The air in the ruined street was heavy with anticipation. Theo felt the manticore's mana lurking nearby, among the ruins of a large building to their left. It wasn't moving; it was waiting, and that in itself was more unsettling than a direct attack. The silence that followed their discovery of its presence was charged with latent danger.
"It's there," Celia whispered, confirming Theo's sensation. "Inside the remains of that building. Waiting for the right moment to pounce. The manticore is a patient and cunning hunter; it won't attack recklessly unless it feels desperate or extremely enraged."
They advanced very slowly, their eyes and mana senses fixed on the crumbling building. Theo kept his mana flow as continuous and smooth as possible, trying to read any slight change in the manticore's mana, any sign that it was preparing to attack. He remembered Celia's words about his ability to sense the intention of an attack moments before it happened if he mastered the 'flow.' This was the true test of that.
"We can't stay here as easy targets," Celia said after moments of tense silence. "Nor can we easily circle around it in these ruins without exposing ourselves or falling into another ambush. We must force it out, or enter with extreme caution."
Theo looked at the ruined building; entering seemed suicidal. A narrow, dark place, perfect for a manticore ambush. He shook his head slightly, indicating he preferred to force it out.
"A wise choice," Celia agreed. "But how? Provoking it might make it attack recklessly, which could also be dangerous. We need to lure it into a more open area where we have more room to maneuver to dodge its spikes."
Theo thought quickly. How to lure a cunning beast? Bait? They didn't have anything suitable. Noise? That might make it attack directly towards the source. Perhaps... feigning weakness?
Theo pointed to himself, then to the ground in front of him, then made a simple, slightly exaggerated stumble, as if he had been injured or lost his balance for a moment.
Celia looked at him with cold assessment. "A risky plan. It might see through it, or it might attack faster than you can react. But it might succeed in luring it out of its hiding place if it believes you're easy prey. Be ready for anything."
Theo nodded. He took a deep breath, separated from Celia, and moved a little forward until Celia disappeared. Then he deliberately stumbled again, letting out a faint groan and clutching his side where he had been injured previously, as if the pain had returned. He kept his mana flow continuous, but allowed some slight disturbance to appear, to enhance the illusion of weakness.
They waited in tense silence. For seconds that seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. Then, Theo felt a slight change in the manticore's mana. It was no longer completely still; there was hesitation, then cautious curiosity. It began to move slowly inside the ruined building, approaching the opening they were watching.
"It's moving," Celia's voice echoed in his mind. "Get ready."
A massive shadow appeared at the dark opening of the building. Then the creature itself emerged into the dim light of the ruined street. It was larger and more terrifying than its tracks suggested. A powerful lion's body covered in dark brown fur, but the head was disturbingly distorted, bearing vague human features and two small, intelligent eyes gleaming with cold malice. Large leathery wings were folded on its back, and a long, scaly scorpion-like tail rose into the air, its tip bearing a huge, gleaming stinger pulsating with venomous mana.
The manticore looked directly at Theo, who was still feigning false weakness. The creature let out a strange sound, neither a roar nor a hiss, but a disturbing mix of the two, as if trying to assess the prey before it.
"Now!" Celia screamed in Theo's mind. "Move! Lure it into the plaza!"
The moment Celia screamed, Theo abandoned the pretense of weakness. He lunged rapidly towards the open plaza where they had previously found the manticore's tracks, about fifty meters away from them. He didn't run in a straight line, but used the ruins as intermittent cover, slightly changing his direction to appear like a panicked prey attempting to flee.
The manticore was surprised by the sudden change in Theo's speed and demeanor. It let out an angry, frustrated roar, then rushed after him, its powerful claws striking the cracked pavement with a loud thud. It was astonishingly fast on the ground, its muscular body moving with agility and power.
Theo reached the edge of the open plaza and stopped, turning to face the rapidly approaching manticore. The plaza offered more room to maneuver, but it also made him an exposed target for the manticore's spikes.
"Remember the training!" Celia reminded him, having taken a position at the edge of the plaza, ready to intervene if necessary, but leaving the confrontation to Theo for now. "Anticipate the attack! Feel its intention! Use the 'flow'!"
Theo focused, his senses on high alert. He felt the manticore's intent shift as it approached. It was no longer just an angry chase; it was preparing to attack.
The manticore raised its long, scaly tail high, the massive stinger at its tip gleaming ominously. Theo felt the venomous mana gather in that stinger, and he felt the direction it would be launched before the muscles even completed their movement.
The first spike shot out with incredible speed, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound. It wasn't aimed at Theo's chest or head, but at his legs, in an attempt to disable his movement.
But Theo had already begun to move, responding to the muscle movement he sensed. He slipped to the side, using the mana flow to enhance his speed and balance. The venomous spike passed beside him, striking the pavement behind him, creating sparks and a faint ozone smell.
The manticore didn't stop and immediately launched a second spike, targeting where it expected Theo to be after dodging the first. But Theo didn't stay in one place; he kept moving, weaving between the scattered column fragments in the plaza, using them as temporary cover, relying entirely on mana sensing to anticipate the trajectory of incoming spikes.
The manticore launched a third and fourth spike, each targeting a different angle, trying to trap Theo or force him into a mistake. It was like a deadly dance, Theo dodging and weaving, the manticore unleashing a barrage of venomous death.
"Good!" Celia commented in his mind. "You're reading its muscles better. But you can't keep dodging forever. You need to find an opportunity to attack, to close the distance."
Celia was right. Constant dodging was exhausting, and he knew his focus could waver at any moment. The manticore was intelligent, changing its attack timing and angles. Theo noticed that the manticore paused for a very brief moment after every few shots, perhaps to regain its balance or to grow a new spike on its tail.
This was the opportunity he needed.
After dodging another spike that almost grazed his shoulder, Theo felt that short pause in the manticore's muscles. He didn't hesitate and surged forward quickly, using "Shadow Step" to significantly close the distance while the manticore was still in its momentary recovery.
The manticore was surprised by Theo's rapid approach and let out an angry roar, attempting to raise its foreclaws to attack, but Theo was faster, having already reached close range, his two daggers ready.
He didn't aim directly for the head or chest, as those areas seemed well protected by thick muscle and fur. Instead, he targeted the front joints, where the lion-like legs connected to the shoulders, remembering how disrupting movement was effective against orcs and griffins.
He enveloped his right dagger in that concentrated aura of fire and darkness, and stabbed powerfully towards the manticore's right shoulder joint. At the same time, he used his left dagger, shrouded in "Drain Touch," to strike the left shoulder joint, not for damage as much as to try and disrupt the mana flow in that area.
The right dagger pierced with difficulty, and Theo felt the resistance of thick muscle and hide, but the fiery dark aura helped create a deeper wound than the dagger alone would have. The manticore screamed in pain and anger, and Theo felt a clear disturbance in the mana flow from its left side where he struck with the draining dagger.
Theo quickly retreated, dodging a desperate claw swipe from the injured manticore. The creature was now clearly limping on its front right leg, and its movement had become slower and less balanced.
But the manticore hadn't given up. It turned in anger, opening its mouth to reveal multiple rows of sharp, shark-like teeth, and let out a deafening roar. Then, instead of launching more spikes, it lowered its head and charged Theo at immense speed, trying to ram or bite him.
The attack was direct and brutal, relying on brute force and weight. Theo dodged the charge by leaping to the side at the last moment, but he felt the force of the charge shake the ground beneath him.
"Don't let it dictate the pace of the fight!" Celia warned him. "You've wounded it, seize the opportunity!"
As the manticore slowly turned due to its injury, Theo lunged again. This time he targeted its flank, the area that seemed less protected. He used both daggers, trying to inflict as much damage as possible as the daggers struck their target and tore through fur and hide. The manticore roared again, violently twisted and struck with its tail, not with spikes this time, but with the tail itself as a heavy whip.
Theo didn't expect this attack, and the tail hit him hard on his chest and side, he felt a sharp pain as if his ribs had shattered. He flew through the air and landed heavily on the cracked pavement several meters away, gasping for breath.
He saw the manticore turn towards him again, its small eyes gleaming with savage triumph, and its tail rising once more, ready to launch a fatal spike to end it.
Theo felt the pain threaten to overwhelm him.
Theo forced himself to ignore it and to focus, his mana flow was choppy due to the shock and pain, but he pulled it forcefully, concentrating it. He didn't have time to dodge the incoming spike and had to find another solution.
As the manticore launched the spike, Theo didn't try to dodge. Instead, he pushed all his dark mana forward, not as an attack, but as a temporary shield, a wall of solidified shadows that formed in front of him in a fraction of a second.
The venomous spike struck the shadow shield. The shield wasn't strong enough to stop it completely, but it slowed it down and absorbed a large portion of its force and venom. The spike penetrated the shield, but it lost its momentum, and fell to the ground in front of Theo after a blow from his daggers.
The manticore was surprised again; it didn't expect this kind of defense and hesitated for a moment, and this moment was all Theo needed.
Ignoring the excruciating pain in his chest, he lunged forward, exploiting the manticore's hesitation. He jumped onto the creature's back, clinging to its thick fur with one hand, while raising his right dagger, once again enveloped in the aura of fire and darkness, high.
He didn't target the neck or head, but the base of the long, scaly tail, the place where the venomous spikes sprouted. He stabbed with all his might, trying to cut or damage the spike-launching mechanism.
The manticore shrieked a terrifying scream, a mix of pain, rage, and fear, and began to jump and spin violently trying to throw Theo off its back. Theo clung on tightly, feeling the powerful muscles twisting beneath him.
He stabbed again in the same spot, and felt something break or tear under his dagger, the tail stopped rising and threatening, he had probably severely injured it.
But the manticore wasn't done yet. It leaped into the air, using its leathery wings to hover a few meters high, then crashed powerfully to the ground, trying to crush Theo beneath it.
At the last moment, Theo pushed himself off the creature's back, and rolled onto the cracked ground as the manticore crashed, making a loud sound. The creature was severely injured now, and its tail almost paralyzed, but it was still dangerous.
"Failure"
Suddenly, Celia's voice rang out, ending the battle, surprising Theo, who had almost won.
"You took too long to kill a mere juvenile manticore. During your fight, you would have already killed several hundred of these youngsters!"