Kapitel 7: The Thrill of Battle (part 1)
In the center of the village, a group of excited children were talking about the upcoming task while waiting impatiently for the elders responsible for the test to arrive. In the meantime, the children all sorted out where they were going once the test started and surprisingly enough, It was very clear cut.
The scouts decided to go north to hunt Crystal spiders following the suggestions from the elders, the warriors decided to go to the east where Timber-Wolves and Bears were predominant so they could use their strength to their advantage and finally the healers in the group chose to go south to hunt the snow leopards, with their debuffs they could easily eliminate the advantages of the leopards and safely dispose of them.
When the elders arrived to the square, everyone very quickly quite down and waited for them to give the final instructions. It was a quick introduction of the elders responsible for the safety of the trainees in the different areas and all of them were Shamans.
"Before you go, I must remind you that your life is precious. Do not gamble with your life by taking on enemies beyond your means. Now Go!!! Let the Test Begin!!!".
Rahz quickly headed out of the village via the east gate and quickly disappear from view. A perimeter of 50 miles was big enough for every children to have their own zone and not bump into each other. It was also a zone that very seldom saw a beast with a level that Rahz and the others could not handle.
Rahz quickly made his way to the 10 mile mark and slowed down. He looked around to make sure there was no danger around him and decided to look for a place to set up a camp. Remembering the words of his father, Rahz climb on top of a tree to have a better view of the terrain and to think about his next move without having to worry about being ambush while he was distracted.
The defeats during the sparring matches had thought him the importance of focusing on the task at hand and every time he thought about how he got knockout by a girl his face turn red from embarrassment.
The east area that Rahz had chosen as his hunting ground was covered with trees that had conical shapes and reached heights of 30 to 50 ft, they were sprinkle around in the snow covered ground making it look like christmas shake ball.
The whole zone was divided by a midsize river that provided a good environment for beast to visit. Rahz was able to see from his position on top of the tree all kinds of small critters moving around as well as some level 2 Boars and Deers.
Rahz quickly realized that he was still too far off his target zone with level 3 creatures. He came down from the tree and decided to head southeast where he saw the river thin out a bit so he could cross it easily.
Very swiftly Rahz advanced for another 10 miles reaching the shore of the river and he quickly notice that throughout the whole run to the river all the low level creatures move out of the way as soon as they felt his presence.
Rahz decided to take a break and satiate his thirst in the river but so far it had been an uneventful morning and Rahz started to wonder if there were even any level 4 creatures in the area. After refilling his leather flask with water, Rahz crossed the river and continued along the river line in hopes of finding a thirsty beast.
"Man!! this is harder than I thought it was going to be, the elders made it sound like danger was in every corner and I was going to be swarm by creatures trying to take my life but so far it has been pretty disappointing".
Sigh...
"I wonder how Bhirl is doing?"
Before Rahz was able to finish his thought, a level 3 boar appear in his field of view. Rahz slowed down in order to not scare the oblivious beast and decided to kill it. 'Mind as well get some practice' he thought while leaking his lips. 'I bet you taste delicious'.
Rahz grabbed Mr. choppy and rush towards his prey with everything he had. When he was about 50 feet away, Rahz's killing intent was easily felt by the Boar and the chase began. The Boar quickly use dash to increase his movement speed by 20 % and disappear deep into the trees. Despite not being as fast, It was very easy to track the Boar by following its footprints thanks to the snow.
As Rahz was focusing on following his dinner, it dawn on him that there was a purpose to every single thing he did during his special training. He realized that this chase would of been a lot harder had he not run so many miles in the past.
SQUEAL!!!
The loud screech made Rahz heartbeat accelerate.
He continued running in the direction the squeals came from; however, the closer he got to the sounds, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. Very soon a strong smell of blood assailed his nose, the smell was so strong that it immediately made him slow down his run and when he finally manage to stop, the scene in front of him made his jaw drop.
The massive body of the Boar laid across the floor in a pool of his own blood while a small hill as white as pure snow wiggled around the belly of the beast. It was such a peculiar sight that Rahz was at a lost for words. He looked attentively at the corpse of the boar searching for clues about what was going on.
Just when Rahz was wondering what was happening, a pair green eyes were staring at him. It was a Snow Leopard.
GROWL!!
Looking at the blood soak teeth of the Leopard, Rahz could not help but gulp. Sensing his fear the Snow Leopard attacked.
The leopard used the skill dash increasing his speed by 20% quickly closing the distance between the two. When it was about 15 ft away from Rahz, it launch himself into the air attempting to overpower Rahz with his momentum.
Rahz looked up and saw the Snow leopard's Jaws coming ever so close to his face. Before he realized it, Mr Choppy was held with both hands in a blocking position obstructing the path of the Leopard. It was pure muscle memory, the constant drilling during the special training had allowed him to reflexively block the attack.
Feeling the great force of the impact being transmitted onto his arms made Rahz clench his teeth and hold on to his Axe with all he had. The impact pushed Rahz 10ft across the snow cover ground but it was not enough to knock him down.
When he finally came to a stop, Rahz open his eyes and quickly check himself. " My arms are Numb but other than that I am good".
HAAH!! I AM ALIVE!!
The fact that he had survived the beast's first attack was a relieve and a confidence booster, just like his dad told him Mr. Choppy did not let him down. With his renewed confidence, Rahz looked in the direction of the Snow Leopard and smiled.
With his first attack deflected, the Snow Leopard had no other choice but to wait for Rahz to show another opportunity. The Snow Leopard Growled one more time trying to intimidate his opponent but it was to not avail.
Rahz focus his complete attention onto the leopard and discovered that the level of energy was the same as his, Level 4. Realizing that the Snow Leopard was not beyond his means filled Rahz with motivation. After all, the whole purpose behind the test was to gain real combat experience.
Rahz took his favorite stance and rush towards the Beast. He swung Mr. Choppy diagonally at the Leopard trying to cut deep into his neck. Feeling the momentum of the Axe, the Snow Leopard had no choice but to jump backwards.
Rahz immediately follow up with a straight trust with the Axe handle hoping to make the leopard lose his balance.
The Snow Leopard responded with a swipe of his claws to the side of the handle altering the trajectory just enough to created an opening for the use of Bite.
Seeing the opportunity at hand the Beast move in for the kill but quickly realized that it had made a mistake. The leopard tried to pull his head back but it was too late.
Rahz's moves were part of a four part chain of attacks that used the building momentum of the axe to increased the damage of the next part of the chain. If you couple that with the use of devastating blow on the third and forth move, one could imagine the power generated.
Even if the handle trust was deflected, Rahz was able to use the deflection to set up the third part of the chain that was precisely an upward Devastating Blow. The blade of the Axe split the beast mouth in two, and send his head looking up exposing his neck.
As Blood flew through the air, the fourth blow fell on the Leopard's neck severing his head.
All this takes long to describe but it actually happened in a matter of seconds.
Looking at the headless corpse of the Snow Leopard, Rahz did not feel revulsion. He felt proud...he felt that he was finally on the road to becoming a great warrior and that the blood falling on him was a baptism of sorts.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein