21 Battle in the Forest: Race to the Finish Line! (1)

Moments after the two combatants heard a strange noise they were suddenly assaulted by three large Volvaka with red lines diagonally across their faces. These were Volvaka Hunters, sent out for retribution against whomever slayed one of their kin. As they saw two Lynhär together they treated them as a pair, determining that the female, Yun, was their target they split up to face her with two Hunters, and let the other Hunter handle the Canis male beside her.

These Volvaka were definitely larger than the last one she fought, they were half again as big as Gu Jian, and they all used twin short spears to viciously stab out rapidly at their target. For Gu Jian this was a nightmare, as these huge lizards had a much greater reach than him and were extremely fast, he was rapidly pushed back into the forest farther and farther out of sight with loud sounds of clashing weapons. Yun didn't have any time to spare thinking about his fate though, as she was also in dire straits.

The two Hunters were massive, and their twin short spears were nearly as long as her full size spear. Thankfully, with her skill, Yun managed to hold them off with quick footwork and a deft spear. Her spear flashed and twirled rapidly, stabbing out at any opening and eventually leaving a few bloody gashes on the flanks and thighs of her large opponents. They had to focus all of their force into downward stabs, which cost them a great deal of power and speed, in order to strike at her tiny frame. Using this advantage she moved quickly around them, stepping in to dodge some strikes and parrying others, in order to maintain her position of safety. After a long battle of attrition she managed to create some distance and cripple one leg of one opponent and one arm of the other, rendering them useless.

With hisses of anger they continued to try to attack her with everything they had, being a Volvaka dare-to-die corps with no fear of death they seemed like they didn't even feel pain. Nearly an hour after the fight began against Gu Jian she had finally completely incapacitated one of the Volvaka Hunters and had crippled the leg of the other one, who had previously lost use of one arm. Finally, a few minutes later of tired parrying and attempted strikes she managed to incapacitate the other arm before stabbing the enormous lizard in the heart, killing it slowly as she shredded its heart with a shake of her spear.

This battle had exhausted her, leaving her vulnerable, and had also caused her quite a few minor wounds from blows that she hadn't quite managed to fully parry. Walking over to the incapacitated enemy, she also destroyed its heart with a vicious downward stab before checking their bodies for any special equipment. After determining that they carried nothing but a small protective armor piece and their spears she stored their corpses away and limped to a nearby tree to rest, keeping her spear in hand just in case.

After two days of mostly rest and a small amount of daily progress north Yun had recovered for the most part. Thankfully she had some minor wound recovery medicines with her for this journey that helped her greatly with healing. She began to pick up her pace, proceeding forward much faster than the past few days and making her journey steadily. The following week was mostly uneventful, as those in front of her had either scared off or already fought with any wild vicious beasts in the path of the race.

Two weeks later, about three quarters of the way from the starting line to the turning point where the Volcanic Ridge Mountains foothills made it possible to cross east she caught the trail of the Starmetal Mantis she had previously been trying to slay and decided to follow it. After hunting the mantis while traveling north for a few more days before finally catching sight of it assaulting a small group of three disciples, one of whom had been heavily injured and was being defended by the other two. Rushing silently behind the mantis while watching the battle, Yun prepared to intervene and deal a fatal blow. Along with her spear she also took out two of the spears she took from the Volvaka Hunters before she got in place twenty meters behind the mantis.

Taking careful aim, she took a strong throwing stance and launched the first spear into the Mantis' back, then when it reared up she launched the next one into its waist before charging in and slashing at its belly. As her blade slashed forth, whistling through the air, the mantis reacted in a rage with one of its massive scythes, blocking her strike with a screeching noise. Angry, the Mantis turned around, limping and bleeding, to face her while striking out with its claws and forelegs. Yun, knowing she'd dealt a harsh blow already, took the defensive and parried or dodged everything she could, but she still nearly took a few blows that were only defended by her new flexible armor. Over time, while the group of disciples were tending their wounds and trying to escape in fear, the Mantis began to slow significantly due to loss of blood.

Taking advantage of this opportunity she struck out with her spear, slashing across the waist of the Mantis and opening it along the joint in its protective shell. This was the final blow for the Mantis, and it finally began to crumple to the ground. As its head got close enough to reach she swept it from the Mantis' shoulders as well before transferring both it and the main body into her storage artifact. After finally defeating the mantis, Yun continued north slowly while healing her wounds yet again.

For the next two weeks there were no major encounters. Yun successfully traveled around the Volcanic Ridge Mountains and began to follow the woods to the south towards the finish. At this point six weeks had passed out of the twelve they were given, and she had passed quite a few of the competitors who were beginning to wear out and run out of supplies, or those who were unlucky and had encountered a large number of opponents or vicious beasts. Knowing that the region of forest they had already traversed was much more actively cleared by the sects, Yun began to take care and observe her surroundings for signs of vicious beast activity at all times. The distance left to travel south was roughly half of the total distance traveled so far, and for most of the teams behind her it would be slow going for most of this half of the Survival Endurance Race.

Over the next three weeks, namely through the ninth week of the race out of the allotted twelve weeks, Yun continued southward without any real issues. She encountered a few Vicious Beasts that she defeated without too much trouble, and stored their bodies as well. For meals she would take out a piece of meat from one of the beasts she'd slain and cook it before moving on to another location to sleep. In this way she prevented the beasts from using the smell of cooking meat to track her or be drawn in while she slept.

While these last few weeks were not an issue for Yun on her journey south, for the other teams in the competition they were the most dangerous weeks of the competition. Many teams had become complacent due to the lower incidence of encountering Vicious Beasts in the western section of the River Wood, not realizing that the western area was heavily patrolled by the sects from Myhrrwar as a result of the constant disciple missions in the region. Of the deaths and serious injuries in the first phase of the tournament, over eighty percent of them happened in the east River Wood region, and seventy percent of those were in the first half of the southward journey.