Altercation with the Lynx [Part 2]

Although I attempted to remain within its blind spot, I found this task rather difficult as it managed to snap its head to me on a dime quickly. Just as I thought things had become even more troubling, the sounds of exploding rock could be heard barraging the pelt of the Lynx. No doubt, I believe that was the intervention of Q upon seeing my predicament.

Much like before it began yelping in pain causing it to take its attention off of me, but this time I decided to take a more risky course of action. Steeling my resolve, I brushed the streaks of blood away from my bloody temples and prepared to leap. My target was simple. I aimed to jump on the back of the Lynx itself, and I began taking a breath.

I could hear a tunnel of wind violently erupting around me as I launched myself toward my ideal location, but unfortunately, I had once more overshot my target. Instead, I managed to soar far past the back of the Lynx that I was more than halfway towards the ceiling of the cavern and positioned between the Lynx and Q.

Having such a view of the battlefield, I could finally spot Bonner, who had somehow managed to avoid the detection of the Lynx.

He was closing in on the location of Q from behind. Much like before, when I performed my enhanced leap, I had reached the apex of my arch and began making my way down towards the ground. This time, when I plummeted down, I could feel the wind travel through my hair, but the speed at which I was traveling was concerning to me. Preparing myself from a crash landing, I attempted to cushion myself the best I could before slamming into the ground and spiraling towards my comrades.

"Shit... Mark!", Bonner said as they both ran over to meet me in my downed state.

My body felt heavier than it was before, but despite the rough landing, I could barely detect a hint of pain radiating from any part of my body. A fall of that nature would definitely be the end of me if this was the real world, and I think we all knew it at that moment. The two men moved to my side and aided in the process of picking me up, but once I returned to my feet I could sense that something was wrong.

The very ground began to shake, but much more violently than before. Shifting accordingly the entire cavern began to tremble as the three of us gathered around each other. Immediately we turned to face our foe as the Lynx began to howl erratically and turned to face us.

"The hell is it doing?!", Q. exclaims.

"You don't think?!", Bonner shouted as well. His eyes met my own as we came to a similar conclusion.

It wasn't long before its intent was clear. A bright orange light flashed around the base of the Lynx's frame, and we all recognized what that meant. The cheating bastard decided to use magic against us, and our pause must've given it enough time to cast it.

From my understanding of how Infinity worked, Mythical beasts like the Lynx were fully capable of using magic. In fact, they were so potent with mana that they were fully capable of using extremely high levels of spells, depending on their specific race.

The spell that Lynx had utilized had begun creating large fissures into the ground and causing great pillars of stone to appear from them.

"Looks like the temple spell. The ones that Dire Fennecs could muster, but this one was much larger.", Bonner mentioned to us as we each attempted to avoid falling into the newly formed cracks in the floor.

The once-flowing river of the cavern had been diverted, causing it to flow into the crevice. The Lynx itself began shimming closer and closer to the center of the temple. The pillars of stone continuously raised until they slammed into the ceiling of the cavern above, and this caused another epiphany to transpire in my mind.

"We have fought this monster for too long now. With the temple spell activated, the danger posed by the Lynx will rise drastically. I managed to locate the place where this thing came from. Let us take this opportunity to flee while we still can.", Bonner added.

"No... No. This is our opportunity. The Temple implies that the Lynx has another spell to cast, but this thing has made an error; this is not the proper setting for it. We will bring this place down on top of it!", I proposed quickly.

"This is a lost cause, Mark. You're too hurt to think rationally. I know where the exit is, so let's go!"

"Nah. I've spilled blood here, Bonner. I will defeat it here and now. If you know the exit, then help us kill it. Get off your ass! No! Better yet! Gather some of those crystals for us! Q and I will finish it ourselves!"

"That won-"

"No time to argue. Bishop, the damn crystals! Mark, Let's hurry up and finish this thing off, and then go with Bishop!", Q interjects.

The defeat of the Lynx is upon us, and these two wish to cut our losses. I watched on as the bastard howled frantically in order to do what I assumed would happen. The intensity picked up as I attempted to come up with a better option, but I couldn't.

Retreat is the best option, and it was clearly the right time. However, I hated to allow our hard work to fall into ruin. The two men soon placed their hands on my shoulder, attempting to snap me from my thoughts and persuade me to retreat. The sound of our surroundings fractured loudly, and that spiraled into a definite solution.

"The ceiling. While we leave, Q , you need to throw something as hard as you can at the ceiling! It is already weak. Even the Lynx could not survive a total cave-in!", he barked at the two, attempting to plead my case once more. I pointed to the ever-growing fissures around the stalactites on top of the ceiling.

Perhaps they now saw the validity of my solution, and I saw the necessity of their plan. Thanks to the actions of the Lynx's Temple spell, there were plenty of palm-sized rocks for Q to gather. In agreement with the terms, the two of us followed the path that Bonner had found during his absence in our battle. This didn't sit well with the wailing creature as it vigorously howled, causing even more devastation to the surrounding cavern.

There was a rather large tunnel leading out of the cavern we were in, and we all agreed that this was the way the Lynx had entered. When we reached the beginning of it, I stopped and once again reminded Q of our one chance of defeating it. He had stopped as well, taking aim at one of the larger structures on the ceiling.

"This is our opportunity, Q. Let's take it and send this bastard to hell for daring to shed my blood!" I incited, pointing towards the chanting Lynx.

The male must have agreed to my statement, as at that moment I could hear the violent snapping of wind radiate from his body. It was quite similar to what happened to me only a mere minute ago.

In an instant, the rock tucked away inside of his palm traveled to the location that I pointed to earlier and slammed into it. I could feel a sense of excitement flood into my body. My eyes widened, but I soon felt the palm of Bonner's hand yanking at my shoulder reminding me that we needed to leave.

It was quite a waste to not be there to witness the demise of the creature, but Bonner was right. When Q had damaged the stability of the ceiling the ramifications of it had begun appearing in our direct proximity as well. The area around us shifted and loudly cracked as fissures sporadically appeared throughout the sides of the tunnel. Threatening to swallow us alongside that cursed creature. Naturally, we did as any reasonable person would do in our situation, and we fled.

We traveled through the darkness of the crumbling tunnel of collapsing rock. Each step is even more dangerous than its predecessor. Though we had all had one singular goal in mind pressing us at that moment. Survival. As we traveled through the narrow curves of the otherwise expansive tunnel, a light could be seen piercing the darkness before us.

Seeing hope for a possible exit brought a sense of relief, but it was as if some sick force was working against our desires. As the distance between us and our perceived exit was growing ever shorter, the ceiling inside that specific area began crumbling violently. It split into two large and thick fractures that crashed to the faltering ground below. Our window of opportunity was literally crashing around us.

What was once one opening soon became two as the larger of the two fractures shattered once again from the constant shifting. Looking ahead of us, we grew closer to our exit and made it to our desired place of safety. As we poured out of the mouth of the tunnel nearly at the same time, only I found myself crumbling to the ground, much like a sack of potatoes.

Behind us was the loud crashing of rubble, and my eyes landed upon the material filling the space that we once found ourselves in. Certain death likely meets us if we were unlucky enough to be pinned underneath such a collapse, so I was in good faith that the Lynx found itself bound within the tomb.

My legs promptly gave out underneath me, causing me to fall to the ground below with an audible thud. A burning pain soon rushed over the limbs and revealed the latent pain that my body appeared to be masking during our battle with the Lynx. My body was extremely stiff at the moment, and I could now feel the various streams of blood trickle down the sides of my various wounds spread throughout my body.

It appeared that I became more injured than I initially anticipated. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that this pain was a far cry from what one would normally experience during a session of Infinity Unleashed. When one experiences a game of this caliber on the Nerve Core VR set, the player's brain is hooked up to the system. That allows the player to experience all five senses and a heightened sense of realism in the games.

Although pain and hunger existed within the gaming experience's parameters, it always felt like nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Even the most severe of injuries, like decapitation and disembowelment, felt like nothing more than a paper cut, but my current state seemed to break the mold.

The devastating blows of our previous opponent made my body feel as if I had run into an oncoming truck. While my legs burned with righteous fervor, my left arm appeared to have some uncharacteristic stiffness to it. Now, though, I was granted an opportunity to grab a quick reprieve.

"How are you, fellas, holding up?"

My eyes shifted as my attention was diverted from my own internal suffering to consider the words of my winded comrade, resting nearby. Since exiting the cave a minute again, it had appeared that I had instinctively entered the harbor of my mind to escape my pressing reality. Q had opted to speak up first, and while I could not tell off of his own state, I could at least grant him a response to his question.

"My old age finally caught up to me.", I quipped with dry laughter.

I clenched my chest as my laughter exposed another possible injury hidden from my initial diagnosis.

"I am alive as well. It will not be too long, though, if Mark continues to risk it," Bonner said.

My eyes shifted to the male as he appeared to blame me for what had transpired. Frankly, the male was correct. My idea caused us to escape with our lives and defeat the Lynx in one play. A smug smirk stretched across my face while I gazed at the shorter, elven male.

My tail began shifting underneath me almost instantly, and I soon felt pleased with myself. However, it was evident that my plan had some hiccups within its layout due to the visible injuries that I had sustained.

"See there, Mark. You got ahead of yourself, and now we find ourselves in a precarious position. All we had to do was turn and run, but you thought that it was a solid idea to charge the beast like you were like a part of the Survey Corps.", Bonner complains, pointing at the drying blood to the side of my face.

I laughed at his words despite knowing that the pain in my lungs would ultimately cause me great discomfort.

"There are certain things that need to be done, Bonner. I am the only one who sustained injuries. Although I am a bloody mess, I'm not going to croak just yet. Look on the bright side, though. I believe that we killed it. The mythical and powerful Lynx fell at our hands. No thanks to you, of course. You were there but didn't help me in the slightest."

"Well, someone had to find our escape. If not for me, then we would've died in that collapse, too.", the male pointed out.

I scoffed at his words, knowing that he was using them as a justification for his actions. In reality, I believe Bonner knew how outmatched we were and experienced at that moment. He likely froze up and opted to flee, but he soon realized a similar conclusion I was beginning to believe carried more merit.

"My body is rather fractured. My left arm might be damaged at the moment, but while my legs and lungs are both operable, intense pain still plagues them both. Looking at the both of you, I believe it might be time that I bring up that we may not be in Kansas anymore.", I mentioned the two.

As I spoke, Bonner moved closer to my sitting location. He and Q soon became more comfortable in front of me as my tone grew more serious. Our eyes met before we each shifted towards the distance.

The area surrounding the outskirts of the cave was mostly grassland, flat and green, but a singular dirt road pierced through it. Although it expanded far past what I was capable of seeing, I could only assume that it would stretch for miles.

This scenery looks a bit too realistic—almost surreal. In contrast to the dimly lit and stuffy tunnels of the area we were in, the outside was bright with sunlight and greeted us with warmth. It was unlike any gaming engine that we had ever experienced. The sun was lower to the east in the sky, and that perhaps gave me more room to speculate on the passage of time. I would assume that it would be earlier in the morning.

"You believe that we have been Isekai-ed, Mark?", Q asks bluntly.

I nodded promptly to his question.

"For one, I do believe that we find ourselves in a precarious situation, as Bonner mentioned. From its looks, I have taken the characteristics of my avatar of Infinity Unleashed or at least a variation of him. As you may know, Roktavor was a kitsune. Clearly, I do not have the standard appearance of one, but I have…mutated is probably the best word that I could use at this moment. I think you share a similar case as well, Q.", I state, starting our discussion.

"Mutated? I could see some merit to that claim, but this likely could just be the game's update. Perhaps they overhauled a couple of things. Kay….Let's just entertain the idea that we were really placed in this other world. Is it the same exact world of Infinity Unleashed or is it something else?", Bonner questioned, with a curious look.

"Well, here's the thing. I do not know. You assumed that the cave passageway we fled from was a part of The Hidden Grotto. A fine deduction, all things considered, given our lack of information, but I do not believe that this is the case. I read the bios of the type of creatures that call The Hidden Grotto their home, after all. The only beast present was that specific Lynx, and if I recall, that type of monster would not spawn nor lurk within that area. Well, it shouldn't, but we all witnessed that thing's presence there. Not to mention that we could not access our status bars." I quickly looked around to see whether I could again utilize my status bar.

"I still do not have access to it. It is nowhere to be seen, but here's the kicker…"

I could tell that I had the attention of the two men when I brought that up. Shifting slightly to give my tail proper space, I began to speak to them once more.

"In The Grotto, you were able to utilize magic. Q did so too, I think.", Bonner says, finishing my sentence.

"Or so we thought. I am unconvinced that it was actually magic that allowed me to jump higher and Q's increase in his throwing power.", I say.

"I suppose I could follow your thought process. Since we can not utilize our status bar, then we could not effectively use magic or that is how Infinity worked. The same couldn't be argued here though. Since we do not know if this place and Infinity are actually one and the same.", the elven male speaks.

"What if…It's a variation?", Q says, offering a suggestion.

My eyes widened for a bit as his idea crossed my mind for a bit. Moving my right hand, I moved to stroke my goatee in long, purposeful strokes while I thought. After a moment of contemplation, I saw the merit in his suggestion. The idea that our sudden enhanced abilities were indeed a variation of magic was a possible answer.

Since our understanding of magic was limited to the idea that we needed to utilize the status bar, perhaps these skills were somehow naturally tailored to our respective species. They could be tailored to us specifically as well. After all, they appeared to us during our time of need, and while I used it, it came naturally. My eyes fell upon my legs, which were still burning, and a thought crossed my mind.

"Q. Your arm. How is it?", I asked him.

"Just a lil stiffness. Nothin' much."

"Drawbacks. I believe that if it is magical in nature, then what you two are experiencing are its downsides. That is my thoughts on the matter.", Bonner adds.

Bonner had arrived at the same conclusion that I had. Our abilities appeared to manifest some drawbacks alongside their power. It was quite an underwhelming experience, given that in traditional Isekai titles, the main protagonists are blessed with incredible powers with no defined limitations.

It became clear to me that I and likely my friends would not be granted that same luxury. A sigh of discontent escaped my mouth as that thought lingered in the back of my mind, but I soon shifted my attention to more pressing matters. It was perfectly shaped in merely two words, but Bonner beat me to them.

"What's next?"

"Well, if we are Isekai-ed as Mark proposed, then we could search for a way back to our previous world. That's an option.", Q pitches, but I saw no real merit to it.

"Well. It is an option, but honestly, if we are Isekai-ed, then we are likely trapped here. That is the standard M.O. for things of this nature. We would have to find a god-level being to do that. Likely the very same being that brought us here in the first place. In my opinion, that would ultimately be a lost cause because we could search this place for decades and still not find that individual. That is if they exist in the first place.", I responded.

The male shrugged his shoulder, obviously just as uncertain as the rest of us. Using my relatively uninjured arm, I propped my chin against the back of my hand. My mind scoured the annals of my memory as I attempted to come to a conclusion utilizing all of the relevant knowledge at my disposal on the genre. Upon being transferred into another world, the protagonist normally discovers their busted powers and then travels to the nearest town. There they would register with the local adventurer's guild and obtain information on their surroundings.

"Information.", I say plainly, collecting the attention of the two men, who had also drifted into their own respective minds for solutions.

"Here's what I propose…Gentlemen."

I went on to explain to them the importance of information in our situation. While all came to accept its peculiarity, we all seemed to universally agree that I was on the correct path. Thus, I proposed that we make like the standard protagonist and travel to the nearest town.

It was a short but effective proposal as the two didn't bother challenging me on it. In my current state, it would be a bit difficult for me to move, so out of respect for that we all decided to rest for a bit. While our conversation moved from a variety of topics, it mostly shifted to my knowledge of the Isekai and fantasy genres.

I elaborated on the normal and sometimes unusual paths that some Isekai protagonists would travel based on their experiences in their respective new worlds. While I did not have a direct indicator other than I suppose the sun itself, I could approximate that about two hours had passed by.

Over the course of that time frame, I could feel my legs lessen in that burning sensation until it had passed completely. While my legs had naturally restored themselves and the once wet blood dried, my injured arm remained in that state.

I reported the change to the two and they stood up accordingly. I offered them my good hand and Q received it in order to help me to my feet. Since there wasn't much I could do to brace the injury, I had to deal with it by trying to keep it at my side at all times.

One thing had come to my attention over the course of our downtime. As time progressed, my body's sense of pain once again became stifled. The once-piercing pain of my fractured arm had transitioned to more of an annoyance than anything.

The two men stood by my side as each looked as far as we could towards the west of our position. There was a lone dirt road stretching as far as my eye could see, so it gave us no other option, but to progress forward. Since my legs were feeling better, I did not need assistance from the other two as we traversed the side of the Grotto and ended at the beginning of the dirt road.

I couldn't hold my intrigue on what kind of journey we would face during our tenure in this world, but I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't enthralled by the prospect. Most individuals enjoy fantasy for the magic or the story, or even the characters. I enjoyed it for the perception of freedom that it granted me as a reader, and now I was granted the opportunity to craft my story here. A second chance for me to regain the lost excitement that was missing from my mediocre life. To walk in the steps of a hero for that I desired to.

So many prospects flooded my mind that I found myself as the first to step on it and instantly turned to face the two. My good arm clenched with excitement. My words seemed to raise the spirits of the two men as they both smirked to match my energy. Without noticing at first, I can sense my tail wagging behind me showcasing my mood even more accurately.

When I realized it, I let out a boisterous laugh which the two men joined in on. It was a good time, despite the life-and-death battle with the Lynx earlier. The time that we spent together here was enjoyable, but there were many more adventures ahead of us, no doubt. Turning to face the long road ahead of us, I gestured with my good arm and once more spoke to the two men.

"Follow the yellow brick road, Gentleman! Opportunity and adventure call for us by our names. Let us seize it!"