Everyone gasped in fright and after sniffing the air, Javier whispered, "Hide!"
"Where?!" Kailu panicked. Other than rolling around in the mud, or throwing himself into a dubious looking bush he had no idea.
The four Werewolves gave him his answer as they frantically climbed the trees like a bunch of monkeys on steroids. The presence of Ikaris and Malia faded as they triggered their Stealth Spark and they too climbed the tree branches in a few nimble acrobatics.
Ruvaen then showed all the feather-light footwork and nimbleness of the elves, running vertically up the trunk of the tree in front of him and leaping several feet into the air to reach a high branch as his inertia was beginning to wane.
Soon, only a distraught Kailu was left on the ground.
'How the fuck am I supposed to climb so fast?' He cursed inwardly. He had no claws and no experience as a climber.
But most of all, he had a phobia of heights and was easily dizzy. The result of a traumatic fall in early childhood.
Vreeevreevree!
Another blood-curdling roar of a completely different nature from the previous high-pitched howl stirred his insides and he momentarily forgot all his other fears and considerations.
Summoning his courage, he launched himself at a tree, hugging its trunk like a koala bear. Somehow he managed to pull himself up a few feet, but at that moment he made the fatal mistake of looking down.
Kailu immediately closed his eyes and stood still, hugging the tree trunk with all his might.
'What the hell is that stupid human doing? Is he trying to get us killed?" Ruvaen asked telepathically. Like Magnus, he had retained that ability.
Ikaris wasn't sure what to do, but another high-pitched howl much closer made him turn his head to the northwest. At that moment, he saw them: A prey and its pursuer.
Or rather, a Demonic Beast and a humanoid creature consisting of a black bone skeleton missing an arm and some rotting flesh. An Undead.
But this skeleton was very different from what Liam had described to him. This thing definitely couldn't be killed by just anyone.
The beast being chased was a sort of hybrid between a giraffe and an argentinosaurus, but without the herbivorous side. This animal with sharp fangs and claws as long as swords had a neck long enough to reach the leaves of the highest branches of this forest and a flexible tail ending in a long club capable of smashing anything at over 200 kilometers per hour.
In front of the flabbergasted expression of his companions, Ikaris jumped from his tree, flailing in the air for several interminable seconds before sliding heavily down Kailu's trunk. With his eyes still closed, the Healer didn't see his Lord's backside coming dangerously close to his head.
Bam!
Both men fell to the ground and as Kailu stifled a grunt of pain, completely stunned, Ikaris leapt to his feet and grabbing the aristocrat by the collar of his jacket he sprinted as fast as he could to get out of the way of the Augia's charge.
He may have maintained his Stealth Spell all along, but Kailu did not and the skeleton detected the human's presence despite its limited intellect.
"Vrevrevre!" Its jaw squeaked oddly, as if rejoicing, and on all fours, it took its bearings and leapt without hesitation from the back of its previous victim to gallop off in the direction of its future prey.
Glancing behind him, the recollection of a pack of Crawlings chasing him in the middle of the night in the jungle overlapped with that of the Skeleton.
"Damn it! You think I'm going to let you eat us? You're dreaming!"
Ikaris drew his sword and tossed the dazed Healer into the high grass. As expected, the Undead ignored him and suddenly changed direction and pounced on the tantalizing Kailu.
'Perfect.' The teenager licked his lips.
His muscles swelled abruptly and his golden eyes turned orange, then red. Half of his Blood Energy infused his muscles, while his face and overall appearance took on more bestial features. His ears became more pointed and hairy, his jaw moved forward slightly and his spine cracked as his height increased by a few inches.
His arms also grew longer, not to the point of being disproportionate but the difference was noticeable. His black fingernails became long claws and black fur began to grow on his body, starting from his hands.
Semi-Bestial Form! This was the first time he consciously used it. The time he had attacked Malia and Ellie during the night did not count. The transformation was clearly not as impressive, but thanks to it his Strength and Agility tripled, exceeding 25 and 20 points respectively.
This was an impressive value compared to the human Ikaris once was and he could not envision any failure. To give himself the best chance, he also activated his Enhanced Strength(35%) Spell which he had hardly used until now.
His strength increased by another third and as he lunged forward pushing on the ground, the mud beneath him rippled and his silhouette disappeared from his position. A blurred hairy shadow shot across the distance from the Skeleton fixated on his prey in the blink of an eye.
Arriving from behind, his blade slashed horizontally and the skull of the oblivious Undead whirled in the air. With another downward vertical slash, he cleaved what was left of the Undead's skeleton in half.
"It went smoothly ." Ikaris breathed out, quite dazed by his own performance.