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So Oli shared his new nighttime strategy and got to work with Yeter. Together, they replaced the broken ice walls with stone walls. Then, they build a hut out of rock with walls leaning inward to support a stone roof with a few angled ventilation holes. It was small but it retained heat better than their impromptu mountain cave and at least offered some means of immediate protection. That way it was impossible to immediately attack the team without something giving away the attackers.

While everyone was gathered around the fire and enjoying the trapped heat, Oli took out a few corked flasks. “We still have three each, correct?”

Everyone nodded.

“Zelsh said the first flask will force our bodies to replenish essence reserves within seconds. But warned to only take one every five days. Taking a second in that time frame will only be half as effective and we’ll feel the pain of over-bulging veins. He didn’t even say what taking a third would be like…” Oli sighed while reminding the team, “Make sure to not forget about these. We’ve already lost our one permitted team member, so we’ll have to rely on these for now. Only take it if we get ambushed during recovery but don’t hesitate. The moment anyone dares disrupt our rest, drink one. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” the team replied in unison, accepting the clearly stated order.

Oli added, “As for the night watch, I’ll watch until daybreak. Then, I’ll wake Fulkar to take my place. You don’t need to wake up at the usual time. Right now, focus on recovery unless we’re under attack. So get some rest.”

While the rest of the team fell asleep, Oli was tempted to enter his soul jade to speed up his essence recovery. But he instantly denied that thought. It would be asking for them to get ambushed if no one was left to keep watch of the surroundings. So Oli would return to that thought after Fulkar and the others could take over guard duty.

Instead, Oli sat cross-legged and retrieved two peak-elder cores, one earth and one darkness. That was the next best option for Oli to safely recover his essence.

.....

However, though Oli’s strategy for recovery was good, he wasn’t given much time to enact it.

Crunch! Crunch!

One of the camp’s outer walls burst open without any warning, startling the entire party. They hadn’t even rested for half an hour but the team was already back on its feet.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Oli and yeter broke their hut apart without a second thought. They needed an all-around visual of the situation and a fast way for everyone to get out of the cramped space, especially when everyone could sense what was likely about to happen.

The whole team also downed their first flask of essence elixir, apart from Oli. He was running on about forty percent of his essence after greedily absorbing those cores with a focus on speed over efficiency. That caused him to absorb less than thirty percent of what otherwise would’ve been available within the cores, but wasting a few cores was a cost Oli was more than happy to make up.

Running past the broken wall, Oli and the others saw another team start coming into view. It also only had four members left. And Oli quickly realized that something was off.

The attacking team was injured and half of its team members ran as if on the cusp of being critically injured. They were barely strong enough to keep moving. And the other team’s trajectory wasn’t on a collision course with Oli’s team. The other team was now running for a different wall. And they were… terrified.

Crunch! “I’M SORRY!”

In the blur of the storm, it was hard to make out which team it was since they didn’t dare to get close before breaking past another wall. But that lone shout sent a shock through Oli’s and Yeter’s minds as they recognized that voice without hesitation.

Yet, before Oli could say anything to his team, a new pressure abruptly overtook their surroundings.

“Get ready to defend yourselves!” Oli yelled out of instinct, making sure no one was drowned in the pressure and left lacking.

It was at that moment that Oli’s senses started screaming at him, giving Oli a clear reminder of where in actuality he had felt that same pressure in the past.

“A Frost-fang Panther…”

“Oh! You know my species!” an excited voice resounded through the air. A few seconds passed with Oli’s team gripping their weapons, staring into the storm until something finally came into view. It was walking casually, not caring whether it was seen or not. Standing on all four legs, the beast was about three krin tall and its blue fur was striking to see with streaks of white and grey. “Now I know how you sensed me back on the mountain. Because you’ve been hunted by my kind and survived, right?”

Nodding slowly, Oli silently recalled an event from his childhood. While still young and without a core, he had been tracked by a wandering Frost-fang Panther and was made into a fleeing plaything for the panther until his Uncle Rathe finally found Oli. Then, after the panther fled from the fight, it unluckily assumed Rathe was the strongest clan member and that the clan was unguarded in Rathe’s absence. That led to Oli finding the soulless panther husk his father had left behind.

But for Oli, the most important part of that memory was learning about his father’s abilities for the first time and the in-depth discussion the father-son duo had afterward. Oli had forgotten what it had felt like to be hunted and played with by the eccentric panther.

“Yeah. I’ve met one of your kind before…” Oli replied calmly. He didn’t let his old memories of young fear overtake him. “And I would prefer that we part ways without any trouble, just like what happened in the past.”

“Well, that’s where our problem lies, doesn’t it?” the panther teasingly chuckled, staying fifteen krin from the team in order to barely give them a clear view of the beast’s fearsome frame. “I appreciated the caribou you left me last time, so I let you all go and started searching for a new team to become my prey. But who would’ve guessed that fate would bring you back to me… And you’ve just defeated the area’s wolf pack, right? Too bad you’re not in peak condition with a missing member, but I’ll still enjoy facing someone that met my kind and lived to tell the tale.”

Oli didn’t bother offering more food. The panther’s intentions were incomparably clearer than the stormy sky. “... You know about the shrine and the qualifier?”

Nodding, the panther remarked, “I know that every few decades a contest of sorts is held here. And since I get bored, I’ve started making a game out of it. For each contest, I hunt at least one team in search of entertainment. Then, after I have my fill, I go back to my lazy life. What else can I do to stay motivated apart from finding a good challenge? You understand, right?”

“For that other team, did you kill the missing member or did they get away?” Oli asked.

“They got away, sadly. I would’ve kept chasing them too, but of all the teams it happened to be you they dumped me on. Since it’s fated to fight you, I decided to let them go and enjoy the free entertainment they’ve provided,” laughed the panther, taking a step closer to the Oli. “Is there anything else you’d like to do before we fight? Oh, do you all have those elixirs too? If so, please drink up! I want a fun fight, not a pushover.”

But Oli eyed the pather with a questioning gaze. “... What are you? You don’t feel like a perennial, but feel different than any mortal beast I’ve met.”

The pather’s eyes spread even wider. “Oh… So you’ve met a perennial of my kind? And you can tell the difference? That’s all the more reason we’re fated to have fun… I’m what some call a pseudo-perennial. A beast that has one foot in the divine class but is still trapped in a mortal husk. How tragic is that?”

“I see. So you seek challengers with the hope to use them as a stepping stone for a full breakthrough… So it’s absolutely impossible to talk our way out of this…” Oli regretfully sighed while lifting his mace. “In that case, I have no more questions… Let’s get this over with.”