A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

And then Oliver was off, feeling as confident as he could be that they would be fine alone. With his first step, he sent up a gust of powdery snow, exploding forward, quickly settling into a rhythm.

Here, by the gate, the snow was packed so hard that he was almost like a road. It was a pleasure to run on, as long as one avoided the icier portions that blended in so well with the rest, and offered an easy chance at slipping.

Oliver picked up more speed, pushing himself to his limits. A Konbreaker nest would be his first target. It was at least twenty minutes of good solid running away from the gate, enough to require a man to pace himself, if he wanted to run all the way there. Oliver spared no thought for such logic. Today, he'd test his limits as fully as he was able.

If it proved to be too reckless to sprint as suddenly as he had, then, so be it, he would deal with the repercussions of that later.

He reached speeds that he could never have dreamed of as a child. The trees blurred as he went, thundering down the trail. He'd unhooked his scabbard from his belt almost immediately, and carried it in his hand instead, else the banging of it against his thigh would have quickly proved to be intolerable, but otherwise, he took the trail all but uninterrupted.

It was as straight a stretch as he could hope for. There weren't even any rocks to dodge, as there had been back in the forests of the Black Mountains. All the debris here had been cleaned as best it could, so that the gamekeepers could bring their work sledges down it whenever they needed to.

It took him far longer than he would have expected before he felt that old burn in his lungs, from pushing himself to such a degree. Even then, though, it was not enough to stop him. He could have maintained that pace for another minute or two longer, if he'd had the opportunity, but the road had other plans.

The path that he needed to take branched off from the main flat thoroughfare and snaked off into the trees, its snow far less compact.

The difference was noticeable immediately, as with the first step, it came up towards the midlength of his shin. This particular trail, evidently, hadn't been used in a long time, which did make sense. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire

The gamekeeper had said that in the winter, it was rare for students – or anyone, really – to use the Grand Forest, and if they did come, it would have been unlikely that they'd be capable of hunting Konbreakers.

Forced out of his run, Oliver slowed, and was instead forced to bound. He could have moved more efficiently, if he'd tried to, but with the excess of energy that he had, he didn't worry so much. Inefficient though it might have been, it was far more effective at breaking the trail for his retainers than another style might have been.

He rushed forward, and was soon met by his first enemy out of the trees – a lone Black Wolf. He'd seen its tracks in the snow before he'd seen it. There was blood amongst the snow. It appeared to be wounded, and a long way away from its pack.

Seeing Oliver, it must have supposed an easy kill, for it summoned up the last of its energy, and came charging straight for him on an injured leg, throwing itself through the trees and up towards Oliver's shoulder.

He hardly slowed as he dealt with the beast. He withdrew his sword from his scabbard, and swung in a more fluid motion than he'd ever have attempted to, surprising even himself. He'd never really tried to quick-draw his sword before. It always seemed to be in his hand whenever he needed it.@@novelbin@@

Regardless, the result for the Black Wolf was the same. He cleaved it neatly in two, neatly enough that even a butcher would not have complained, and continued forward, this time without sheathing his sword, as he anticipated more monsters going forward.

And indeed, they came. Not Black Wolves this time, but a lesser creature called Gocks. They were an interesting sort of monster, in that they didn't seem nearly as menacing as the rest. With their round bodies, and somewhat clumsy way of walking, they affected the same sort of innocence as a bear cub – and indeed, they were much the same shape as a bear cub.

Only, where bear cubs walked on all four feet, these creatures stood on two, and where a bear cub had fur, this creature had a cracked and stone-like flesh that was polished to a gleam that caught the sun.

With how innocent they were, and how quiet the woods were, as one went past a Gock, they would almost inevitably do so more defenceless than they would otherwise be, lowering their guards, sensing nothing monstrous from them.

That was when the creatures would destroy a man. Innocent though they may seem, round in their shiny eyes, and their expressionless faces without a single ill intent – but that was mere camouflage as part of a grand façade. When the blow came for Oliver, he was ready for it.

Like a cannonball, the Gock fired its head from its body, straight towards Oliver's chest, perfectly timing the trajectory of its shot with the speed that Oliver was moving at. He met it with a sweep of his sword, and cut it in two, leaving it behind with only a single sideways glance, though his heart was pounding with excitement.

"Amazing!" He said to himself, as he continued to speed onward. He'd of course read about Gock's in the book that Verdant had given him, else he would never have anticipated such an attack.

There was a reason why the Gocks didn't live close by one another. A single shot from either side was enough to kill the other side. In the same way that a snail was able to detach itself from its shell, so too was a Gock able to detach itself from the shell of its body.