103 Sylvomurkuwar Fortress (2)

The next morning they both rose early, just before dawn, and packed their things back up. Before long they had both continued their journey northward. Within the remainder of the day they managed to get to the border of the forest, where a great many vicious beasts reside.

On the north side of the Cradle was a colder region, home to the Fortress Sylvomurkuwar. In this large region where the Volvaka couldn't roam freely there were a number of vicious beasts that didn't live in the warmer reaches to the south. Yun and Wuying ran continuously each day, resting at night, towards the north near the river bank towards the structure they had see, which they assumed at this point was the great northern fortress.

After the second day of travel they were nearly half-way to the fortress when they finally encountered difficulty. In front of them was a large pack of Lynmurku — large wolf-like beasts used by the northern forces as war-mounts — barring the path forwards. It was not uncommon for there to be wild packs of the beasts in this region — as this was where they typically lived — but this pack was larger than Wuying had ever heard of. Either this was a pack on the warpath or it was a pack under an extremely high level leader.

Most Lynmurku adults would reach the rough equivalent of an early or mid-level Body Tempering martial artist in strength, and when they were hunting in packs they could easily take down prey that was two realms higher, at the Bone Tempering realm, if there were enough of them. These were incredibly intelligent pack animals that knew how to work together and exploit weaknesses in known enemies through sheer repetition.

Yun and Wuying were startled by this pack that had managed to blockade them without their notice, but neither of them reached for a weapon right away. They backed down slowly while constantly seeking for a way out that wouldn't end in them being eaten. These were powerful beasts that were at least twice their size, and their aggressive nature meant any sudden moves would begin the hunt.

As they backed away from the pack before them they kept observing their surroundings, looking for anything and everything that could help them at all. With each step back they took the pack would take one forwards, always maintaining the current distance, never letting them out of their sight.

Suddenly, without warning, Wuying turned and fled at his fastest speed, trying to gain distance and find a deep enough shadow to use his techniques to escape. Seeing this, Yun swore to herself and took off running as well, using her movement technique — the Chromatic Aurora Steps — to it's utmost. At it's highest level she would have been able to traverse kilometers with each step if she wanted, but she was nowhere near that realm. At her current level she could more than quadruple her natural running speed without exhausting herself much more than if she were running.

Of course, the Lynmurku chasing them wouldn't tire for more than a day while pursuing prey.

Yun kept going as fast as she could, even separating herself from Wuying to gain a chance at survival out of this situation. As she ran she found that somewhere down the line she was being pursued by a much smaller group, likely because she wasn't as worthwhile as Wuying for prey. She took advantage of this. After making sure they had opened enough distance from the other group, Yun stopped running in between a few large trees, giving herself some measure of protection from being assaulted on multiple sides.

Thwang!

She drew out her spear with a flourish and prepared herself for the battle ahead. The Lynmurku chasing her had finally caught up all the way and formed another circle, surrounding her while lurking just outside her reach, their whole bodies in shadow blending into the forest around them while their eyes glistened and glinted distractingly, giving the impression of their physical location without leaving you feeling certain.

Slash!

Yun blocked a pounce from one of the Lynmurku to her right as it dashed past her and melded into the shadows on her left, joining the others. This was an excellent siege tactic where the enemy could only react, but couldn't attack effectively. Yun thought through all of her techniques trying to figure out which would be best before she decided to try her Crescent Moon Slash the next time a beast attacked.

She didn't have to wait long. The moment she felt a stirring of energy from the pack she activated her Brazen Moon Flame skill on her spear blade before slashing out horizontally and creating a Crescent Moon Slash.

Swish!

The blue blade of energy passed through the air, seemingly hitting nothing, for dozens of meters before it dissipated, but she noticed that the enemy who had been about to attack her never had, and there was now some traces of blood on the ground moving away from the pack to avoid giving them away in the battle.

Yun took this moment of silence and quickly called out her Argent Spears to help before she sent out two rounds of Crescent Moons towards one side of her, while she turned to face the other side as soon as she had completed the slashes. Behind her she now heard the soft thudding sounds of multiple creatures falling over from their wounds after they were unable to avoid the sudden strike. Yun had taken advantage of her speed by using the Lightning element to it's utmost.

In the process she felt like she had touched upon something, but she wasn't sure just yet what to make of it.