It wasn't long before his plan came to fruition. Primordial Instinct rang alarm bells in his mind as he sensed danger approaching from below him at an astonishing speed.
WHOOSH
Rui evaded the creature narrowly as it zoomed past him at incredible speeds. It flew close to as fast as he was on the ground, meaning it was incredibly difficult to evade. He only managed to do so this time due to how far away it had approached him; from the ground.
The hippogriff opened its beaks, releasing a powerful eagle chirp. It locked eyes with Rui for a moment, as they stared at each other.
Rui could only see fury in its eyes, anger at having missed its prey.
[Why do you rage?] Rui asked it with Fauna Flow. He conveyed the question using a combination of body gestures, breathing, and growls. The hippogriff's eyes widened as it understood what he was trying to convey.
[FOOD] It chirped defiantly as it launched itself against him once more at a tremendous speed.
BAM!
It rammed into him with its full momentum, trying to haze him before finishing him off. Rui hadn't been able to avoid it in time because it was too fast and much more comfortable in the air than he was. He was fighting in its terrain. However, Rui had already predicted this would be the case.
He wasn't a moron. A creature with large wings was most certainly going to be more equipped in aerial combat than he was. He didn't intend to capture the beast midair amidst aerial combat. That was not his plan.
It turned once more facing him as it charged towards him with full force towards him again, this time, it raised its forelimbs towards him; its talons.
POW POW!
Rui smacked the two talons away with both arms as he evaded the attack. Eagles were generally ambush predators that swooped in, latched onto their prey, and pecked and tore apart at its prey until it was no longer moving before then feasting on it. He would be in for a world of hurt if he allowed it to reach that stage.
The hippogriff chirped before launching itself at him.
BAM!
It stumbled backward with a hint of surprise on its face.
Rui had negated the damage largely with the help of Adamant Reforging and Inner Divergence. He wasn't particularly concerned about the damage he suffered. In the past, he would have needed to take this into account. Damage could accrue fast, and he could be in trouble quicker than he realized.
Bruises could accumulate and he could suffer damage to a vital area, or his performance would decline too much leading to critical injuries that most certainly would threaten his life. There were all kinds of slippery slopes that could easily end up being very bad if he wasn't careful.
but this was no longer the case, thanks to his evolved healing. His enhanced healing factor healed lesser wounds quite quickly. Although he most certainly was no Wolverine, lesser and more superficial wounds effectively disappeared in a matter of minutes. Larger wounds couldn't be healed so easily, but his healing factor could do just enough to ensure that even major wounds wouldn't hinder his performance too much.
Thanks to this, his endurance had risen tremendously. He could withstand a lot.
But, he wasn't necessarily limited to simply enduring.
BAM!
He landed a blow on the hippogriff as it rammed into him. The creature chirped in pain as what appeared to be a grimace flashed across its face. Rui had not forgotten that this particular species was vulnerable as far as its durability went. Its muscles and bones were tough, but its flesh wasn't able to protect its inner vitals from damage very well.
This was especially true when Rui had mastered Reverberating Lance, which allowed him to permeate an impact deeper causing greater damage than he would have been able to with his raw power alone.
In fact, he needed to restrain himself. If he truly launched his most powerful attacks, the creature would probably end up hemorrhaging as a result of his attack. He wanted to avoid killing it at all costs.
He had briefly considered mortally wounding it and then feeding it a healing potion after drugging it, but that was too risky. The potions he had bought were meant for humans, he didn't know if they would work on the hippogriff. If they were incompatible or inadequate, then the creature would die. He couldn't possibly know how hard to hit it for this plan to work thus he avoided it.
BAM!
He landed another strike on the creature. He hadn't made up his mind on whether he ought to try administering the tranquilizer in aerial combat or on land. It was extremely difficult to do it midair when the creature was as mobile, fast, and agile as it was, and had as much of an advantage over him as it did. The three dimensions worth of maneuvering space made it difficult as well.
It wasn't just a matter of hitting the creature with the syringe, he needed to hit within certain locations and hold it there for a few seconds which made it difficult. He also needed to ensure it didn't break, which could happen given how fast the creature moved.
All of these considerations flew through his head, causing him to prefer to administer the drug on land than in the sky. He would need to wait until the creature was done with him.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before that happened. The hippogriff had come to realize that Rui was not something that could be taken down easily, if at all. Every time it clashed with him, it came away reeling in pain inside its body whereas he shrugged off everything it threw at him in the long run.
The creature chirped loudly before taking off back towards Mount Cravitz.
('Now, I can take the next step towards completing this mission.')
