Swearing internally, Rylan forcibly deactivated his Jump Skill, pulling back as much of his mana as he could while he turned in the opposite direction the ramtusk had, and ran.

His pool of pillars had been shrinking far too fast anyway. Since he was on the ground, he might as well make his getaway now.

[I did it, Boss, I hit him!] Arphin cried. [Hey, where are you going?!]

Rylan wordlessly held out a hand as he felt the telltale tugging on the node inside his spirit, and a split second later, Arphin reappeared there, though his handle felt unusually slick in Rylan's hand.

[Oh, ew!] Arphin complained. [I accidentally pulled along some of its yucky fluids! Well, at least it's bleeding now, right Boss?]

Rylan didn't really have the time or wherewithal to reply, as the thundering hooves behind him once again grew louder, the green stone beneath his feet trembling fiercely.

He ran, never looking back, as dodging to the side was likely to get him killed. Instead, he focused his gaze on the closest of another dense crop of pillars, and started charging a new Jump.

[Boss, it's getting awfully close!]

Rylan leapt. Something that may or may not have been connected to an enraged ramtusk Malequint brushed the leg of his britches. The pillar trembled beneath his feet as he landed on it. He pushed off just as it crumbled, solid stone slipping away beneath his toes halfway through.

Rylan's Mana Shell flashed as his midriff smacked into the edge of a pillar just to the side of the ramtusk's charge. He quickly scrambled up, his breath coming fast and a cold shiver running up his spine.

Fog, it's too fast!

He transferred Arphin to his other hand, absentmindedly wiping off the viscera and clumps of fur the spiritgear had brought back as he tracked the Malequint's path of destruction through his new cluster of pillars.

Four were down already, the stone structures proving no match for the mana-charged deepmetal tusks. I need to hit it more often, but using Jump and Arphin every time would take far too much mana...

He could sense that between all the Jumping and the various knives he'd thrown, he'd already burned through close to half his Mana Pool.

As the ramtusk came back around, Rylan resolutely returned the 'clean' spiritgear to its sheath, and pulled out his filleting knife.

If he couldn't hit it from the front as it charged towards him—or from the side while he jumped—then he'd just have to try something else.

This time, after Rylan jumped to another pillar at the last second, he didn't stick around there to wait. Instead, he immediately turned to follow the ramtusk.

He made it to the final pillar on that side of the cluster in time to see the ramtusk emerge from the cloud of dust that resulted from its final collision. Just as he lined up his throw at the beast's rear leg, however, it cornered.

Fog!

Then it cornered again, once more heading straight for Rylan.

Narrowing his eyes, Rylan decided to change his strategy. He once more jumped aside at the last moment, and chased after the ramtusk, keeping his Knife-Throwing Skill charged the whole time, the glow around his knife remaining steady all the way through.

He'd really come a long way from his attempts to read by the sputtering glow of a letter opener.

However, as he once more reached the edge of the cluster, this time, he didn't aim for the beast's rear. Instead, he hefted his arm and launched his knife to fly parallel to where it was running.

A tug on the mana covering the blade straightened it out, which meant it didn't matter too much when the beast cornered a fraction later than he'd expected; the filleting knife still sank deeply into its exposed flank.

Yes!

In response, the ramtusk let out a pained squeal followed by a growl, and cornered once more, somehow seeming to speed up even further.

Rylan's eyes widened as it approached, the glow coming from its deepmetal tusks seeming to shift in hue a little as, at the same time, his body seemed to be pulled more solidly into the stone beneath his feet.

Is that tinted mana? Is this actually a nascent Ruby-Grade Malequint?!

While that didn't seem fair to Rylan, there wasn't much he could do about it, so he quickly jumped aside. A strange pull tried to draw him off his next foothold as the ramtusk came by behind him, but it was weak enough that he managed to stay standing.

Rylan quickly glanced back to the spot where he'd hit the ramtusk, trying to see if there was a trail of blood or anything indicating the creature was hurt badly, but other than some suspicious specks that might have been spilled drops, he saw nothing but smashed rocks.

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His heart sank. "Arphin, is it actually bleeding, or did you mostly hit fat?"

[Ehm, well, there was definitely some blood, Boss... but I think it was mostly fat, yeah. Talk about gross, right?]

Fog, I can't beat it like this!

Rylan's thought process was interrupted by his need to jump away from the ramtusk's charge. The cluster of pillars was starting to thin, so he had to jump a bit farther this time. Once again, a strange pull impeded his progress, and he only barely managed to get his toes onto the green stone, windmilling his arms to keep his balance.

What do I do? Should I... should I give up and make a run for the edge?

The slopes at the edges of the bowl-shaped arena looked steep but not impossible to climb. Of course, the ramtusk's presence wouldn't make it any easier.

Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll launch me out if I get hit at the right spot, Rylan thought grimly.

[Come on, Boss,] Arphin urged, seeming to sense his mood. [We're still in this! The icky stuff on my blade—that, by the way, you haven't properly wiped off, and I'm now essentially marinating in inside my sheath—is the gross proof of that!]

The corners of Rylan's mouth couldn't help but twitch at the indignation Arphin was clearly doing his utmost to suppress. Then his eyes widened when a thought hit him.

He dodged another charge from the ramtusk, jumping extra hard to compensate for the pulling force that seemed to grow stronger on every pass, his mind racing. "Arphin, you said you brought back some of the boar accidentally, but... what if you did it on purpose? What if you tried to rip out part of its flesh as you Recalled—do you think you could do that?"

[Woah!] Arphin replied. [I'm not sure, Boss, I-I've never tried anything like that before... do you think I can do it?]

Rylan straightened his spine, calm settling over him. "You know what? I don't just think it, Arphin, I know you can."

With one hand he drew Arphin, and with the other his prep knife, his eyes staying focused on the ramtusk as it cornered once more, continuing its mad charge.

"Now listen close: I'm going to get you into its neck. Once you're there, I'm going to pump all the mana into you that you can take, and you're going to take a big bite as you Recall—try to get its jugular, if you can."

[That's, like, the awesomest fogging plan ever, Boss!] Arphin enthused as the beast made another logic-defying turn to come barrelling straight at them. [But how are you going to get me into its neck?]

"Like... this!"

Rylan flipped the blades in his hands over so their tips pointed down, manually pushed some mana into them, and tightened his grip. As the beast approached, he braced himself against the pulling force, the stone pillar trembling beneath his feet.

Like before, he waited until the very last second to jump. However, this time, instead of leaping towards another nearby pillar, he turned his back to the oncoming ramtusk and jumped directly away from it.

The sound of metal smashing through stone rang out behind him. Fragments of the pillar impacted his back and legs, his Mana Shell flaring up as it deflected them. Rylan's attention, however, was on how he was now falling towards the beast coming up below him.

Unfortunately, his timing was off by a little, so instead of plunging his two glowing blades into its neck as he intended, they sank into its hairy back.

[I don't think this is its neck, Boss!] Arphin cried. [Now what?!]

The forward momentum of the beast immediately threatened to rip both Arphin and the prep knife out of his hands, but Rylan clung on to their handles, the joints in his shoulders protesting as his arms threatened to leave their sockets. The beast let out an angry bellow, the vibrations travelling through its skin and reverberating in Rylan's chest.

He could both see and feel the texture of its mana starting to shift, and knew he would get only one more chance at this. And so, he ignored his protesting joints and muscles, and heaved himself forward, proceeding to try and clamp onto the beast's back with his thighs.

The second he found some grip there, his knees digging into its flanks, he yanked Arphin loose, bent forward as far as he could, and plunged the shiny blade into the beast's neck.

As Arphin sank through its fur, the beast abruptly cornered.

Rylan did not. Instead, he was sent spinning through the air before landing awkwardly, bouncing and rolling over several times.

At least I didn't hit a pillar...

Dazed and dizzy, he got to his feet, his eyes seeking out the beast. 'Arphin,' he sent urgently through the node, unable to see the spitigear's handle. 'Did it work? Are you in its neck?!'

[I am! Ready to Recall and rip this sucker a new one!]

Rylan didn't have to be told twice. Lifting his shaky right hand, he started pouring mana into the node connecting them as fast as he could.

One point, two points... the tugging sensation coming from Arphin grew and grew, as though he was pulling hard on something. Meanwhile, the beast cornered once, twice, and was now coming closer again. And Rylan was in a completely flat area.

Rylan started stumbling away from it, towards the nearest pillar, up on a nearby little rise. 'Come on, Arphin, you've got this!'

[It's... hard!] Arphin replied. [I've latched on to some of its flesh and I'm trying to pull it along but it's not... budging!]

'You can do it! Just pull harder!' Rylan urged, continuing to pour in his rapidly dwindling reserves while his stumble turned into a jog. Three points, four points...

Finally, the vibrating of the node in his spirit seemed to reach a crescendo. All of a sudden, after he'd poured in a full five points of mana, with a feeling akin to a bowstring being released, Arphin popped into his hand. And stuck to his blade, was a head-sized clump of boar meat.

[Boss, I did it! I took a bite and it tastes like victory! Woah! Getting kinda... woozy now...]

Rylan had no time to reply, however, as there was an angry roar behind him, and a shift in the air that told him the boar had cornered one more time. The trembling of the stone beneath him grew frighteningly fast.

Rylan sent what remained of his mana to his feet as fast as he could, then he Jumped straight up.

He almost made it.

Something slammed into his calves, sending him spinning through the air. The knives still in his belt went flying, only Arphin staying with him, clutched in his iron grip as the world spun beneath him.

Rylan came down on his back, hard. His Mana Shell flashed brightly, using up most of its remaining charge as it softened the blow, but it still knocked the wind out of him.

After a second or so, Rylan rolled over with a groan and got to his knees, lifting his head to seek out his foe.

The ramtusk was, at long last, slowing down its charge, until it stumbled into more of a lumber. It didn't use its mana to corner as it turned to face Rylan from some sixty feet away. As its head came around, Rylan spotted blood spurting out of its neck in little spurts.

Now fully facing him, the beast snorted, and slowly scraped a hoof across the stone. It took one step forward, then another. Then it sagged through its knees, the heavy orbs of deepmetal cracking the green stone where they landed.

Rylan slowly got to his feet, looking on almost in disbelief as the beast's breathing slowly grew laboured, then stopped, the life draining out of it.

"We actually did it," he mumbled. But Arphin didn't reply, already taking a well-deserved nap.

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