Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

Stone didn't know why or how but the raid which seemed to go exactly by the plan got messed up suddenly. It was in a matter of minutes when the snowstorm rolled over the entire camp and made it impossible for most to see.

Unfortunately, this was the least important in this situation. Men from both sides and even the Bakur Wolves started to get hunted down by the Sabretooth Snow Tigers who came with the bad weather using it as cover for their hunt.

Those creatures were small but dexterous and with tens in the pack they could hunt even creatures 30 times their weight without a problem. They were one of the reasons why the northern tribes evacuated from their territories. Unfortunately for humans, they are one of the species who go where food is abundant and so go to the south looking for food.

Whenever the pack of this species goes there is a bigger chance of the appearance of a snowstorm because of their natural spiritual affinity towards the snow and one of the biggest menace in these lands.

Stone who was persistently attacked by them felt his limbs slowly losing the feel of them. After a long fight with the aborigines he had to kill several of them yet they were not intimidated and still attacked him.

That was until Triston came and killed a few of them. But for Stone, there was no relief as Triston was an even worse enemy for him than the Sabretooth Snow Tigers. He promised himself that he would kill him in the future but now when the opportunity came he realized how really strong this person was.

He didn't have a chance. He was isolated from everyone and he was harassed by those tiny tigers. Thus the only viable solution for this was...

To ran away from the camp distancing himself from the snowstorm, tigers, and Triston who already forgot about everything else except him.

And his plan partly worked as after half an hour when he finally got outside of the snowstorm, the tigers didn't follow him. But before he could sigh in relief he had to continue in the run because of Triston who now had a better vision of Stone since they were outside of the snowstorm.

Stone wanted to rush into the camp to contact someone but after feeling or rather not feeling his limbs he thought otherwise and tried to shake off the Aborigine who ran after him.

The tigers didn't cause big injuries but could make the frostbites and made him feel numb and could easily immobilize him even with his gift. On the other hand, facing Triston while still hopeless is a better option. While he didn't know the limits of his gift he knew that he still had a better chance and had a margin of error with his gift to try some strategies.

And so Stone stopped caring about the fight he should precipitate in and tried to shake off one of the Chief of the clan. In truth, this was actually more beneficial to the Bakur Tribe than just killing a few meaningless pawns.

If they fought properly now they should have an advantage as only two Chiefs were remaining. Thankfully Shamans of the Aborigines didn't come but that is a matter of course since their death was almost always the end of the clan. So going this deep into the territory of the enemy was too dangerous.

Kaoran was different as he was even stronger than Degres and had already inherited at home. Even if he fell in battle nothing serious would happen to the clan. Of course for both Shaman and Chief participating in the same battle was uncommon. But the Bakur Tribe always saw the Blood Crow Alliance as an extinction-level threat so they treated it as such.

Unfortunately, the snowstorm came and everything is now uncertain.

So the only thing Stone could do was to run. He threw away the heavy shield and climbed the trees. Unfortunately, Triston was still behind him shooting arrows at him with a crude bow he had. Stone couldn't run any faster as his stamina was on the brink of exhaustion and even holding onto his axes started to be a burden.

Triston realizing his prey seemed weakened chooses the strategy of wearing him until he won't be able to move anymore. Then he will hatch him into pieces which he will bind with ropes. This time he will use ropes strengthened by blood so as not to make the same mistake again.

This rope he requested from the shaman and held it for years exactly for this moment.

He didn't care that his men probably died in that snowstorm. Or that the despicable Bakur Tribe will win this battle. Taking away this devil's spawn Bakur Tribe has stolen from the lord will be their biggest loss and Triston's biggest merit. That made him elated as he hunted the 'thing' with relish.

Soon he shot every single arrow he had on himself and threw away the bow and quiver.

Stone hissed and broke the spine of the arrow which hit his shoulder. He couldn't take it out since he didn't have time so he could only make this temporary solution as he jumped from trees to trees.

He wasted a lot of time when he was covering behind the trees to make Triston waste his arrows but once he noticed that Triston threw away his bow he ran as fast as possible trying to get as much space as possible between them.

But Triston who no longer needed stability to fire rapidly arrow after arrow could also climb the trees so he doesn't need to wade in the snow. With his strength, his jump length was even more impressive as he closed the distance steadily.

Stone gritted his teeth as he panted heavily and his heart raced under the burden. His eyelids were also getting heavier as he continued, his legs not listening to him...

He was too tired.

But he couldn't stop. That man was so strong that he couldn't put a struggle against him. He was lucky enough that the tigers lurking in the snow managed to slow him down and allow Stone to flee.

His tattered clothes were soaked in sweat, and every now and then, he would glance over his shoulder, his eyes wide squinting. Each time he did, he saw the same thing: a tall, shadowy figure relentlessly pursuing him, just far enough away to be a looming threat, yet not close enough to grab him.

Triston's superior body strength made him quicker than Stone so the only thing to get rid of him was to move in a zigzag pattern instead of going in one direction. This way he managed to keep Triston farther from him as his body control exceeded Triston's making it easier to move in this way.

Stone wanted to sigh in relief but he couldn't. He was breathless and the pain searing through his body was unimaginable. The cold sweat invaded his wound making his hiss at the stinging sensation.

At this point, his wound started to use his fat instead of the stamina to heal itself but even that has its limits. Stone needed to find some sort of energy source to replenish himself. He wanted to take some herbs rich in energy but that was impossible.

The snow was meter tall on the ground covering most of the flora. Stone couldn't find anything this way. Stone was despairing seeing the crazy guy pursuing him he felt an emotion he hadn't felt for a long time. He wouldn't like this some time ago but now when he finally found his own pursuit... He wanted to live. To be free.

And so he wanted to do everything to get out of this situation.

Stone and Triston traveled like this for an hour already and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up anymore. So when he heard a hoot of an owl his eyes lit up. Opportunity came.

With his acute hearing, he traveled towards the sound. There, a hole in the tree was seen as if waiting for Stone. Owls hunted during the night but this time the cold and wind were too strong so they hid in their home. And Stone took full advantage of it.

*Hooo!*

As soon as he got towards the hole with full force he stuck his hand there and grabbed the first thing he could as firmly as possible before continuing in the escape.

The owl, now dead from his grip, was lying helplessly in his hand as Stone looked at its big lifeless eyes. The owl probably had its young ones hidden in that hole just wanting to keep them fed but now he took it before their eyes...

"It's you or me..." Muttered Stone to himself and then with determination he opened his mouth and bit off the part of that owl. His instincts told him to spit out whatever he took in his mouth as the raw meat mixed with feathers were not things that should be eaten by humans.

But with difficulty, he swallowed everything he could and spit the rest of the feathers that stuck in his mouth. He was used for raw or even rotten meat. Only the feathers did give him problems.

And so within a few minutes, the full-grown owl was wholly devoured. Stone ate even its talons and bones as he needed every bit of energy and didn't fear the injury of its stomach walls.

Soon the soothing sensation enveloped him as his he felt that his body almost instantly started to digest it to regenerate himself. The wound made by Tristone also slowly disappeared. Now he regained some of his stamina and could continue.

Triston who saw all of this was looking at Stone with little fear. In his head, Stone was really like a beast with human skin, and the fear he had when he saw his regeneration for the first time resurfaced. But he also noticed another thing. He started to regenerate after eating that bird. Which means...

"You can't regenerate infinitely, huh ?" Triston smiled with a weird expression as he tracked the boy...

........

Two Days Later.

The pursuit still continued. Stone took every opportunity to eat whatever animal he saw or heard in the distance and replenished himself along the way giving himself the energy to go on. Triston on the other way was very skilled in tracking and even if Stone managed to lose him for a moment he would be caught up soon enough. Stone's ability to hide tracks was still too green in his eyes. But Stone's goal since the beginning wasn't to lose him but to tire him. He could replenish himself but Triston could not. At least that was what Kaoran told him.

What he didn't expect was his seemingly infinitive stamina. Triston didn't fight before this pursuit so he had an advantage over Stone but still, the three days long pursuit was too long for a person. Even Stone with full energy felt his mental energy diminishing by every second.

Stone knew that his plan wouldn't work by the end of the first day so he tried to get back to the camp. Once he got closer to the place he noticed that the snowstorm already receded making him sigh in relief. But then he realized that the place was completely devastated and abandoned. Almost everything disappeared and when Stone arrived he didn't find anything useful. Only the broken tents. Even corpses disappeared.

Stone gritted his teeth. He didn't know if everyone retreated or were devoured and he didn't have time for that either. Since this plan also failed he could only think of a different one. Going to the camp of Bakur was too far and he wouldn't make it with his current state. Even if he does then without Kaoran and Degres there would be just too much of casualties.

He is no hero but he knows to not bite the hand giving him food. So during this time, the only other thing he could think of was to bait the guy to the cliff. And so he quickly left before Triston caught up to him and got him.

Farther in the north, a day away from this camp, was a cliff high enough to see to hundred kilometers in the north. If he could bait him there and let him fall somehow it would be almost impossible for him to survive. On the other hand, even if something happens Stone would rather try to survive this fall than be dismembered by Triston.

As such the third day he finally got closer to the cliff with Triston behind his back. Soon the trees before him disappeared as the most beautiful view appeared before his eyes. He stopped running as there was nowhere to. The path before him disappeared and there was only sky before him.

Before he could properly enjoy this Triston who was tracking the entire time finally caught up.

"Huff... Huff... Bastard of the devil! Did you finally accept your fate? Even someone as benevolent as our Lord won't forgive a monster like you." Triston huffed as he prepared to end this. He was pursuing this bastard for three days. Three days! He even needed to tap into the power of his blood to keep up. The blood he so painstakingly accumulated at the cost of his life! He was enraged. The only comfort was that he did it all for their Lord the Savior.

But at his outburst, he only saw Stone smile as he took out both of his axes. Or at least that was what Stone tried to do at Triston calling him a monster. But to Triston, it seemed a ferocious expression meant to be provocative. And so he took out his jagged blade and lunged at the devil.