Accidental Champion of Earth - Chapter 26 - Don’t Get Yourself Killed

Xavier whipped around and faced all thirty-five level 10 Black Pumas. Fear welled up inside him. Instincts, ancient and primal, begged him to run. But other instincts were forming inside Xavier. Ones that told him to fight. To stand his ground. There were the very same instincts that had gotten him through the quest with the goblins.

If he had run, if he had hidden, it never would have put him in this position. He never would have gained those titles. He wouldn’t be anywhere near this strong.

Alright, Xavier. You did this to yourself. Now let’s make sure it pays off and you don’t get yourself killed.

The closest of the Black Pumas leapt high into the air. Twice as high as Xavier was tall. It bore down on him like an eagle swooping at a field mouse. Xavier gritted his teeth, his Willpower attribute doing the heavy lifting in that moment.

Hold.

The other Black Puma’s surrounded him. They didn’t all come from one direction like the first batch that he’d fought. There were simply too many of them for them to be able to cluster in that close, especially considering how damned big they were.

It also means they won’t all be able to attack me at once.

He felt a prickle at his back. Heard their paws padding through the underbrush. The low rumble of their roars.

Hold.

As Xavier had been running, he’d flung a Heavy Telekinesis spell off to the side, felling several trees in the process, so he could check how long its current cooldown was, as the last time he’d used it he’d gained a level—refreshing all his spells—and hadn’t had a chance. The cooldown had gotten all the way down to three seconds, something he hadn’t thought would be possible for a long, long time.

The Black Puma soaring through the air roared, claws outstretched and ready to rip him apart. It was inches away.

Now!

Spiritual Trifecta engulfed Xavier in a silver light that bloomed, alighting  the small patch of dark forest he stood in, casting shadows of all the monsters he was fighting over the nearby trees.

Xavier loosened his grip on his staff, not wanting to hold it too tightly, and smashed the head of it straight into the skull of the Black Puma. It went down like a sack of potatoes, the kill notification popping up instantly, though Xavier was becoming adept at ignoring those while in the middle of battle.

As he’d run, capturing the aggression of more and more of these big cat beasts, Xavier had thought through his fighting strategy. Spiritual Trifecta was his biggest chance at winning this battle, and he didn’t want to squander a single second of it. Though he hadn’t been struck by one of these Black Puma’s yet, he was sure enough to risk his life that the spell would be strong enough to protect him from their claws and fangs.

It was after the spell wore off—a spell that last time he’d used it, lasted only five seconds—that he was less sure of. I’ve already gained 4 points in Spirit since then. Maybe it will last longer.

The first level 10 Black Puma down, Xavier whipped his staff around and slammed it straight into the head of another leaping for his back. The beasts were fast, but he was faster even without the spell active. With it? They didn’t stand a chance.

Two down. Only thirty-three to go.

It almost felt like Xavier’s body was taking over. Gaining the skill of Staff Mastery and all those hours of solitary practice in the days leading up to this made every movement seem natural. If this is what it’s like with the skill at Rank 1, I can’t imagine what it will be later.

He kept a fraction of his attention on the countdown timer in the corner of his vision, working from the assumption that Spiritual Trifecta would only last five seconds. In two seconds, he’d already taken down three of the Black Pumas.

Xavier grinned as they clustered in close around him. He cast Heavy Telekinesis on his left flank, flinging about a dozen of the cats. Before the beasts could hit the nearby trees or slam into the ground, he was already cracking the skull of another of the beasts.

Though now that he’d shown a bit of his power, the Black Pumas—like the Lesser Goblins before them—were showing hints of hesitation. Xavier gritted his teeth, waiting for Heavy Telekinesis to refresh its cooldown. He didn’t know how skittish these beasts would become, and in all the time that he’d been formulating this plan he hadn’t considered what he might do if the monsters actually ran away from him.

They could scatter around the forest and hide from me. They probably have excellent hearing and they’re as black as the night that might very well permanently blanket this place. He’d have to go hunting for his prey, and that could take a long time if he wasn’t lucky about it—especially since he knew absolutely nothing about tracking wild animals.

So he couldn’t let any of them get away.

Three more Black Pumas went down while he was waiting for his spell to refresh, and he could hardly believe he’d almost taken down halfof them before the Spiritual Trifecta spell ran out.

The instant Heavy Telekinesis was ready again—the silver sheen of his other spell still enveloping him—Xavier cast it on his right flank, picking up maybe four more of the big cat beasts. The roars that had filled the air were replaced with yelps as they were yanked straight off their feet. He wished he would have been able to use the spell on more of them, like he had the first time he’d cast it during this battle, but the Black Pumas were far more spread out than they had been even seconds ago.

Xavier had lost count of the number of beasts he’d slain during this encounter, and he didn’t exactly have the time to count his notifications, but as far as he could tell maybe thirteen of the Black Pumas remained.

He swept his staff around, trying to strike the nearest of the beasts, but it leapt out of the way before his staff could make contact.

As he missed the strike, that was the moment that Spiritual Trifecta ran out. A sudden weakness took over every limb and every inch of Xavier. His legs, which had been extended in a lunge, threatened to falter.

Before he could steel himself, one of his legs did falter. That’s when the atmosphere around him shifted. The dozen or so Black Pumas that surrounded him no longer had any hint of hesitation in their posture. They were predators, and they could tell when their prey was vulnerable.

Xavier felt sluggish and slow without the spell active. Felt half as strong as he was before, even though he knew that wasn’t quite true. He didn’t hear a roar behind him. The pounce was soft. Quiet as a feather touching down. It was the thud when the Black Puma slammed into his back that was loud.

Xavier tumbled to the dirt. He might have been able to press the weight of the massive beast over his head like he could with the vending machine, but that didn’t mean he could take the weight slamming into his back and keep standing—especially when he wasn’t braced for it.

Something in his back crackedand a pain like nothing he’d ever felt stabbed at him. He had a sneaking suspicion that something in his spine had just given way. He knew he had quite a lot of Toughness for his level, but that didn’t mean it could withstand the onslaught from several level 10 Black Pumas tearing into him.

In fact, he was quite sure it couldn’t withstand such a thing, especially since he wasn’t wearing a lick of armour.

Nothing about his plan included him being taken to the ground.

Burning lines of pain alighted all over his back as something slashed deep into him. Not something. The beast’s dagger-sized claws.

He stifled a scream at the intense pain. His staff was still clutched tight in his right hand. His face had been slammed straight into the dirt and he could hear the sound of the roars from the other beasts approaching, ready and eager to feast on him, to pay him back for all of their brethren he’d just slaughtered.

Another slash. Another bite of burning pain. His health was falling fast. He tried to push himself up off the ground, knowing he should be strong enough to, but another weight slammed into his back.

No no no. I am not going to die here! He tried to cast Spiritual Trifecta, though a part of him knew he wouldn’t be able to.

Spiritual Trifecta has a cooldown of 15 seconds. It cannot be used for another 8 seconds.

Xavier finally let the pain he was feeling out, releasing a yell louder than the roars of the Black Pumas. They tore into him again and again and he wasn’t exactly sure how he was still alive.

No. No. No. I’m not going to give up!

So many times since the System had come, he’d thought he would meet his death. When he stood across from a Navy Seal holding an M4A1 carbine assault rifle. When he’d first been injured by the Lesser Goblin that had leapt at him with a bloody sword. When he’d been fighting those eighteen goblins and they’d gotten him to the ground—just like these damned pumas had gotten him to the ground.

And right now. When his health was lower than it had ever been.

I got myself into this mess. I’m going to get myself out of it!

Your health is at 1%.