The wind felt as if it was pressing against him.

Running with the scraped and dented chest-plate was constraining as hell.

The constant wolf teeth and claws had slowly worn it away.

His bones were knocking, his restricted abs were hindering his breathing and his muscles felt slightly bruised after multiple thrashings.

Half an hour had passed.

'Fuck! I could use Alex right about now.' Eian was bent over holding himself up by leaning on his knees.

He heard howls in the distance.

A large pack of five wolves growled and charged, he held his great-sword at the ready.

The front two jumped at him teeth bared and feet forward.

He side-stepped and timed a perfect cleave, cutting through three front-legs on two wolves.

Both fell to the floor whining, blood splattered everywhere.

Eian reversed his swing and split the face of a third wolf, before feinting a dodge which tricked the fourth wolf and pivoting the other way.

He speared the fifth wolf in it's gut, using it's momentum to disembowel it.

The fifth wolf's weight crashed into Eian and he lost hold of his weapon in its belly.

The fourth wolf returned and bit his already injured arm.

"RRRRRR! Fucker!" Eian clenched his teeth.

Eian grabbed the wolf's neck one-handed against his chest and wrestled for a good grip with his right-arm.

He slowly choked the fourth wolf for a few seconds, it's teeth in his left-arm.

He felt another set of teeth of his left leg, looking he saw a three legged wolf biting it.

Eian finally got a good hold and twisted the fourth wolf's neck with a resounding crack, it twitched and died.

The three legged wolf kept biting his armored leg, he kicked it's face and it jumped at him.

He wrestled with this one as well, but easily broke it's neck as he had both arms free.

He watched his bleeding arm, the blood was flowing only slightly.

The wound had been reopened and worsened.

The deeper teeth marks were less than half a centimeter deep, but the wolves had a lot of teeth and the marks had spread to a wider area.

'Fuck! I hope it doesn't get infected.' Eian felt it itching.

Hunger was gnawing at his belly.

His spirit was recovering at a snails pace.

He didn't have enough to reliably dig deep enough and to reinforce a cave yet.

'Just gotta buy time for that. Fuck!' Eian was mentally exhausted.

Close to nine days of hellish combat with Ul, the bear, that vine-thing and the forest monsters had taken a huge toll.

He felt mentally ready to drop, even though his body was full of vigor.

Not to mention the chest-plate's multiple discomforts, he was considering removing the thing before he got fully stuck in it.

How he wished he could bend metal, although it wouldn't help him till his spirit recovered either way.

'I can't make it to them!' Eian eyed the sky.

He couldn't see the smoke through the forest and darkness.

Running forward in these conditions could just get him lost, if he wasn't already.

He eyed the wolves, they were an abundance of food.

Enough to maybe even survive his next upgrade, which he predicted he practically needed at this point or he would die from monster attacks.

'Shit! I need more time!' Eian cursed.

It was true his spirit was too far gone to realistically dig a cave downwards and protect himself.

He had to keep running and wait a while more, he would most likely encounter other edible monsters trying to kill him anyway.

Even though the thought of eating raw meat sounded distasteful and practically disgusting.

He caught his short breathe quickly and abandoned the dead wolves, running towards where he remembered the smoke had originated.

Another twenty minutes later he heard more noise.

He turned and saw three stags bull rush him, antlers aimed at him.

He readied himself, dodge-rolled left and positioned himself to face the animals.

He ran towards the beasts, as they halted to re-position their next charge.

Eian then gutted a first stag through the belly, it reared it's legs and he tore his sword out.

Another second stag came at him charging and pivoted as he swung low chopping a leg clean off, it went tumbling hard on the floor.

The last stag was slightly behind and he side-stepped-left and caught its major organs near the heart region.

It collapsed dead.

The second injured stag was an easy kill.

Eian kept running he was far too spiritually weak still.

Every noise in the forest had him pent up and almost jumping, his breathing was uncomfortable.

SWOOSH!

'OH FUCK! NO!!!' Eian watched upwards and saw something fly past.

He couldn't get a good look in the darkness, he dropped the horn and lotus.

He ran to the thickest tree he could find and placed his back against it's trunk.

Swoosh!

Eians guts clenched and he grit his teeth, he prepared himself for a brutal fight, and possibly death.

'This is it?' Eian mind raced as he scanned the area.

How could he kill a griffin?

Something the four of them had immense trouble killing?

He doubted he could kill it with rock armor and full spirit.

Swoosh!

A great wing-span was now clearly visibly floating just above the trees.

A huge hawk like bird was screeched it's fury, it was smaller than the griffin by a large margin.

It's torso was perhaps the size of a large lion!

It's wings send torrents of air buffeting Eian.

'Shit! At least it's not a griffin!' Eian struggled for breathe, but his churning guts did not stop.

"CAWWWW!" The bird screeched and it's wings flapped faster.

The winds begun to push him unto the tree.

Eian tried to run around the tree, the bird screeched.

SNAP!

A whip's crackle could be heard, and something thin caught Eian's back, his armor screeched its pain.

The blow pushed him straight forward, stumbling him.

Eian caught himself, raced and hid behind the tree.

"CAWWwwww!" The birds voice drifted upwards.

He checked around for what could have hit him and saw nothing, not even a branch.

SNAP!

Something invisible impacted a tree nearby, gouging a layer and Eain saw chips of wood fly.

It was as if an invisible blade had sliced at it.

Eian was confused for a moment.

"CAWWWWW!" The bird was descending in front of him once more.

Eian watched it fan it's wings waiting for what it would do.

It's wings blurred forward.

SNAP!

The wind rushed, leaves blew away, Eian was forcibly shoved backwards and his chestplate forcefully screeched once more!

'WIND?!' Eian stared disbelieving at his chest-plate, it had scrapped thin lines through his chest-plate.

Eian began to sweat, despite the breeze, without his armor that would have torn his thick skin!

SNAP!

More slices crashed into Eian gouging more thin lines!

He couldn't take too many!

His armor would eventually tear!

Eian ran around the tree again.

"CAWWWwwww!" The birds screech ascended.

Eian ran and paid attention to the birds loud flaps.

'Shit what do I do? Its too far up to hit!' Eian racked his brain for ideas.

As soon as the bird descended Eian ran around to the other side.

Eian heard a snap and the trees trunk thudded, but nothing impacted him.

"CAWWWWW! CAWWWW!" The bird howled in fury.

Eian listened as it flew around the tree instead of ascending again.

'Shit!' Eian ran the other direction, the birds screeches followed.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Eian evaded each strike from the beast, unable to realistically think of an idea.

He had no long-ranged attacks!

The bird kept howling and Eian kept running behind trees.

It kept following him constantly.

He heard its swoop by, just as he braced behind the latest tree.

It breezed past him, it's trailing body sent slices all over the place.

'?!!!MAYBE!' Eian thought.

He ran around the tree, as the monster screeched it's fury.

It kept sending snapping wind-slices towards him, but most were taken by the tree.

Once behind Eian sprinted full speed to the next closest tree, hearing it's screeches follow him!

He hid behind its cover, quickly spun and swung the direction he had just passed.

SMACK!

"CAWWWwwww." The bird howled.

His sword sent a heavy-jolt up his arms and went flying!

He had caught the beasts wing, tearing deeply!

His joints ached as he saw the beast skidding across the floor in a tumble of feathers.

Eian drew his useless mace with no other options and rushed the bird!

It lay in a tumbled of agonized pain, struggling to right itself upwards.

Eian didn't give it a chance, he brained it.

He bashed it's skull, even as it's broken wings attempted to protect it.

He kept smacking until its skull resembled a blended pizza of bone and gore, with a beak at the center.

'Fuck!?' What's next? A... no never mind. No more jinxing....' Eian somberly thought.

Eian was breathing heavily.

He looked at his battered chest-plate, it now sported many thin lines through-out and he wasn't sure how much more useful it could be.

The rest of his armor sported a few, but no other part held more than the chest-plate.

He looked at his great-sword, it seemed the heavy-impact had broken the very tip off.

Though it could probably still pierce partially.

'Fuck.' Eian sighed, things weren't looking good.

His spirit-well was not even a fourth full yet, perhaps an eight.

He looked around recovered the unicorn horn and the dead lotus once more.

He kept running, the wind had visibly stilled.

'Hopefully those things stop coming!' Eian prayed.

His prayer went unanswered a while later.

A monstrous cat appeared howling at him.

It pounced and Eian barely dodged, he was surprised by it's appearance.

He gathered himself and dodged another pounce, but swung at it's front leg.

It sliced a deep cut on it and the cat yowled.

Eian reoriented himself and looked at the cat.

It was eyeing him it ran forward and Eian timed his attack.

He pivoted and hastily swung at it's face, it didn't kill only half-blind.

The cat's weight almost tore his sword from his grip, he missed the vital part.

"GROOOOOOOOOO!" Cat.

The cat was bleeding from its blinded eye and was swiping it's claws to keep him at bay.

Eian chopped at it's front-paws, though he couldn't cleave through it's thickness.

It pounced at him, he ducked and stabbed it's belly.

The broken tip lazily pierced and gutted the beast, though it's weight landed wholly atop Eian.

"GROrrrrRAgrA!" The cat thrashed, swiped and bit at Eian.

From beneath Eian twisted the sword and dragged it sideways inside the beasts belly.

The cat crawled away and it's bleeding intestines spilled on the ground.

Eian got up and chopped it's neck multiple times beheading it.

'Fuck... I can't keep this up. Forever.' Eian thoughts were getting hazy.

He stared at the ground next to the cat and begun digging slowly.

When he was a few feet under he looked up and saw a wolf jump at him.

He struggled with it within the tiny hole and felt a weight land atop them, then another rendering him almost blinded by their piled bodies.

He broke the neck of the first wolf after a vicious struggle and blindly grabbed above himself.

Finding a moving leg he pulled against it's struggles, he felt something bite his injured arm and gritted his teeth.

He felt something on his chest-plate move and fought on despite it.

Wrestling among the wolves he got another good grip and broke a neck.

He struggled to find another living wolf and pushed the dead till he was wrestling with what seemed to be a third wolf.

He killed that one too.

'Fuck!.' Eian was almost blinded by their bodies.

He struggled to move beneath them.

Facing the floor and buried by bodies Eian begun digging deeper.

He heard something land atop their combined bodies and kept digging.