The battle between Tria and the Great Turtle erupted on my mobile screen.
To be honest, the odds of winning seemed much higher if I let her fight in Auto Mode rather than trying to control her myself. Even if I wanted to time my taps, I didn't even know the proper windows to react. If the game displayed bars and notes like a rhythm game, I might have stood a chance, but I’ve always been poor at action games. I’m the type of player who has to die several times just to learn a boss's patterns.
But I didn't want Tria to die. In this game, death was permanent. Beyond the twelve-hour penalty, I’d grown quite attached to her after raising her this far.
Tria ducked and wove, dodging the Great Turtle's attacks with a Rolling maneuver before punching its front legs. When it tried to stomp her, she evaded with another Rolling and landed a hit on its head. It seemed like she had the upper hand, but then she got snagged on one of its sword-like spikes and took damage.
Tria was fighting barehanded. Engaging in a battle of attrition against a Great Turtle—an enemy with clearly superior durability—was a poor move. However, if she could hit its eye... if she landed a single blow there, she could probably crush it. At least, that was Tria's assessment of the situation.
"Damn it, am I really stuck just watching?"
Now that I'd committed to Auto Mode, there was nothing I could do. If I tried to seize control mid-fight, I could only see it ending in disaster during the momentary opening.
No, wait. I had a sudden realization. Even if I wasn't controlling her movements, I could still interact with the UI.
The Inventory, for instance. I didn't have any recovery items like Medicinal Herbs, but I could dump out the Young Turtle carcasses to act as obstacles. I’d have to be careful with the timing so I didn't get in Tria's way, of course.
And then there was the SP. Her level had gone up from hunting those Young Turtles, and her skills had improved. Most importantly, I had a stockpile of SP. If I used it wisely, I might be able to turn the tide.
Just then, the Great Turtle retracted its head and limbs into its shell.
Was that even allowed? Come on, show me a weak point! ...No, wait!
"Tria, get back! That looks like a Special Move!"
"Yes, Spirit-sama!"
Tria used a Backstep to put distance between herself and the beast. Immediately after, high-pressure water gushed from the limb holes, and the shell began to spin at a terrifying speed. This was bad.
"Get to the rocks! It's probably going to charge!"
I rapidly threw several Young Turtle carcasses from my Inventory. They landed right where Tria had been standing a second ago. Just as I expected, the Great Turtle slammed into them, shattering the carcasses into tiny pieces. It only bought her a fraction of a second.
However, Tria used one of the flying carcasses as a temporary foothold to leap onto a nearby rock. She managed to hop to another boulder just before the first one was pulverized by the boss's rotation.
The Great Turtle finally stopped spinning after mowing down everything in a spiral pattern—like an old-fashioned mosquito coil or a snail's shell. A massive swathe of the forest had been flattened, centered around the spot where the beast had started its move.
What kind of insane power was that? This wasn't the kind of boss you put in a Tutorial.
"The balance is totally broken... Oh, but wait. If we head up, we might be able to lose it."
"Upward, Spirit-sama?"
By upward, I meant doubling back and climbing the mountain. I had no idea what we'd do after that, but for now, we needed to focus on one thing: survival. We could worry about the rest later.
"I'm going to use SP to give you a Leg Enhancement. Between that and the climb, I'm hoping we can lose him for a while. We'll look for the village at the base of the mountain after we're safe."
"I understand. I believe in you, Spirit-sama. I place my trust in your guidance."
She didn't really have a choice but to trust me. Her life was on the line.
I opened the menu and navigated to the SP allocation screen. I dumped it all into Leg Enhancement. This wasn't the time to be stingy. I didn't even count the points; I just mashed the button until the SP was nearly gone, leaving only 2 points as a reserve. Tria's legs were now heavily reinforced.
"It is a shame I cannot kill it, however..."
"You can come back for a revenge match later."
"Yes. Someday, I will offer the Great Turtle's life to you, Spirit-sama."
I suppose failing to defeat the boss was also part of the intended Tutorial experience.
Thud. Clack. I saw the Great Turtle's massive claws hook onto the rocks. It still had us locked on. It was clearly intent on a relentless pursuit.
"Wait, the Great Turtle is actually climbing the mountain?! Whoa, it’s looking right at us. Run, hurry!"
"Yes, Spirit-sama... but may I do one thing first?"
"Huh? What?"
Tria reached down and picked up a stone—actually, it was the size of a soccer ball, so it was more of a rock. She lifted it effortlessly, perhaps because her level-up made the weight feel like nothing. She let go of it for a split second.
Then she kicked it.
In a flash of a Side Kick, the stone flew straight into the Great Turtle's right eye and shattered upon impact.
"Bumooooo!!"
The Great Turtle recoiled, letting out a scream I hadn't heard once during the entire fight. It was a deep, guttural roar like an angry bull.
When it steadied itself, its right eye was bloodshot and bulging, but it was still functional. It glared at us with murderous rage.
"...I was too naive. I am sorry. I cannot crush it yet. Let us flee. As always, you were right, Spirit-sama."
"Ah, yeah... sounds about right."
Tria took off with explosive speed. She tore through the mountain path, ignoring tree roots and mud, occasionally kicking through low-hanging branches to clear her way.
Mobility was king. Making full use of her reinforced legs, Tria left the Great Turtle in the dust and successfully made her escape. She was moving at twice her previous speed.
...Yeah, I should have just done the Leg Enhancement from the start. Being stingy never pays off.
We ended up lost in the forest, but a mountain doesn't go on forever. As long as we kept moving straight, we'd eventually reach the edge. In a real survival situation, we might have wandered in circles, but we had a Minimap, so keeping a straight course was easy.
Of course, there was always the chance that the path ahead led straight into an abyss or the territory of an even stronger enemy... but for now, I was just happy to be away from that turtle. It was time for a well-earned rest.