Manticore

The sun slowly rose just above the mountain tops and shined off the white snow illuminating the valley below. Anna had left the mana lake and made her way through the valley in search for her prey.

*Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp* I made my way through the forest following the valley down. Now I'm quite large so I can easily see over the top of the trees which gives me a great advantage especially with my eye sight included.

*Sniff* hmmm nothing in the immediate area so I'll continue following the valley down to see what I can find. If I recall correctly I'll be taking the path that I used to arrive here. So if that's the case I don't want to keep going straight, if I do I'll find the mountain I destroyed then the front lines. So if I instead take a left or right I'll find new areas to explore and bigger things to fight.

Taking a few seconds to decide what I'm going to do I decided in the end to go to the right. Why? Well in the distance I can see some grasslands which will help me find new prey easier. It'll also mean that I'll have a good battle ground, I won't have to fight in the trees or anything.

Moving my way to the right I quickly make my way to the grasslands. A river runs through the grasslands and it's very clear. If you were to look in to it you would be able to see a variety of fish. They're all quite pretty, they remind me of the fish tank the hospital had just outside my room.

Taking a brief glance at my surroundings it's a nice change of pace. The rolling hills and the carpet of green stretches for as far as I can see. You wouldn't believe that if I were to travel a few miles in any direction from here I would more than likely find two armies fighting it out.

Using this opportunity I decided to look into my mana core. I had been able to discover that I'm also able to look into the mana core to see how it's progressing. It allows me to be able to see its growth and get a rough estimation on how much is left before I evolve again.

Hmmm it looks like I have it filled about half way? So I believe that when I was sleeping and swimming in that mana lake I was able to fill my mana core close to half way. That's good to know, it seems it's a fast way to fill the core.

*Sniff* I... what is that smell? From what I can tell it has the smell of a powerful creature but why does it almost smell like it's made up of three different animals? Not only that but the smell is really strong.

*RROOAARR*

Wha?! Suddenly a large creature came from behind but from where? Looking closer it seems to be moving at an incredible speed as well.

*BANG!*

Slamming into the side of Anna the creature pushed her a few meters to the right before it swiped its claws at her. Slashing at her leg it had some resistance but the claws of the creature had managed to give Anna a scratch.

Swinging her tail at a speed that even fighter jets couldn't hope to achieve she managed to push the creature back. Finally getting a good look at the creature Anna recognised it from a book she had read on mythology and it's creatures.

Standing on all fours in front of her is what she recognised as a manticore. The creature had a body of a lion, head of a human and a tail of a scorpion. To top all off it also had a pair of wings which would explain why it was able to attack her without her being able to detect it straight away. It had glided from the close tree line after seeing her approach and readied it self for an ambush.

Facing each other both Anna and the manticore released bloodlust thick enough to cause the following elves to nearly pass out.

After a few seconds of watching each other the manticore was first to lose its patience as it charged at Anna. Although the manticore only reached up to Anna's thigh it was still more than plenty to deal enough damage to her. In fact the manticore is one of the SS ranked beasts that is feared by many nations.

The manticore has two main ways in which they attack. They will pounce on their prey by gliding attacks then once the creature is down they will attack the neck. It had already tried this method but met with failure. Now it's going to try it's second method which is feared by many other creatures.

*Whoosh!* the tail of the manticore flys through the air aiming at the stomach area of Anna. Quickly dodging the strike she managed to avoid an attack that could have left her paralysed, if she didn't have a poison resistant body. However in the middle of the fight Anna seemed to forget this and still took the chance of being poisoned as a huge threat.

Stepping back Anna got some distance between her and the manticore before she charged at it. Although the manticore is fast it still couldn't fully dodge the charge of Anna.

Getting close she managed to clip one of the back legs with her claws. Leaving a wound on the manticores leg will hinder its movements but it's still no excuse to become reckless.

Taking back a stance they faced each other again. Both sides have been wounded now, although lightly, it still hinders them in some way. The scratch on Anna had managed to open up more in that charge attack leaving her with a similar wound as the manticore.

Looking into each other's eyes a cold glint flashes in them before they both run to each other in a head on collision. *RRROOOAAARRR!!* the both of them roar as they charge at each other. When they get within striking distance of each other the manticore leaps up and attacks Anna's chest and neck area. However Anna doesn't go down without a fight.

With the additional weight onto Anna and with her injured leg she won't be able to keep standing for much longer. Turning her body around with the manticore still on she slams her jaw full of sharp teeth down on the front right leg on the manticore not allowing it to jump of.

The manticore knew it had the disadvantage here but it also knew that if it focused on trying to get its leg out it would die right here and now. Slashing and biting it rips into the chest and neck of Anna while using its tail to stab her stomach area.

Feeling the pain Anna readied her self to make the greatest body slam in history. Jumping up and forward she slams her body into the ground with the manticore underneath.

*CRUCH SPLAT!!!* killing the manticore with her own body weight she had won but not without escape from injury. Anna had suffered multiple bite, slash and stab wounds all over her body. *Drip* blood of the manticore and herself mix together as they fall onto the ground.

Feeling herself getting slightly weak Anna searches the body of the manticore for the mana core.

Ah! There it is! Right let's take this and return home. I don't even want to eat this thing it looks disgusting. And that was before I squashed it.

*Sigh* although I'm quite the powerful monster I still don't have a lot of battle experience so I can't put up a good fight against something that has been fighting its whole life. The experience gap is just too large.

Limping back home I take in the feeling of winning the fight. It must be the first time that I, a girl, have been glad for my body weight being heavy. I never had to worry about my weight because I've had a sickly body so I couldn't put on weight so this is a first for me.

Well anyways once I reach the mana lake I'm going to sleep and let my wounds heal. I will try to digest the mana core after I heal up. I don't want any complications to happen if I do it while injured.

Following the valley back up and I see the lake. Haaa it's been a long day. It wouldn't be that bad if I didn't have to limp home. I think because of all the stories I've read I assume Godzilla to be this invincible creature that nothing could beat but today I learnt the hard way. If something that only reaches up to my thigh can leave this much damage on me I need to get stronger and quick. I still have my trump card of atomic breath but I don't want to use it until I get a good deal of battle experience without it.

*Splash* this is the life! I feel the liquid mana surround my body and quickly it brings me to the realm of sleep. I can only hope that my wounds are healed for tomorrow so that I can continue to gain strength.