Danger(2)

About one hundred yards away, perched high on a tree branch, Alex could see a beast staring straight at him.

Alex started breathing heavily as he thought, "Dark Panther? What the fuck is a Qi Gathering Realm beast doing this far past the marked red tree line?" Alex stared at the beast, quickly trying to think of what he could do in this situation.

"Whatever the reason, I can't fight that thing, even if it is only at the first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm."

Dark Panthers were one of the numerous beasts that inhabited the forest. Their power typically peaked at the first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, and they were known for their quick reflexes and lethal attacks.

The panther was seven feet long and four feet tall, with dark fur that blended in with the shadows of the trees.

[Dark Panther]

[Element: Darkness]

[Level: Qi Gathering Realm 1st Stage]

"Fuck!" Alex cursed his bad luck.

Alex immediately turned and began to run as fast as he could, trying to get back to the road before the beast could catch him. Although the road was not a safe haven, there were often carriages traveling back and forth, and they were usually escorted by powerful cultivators.

As long as he could get back on the road, Alex figured he would have a chance at survival.

The panther realized that it had been spotted and quickly gave chase after its prey, darting from tree branch to tree branch as it closed the distance between itself and Alex.

After running through the dense forest for a few minutes, Alex looked over his shoulder and realized that the panther was almost upon him, about to attack.

"Fuck, how is it so fast?" yelled Alex as he took out his katana and twisted his body, his sword barely being raised in time.

"Peng!"

The panther's claw collided with Alex's hastily raised sword.

"Gah!" Alex yelled out in pain as he was sent flying backwards like a broken kite.

Alex crashed into the ground and tumbled a few times before coming to a stop. He felt like his body was on the verge of collapsing after taking that attack head on.

After struggling to stand up for a second, Alex realized that this was no time for complaining and quickly turned around again to flee.

The panther had expected that attack to kill Alex, and so he had been in no rush to follow up with another attack. Seeing its prey stand and flee, the panther became enraged as it started its pursuit again.

After a few more minutes of chasing, the panther once again caught up to Alex and lashed out, this time using even more power; its claws were covered in a dark aura that seemed to carry with it an intent to kill.

Alex looked over his shoulder and saw the panther rapidly approaching, its claw swinging forward and about to strike him.

Alex knew that he was no match for this Dark Panther and could not block its attack head on.

Right as the panther's claw was about to hit his shoulder,

"Force Dodge," Alex used his escape technique, causing a crack to form where his feet were as he vanished in a flash, narrowly avoiding the attack by millimeters. Seizing the only opportunity that he just created, Alex was already swinging his sword as hard as he could at the ribs of the beast.

"Sword Slash" Using his strongest offensive attack, Alex hit the ribs of the panther.

"Clang!"

A loud sound rang out as the panther was sent flying into a nearby tree. The tree broke at the point of impact and slowly tipped over as the panther was knocked straight through the tree.

Alex knew that this victory was only temporary, as he turned around once again and kept running.

The panther slowly appeared on the other side of the broken tree stump, its rage completely evident. A small, 1-inch deep cut was now visible on its hide where Alex had struck it, but other than that, there was no significant damage.

What should have been an easy hunt turned into one filled with non-stop frustration for the panther. The panther spotted Alex running off in the distance before it, too, once again chased after him.

Alex was panting heavily as he mustered all his energy into his legs, running as fast as his body would allow. Although he had struck the beast head on, he knew that a Qi Gathering level beast would not be too troubled by the attack he had just made.

Looking back over to confirm his suspicions, Alex saw the panther darting back and forth from tree branch to tree branch, still in pursuit.

The panther was serious this time, and it was using Qi to become faster as dark Qi surrounded it.

'I need to think of something. I can't outrun this thing, and I can't keep running forever,' Alex thought as he desperately tried to think of something to get out of this lethal situation.

As Alex was desperately trying to come up with something, the panther once again caught up with him. Deep in thought from trying to think of a plan, Alex was a step late to notice that the panther had fully caught up, and its attack was about to reach him.

With no time to dodge this time, Alex hastily raised his katana and put all his power into blocking the attack.

"Peng!"

The sound of claw on steel rang out as Alex was sent flying backward, rolling over and over until finally coming to rest in a clearing.

"Cough, cough"

Alex continuously coughed out blood, as the force of that attack had nearly taken his life. He felt as if his arms were about to break and had almost no strength left in his body.

Alex raised his head with difficulty to see the panther rushing towards him from a distance.

"So this is how I die," thought Alex as he struggled to stand up. He figured if he was going to die, he might as well die on his feet fighting, even if the fight was futile.

Despite his heroic intentions, Alex barely managed to get to his feet, his body propped up against his sword. Alex stared at the approaching beast and did his best to raise his sword once more.

"Come on!" He shouted at the beast In a last ditch effort to save himself, Alex did his best to raise his sword and muster whatever strength he had left.

Just as the Dark Spotted Panther was about to reach him, Alex felt his blood begin to rush, and his body begin to heat up. Although Alex had no idea what was happening, a surge of energy beyond anything he had felt before rushed through his body.

He gripped his sword tightly and was prepared to swing it down with all his strength as soon as the panther came into range.

"Swish!"

A razor-sharp, wind-like sword appeared from behind Alex and flew towards the Dark Panther. The panther noticed the sword and moved to block it with its claw, but was immediately bisected into two parts as the sword cut clean through the panther.

The two halves of the panther fell lifelessly to the ground, tumbling over a few times from the remaining momentum they had.

"Wha... What just happened?" thought Alex as he watched the panther die right in front of him. He was about to make his last stand against the panther when it suddenly cleaved in half.

Alex turned around to find himself in the middle of the road he had been on earlier in the day. When he was struck by the panther, Alex remembered being knocked out of the forest and into a clearing, but during the high pressure situation, he hadn't been able to take a good look at his surroundings.

He looked up toward where the sword wind came from and was shocked to find a group of people he was quite familiar with. In front of Alex was the Peng Clan, which was on its way towards the Dracon Clan for the party.

There were several carriages behind the Peng clan, all being pulled by powerful Qi Gathering beasts, and dozens of guards surrounding the carriage perimeter.

"Alex?" asked a young man in confusion as he put away his sword and ran towards Alex.

Alex felt a wave of numbness and fatigue wash over him as he collapsed, falling unconscious to the floor.

To Be Continued...