Altair ran through the hook grass before her. The grass itself had started to scratch and cut into her as she ran recklessly forward. Behind her, the bubble thing had already moved around the tree and was catching up to her fast.

Her short legs were no match for the sheer size of that creature's gait.

Now that the creature was actively running after her, Altair could actually hear its movements. It was a disgusting skittering sound with every step it took. The closeness of the sound caused Altair to look over her shoulder, just in time to see the creature sending one of its legs toward her in an obvious attempt to skewer her.

She muttered a curse and shifted to the side in time for the leg to impale the ground where she would have been. Her heart pounded at the realization that her instincts couldn't be trusted to judge an opponent due to her not having the power she had when she honed them.

'Not good, can't keep running like this. I'll just end up dead.'

She didn't even stumble as she pushed herself forward. Knowing that she couldn't outrun the thing and that she would only be waiting to die if she kept running out in the open, she headed for the nearest tree.

Altair kept looking over her shoulder as she made her way to the tree. She ducked under one attack from the beast, and rolled to the side on another. When the creature used both of its front legs to attack at the same time, she quickly burned some Mana to create a shadow pole and used it to push herself high enough in the air that the attacks passed under her. Upon landing, she immediately dismissed the pole so that it wouldn't continue to drain her precious Mana.

At that time, she arrived at the tree and ducked around it. With her breathing ragged, she wondered, 'How exactly do I get rid of this thing? I can't outrun it, so does that mean I have to kill it? But that giant's attacks only staggered it and didn't do any real damage, so what-'

Altair's thoughts were interrupted as the bubble thing pierced through the tree with both of its legs at once. She clicked her tongue before dashing away towards the next tree. As she went by the legs that now impaled the ground, she created a shadow dagger and attempted to cut into its legs. She only managed to scratch it before she dismissed it.

The results caused her to frown. Without Body Reinforcement Magic, she lacked the strength to cut through its limbs. If she used her Shadow Magic and Body Reinforcement Magic, then her Mana would last for maybe three hits, if she was fast. That wouldn't be enough to do anything except get herself killed.

The tree she left split open just like the last one and the bubble thing gave chase to her.

Altair looked over her shoulder as it came dashing towards her and, just as she was about to reach the tree, she saw the thing rear back as it had done with the giant before and her eyes widened in horror. The creature lurched forward and spewed that green goop towards her.

Altair gritted her teeth and burned a chunk of her Mana to create a shield the size of a door on her arms. She jumped forward while turning to face the incoming attack and held the door before her, covering more than her entire body. The goop slammed into her shield with disgusting noises before Altair could brace herself. She stumbled backwards under the pressure and the moment the pressure eased up, she let the Magic go while turning to continue running. The goop that had stuck to the shield she created fell to the ground as she left it behind.

She had burned the last of her Mana on that shield.

The bubble thing only paused briefly before it continued to chase after her.

Altair ducked behind the tree but didn't stop running. She knew the tree would probably get destroyed as soon as the creature got to it so she might as well move to the next one immediately. She didn't want to get sprayed on again because she wouldn't be able to defend herself, even if she Overdrafted.

'So, that giant's punches didn't do anything to that weird head it has. It's like a bubble from that bath orb that Donel showed me, so why is it able to take such hard hits?'

Just as Altair had predicted, the tree she had left was pierced in the same way and split in the same as the previous two times. But Altair was already ducking behind another tree when the creature caught sight of her next.

She still didn't stop there though. Even though she was gasping for air and her legs felt like iron, she kept running for the next tree.

The creature reared back while running towards her and sprayed over the tree she had left behind, causing it to rapidly wilt and melt, collapsing in on itself.

Altair didn't see it as she hid behind the next tree before it could see her. Her covered her mouth and breathed hard to try and catch her breath. She looked down at her legs, which she could barely feel right now, and saw that her skirt was in tatters and she was bleeding from dozens of cuts on her thighs. She couldn't feel the pain from them due to how tired her legs were, but she did wonder how much longer she could keep running like this. It seemed that everything was against her right now in her struggle to survive against that strange creature.

Despite being in such a dangerous situation, Altair found her mind wandering to when she relaxed in the bath. The pleasant floral scents filling the air, the warm and relaxing water enveloping her whole body, the bubbles from the bath orb popping when she poked them..

Altair's brow furrowed as she came up with a potentially disastrous idea. But she had no other options other than to wait and be skewered or try this foolish idea.

She took a deep breath before she turned to face the tree behind her and started climbing it. She did not climb it like before where she hugged her way up. Instead, she stuck her fingers into the tree and created her own handholds to climb up with. It was a faster way of climbing, which Altair really wanted right now. She didn't know how much time she had before that creature found her again.

She was also already tired before she even started climbing. This made it harder for her to climb as every step of the way up caused her great difficulty just to muster the strength to continue. Her legs were shaking before she even made it up halfway.

She still had yet to hear the creature though. It seemed that it was being stealthy again as it hunted around for her. She was sure it was still hunting for her though. It was persistent enough to find her before when she had lost it so it was a safe bet to assume that it would continue to try and track her down.

Altair only needed to get up to the upper quarter of the tree for her to be at the level she wanted to be at before it found her. If she could get that far then her preparations would be complete.

Unfortunately for her, just as she passed the halfway point of the tree, the creature's legs came piercing through just below her feet. A shiver ran up Altair's spine when she saw it. If she had been a bit slower she would have been impaled just like the tree.

She gulped hard as she saw the cracks start to spread on the bark and cursed mentally. 'It's too soon. I'm not up high enough.'

The tree started to split apart rapidly and Altair was forced onto one side of the split. As she was forced over, she saw the top of the bubble thing five meters above her. It was still too far to land on it.

She gritted her teeth as she came up with a modified idea. She would only have once chance at it, but it would hurt a lot more than she had planned before.

She sucked in a deep breath and burned Mana she didn't have to create a spear in her hands. Her body immediately shook as pain attacked her from all over. The amount was far less than what she took when she used her Teleportation Mana to escape, however the pain would only increase with every passing second as it the Magic she used was a continual burn Magic type.

Though Altair created a spear, it was more like a straight stick with a pointy end than an actual spear. It was still perfectly balanced in her hand but it lacked a spearhead to cut the Mana cost by even a small amount. She had to make cuts wherever she could since she was burning away her Life instead of her Mana.

'I'm not close enough," Altair decided as she looked up at the creature. With only one shot, she wanted to get closer to make sure that her attempt was a success, even if it didn't work as she was hoping to. She had to maximize her chance.

She placed the butt end of the spear onto the split wood that was starting to tilt over and used it as extra leverage to leap towards the bubble thing.

The bubble thing reared back in response as Altair adapted herself into a throwing position in midair.

She got one meter closer to the creature and mentally cursed, 'Still not enough. I can't throw that far with my natural strength.' She bit her lip, 'Fine then, I'll give it everything to gamble for the chance.'

Altair burned more Mana she didn't have and her vision turned red as she felt a horrifically painful headache. Her eyes, nose, and ears had started to bleed, creating a grisly visage on her child-like face.

Her body was filled with energy in response though. She felt lighter, stronger, and faster, even though she felt like her body was coming apart at the same time.

She tossed the spear at the top of the bubble thing. As the creature started to lurch forward, it pierced into its top and with a loud *pop* the top of itself burst open, spraying out green goop all around it.

Fortunately for Altair, it didn't reach as far as she was.

The spear continued through the creature and went a few meters further before it dissipated into nothing.

Altair started to fall to the ground as gravity took complete hold over her. She had stopped using all of her Magic but the pain still remained and darkness was creeping over her mind.

'Used too much, not going to stay conscious for long. This is bad, if something comes along..'

Altair felt weightlessness as he vision went dark. Then she felt something warm envelope her and heard a man's voice say, "Sheesh, children these days are so reckless."