A tear in the void adjacent to him opened up, a fact that would no doubt have startled Tom if he were not the one to have willed it. His [Inventory] seed to require that there be no beast or, more accurately, no hostile entity in his imdiate vicinity to answer his call atleast that was what his instincts told him.
The [Elfinclaw] had already exited the range of his furthest attack, naly the [Water Propulsion] card, so Tom believed that to suffice. Of course, Tom did not have any naive ideas of pushing the [Elfinclaw] in the void tear that had opened up, as he clearly rembered the [Divine System] specifying that it could only store items/remains that were considered non-living.
Though he had attempted to deposit a duplicate [The Fla] card, out of sheer curiosity. The experint had resulted in disappointnt, as the card simply phased through the other side, as if the tear in the void simply didnt exist in the physical plain. Tom had retracted the duplicate card along with his hand, not willing to play too deeply with forces he didnt understand.
That experint had resulted in so disturbing revelations, but Tom had comforted himself, or rather, convinced himself that the term non-living did not necessarily imply the opposite for items he could not store.
He passed the [Water Propulsion] card to his other hand, before reaching inside the void. A ntal image painted itself in his mind, allowing him to accurately reach out towards the item he sought.
His skin brushed against a wet, furry material and when his hand grabbed it, it made a sick, squealching sound. Tom yanked the dead [Elfinclaws] pelt out, still wet and matted in blood in the exact sa condition as hed deposited it, as if it had been frozen in statis.
Tom had thought the situation through, almost certain that the female [Elfinclaw] was the last denizen of the mountain-like structure. It only had to howl or yelp for backup and Tom would be the one fleeing, not the beast. Besides, the small mountain-like structure didnt seem like it held the girth to hold more than half a dozen beasts and the half-eaten corpse just left untouched outside further gave credence to his theory.
Shit.
He was really going through with this plan.
Tom had no idea if it would work. Hed been observing the female [Elfinclaw] carefully, and so far the only chink in its armor he saw was that it genuinely seed to care for the well-being of its mate. If Tom had to draw a parallel to an animal on Earth, then the [Elfinclaw] reminded him of wolves back ho fiercely loyal to each other and the pack, but holding no rcy for their prey, almost always eating their food alive, as it bled to its death.
That wouldve been his fate if he allowed the Elfinclaw to approach him.
Bleeding to death, watching as a lupine animal rcilessly ripped open his entrails.
Tom refused to die that way.
A predator could not show rcy to its prey, otherwise it would starve to death.
Such was the law of nature.
Biting his lip hard, till the tallic tang of blood seeped into his mouth, Tom braced himself. Pulling back his right hand, he chucked the pelt forward. The water and blood seeped into it gave it weight, enough to make it feel like it weighed atleast a kilogram. The pelt arced through the air, right for the [Elfinclaw], who easily sidestepped it by a generous margin.
Tom swapped his [The Fla] card to his right hand, and stepped out into the clearing. His [Elfinclaw Bone Shield] was held at the chest, protecting his vitals. Tom wasnt sure if the shield alone would suffice to get the [Elfinclaws] attention, shrouded and heavily modified as it was so hed had to resort to a more direct thod.
The Elfinclaw cared for its mate.
It would be furious with him.
It would want to kill him.
Anger would bleed into a potent rage.
Rage into recklessness.
And Tom hoped to exploit that burst of irrationality.
The mont of truth arrived.
The [Elfinclaw] stopped evading, roughly twenty ters away from Tom by this point. Only five more ters, and it could disappear into the forest Tom would have no hope of chasing it at full speed.
Its snout twitched as it began to rapidly sniff. Its neck angled itself in the direction of the bloodied hide.
Its eyes shot open.
Toms strike had been accurate, as the female [Elfinclaws] eyes were bloodshot. Unfortunately, Water was not the best elent at dealing damage besides the reddened eyes, it seed like it could see fine.
For in the next mont it let out a mournful wail, a deeper undertone of pure, abject hatred overshadowed by the grief it felt in that mont.
Tom banged his hand, which held [The Fla] card, against his [Elfinclaw] shield. Once, twice, thrice Tom continued to beat against his shield with a quickening tempo.
That caught the female [Elfinclaws] attention.
Tom didnt know if his intention would translate correctly, but it was as primal as he could make it A declaration of war, an admission of guilt.
Co at ! Tom roared, his heart beating so fast that he felt it would almost explode in the next second. His head glanced from behind the safety of his kiteshield, carefully observing the [Elfinclaws] every mont.
[The Fla] card was prid to fire at a monts notice. [The Shadow] cloaked his figure, allowing him to see in the night. [Earths Vitality] was clenched in his left hand, behind the safety of the kiteshield allowing him to heal as and when he willed it. His other two [Deck Cards] had been placed in either pocket.
Fire was an elent he knew to be effective, and his SP reserves were high enough to keep it going for minutes.
His [Ankra Bone Dagger] was concealed in the bushes, three or four ters behind him, a last ditch safety asure in case all else failed.
The female [Elfinclaw] t his challenge by letting out a furious roar, echoing the promise of a bloody and painful death.
Take the fucking bait.
The [Elfinclaw] did, charging straight for Tom, a translucent silver glow illuminating the areas it passed by.
Fast. Incredibly fast.
Now that the [Elfinclaw] had opted for a head on confrontation, it held nothing back as it rampaged forth with the intent to tear Toms throat out.
Tom fought the urge to tuck his tail and make a break for it in the other direction.
He wasnt the sa person he used to be.
But that didnt make it any easier. His hands were trembling, his expression incredibly tense as he struggled to track the silvery blur headed right for him.
Tom wanted to wait until the last possible mont, but he couldnt bet his life on timing it perfectly.
The mont the beast crossed the ten ter mark, his survival instinct took over. The [Elfinclaw] was dangerously fast, yes, but surely it couldnt pivot at those speeds. His level 3 [The Fla] card would only need thirty or so odd seconds to severely wound the creature, and if it kept charging the way it was all it would accomplish would be colliding against his shield.
Searing hot flas exploded outward from his right hand, [The Fla] enjoying the increased range from reaching [Level 3].
A few seconds passed, but Tom didnt hear the sizzling of flesh, no agonized cry or a whimper followed by a hasty retreat.
Fuck.
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