The boar didn't hesitate. It launched itself at me like a massive wall of muscle and jagged spines. I held my breath, waiting until the heat of its foul breath hit my face before I leaped.
I soared over its head, my katana singing as it left the sheath. I hooked the blade deep into the creature's back, trying to rip through its thick hide. But as the steel bit in, the boar's muscles hardened like granite, trapping my sword. I had to wrench the weapon free with a violent twist, landing near the cave entrance just as the beast skidded to a stop.
"Ooh, kid, you have some tricks, but all are useless," the boar said.
With those words, his body began to swell. His muscles rippled and his size grew larger; his spines grew harder and longer, glowing with a predatory light. He turned, preparing for another attack.
"Ooh, hell," I muttered, spinning on my heel.
I ran toward the deep forest. Run—run, Rudra, it's going to kill you, I said to myself. Behind me, the sound was deafening. The boar didn't navigate around the trees; he smashed through them. Trunks snapped like toothpicks under his sheer mass. I realized he wouldn't stop until I fought him, so I had to make a stand.
I stopped for a second and moved to my left, scrambling up a large tree and jumping from one branch to another. For a heartbeat, the forest went silent. I thought I had lost him. Then, a sharp hiss cut through the air as spines flew toward my side.
I tried to dodge, but I was too late. One of the needles struck me in the back. I fell to the ground, struggling to stand through the damage. I saw the boar in front of me, his breath steaming in the cold air.
"You dunk-faced monster," I wheezed, taking my katana and standing in a fighting form.
He moved for the final fight. I stood in his way, watching his eyes. When he got so close that I could see into his pupils, I dropped my katana in a blink. I pulled the dagger from my right waist and attacked his left eye. I put the whole dagger into the eye with all my power, forcing mana inside the wound.
The closeness was too much. I tried to move sideways, but I fell. My ribs were damaged in the clash. The dagger remained buried in his eye.
"This damage can't be healed," the boar literally said.
He moved backward, which gave me time to stand and retrieve my katana from the ground. I moved toward the left side of the forest. "You monster, that's all you blabber about," I said.
The boar changed his stance. He arched his back and threw all his spines directly into the sky. I tried to tackle the falling spines with my katana, but my hand speed was getting slow. I wanted to end the fight near where I had lost my blood.
I lowered my center of gravity and made a full circle with my blade to cut his left leg. I was half-successful, but his tail attacked me. I managed to dodge it this time, noting that his movements were getting slow even if his power remained.
"You small, mere piece of trash, you will die now," he said with a crushing, teeth-grinding tone.
I looked for a blind spot to attack. As I moved to cut him, he swung his tail again. I dodged it, but he moved too fast, jumping to attack me with his head. We were both in the air. I tried to block the headbutt with my katana, but I failed to stop him.
The strike was so strong it made me fly. I was thrown ten meters, striking a tree with a loud boom before falling. The spines touched my back deep down, leaving it covered in blood. I tried to pull one spine out, but it hurt too much; I knew I would lose too much blood.
If I do not end the battle, I will die. I want the power; I come to death easily. What shitty luck, I thought, cursing my decision.
I saw the boar coming. His movement was slow from the loss of his eye and leg. I saw the visible moonlight coming through the trees and remembered my plan. I moved my back foot and cut a tree branch in five sudden strikes.
"Ooh, kid, are you that scared? You're attacking a tree now," the boar said with a friendly, mocking laugh.
"Time said that you are a dunk-face monster!" I replied loudly.
I attacked a second tree on the left fiercely, cutting it down so it fell vertically toward the boar. As I predicted his blind movement, he tried to jump to dodge the falling tree. At that moment, I threw a rock at the pommel of the dagger in his eye. The strike drove the blade deeper. He cried out in hurt and rage.
He went mad, destroying everything—trees and stones—in a fierce attack. I jumped backward, luring him to a pit covered by leaves and branches.
"So what, like my best brain plan, you monster?" I said.
"You bastard blood, I will—" the boar started to say.
I moved my katana with a full mana enhancement. "Shut up, bastard," I said. "First Phase: Wind Cutter!"
The blow was a full-power move. The boar's head was chopped clean. As the body fell, a large black mist came out. It moved toward me.
"Now you will pay the price," the mist said, moving to attack.
Suddenly, the light from the cave flared. The bird I had used for the sacrifice was finally dead, completing the ritual. The mist broke down and vanished, its voice echoing: "I will see you, bad blood."
Silence returned to the forest. It was finally over. I took one step, and the world started to get dark. Everything went black.