Chapter 124 - 124. How To Dodge
Watching Gil adapt more to moving while aiming at farther targets was interesting. Now that a bit of chaos had been added his usual cool and calm actions became rushed. No one in the party had ever noticed this tendency. His aim had always been very precise, knowing that his aim would Seeger the more stress he was under was very important for walker to know. This problem however was easily fixed, this training idea from Laurence was actually brilliant.
Remey and Gil had similar agility but instead of using hers to dodge Remey seemed to be completely engrossed in attacking targets. When a boar would charge at her she would try to push it back using strength. The choice to do so instead of dodging was completely about her personality. Remey would face things head on instead of avoid them. "Remey save you strength and dodge! If this was a real fight you would get worn out and crushed!" His words weren't the nicest but when it came to Remey being blunt was the safest practice. Naturally he face flushed red in anger, she didn't want anyone to doubt her ability by saying she could loose a fight. The next time the boar charged at her she spun slightly letting it pass by her narrowly. The tongue stuck out at walker was just her extra tough.
Laurence was constantly whispering to Hyde so that he would become more comfortable. Sadly the progress was extremely slow since every time a boar even looked on their direction Hyde curled up. Laurence was just happy he wasn't shooting flaming quills everywhere. When Hyde had first grown quills he would fire them off at anything that made a sound, Laurence had faced many hardships when Hyde accidentally hit one of the other tamers sand tiger. It was not a very becoming sight as Laurence rand from an enraged sand tiger.
Elise and Stella had paired up which was to be expected. They used a unique fighting style where Stella would grab Elise by the shoulder with her talons and lift her up to dodge anything coming their way. Two flaps of Stella's wings was enough to get the pair a few feet in the air. The large drawback seemed to be that it took Stella a lot of energy to carry Elise's weight. Elise wasn't that large of a person but since Stella was a harpy she wasn't made for strength and heavy lifting. Her strength was speed and quick attacks with the ability to retreat.
Laurence constantly glanced at Elise using the current strategy and walker had a feeling he was on the same page as him. Laurence also wanted to see Elise improving herself instead of relying only on Stella for help. The two were a dedicated pair but if one was ever injured their entire strategy would be broken.
Riley was...walker couldn't see Riley anywhere. Shouldn't he be running around too? Turning his head her and there to get a better view of the training field walker eventually zeroed in on the far corner. Riley was seated on the ground snacking on some dried vegetables. He was ready to yell at Riley to join them when he noticed a boat was heading toward Riley already. That would teach hem to be lazy while they all worked!
The boar was heading directly toward Riley with no room for dodging. Miraculously Riley dropped his dried vegetables and glared at the boar. His eyes seemed bloodshot and full of pure rage. Walker could feel some fear build within him even though he was far away. The boar stopped its assault immediately and turned around to charge towards Elise.
Riley must have used a skill from his system! That was not a normal reaction for anyone to have when faced with danger. Not to mention since Riley could tame a wild beast what techniques did he use to do so? They couldn't be the same as other tamers so they must be more wild themselves. Walker had thought his skills would be some grand show of force but instead he had witnessed the piercing glare of an apex predator that would put a wild beast in its place. Walker couldn't think anything poor about Riley's actions. Riley may seem to laze about but he needed to use his system skills to properly curb his tamed beasts from harming even him, hence he needed to face them head on to assert strength and dominance.
Walker had now fallen in to his greatest weakness. He was thinking too much and not paying attention to the tow boars currently coming from opposite sides. He felt the ground vibrate slightly and returned to his senses to see they were going to crush him.
He couldn't fly up above them like Stella and Elise. He couldn't overpower them to hold or deflect them like Remey. Since he lacked a shield he couldn't block and suffer minor damage like Su. He was stuck, if he jumped to the side he could still be grazed. Even worse when the two boars inevitably collided after missing him they would both move the direction he dodged meaning he would have to immediately doge again on unsteady feet.
The pressure of the two bore down on walker who was using his critical thinking skill to the max. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion but that didn't mean his body was any faster. He needed a way to dodge these two and keep dodging. He needed to chain together his movements so they flowed as one constant step.
The system granted him an answer,
' Due to the users perilous situation the skill dance of the wild rabbit has been taken from the tribesman system and automatically learned.'
His body now moved without his consent. He could feel an almost instinctual tug placing his feet and turning his torso. This was almost second nature to him.
The others had noticed walker become cornered and were about to shout and rush over but instead saw something more amazing and strange.