[Fine.. let's try again, but with a touch of 'Pressure'.]
I threw the wire with force toward a nearby tree branch. The moment the wire began to lose its trajectory and drift due to the wind, I opened my mouth and whispered in a very low tone:
"Inverse."
An invisible wave of pressure erupted, aiming to "push" the air at a specific point next to the wire. The idea worked for a split second; the wire bent in mid-air and wrapped around the target branch.
However, due to my lack of experience in balancing the power, the pressure wave was stronger than it should have been. The wire recoiled with insane speed and a massive rebounding force I hadn't expected.
CLANG!!
"AAAAAAGH!"
I shrieked in pain. The sharp end of the steel wire had whipped back and struck the back of my hand with brute force, leaving the area inflamed and red. I fell to my knees on the branch, clutching my hand which was trembling from the sheer pain and the "electricity" surging through my nerves.
"Damn it.. this hurts like hell!" I panted, tears nearly escaping my eyes. I looked at my hand; the skin was on the verge of tearing.
I didn't stop. I did it again. Once.. twenty times.. a hundred times.
The sun moved across the sky as I repeated the attempt. Every time I used my Quirk to guide the wire, I felt a "tingle" in my throat, But because I used a small amount of the cursed energy, I didn't vomit any blood.
After hours of suffering and many new bruises and cuts on my arms , the wire finally began to obey me. It no longer bounced randomly; I became capable of making it twist, contract, or even change direction in mid-flight using precise pulses of pressure. But even with this smooth usage, I could only say I was still below average—I had only gained the understanding; experience would come with time.
I breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the wire now wrapped smoothly around the branch. I stood up slowly and looked toward the dark forest.
"Finally, it's time.." I flipped the wire in my hand, tightening my grip until my knuckles turned white. "Time to test this wire on the neck of a real Nomu."
I knew that playing with the wire against trees was far easier than fighting a Nomu. The important thing now was to gain real combat experience. I leaped from the tree gracefully, heading into the darkness.
It didn't take long before I heard that sound: "Grrrrr."
There were two Nomu. One was massive with unnaturally long limbs, and the other was smaller, about four feet tall, moving like a dog. Both possessed that disgusting, exposed brain.
"Now or never.."
I gripped the end of the steel wire and, with everything I had learned in the past hours, I threw it with a spiral force toward the larger Nomu. My goal was clear: pierce the exposed brain directly to end it quickly.
SWOOSH!
The wire shot out like an arrow, but the moment it was about to hit its mark, the Nomu moved. Instead of sinking into the brain, the wire collided heavily with the beast's massive teeth.
CLANG!!
Fragments of the Nomu's teeth flew into the air, but the wire bounced away without dealing fatal damage. The Nomu recoiled, letting out a furious shriek.
[Damn it! Aiming at a moving, instinctive target is a thousand times harder than those cursed branches.. trees don't have survival instincts!]
I had no time for regrets. The wire was still in the air. I opened my mouth quickly and whispered with intense focus: "Inverse..."
The pressure wave launched, pushing the wire mid-flight, attempting to bring it back to loop around the monster's neck in a sudden twisting motion. The wire did indeed veer, but it missed the neck by mere centimeters, grazing the Nomu's shoulder and embedding itself in the ground behind it.
"Another mistake!" I felt cold sweat trickling down my forehead.
In that critical moment, a chill ran down my spine. I turned my head slightly out of the corner of my eye to find the second Nomu—the smaller, faster one—had stopped moving entirely. It was no longer making a sound; its head was tilted at a strange angle, and its red eyes were fixed directly on my position.
It had already pinned me down. Hunting wasn't as easy as I thought, and now.. I was in a jam.
I had no choice but to face them. I gritted my teeth until I heard them grind and gripped the steel wire with all my might.
[The fight isn't over yet... it has just begun! Dammit, why am I afraid of this Nomu? It doesn't even have half the power of that two-headed Nomu!] I screamed internally.
The moment the small Nomu lunged at me, I dove to the side with an acrobatic move, dodging the sharp claws that shredded the air where I had been standing. In the same breath, I launched the steel wire again, but this time, I didn't aim for the brain.
"Pressure," I whispered quickly, directing a precise pulse of pressure at the midpoint of the wire's path.
The wire bent brilliantly in the air and wrapped around the neck of the larger Nomu, who was still staggering from the pain in its teeth. The moment I felt the wire touch its skin, I pulled with all my strength, using my entire body as a lever.
CRACK!
Black blood sprayed from the monster's neck, and it fell to its knees, choking. I continued to pull until its cervical vertebrae snapped completely, and it collapsed into a lifeless corpse.
I had no time to celebrate. I spun around quickly to find the small Nomu had closed in dangerously. It lunged at me, jaws filled with jagged teeth wide open, targeting my leg.
"Not this time!"
I gathered all the power in my newly conditioned leg muscles and delivered a devastating kick straight into its open jaw.
BOOM!
I felt the beast's jaw shatter under the force of my kick. Its teeth flew into the air, and it fell onto its back, writhing in pain.
"It's not over yet..."
I leaped on top of it, grabbed its deformed head with both hands, gathered what remained of my energy, and sliced through its brain with the steel wire.
Exposed brain matter and filth scattered everywhere. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. My hands were stained with black blood, and my body was trembling from the exhaustion.
[I did it... I killed two of them. Maybe I really can get out of here alive.]