Running and Hiding

Damien was still admiring the beautiful bluepanel that displayed his status as well along with the subskills that came along with the skill he'd received from the God of Summons when he heard Mithas'voice again.

[I can't say you shouldn't be excited but I should say you shouldn't get too excited. Most of those sub-skills probably won't open for a while until you meet a requirement to unlock them.]

Damien paused and raised his head questioning the voice. "And how do I meet them?"

[You'll find out with time.]

[For now, you should focus on the unlocked ones and missions provided. Those go a long way.]

With a nod, Damien decided to take a look at his unlocked skills. Each of them had a "locked" writing beside them and the only open one was Pact of Summons.

"Hmmm." Damien muttered. He was just about to expand it to get a description on this Subskill when another panel got overlaid on top.

Ding!

This time, it wasn't Mithas voice. It was just a panel appearing.

[New mission!]

[Survive the hunt: You are currently in the midst of a bloody meal. Magic Beasts and Demons are drawn to this location. Escape within five minutes or risk being devoured as well.]

[Reward: Subskill (Essence Devourer) will be unlocked, +2 to all stats, +15 EXP, you get to live.]

[Failure: Death]

For a moment, Damien remained frozen. Both physically and mentally. Hia brain couldn't process what he'd just heard. Or maybe he could.

He just didn't want to. Although the rewards were enticing, the reward for failure was one and final. Death.

"He… Hehe…" Damien let out a dry chuckle. Wasn't he on the verge of death a little too much today? This was the third time he was being caressed by death and one thing was certain.

It wasn't fun!

Just then, the Nine Tailed Fox he or rather, Mithas had summoned walked back to him. It stood before him and stared into his eyes for a moment.

Then it leaned forward, pressing its head against Damien's chest.

Wooonng~

There was a low hum as a soft warm light like the fox's fur began to emit from the creature's head. The light quickly enveloped Damien and he felt it almost immediately.

Energy and life surged into his body at a fast rate. He could almost tell how speedily his life force was returning and it felt refreshing. It was restoring water to a seabed that had gone dey for years. Like drinking water after years of dryness.

The feeling was nothing but invigorating. Damien could get addicted to this.

[You better not.]

The voice of Mithas brought him back from his delusional voyage.

[This might be the final gift it will give to you.]

"Final?" Damien asked as the light slowly died down. The fox had fully recovered his life force and even his magic essence.

[Indeed. Keeping a summon outside this long requires a huge essence reserve. A reserve you do lack. So how do you think it has managed to stay out this long?]

Mithas' voice was almost like that if a teacher questioning his student.

Damien shrugged. "I don't know?"

[So much for your intelligence stats.] Damon could almost taste the disappointment in Mithas' voice.

[It stayed this long by utilising its own essence reserve. That's another reason why it needed to devour all those cores. For a refill and an increase.]

"Ohh…" Damien's reply was one word.

He ignored the system's insults and stared at the fox that had remained standing in front of him. He placed his hand on its head and when he saw that it didn't growl this time, he moved closer.

He wrapped both arms around the fox's head gently and then placed his head on it too. "Thank you." Damien smiled at the thought of a summon expending its own essence to stay with its summoner. It was a noble act. A sacrificial one.

The same circular blue portal that had opened before, appeared again. It had come to return this creature to wherever it came from.

Damien let go of the Nine Tailed Fox as he whispered his last words to it. "Hopefully I'll see you again."

He still didn't get why Mithas said it might be the last time they see but this wasn't the time to ask.

He'd spent two minutes getting healed and being all emotional with the fox. He was running out of time. 

As the fox made its way back to the portal it turned once more and a low purring sound. Then it turned back toward the portal and jumped in.

The portal closed immediately after and without a single word, Danien turned.

Then he bolted.

[Faster! If you'd left earlier, you'd be further away now. Don't stop! Faster!]

Again, Mithas' voice was back in his head, motivating him to run faster and also scolding him for not having left earlier.

"You could've reminded me earlier, but you didn't!" Damien thought as he increased his pace even more.

He had no idea where he was running to but something told him that anywhere else was better than his current location. This place was about to become packed full of various creatures. It would be a feast and he couldn't afford to be here when it happened.

As if on cue, he heard a loud animalistic voice that sounded nothing like a roar. It sounded deeper. More authoritative. More deadly.

That was all Damien needed to confirm that he would be dead if he was within this vicinity in the next two minutes.

To make things worse, a panel appeared in front of him, displaying the number of seconds he had left until the creatures got there.

"Damn it!" Damien gritted his teeth, forcing his legs to carry him even faster.

However, he was grateful for one thing.

[Take a left!]

Mithas had become a navigator.

The system's voice told him what to do and when to do it to avoid the creatures that were trooping in from all angles.

[Stop!]

Mithas' voice rang out again and immediately, Damien came to a stop.

[Hide!]

Another command and Damien did exactly that. Fortunately, there was a very large tree just in front of him. It had grown over fifty meters tall and two meters wide. Its roots were thicker than Damien's arms.

Without delay, Damien hid between the roots, finding a way to get between the intertwined roots and seek cover there.