First boss

The Games We Play​

First Boss​

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I had no delusions about where I stood.

But I wasn't scared, either.

I knew that with the power difference between the Nevermore and I, there was a limit to how much I could do to it. Even with all my skills, I wasn't going to survive if that thing managed to get a solid hit on me and I had severe doubts about being able to even delay it long-term. I knew I wouldn't be able to kill it the normal way by myself—I probably wouldn't be able to wound its hide that badly even with my best attacks.

And yet, here it was. I'd dragged it out of the sky, sent it crashing painfully to the earth, and bit off a good-sized chunk of its HP—way more than my Aura Crash or bullets had done and probably more than I would be able to do now. I'd done far more damage then I should have been able to, given my level and stats. How?

Simple. My life was a game…but it was also real life. For instance, there was more to hitting the enemy then some formula hidden in the background, even if my power could make me better at hitting things. There were a lot of factors that wouldn't normally have applied in a game unless specifically designed to, including a lot of really basic stuff.

Like standing up, for instance.

I took a deep breath, gathering my Aura as I did and settling it in my lungs, the air within them, and in my vocal chords. It was a lot like the way Aura was used to enhance anything Hunters did, but getting it precisely right to create what I needed required a lot of practice and fine control—or else a bullshit power that let you bypass all that. In the time it took to inhale completely, it was ready and I met the Nevermore's eyes as it struggled to rise.

And then I roared.

Except…saying it like that doesn't really convey what happened, however accurate it was. The sound that came from my mouth was something that even I had a hard time believe came from a human. It didn't sound like anything the size of a person could produce and it was far, far too loud—loud enough to shake the branches of trees slightly, loud enough that you could feel it as well as hear it. It echoed out from me, stretching God only knows how far in a wave of painful sound that gave even a Nevermore pause, if only for a moment.

But a moment was enough.

While it was stunned, I hit the ground and rushed over with all the speed I had, moving faster than I ever had before—a result of my Air Aura, most likely. I was inside its guard before it could respond, blurring under its massive body until I was standing between massive black legs, and then I put Bai Hu's ancient art to use. On each of its enormous feet were four massive claws that it had sunk deep into the ground to help support its weight.

I pried them out of the earth one by one, ricocheting between them and the creatures body with Tiger's Lunge and tearing them out of the earth one by one with a combination of the Tiger's Claws and Jaws, Power Strike, Crush, and Rip. With the speed of the Tiger's Tread boosted even further by my Air Aura, I flickered between my targets faster than I would have believed I could move before today—and once all its claws were free of the earth, I toppled the Nevermore with what must have been half a hundred flickering attacks between its ankles, knees, and shins, rebounding back and forth again and again until its awkward footing and the weight upon it causing it to finally give out.

Each of my strikes removed only a tiny sliver of health. Even nearly a hundred strikes had stripped away what amounted to only a small portion, its hide standing up against my crushing blows. But gravity wasn't level specific and being over level fifty didn't make it weigh any more or less. When I knocked its feet out from under it, it fell.

You've received the title 'The Tiger's Child.'

The screen appeared before my eyes but I barely paid it attention. The Nevermore tried to catch itself as it fell using the fingers that extended from its outermost wing joint—but it was slow here on the ground and its size made it seem all the more so, even while falling. I lowered myself closer to the ground and the world shifted again as I hammered into the slowly falling limb with my whole body before bouncing back to the ground and up again, smashing into the other wing.

And the giant fell, seeming to shake the earth as it collapsed, already broken wood cracking underneath it as it settled. I bounded away, out from underneath it before I could be crushed, and looked at the fallen beast as my heart hammered in my chest.

The Giant Nevermore, for all its durability and terrifying power, had only two means of attack. It could launch its razor sharp feathers with great force and it could hit its target with its massive body; simple attacks made exceedingly deadly by its sheer size and power. But the former required aerial superiority and the latter required the ability to move effectively—which meant that it couldn't do either while prone on the ground.

It was nearly forty levels above me and had to power to kill me in one hit—and none of it meant a damn thing if it couldn't attack. I'd grounded it and as long as I kept it that way, there was nothing it could do.

Now it was just a matter of giving it bigger things to worry about.

I touched the ground just out of reach of the Nevermore and bounced backwards to land with my feet on the truck of the closest standing tree before kicking off towards the fallen Grimm's masked face, left hand outstretch, right reared back. My left hand touched the white of the Grimm's mask first, holding fast as I leveraged my body forward—and then sank my right hand deep into one of the monster's eyes.

Immediately, the Nevermore began to thrash, throwing its head back and forth as it struggled with frantic motions. I barely managed to keep myself from being flung away as it snapped it's head to the side, but I knew I wouldn't keep hold for long so I grasped what I could with the wicked claws of my right hand and completed the Jaws of the Tiger by tearing it free, pushing away with my left hand as I did and flipping backwards away from the still struggling monster.

As I landed, I danced a step back and waited, casting my glance at the creature's HP bar. If the crash had taken twenty percent of its health away, then everything I'd just done, including the critical hit to its weak point, had caused…about five percent more, despite all it had taken out of me. Now that I had stopped for a moment, I could feel my actions taking their toll on my stamina, worsened by my armor and the Aura Crashes I'd used beforehand. But…

It wasn't focused on rising at the moment. I crouched again, ready to spring into action again the moment it calmed—though I had to wonder how long I'd last—but ever moment I could save counted. I acted only when it tried to rise, gripping massive fingers and pulling with all the power in my body before diving away. It kept its head trashing to make attacking its eyes harder, but its motions were slower that way, clumsier, but then so were mine. I couldn't keep this up for very long, even if I was stretching my time as much as I could.

Just as I was wondering how long thirty seconds could last, though, I heard it.

"Move," Adam said and though the words were not loud, there was a power in them that made them carry. I danced back several more steps and jumped back, flipping over Adam as he drew his sword, and I couldn't deny I felt relieved. For a moment, the sky went red and the world turned black as the Nevermore fell—and just as quickly, it was over with Adam sheathing his sword and nearly stumbling. I landed and dashed to his side, steadying him with one hand without looking at him.

My attention was still on the Nevermore—on its health bar. With a single attack, Adam had forced most of it to highlight and quickly drain away.

Most of it.

But not all.

The relief I'd felt withered and die, leaving a sinking hole behind. If the crash had taken twenty and nearly a hundred hits from me had done five more, Adam's attack had wiped away more than sixty percent. What was left was probably less than a tenth of its original HP—but it was still alive and both Adam and I had drained away a lot of our power just to get this far.

For a moment, the both of us were breathing hard as we watched the Nevermore twitch and then start to move.

"I don't suppose you can do another one of those?" I asked. "It doesn't have to be a big one; it's down to about ten percent now."

"Even assuming I could, could you distract it like you did before?" Adam retorted, taking slow steady breaths that made me think he was holding himself back from panting.

I chuckled a little at that and shook my head.

"Think we can run away?" Adam mused.

"Well maybe if you'd taken off a wing or something instead of just giving it a booboo," I speculated. "As is, I think it would catch up. I figure it's kind of pissed at us now—and I'm pretty sure that's your fault."

"I must be more tired than I thought because all I'm hearing is whining," He cut me off, one hand going to an ear as if to check it. "Think you can crash it again if it does?"

"Maybe," I muttered. "My luck's not doing so great today, though, and I doubt it'll fall for the same trick twice and if it gets us…"

I shook my head.

"I'm running out of MP fast and Aura Crash is a bitch. It's risky," I said. "So let's call that plan C."

"You got a plan B?" Adam asked and though I couldn't see it, I was sure an eyebrow was raised beneath his mask.

"What kind of question is that?" I replied, faking hurt. "Of course I have a plan B. You think I'd risk everything on one insane scheme?"

Adam snorted once before turning to look at me.

"Is it a good plan?" He asked again.

I winked at him.

"I don't know yet," I said honestly. "But it's your turn to play distraction, anyway."

I started running before he could ask what that meant, rushing towards the Nevermore. It had already struggled up enough to lift its head and it focused on me with its three red eyes. I knew it recognized me because it shifted its head so I could reach its eyes and then opened its beak wide and let out a shriek filled with pain and rage—but that was my chance.

I jumped as hard as I could, boosting it with one more Tiger's Lunge. I straightened my body as I all but flew through the air, hands stretched out before me, and with both hands I grabbed the very tip of its beak, using the force of the force of the impact to curl my body.

For an instant, I met its eyes.

Then I shoved myself down its abyss of a throat, feet first.

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