Chapter 5: First Battle

What the hell is a protagonist?

While some may argue that a protagonist can be this and that…

In a general definition, the protagonist is the focus of the story.

And well… in your usual power fantasy novel maybe an isekai, the MC or the protagonist is usually depicted as someone like this:

- very overpowered to the point of making their enemy eat their own shits and think twice about their life decisions.

- defined as a harem magnet, who gets beautiful bitches like Pokemons on the streets.

- a level 1 player who can beat a level 100 opponent, because of the mysterious power of 'friendship' blah blah blah…

You get it, the list goes on and on.

Sounds clichè or familiar?

I mean it is your typical power fantasy novel, where the MC is the center of the world.

Sigh…

Now you might be asking.

Why the rant?

It is because I sure wish I were one of them right now.

After all, those mother-goddamn MCs sure make it look easy to execute those overpowered moves that obliterate all their enemies with a snap of a finger.

But the reality?

Well…

…

'...holy shit.' Rion cursed inwardly while sweating profusely.

'That fireball was way too big! And I'm already tired as fuck!'

After Lance, Leona, and Cindy got out, Rion immediately cast a fireball spell he always sees in an RPG game, and well it did not disappoint in terms of power.

But…

'The corner was instantly turned into a huge hole…'

It was an overkill.

Seeing the once narrow path turn into a 'mini' crater with flames rummaging around.

Gulp.

Rion can't help but gulp in amazement and a hint of fear, as he tiredly fell down on his knees and looked at his hand.

'I have poor control… despite my desire and imagination for it to be a 'normal' sized fireball, for some reason, most of my energy just gathered without any restraints.'

'I need to train.' Making a mental note like a protagonist of some sort of weak-to-strong fantasy novel, Rion promised himself.

Unfortunately…

KRAAAAA!!

He has no time for that.

'Of course, they wouldn't die that easily.' Rion laughed dryly in his mind, he immediately stood up and forced himself to run towards the path Lance gave him.

Frequently glancing back to see if they're catching up. Rion sweated, as he saw four humanoid monsters run in a frenzied way, chasing him at a much faster pace.

'Shit. Looks like the explosion made their aggro towards me greatly increase!... Well, at least that fireball took out three of them.'

Rion ran while keeping an eye out.

When suddenly…

One of the monstrous humanoids who is leading upfront unexpectedly took a risk and lunged directly at Rion!

KRRAAA!

Rion glanced at the fast-approaching creature as he unconsciously stepped aside and dodged it; The creature directly crashed into a nearby glass.

Taking time to process what just happened, Rion's brain started to reset, as he felt his heart drop at the sudden close call.

Unable to take it anymore…

"Man, I'm not built for this shit! I'm no MC!" Rion for the first time complained verbally, dragging his heavy body faster as if his life depended on it!

Since the amount of mana flows like a faucet when he used his magic, Rion could feel he only has half of the mana left inside his body.

It is a good thing that the 'mana' in his body is regenerating, although a bit slow in his opinion.

It is actually such a weird feeling, despite his first time using it. Rion could feel a 'secondary' energy within his body, he didn't really know what it was but feeling it deplete when he used magic, he conveniently termed it as 'mana'.

Of course, despite sensing that it is a 'secondary' energy within his body, he is not sure if it really is called 'mana'.

After all, he still felt tired as if he ran a long marathon when he used magic.

Approaching the exit, Rion's eyes turn stern.

'Looks like I have no choice.' Rion planned for his escape.

With his subskill <Increased Thought Processing>, Rion was able to make last-minute decisions.

That's one of the reasons why he can still barely think clearly, despite the immense pressure and fear as he has more time to calm himself down and prepare mentally.

In all honesty, Rion surprised himself that he hasn't broken down yet with all the chasing and running happening, he was never an active guy until now.

Although he is very tired, somehow he is getting the energy to continue running… well, one of the reasons might be because he's scared of dying, but that is not the only factor. Rion thought.

Looking back, he has a subskill called <Increased Stamina Regen>.

Upon arriving outside, Rion didn't even bother to look at the chaotic mess that was happening.

Running with all his might, he chose a random intact building as a place to hide.

Seeing the exquisite wooden door of the building, Rion put his arms across his front as he used his own body to smash through the door!

PAAK!! PAAK!! PAAK!!

After a quick few several tries, Rion broke through the wooden door and immediately closed it.

He knew it was useless to close it; the lock on the door is broken by him, but that is not his plan.

"I hope this works…"

Without any restraint, Rion used all of his remaining energy to use <Earth Manipulation>.

Soon, a giant earth wall blocked the entrance of the door.

"Haah…"

This time, Rion fell to the floor as he panted rapidly.

Soaked in his own sweat, Rion looked like he just got out of a sauna.

'I h-have never felt so tired in my life. I feel like I'm dying…' Rion slowly closed his eyes, not even minding the noise outside nor the ramming of the humanoid creatures to get inside.

Ten minutes later, despite wanting to sleep on the floor for all eternity, Rion slowly got up and supported himself on a nearby wall.

'They must be gone.' Rion concluded, hearing the silence beyond the wall he created.

Rion slowly explored the building to inspect.

He can rest later, but he can't do so until knowing there's no one in the building looking at him like a piece of tasty meat.

Taking a moment to observe around him:

With all the extravagant furniture and the number of doors leading to different rooms, he knew he was in a big manor.

Actually, it's not an understatement, if someone calls it a mini apartment complex inside a big house.

Though, despite this, the first thing Rion noticed is:

'Everything feels a bit too quiet.'

Despite the noise outside, the inside of the manor feels… a bit too organized.

As if…everyone just left the building.

There are no signs of rummaging inside the manor, considering the hell happening outside, it seems impossible for this place to be 'untouched' by those monsters.

'I got a bad feeling about this.' The silence made Rion tense.

After some inspection, Rion came upon an area near the kitchen room.

Seeing a broken window nearby, the feeling just got worse.

It is the only area of the manor so far where there are marks of damage.

Crunch...Crunch…

Approaching near the kitchen, soon he hears the sound of bones and meat being chewed on.

Rion's heart sank.

Well, at this point it doesn't take a genius to know what it is.

To avoid the clichè of someone stepping on 'x' as that 'x' produces a sound that caught the attention of the predator.

Rion slowly walked away as he watched his steps.

After he walked far away, Rion once again formed a plan.

Looking for something useful he searched for an object that can be used as a weapon.

…

Looking at the screwdriver that he found in one of the drawers.

Rion can't help but think, what's happening to him right now sounds like it came straight out of a horror game.

Except for this time, there is no retry button, nor press 'x' to load a saved file.

Once you fail, you're fucked for sure.

You also get the chance to enjoy the agony of your bones and flesh being eaten and ripped apart like a free-meal buffet.

Rion shuddered at the thought, as he found his hands shaking in fear.

"Breathe in, breathe out… haah." Rion whispered under his breath.

'We only got one chance…' Rion tightened his hold on the screwdriver as he prepared himself for his first melee kill.

…

CLIIINGG!

Hearing the loud sound, the disgusting-looking wolf stopped enjoying its human happy meal.

Curious, the grotesque creature followed where the sound came from.

With its exceptional sense of smell, the creature caught a whiff of the scent of its next victim.

Arriving upon a room, the monstrous wolf followed the delicious scent.

Within the room, sniffing with its nasty 'nose', the wolf caught a whiff of perfume coming from the nearby closet, disgusted by the strong fragrance, it redirected itself to the area around the bed.

!

With a 'happy' grin as if it found its prey, the wolf then looked towards the bed, smelling a delicious bloody aroma coming from it.

Seeing the space under it, the wolf attacked the bed in contempt.

WHAM!! PAAK!!

Intending to get the human out of its hiding place, the wolf destroyed the bed.

But to its surprise…

No one is there… only worn bloodied cloth can be seen.

BANG!

A human suddenly came out of the closet!

With the screwdriver in hand, the human wasted no time stabbing it in the head while it was distracted.

But as expected of a predator species, despite being caught off guard, it unconsciously reacted as it tried to evade.

Yes, the keyword is 'tried'.

Seeing the wolf try to dodge his attack.

Rion immediately used his big body to his advantage, as he tackled the big wolf.

Despite its huge but agile body, the wolf loses its balance, and Rion took advantage of it as he hugged the monster tightly under its neck.

The grotesque wolf frantically moved, trying to get the human off its body, but the human's hold was so tight, not letting go of the monster.

Scratch!

"Arghh!"

Clawed by the monster, a flesh wound appeared on his back making Rion scream in pain.

Feeling his 'hug' grip loosen, Rion woke up from the pain with a survival instinct in his heart.

Rion immediately used his hand holding the screwdriver to rapidly stab the big wolf on its head!

Shunk! Shunk! Shunk!

Black blood splattered all over them, and the pungent smell of rotten blood assaulted Rion's nose.

SHHHRAAAA!!

The monster howled in pain, then a horrifying scene transpired…

The jaw of the wolf started to distort, showing its numerous sharp teeth with saliva coming out from its frothing mouth.

The wolf… no. The monster before him looked nothing anymore like the wolf it was before.

Feeling the change of its physique.

Rion knew it was now or never.

With all the strength he could muster, Rion screamed, shoving the whole screwdriver within the monster's eye!

SHHRAAAA!

The monster howled in pain for a brief moment before it fell lifelessly.

Rion, who was on top of the deceased monster, cannot register anything other than the sight before him.

Fear, desperation, shock, anger, relief, and trauma all mixed within his heart.

In addition to these feelings, seeing his hands soaked in black blood, with the thick disgusting smell lingering within the room.

Blueegh…

Rion vomited, while tears fell down his eyes.

'I survived. I survived. I survived. I survived. I survived...' Rion repeated within himself, as he tried to stand up.

But he can't… his legs… rather, his whole body is trembling.

He suffered from a great shock, despite being driven by survival and instincts.

…he experienced the fear of death.

But he was given the hope to survive, despite his legs not responding.

Rion crawled.

Unable to feel the wound on his back due to adrenaline, nor the fact that he pissed himself at some point, Rion just continued crawling.

Repeating the word that he survived, slowly crawling towards the open door outside, Rion persevered, moving his body.

But it appears as if God has abandoned him…

SHRAAA!!

Rion fell into complete despair upon seeing another grotesque wolf charge toward him.

Chomp!

"AGHHH–!"

As an unconscious act of defending himself, he put his hand to shield his face, as the wolf completely bit off his left hand!

Waking up from the immense pain, Rion regained a bit of his rationality.

But this time… he felt anger.

Seeing the wolf enjoy his left hand, Rion's face twisted in pure hatred and pain.

That bit of rationality turned into a complete rage, blinding his other emotions and senses.

Despite the intense pain coming from his whole body, he then forcefully moved his arm, grabbing a sharp piece of wood from the destroyed bed.

Without any care in the world, Rion just lunged at the creature who was eating his hand, retaliating back.

"FUCK OFF!" Rion yelled as he tried to stab the wolf.

Of course, the wolf was keeping a glance at the human, it easily dodged the human's attempt.

But to its surprise, the human didn't try again after he missed but instead raised his hand as a yellow-brown magic circle hovered at the front of his hand.

"SPIKE!"

Rion shouted, his body instantly collapsed, incapable of any movement.

While in midair, the wolf sensed something rising from the ground but was unable to dodge it despite its acute sense of danger.

!!!

A narrow spike made of stone suddenly rose from the ground, it then rapidly ran through the wolf like a barbeque on a stick.

SHHRRAAAA!!

The wolf struggled and howled in pain.

Black blood oozed from its body, dyeing the ground with a solemn black color.

A few seconds later, it completely stopped moving.

Rion, who is a complete mess right now, looks like a corpse if you will not look closely.

He is completely soaked in black and red blood, as wounds of varying degrees can be seen on his whole body.

The most notable ones are the big claw marks on his back and his missing left hand that has been gnawed completely.

In short…

He is losing too much blood at the moment.

Rion knew this because his consciousness was slowly waning, and this time once he fell asleep, he knew he wouldn't wake up anymore.

At this point, he completely gave up as he sighed.

'Looks like I will die… So much for the future great sage.' Rion lamented as he slowly closed his eyes.

He felt a weird mix of feelings such as relief, regret, pain, and reluctance.

In the end…

He is completely unwilling to die, but he knew he needed to face reality.

Rion is completely depleted, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Now even his mana is exhausted.

Not to mention all his accumulated wounds…

It's even a miracle he has lasted all this time.

But, before he lost consciousness, Rion heard a familiar distinct voice…

"There…he…is!"

Well, it looks like the miracle hasn't ended yet for Rion.

"…"

'Looks like I'm saved by the plot armor…'

The man made a small smile before he completely blacked out.

…