that normally faces no problems was eager to make up for her careless mistake. She knew this could cost her everything. Noticing the split second he took his eyes off her to retrieve his axe, she swung her arms in a wide arc, causing a flurry of daggers to fly towards him. Although Fragnir was giving Yaren lessons in training, there were many gaps left In his teaching methods. Over the course of 5 days that enigmatic man said no more than a handful of words to Yaren over the course of his training. The inexperience was a lesson he would have to learn over time after all. While his coordination and attack patterns improved, Fragnir neglected to remind Yaren of the basics, thinking that it was already known. Yaren had a vicious smile on his face as he relished the feeling of his axe cleaving through the womans flesh. Having no previous life or death experience in battle Yaren subconsciously went to retrieve his axe, used to having the opportunity to retrieve it when knocked away in training. As he grabbed the handle and yanked the head from the ground, a sharp pain assaulted his rib cage. Looking down he saw a small dagger sticking out of the side of his chest. Not knowing what to do, he quickly yanked the dagger protruding from his ribs and tossed it to the ground. With a pained grimace he faced the woman, his body tingled as if a thousand fire ants were swarming around his body. The strange sensation felt as if was burning him, yet it wasn't exactly painful. It felt as he was ready to explode, a volatile force simmering just beneath the surface. Skrid panted heavily as he held his arm with one hand as his other arm dangled, his fingers straggling to maintain the grip on his sword. He glanced over at the fight happening a short distance from him. He saw Yaren and the woman both facing eachother, the woman held her abdomen, the entire side of her was drenched in blood. Yaren seemed to fare slightly better as he held his axes, poised for a charge. The right side of his chest was also drenched in blood, but it almost seemed as if he didn't notice the wound. "Brahahaha Brahahahahaha!!" The bald man bellowed loudly as he stared down Skrid with a menacing grin. He had over a dozen crossbow bolts scattered throughout his body, as well as several cuts and holes from Skrids attacks. "Puny monster. This matter didn't concern you, yet you cowards dare to assail me." Skrid had no reply, as he didn't expect Warren to launch a sneak attack of these people. Skrids expression darkened as the man took large strides towards him. The hairs on the womans neck rose as she faced the monster in front of her. At first he seemed like a normal weak gnoll, but the feeling he was currently giving her made her senses tingle. The man then rushed he with renewed speed once again, causing her to panic for a split second. He swung his axes at her in practiced arcs. She could tell that although this particular beast was significantly more vicious than regular, he was still a rookie when it came to in the field combat. The woman snickered gleefully as the mans axes finally followed the trajectory she was waiting for. With an elegant twirl she leaped to her feet, the sleeves of he hand concealing a number of daggers as she weaved through the blades. Yaren was too caught up in his own battle to pay even a sliver of attention to Skrids predicament. The scent of blood filled his nostrils as the sting from his wound drove him deeper into a feral state. Overcome with the desire to bring down the opponent in front of him he recklessly dove towards the woman in front of him. He swung his axes with abandon, although they still followed the movements he had trained with Fragnir, there was no thought behind the strikes. Thinking he found an opening, Yaren swung his axes in an arc. The attack was filled with savagery, yet the inexperience was painfully obvious as he eyes widened. Watching the woman gracefully maneuver between his strikes, His face contorted into a mixture of pain and confusion as the sudden sear in his left arm and forearm helped him regain clarity. His axe fell to the ground with a thud, as his hand could no longer maintain its grip. Skrid kneeled on the pathway wincing in pain as he glared at the man in front of him. The man was no longer smiling as he was riddled with over 2 dozen bolts. No longer caring to share words, he looked towards the foliage around him with a frown. His appearance as a pincushion reminded Skrid of his wifes sewing kit, causing a defeated chuckle to escape his lips. Skrid could tell the man he was fighting was tired. Although he was sure he was going to lose, he tried his best to delay the man. The village can't be that far he thought, and by now Yewbed would have definitely gone to the Chief or Redmill. Yaren tried to focus himself as he took paced breaths. His life was on the line, and he couldn't afford to lose his mind. The twisting movements the woman made had caused tremendous backlash. The wound on her abdomen already deep, looked even more gruesome than before. Her pale face twisted into a pained scowl. The woman took unsteady steps towards Yaren as one by one knives were sent flying in his direction. The woman couldn't believe things turned out the way they did. Even though her partner was sure to slaughter these monsters, her carelessness ultimately led her to where she was. Her heart was bitter as she recalled how amusing she found this all at first. She decided to try to keep the man she was fighting tied up in hopes of her partner finishing up on his side. She furiously threw daggers at him while trying to find the best opportunity to strike. Seeing her foe sluggishly moving to avoid her attack, she snickered as she threw a feint at her opponent. Joy bloomed on her face as she saw her facade succeed, she lured the man to dodge In a fashion where he couldn't immediately move before she finally used a skill. She could only use her Mana once, as the seal placed on her would cause more pain than death. Summoning all the power she had left, she pulled a talisman from her pocket before channeling her Mana, causing two spectral daggers to appear. Throwing her head back as she laughed she launched the skill with deadly precision. [Crippling True Strike] The spectral daggers suddenly vanished as the man froze in confusion when he noticed no more daggers were flying towards him. Yaren felt the heaviness of his limbs increase with every small movement. "I can't keep this up much longer." He told himself. "I have to force an opening." He continued to dodge the steady of stream of arrows before a slow realization dawned on him. "The only reason why she's in the state she is, is because I cause her off guard.." He thought to himself. Feeling as if he had no choice he slowed his movements down to crawl, creating the perfect opportunity for the opponent to strike. His teacher used this method to goad him into vulnerable positions constantly when the trained. "I'm going to have to take a hit though, unlike that guy." He grumbled as he sensed his opponent readying her final attack. This whole fight felt strange to Yaren, he wondered why his opponents didn't use skills at all during their battle. "It's finally here." Yaren faced the woman with a grim expression. Uncertainty plauging his mind as he saw a pair of daggers appear, and then vanish. An obscene amount of blood was covering ground and Yarens legs. He laid with his back on the ground with his legs tucked underneath his knees. Gaping holes had sudden appeared on his legs crumbling him to the floor. Excruciating pain assaulted every fiber of his being and he could no longer feel his legs. "Now. You have to do it now." A voice was yelling at him inside his head. "YAREN. YOU MUST DO IT NOW!!!." The voice was impossibly loud as it spurned him into action. A haze slowly seeped out of his pores, the blood surrounding the area seemed to evaporate at the haze grew thicker and darker in color. Suddenly, the haze started to poor back into him, the air vibrating with a strange energy. *Ding* "Your trait [True Fervorus Body] has activated!" [Zealous Fervor] Yaren used his trait skill as his remaining good hand clutched the Char Iron axe firmly. Summoning all the strength within his being, his body snapping uprite like a trebuchet, he hurled the axe with every bit of power he had mustered. Time seemed to slow down as Yaren watched the axe, adorned in a hazy crimson aura hurtle head over handle towards the womans heaving chest as she laughed thinking she had won.