Chapter 7 Against Shadow Fox

"Why did it have to be a shadow fox?"
In the sudden fight-or-flight situation, adrenaline began coursing through my blood. My heart intensely pounded against my chest, my muscles contracted and my pupils enlarged.
It felt like my body was brimming with energy and I could now see a little better in the darkness. I would have been happy about these changes if not for the fact the shadow fox might have noticed me.
Even running away was proving to be difficult. The roots entangled with each other while the ground was very uneven. It made running at my full speed difficult.
I was regularly glancing behind while running.
"It doesn't look like it's following me."
The trees looked peaceful while the branches swayed due to occasional breezes.
Still, I didn't want to take any chances and kept running toward the edge of the cliff.
I was planning to go down the cliff using the chains. Although it was dangerous it was still better than dealing with a Shadow fox.
If I went down it won't be able to follow me. At least that was what I hoped.
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As I ran while looking downwards, to make sure I didn't trip, I noticed that my shadow was distorted.
"A tail..." Slowly, I looked above.
My eyes met a yellow pair of beastly eyes. Seeing them my throat tightened and my breath stifled.
Due to the darkness, the only thing I saw was its eyes. Just as I understood what I saw I jumped sideways.
Standing up I saw it, the shadow fox was now only a few feet away. And it was looking at me with a twinkle in its eyes.
Its black fur didn't even shine a bit under the moonlight, almost as if it sucked the light.
Seeing its leisure attitude I realized. It was letting me run so that it could enjoy its hunt.
I rose to my feet and gripped my spear tightly as I looked at the shadow fox.
With the adrenaline rush, my mental concentration was now at its peak.
Now that a fight was unavoidable I knew I couldn't give it the chance to use darkness. So I did what I could do.
I sprinted straight toward the shadow fox!
Arriving near it, I thrust my spear forward. But before I could even speak my skill's name, the shadow fox swung its claw and deflected my spear upwards.
With a flash, the shadow fox clawed at my chest.
My hands were still in the air and its claws were going to reach me before I could defend myself.
This situation was similar to what had happened with the Greenhorn rabbit when I couldn't defend myself due to my own momentum.
But this time I had a way out.
"Pierce!" I activated the skill to stop the momentum and the added weight helped me to quickly swing the spear downwards.
Since the attack was abrupt the shadow fox couldn't be able to avoid this attack.
I was hoping that this attack would be enough to fatally damage the shadow fox.
CLANG-!
But again my hopes were easily betrayed. It blocked my attack with its tail!
Before I could think anything else, the shadow fox moved its tail, and slashed with it at my chest. The attack had enough force to throw me a few feet away.
"Cough…cough…"
I could feel my shirt getting dampened, along with a stinging sensation on my upper body.
Despite the pain, I didn't dare stay lying and quickly combed my surroundings with my eyes.
"Dammit."
But the shadow fox was no longer there. It had vanished from my sight.
Seeing this, I knew I was in a desperate situation.
Tightening my grip, I realized that the spear had fallen away earlier. I hurriedly glanced at my surroundings and dashed towards the spear.
I knew that this wasn't enough to defeat the shadow fox, so I decided to take a gamble.
RUSTLE-! RUSTLE-!
The sound of bushes and branches rustling came from every direction, making it difficult to pinpoint its exact location.
Nevertheless, I tried to concentrate so as not to lose focus.
With my vision adapted, I was able to see better at night. But it was still not enough to find the shadow fox.
Suddenly, I swung my spear at a black shadow I saw from the corner of my eyes.
CLANG-!
Unexpectedly, it was met with resistance, the tail to be exact.
But as I looked for the shadow fox, I realized that it was not there. My eyes followed the tail and realized it went behind me!
Twisting my torso with as much force I could muster, I hurriedly swung my spear at the back.
CLANG-!
It clashed with the claws of the shadow fox with a heavy sound.
My hands began shaking as I tried to stop the attack and push the shadow fox back. But both of us remained at an impasse.
Still, I knew that it was only momentary. The shadow fox would soon overpower me even if I did not attack with its tail.
Now was the time.
I flicked my wrist against all the resistance.
I could hear a popping sound from my right wrist. Yet, I kept pushing. Gritting my teeth, I tried to stay focused amidst the onslaught of pain.
The tip of the spear was now pointing at the face of the shadow fox.
"PIERCE!"
Abruptly, the tip increased in length and shot straight towards the head of the beast.
PUCHI-!
My attack successfully connected.
But I wasn't able to bring the shadow fox down. The shadow fox was able to save its head by tilting it at the last second.
Now the spear was logged in its shoulder.
Before I could do anything else, I met with the consequences of my earlier action.
Abruptly turning my wrist caused the deadlock to break, and the shadow fox easily overpowered me.
As I was not in the correct posture I fell with the shadow fox atop me.
Its claws which were above my chest dug and further blighted my wounds.
Blood flowed more profusely and I began feeling lightheaded.
The shadow fox triumphantly stood above me as if declaring that its hunt was complete.
But even through the agonizing pain I still tried to concentrate and maintain my focus.
'Please work.'
I raised my hand and it barely reached the shadow fox's abdomen.
Seeing my futile struggles, it was as if the shadow fox decided that its prey could no longer entertain it.
It brought its tail near me. The silver tip of the tail was shining menacingly under the moonlight.
But before it could attack me I moved.
VUPP-!
"Pie…rce."
The blade of the dagger that suddenly appeared in my hand elongated and pierced its heart.
Slowly its eyes lost their shine and its blood began seeping down the blade.
The beast fell over me and a string of notifications appeared in my visions.
[Congratulations, you have killed a Lvl.4 Shadow Fox. You have gained 75 exp.]
[You have leveled up]
'Pierce' was a skill that elongated the blade of my weapon. The description never said I have to use only a spear. This was a misconception on my part as I was only focused on using the spear.
Fortunately, I had only noticed this fact during the time I was going over my status at the clearing.
Still, this move was a gamble. On top of making sure that the shadow fox was as close as possible, I had to concentrate to circulate my Aura and bring the dagger out.
Thankfully, due to the constant use of dimensional ring throughout the day, I was able to bring the correct object out.
I began trying to push away the dead shadow fox lying on top of me.
The shadow fox corpse was heavy and the pain wasn't helping much. Whenever I tried to move my arms the pain flared.
I took breaths as I tried stifling my groans.
"I need.. to get away."
The most dangerous thing about Shadow foxes wasn't their ability to hide in darkness or use their tough tails to attack.
It was the fact that once you killed even a single one of them the other shadow foxes would begin hunting.
I didn't know if they did so for a fun hunt or for revenge. Nor did I care at the moment.
The only thing I knew was that there might be a shadow fox in the vicinity. And this meant that I had to run away quickly.
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