Chapter 52: Tremor boars[1]

''What the fuck?!" Both Levi and Grim uttered unknowingly at the sight which was before them, or more apropriately, approaching them.

*RUMBLE!*RUMBLE!*

The loud trembling of the ground continued. In fact, it was much louder now that the source was so close to Levi, but by then the reason for the unnatural shaking of the earth was more than apparent to the human.

Merely a few hundred meters away was a stampede of creatures which had the body of a wild boar, but the head of a rhinoceros. They were charging forward in what seemed to be a frenzied rush without a single regard for anyone or anything within their surroundings as they kicked up massive amounts of dust while running and left the trees which were unfortunate enough to have grown in their path, toppled.

Levi observed as the smaller creatures and even some of the other wild animals that had not noticed him hurriedly scrambling away for dear life, abandoning their homes and whatever they had been preoccupied with, without an ounce of hesitation.

*RUMBLE!*

The immense quaking of the vey earth continued as the beasts shoved their powerful hooves into the groundin quick succession while advancing forward. They seemed to be charging at Levi as they stampeded towards his direction, but wth the aid of his advanced eye sight, he was able to clearly see the single expression which they all uniformly possesed.

The lone emotion which was displayed on their faces with an unrestrained clarity made it relatively easy to guess the reson for their stampede. It was as conspicuous as day to someone like Levi when he was using aether skin, and it shed light on their intentions gor organizing quite the uncanny activity. If this could even be called organied.

That single emotion which displayed itself on the mana beasts' unnatural faces, was an undeniable fear for whatever they had seen or was coming after them.

"Shit." Levi muttered under his breath. He could clearly see that they were not after him or the extra baggage which he carried on his back, but he could tell that if things continued to progress this way, he would get caught up in their flee.

By all means, Levi was right to fear for his wellbeing as the creatures rushing towards his direction, backed by their immense momentum, possesed more than enough force to greatly injure him and turn the mana beast on his back to a furry paste.

The herd advanced with tremendous speed, and their group boasted a great width so Levi would not have enough time to go around them. If he did, then he would have to deal with the impact of a good few of them. Running away was out of the question as the horde would undoubtedly catch up, and fleeing to the trees would also lead to a very bad ending.

Considering these three options, the most logical one for Levi would most definitely be attempting to go around the horde. It would not actually be too difficult for him as his enhanced skin could definitely handle it. But the same could not be said about the creature on his back though.

"Ughhh, what a hassle..I should have just abandoned you when I had the chance." Levi moaned loudly, not minding even a little if the mana beast heard it. In fact, it was intended that Swift heard it.

As expected, the mana beast heard it and returned the favour with a nasty sneer to his malefactor. Upon seeing the irritated reaction which Swift responded with from the corner of his eye, Levi directed a glare towards Swift's direction before threatening him.

"You know..I could just drop you off here and blame it on that damn demon bear. It would actually sound very plausible...yeah. Swift, the cubs and even john died in battle against the enemy in order to create a chance for me to escape. Doesn't sound bad, you'll actually be praised for your honourable deeds." Levi said to the wolf. His words, albeit a lie, sounded extremly convincing and the sharp edge of his tone tolf the tale of Levi's absolute seriousness concerning the matter.

Truly, it was amazing how he was able to generate such a plausible cover up story in mere moments. But at the same time, it was extremely terrifying.

"You bastard..." Swift began, but then ended his sentence right there as he set eyes upon Levi's serous expression. His scowl transformed into more submissive visage when he saw the look in the boy's eyes.

Truth be told, Levi was actually considering the option, It was evident in his expression that he was currently debating on the matter and knowing Levi, it would not take long for a wholly rational decision to be made.

'hmmmm. He really isn't of any use, actually the exact opposite. So why shouldn't I just get rid of him right now?' Levi queried himself. He could have done this a while back, but it never really occured to him. But now that he did, why should he not just eliminate the wolf. It would not even be completely his fault as he would not directly be involved in the murder. By all means, it was the most rational option....

Sensing Levi's hesistance, Swift acted in a manner befitting his name and quickly came to his own aid.

"Wait! U-umm...If you get rid of me right now, then you would be missing out on the valuable information that I could provide about the mana beasts which you would come across....." Swift said as a metaphorical sweat, trickled down his furry face. He was nervous. Who wouldn't be? After all, if he failed to play his cards right here then his death was all but guaranteed. That was just how decisive Levi was.

"Oh please. You were of no help back when I was dealing with the stingers so I don't see any way you could actually be of use now." Levi said with a serious expression, questioning the authenticity of Swift's claim.

'Amazing...to think he could be so clear headed in a situation like this...' Swift thought as he admired Levi's composure. It was most definitely impressive, considering his age, and Swift actually considered using it to flatter Levi into a more favourable line of thought. But on a second thought, there was no way that mere admiration or flattery would save him from his current predicament.

"No! I just did not have enough information about those guys! Wolves and stingers barely clash as the species is far too fearful of us, but the same could not be said for these tremor boars. Unlike the stingers, we engage with them more frequently as they are close to our power level, so I know a great deal about them." Swift said. Yhe fear of the unknown was evident in his tone and face, but he managed to speak without stuttering.

"Go on..." Levi urged on for Swift to disclose more information. Something that which Swift gladly did.

"The tremor boars are a species that range between the C to D rank. They are an extremely powerful secies, but they posses a weakness which can be attributed to their inherent nature to charge head on into the enemy. They have are good at earth magic, a few of them can even do fire magic, but earth is their main affinity." Swift said, spouting all the information he had all at once.

Taking a few short moments, Levi took in all of the information concerning his new enemies which Swift had spewed out.

"I see.." He said to Swift's hearing, before dropping him on the ground behind him. At this, Swift shot Levi a half surprised and half fear filled expression. There was also a tinge of rage as he believed that Levi wanted to betray him.

But Levi did not even glance in his direction and just took a few steps forward to face the oncoming horde of beasts.

'oi. Are you sure about this...I mean, I don't think even you can handle them with their current momentum.' Grim said. But Levi knew this already.

"I know."

Although he had been standing still there for quite a while, the oncoming beasts were still charging forward with full speed.

They did not even slow down their momentum or anythng and just headed straight for him, from the look in their eyes, it was quite obvious that they would not hesitate to run straight through him if he did not move.

'With this, it is quite obvious that they are being chased by someone, or at least, something. So even if I do somehow manage to evade them, there is no guarantee that I would be safe from whatever is chasing behind them. I can't see it because of the dust, but if it can do this to a herd of tremor boars, then it must be considerably powerful.' Levi said to his partner.

Grim responded with the mental equivalent of a nod before saying; 'You do have a point.'

'So then, what are you going to do about these guys? Please don't tell me your just goona charge straight at them like an idiot.' Grim said with his incorporeal fingers locked. His existence was connected to Levi's now, and he had no plans to die because of a reckless action on the part of his host.

'Of corse not. I am not an idiot.' Levi replied simply as his eyes observed his surroundings swiftly. Taking in the entire scenary in an instant, Levi processed the information just as quick and it did not take long for an idea to sprout in his mind. A wide grin appeared on his face.

Sensing Levi's happines through their telepathic link, Grim did not waste any time in reading Levi's mind. The information was easily accesible as Levi did not bother keeping it from his partner. There was no point in doing so.

'This...might actually work.' Grim chipped in after going through what his partner had in mind. At the positive reply, Levi's grin widened as he stared at the horde of tremor boar that charged towards him without a single care in the world apart from escaping from whatever it is that was giving them chase.

Seeing as the enemy was steadily and quickly approaching his position, Levi initiated the plan. He had thought of an idea which was crazy enough that it just might work, all that was left was for him to execute it.

'Alright then...Let's get started.' Levi said inwardly then ran forward with cautious, but purposeful and firm steps.