Crazy Jump

The scared children lost all rationality as they stood frozen before the snow giant. The fear they experienced from the bottom of their soul prevented them from moving. 

Even Aru felt his feet turning heavy. 

He couldn't react properly in front of the creature that exuded bloodlust even if he wished to. 

"AAAArrr…" 

They could only look in complete dismay as the creature approached them. 

Death.

He was going to die again, Aru thought. Before he could adapt to this new world, he would die again. 

But, in that hopeless moment, a blurry silhouette of a person appeared before them. The person had grey hair and a muscular body. His eyes were spitting fire as he looked at the snow giant that was approaching the group of children. 

"No, you will NOT." He screamed.

Instantly, a cloud of spirit energy gathered behind the person forming an illusory humanoid figure.

It was a giant made out of stone. 

The illusory stone giant floated behind the person's back as he stepped forward to punch the snow giant. 

"HAAA." He shouted thrusting his arms forward. 

"THUMP." A thunderous sound resounded as the small fist collided with the snow giant's chest. 

The illusory figure of the stone giant followed the man's movement and amplified the power of the punch. 

"BOOOOM." 

The body of the snow giant weighing more than a ton was raised above the ground and thrown away like cotton. 

The white fur of the creature was stained with blood as it fell onto the ground. 

With a single punch, the man had solved the problem. 

Although it felt like an eternity to Aru, the battle ended within a second. 

The fluid movement of the person and the bone-chilling atmosphere were engraved into his memory. 

And after all that, he finally recognised the person who had saved him and every other child. It was none other than the chief. 

The grey hair and muscular body.

The spirit of a stone giant. 

And the immeasurable strength he displayed. 

It could be no one else but the chief. 

"Dam." The chief called out once he made sure the snow giant could not stand up anymore. 

"Yes!" Dam was too stunned to speak. But he answered reflexively when his name was called. 

"I trust that you can take the children to a safe place." 

"Yes."

"Then go quickly." He said while eyeing the perimeter wall of the camp. 

Just like Aru, the chief could also see the shadows disappearing behind the treeline. He had an inkling that the battle was not yet over. His eyes were laced with worry when he asked Dam to take the children to a safe place. 

But before he could turn back and observe treeline, something else jumped through the perimeter wall this time. And this time, the creature was not alone.

"Kya."

"Kya." 

"Kya."

It was a herd of horned deer that was screaming and jumping. They were the fast-moving shadows that Aru noticed. 

Horned deers were rank-2 spirit beasts that inhabited the mountain ranges. They were known for their great agility and the ability to traverse cliff faces and uneven terrains. 

Now, just like the snow giant, they were scattering in all directions, even into the camp. 

Something seemed to have scared them enough to run away in fear for their lives.

At first, during the incursion, the horned deers only numbered to only a couple of dozen. They were avoiding people and moving through the camp quickly. 

But soon, the number began to increase.

From a couple of dozen, it increased to hundreds in mere seconds. 

It was turning into a stampede. 

Then they began to rush forward without caring about warriors, buildings or anything. They seemed to have only one goal. To reach the southern region as fast as they can. 

However, it didn't end there. More wild spirit beasts began to emerge from the darkness and mix into the stampede. Wind wolves, Snow giants, Mud pigs, predators and prey those which should have never appeared together were running wild, along with the horned deer. 

It was an unrecognisable mess of a situation. 

And with that, the danger increased exponentially. It felt like certain death was assured. 

The camp was soon drowned in a sea of spirit beasts. 

There was no time to think or react. 

Even the chief, one of the strongest warriors found it difficult to traverse the camp. 

"RUN." Someone screamed.

"AAAA…My foot."

"Arrr."

*Screams*

Unrecognisable screams resounded. 

In the darkness, amidst the sea of animals, no one could witness the events unfolding. However, the anguished cries that echoed painted a vivid picture of the unfolding tragedy.

Aru found himself straying away from the group of children who were running away.

In the darkness of night, he found himself surrounded by animals. He was barely avoiding them as he ran towards the tree line. 

It was his only hope. 

Maybe, just maybe, he could survive this ordeal. 

The pine tree surrounding the camp was tall and sturdy. And if he was lucky, he might be able to climb one and avoid the stampede, he thought. 

Although it was a simple plan, it was the best he could come up with.

'Maybe Dam is also thinking of doing the same. That might be why he was bringing the children towards the treeline.' 

Aru jumped at times and ducked at times, weaving through the sea of creatures, he began to near the treeline.

At times, he would be shoved around by hurrying creatures. Bruises and scratches one after another were forming all around his body. But he made it through and was close to achieving the goal of reaching the treeline. 

'Just a couple of meters.' 

The density of the creatures seemed to have decreased as he strayed further away from the camp. And it lifted his confidence.

'Just a little more.' 

"Aaaaa." Suddenly, he noticed a high-pitched scream from near him. 

It was the scream of a child. 

Instinctively, he turned to look. 

"Fatty, Dal." 

He was shocked to see Dal, the bully who stole food from him being chased by a large wolf towards a cliff.

The wolf was no normal animal. It was a wind wolf, a rank 2 spirit beast with wind elemental affinity. It was quickly closing in on the fatty who was limping forward.

Suddenly, Aru felt something tightening around his heart. 

'Was it because of me?' He thought. 

Even though the chances were low, maybe the fatty was limping due to the injury he caused. Maybe his legs didn't fully heal before he came to participate in the hunt. 

The thought dug into Aru's chest like a pointed knife. The indescribable tightening feeling he felt around the heart was his guilt.

And it felt horrible. 

'Although the fatty was a menace, he is not bad enough to be sentenced to death. Maybe…'

Even before he could complete his thoughts, he propelled himself towards Dal. His body was moving on his own. For some reason, this time, his emotions won over his rationality. 

And he felt liberated at that moment.

'...Maybe I can save him.'

Within a second, Aru used up all three units of his spirit energy to propel himself towards Dal. 

It was a purely instinctual action derived from his consciousness. And the spirit energy flowed as he intended without inhibition. 

Unknown to him, he was showcasing the spirit energy control ability of a peak rank 1 warrior with his tiny body. If someone had seen him like that, they would have been shocked by his ability to handle spirit energy. 

The near instantaneous use of spirit energy made his almost weightless body cruise over the snow.

Within a couple of seconds, Aru overtook the wind wolf and reached Dal.

However, he didn't stop there. With his reinforced body he picked up Dal and ran forward without stopping. 

Just in front of him was a huge cliff. 

"Aa…" Dal's shrill scream resounded as Aru jumped off the cliff carrying Dal.