A tenacious meal
A chance! His mind told him. Jem did not waste the opportunity and followed up with another smashing attack. It was his one-time chance, so Jem made sure that his attack would hit it. There was also an option of running away.
Frankly, it was the right time if he wanted to do it. And he could hunt low-ranking beasts later on.
However, there was no guarantee that he would be safe after running away from here, and there was no guarantee that he could find another low-ranking beast in this area.
What if, instead of a low-ranking beast, he encountered a much stronger one.
BONK! BONK! BONK!
Three consecutive smashes straight to the monster's swaying head. He noticed blood scattering away. But the impact relaid in his hand wasn't enough to kill the beast. His mind was telling him that he needed more strength to kill it!
'More!' Jem Hansen screamed in mind. Then he drew more strength and made a heavy smash.
Also, Jem felt excited after seeing the beast in a vulnerable state. He was curious about the possible loot he could get afterward.
Looking at the fierce-looking beast in front of him, Jem believed that it was a higher ranking beast than that Little Brown Swine a while ago.
Jem continued his attack.
"Faster!" This time he voiced out his thoughts. If he wanted to become stronger, he had to fight. He had to kill this monster even at the expense of his life. Alas, he only had one path left, to kill or be the food of it.
No matter how thorny that path is, he has to tread on it. In front of him was a thorny stepping stone that he needed to overcome. A subtle misstep can be the ending of his life.
Jem was tired of running away from danger; this time, he wanted to face it. And destroy the cause of it.
Although he only had a hand, it didn't deter him from moving forward.
"Eh?!"
Jem uttered subconsciously when his attack finally hit empty air.
The enemy wobbled backward that caused his attack to be short in distance. Jem was frenziedly barraging the beast and failed to notice the sudden change in range.
He staggered forward caused by the force of his attack. He wasn't even a fighter in the first place. And going to the Military Academy of Ex-Human didn't make him a snappy soldier right away.
Honestly, they were yet to be trained in hand-to-hand or weapon-based combat as the academy was still in the process of teaching them some basics and also building up their body foundation in preparation for future training. Most of their classes were all about lectures regarding Ex-energy. Outside, in the field, they were only doing some light exercises.
Well, since it had only been two months since the start of the class, it was probably the reason.
The teachers and instructors already mentioned future training regarding combat and ex-energy manipulation and utilization. But it looks like Jem could never be able to attend it.
Jem's body slid on the ground. Even his face scraped on it, causing some bruises and cuts.
It was painful.
On the other hand, the hatchet released from his grip and knocked to the nearby wall. The collision was slightly stronger that caused the stone-head to shatter.
Jem forced his head to look at the hatchet. It was broken into countless pieces, big and small. His ability to fortify could not fix it. He could only restore the crack but not the broken one.
The reason he chose the hatchet instead of the pickaxe was, it could become a more reliable weapon than the pickaxe.
Jem noticed the bloodied snake twitching, seemingly alive. But, it seemed weak and tired like him. Yet the beast's tail unhurriedly crawled towards him.
His chest was heaving as he gasped for air. Lifting his arm was already a difficult task for Jem. His side was still aching, and his three limbs were numb.
Damn! He could not muster any more strength. He was exhausted beyond belief.
A human body was very fragile, no matter if he or she was an Ex-Human or not. All is the same. Though, being an Ex-human had an advantage.
Especially those with high breakthrough Ex-humans. But Jem was yet to advance. He was only barely tougher than normal humans.
The snake was yet to get up, and its tail was already working towards him. It gradually crawled on him and constricted him. Jem let himself get dragged like a puppet who had broken strings.
Jem's heart sunk in despair. But before the snake could entangle his arm along with his torso, Jem freed it and took the DIY knife.
The snake finally lifted its head while increasing the strength of the grip.
He felt his bones were getting crushed. It was painful and hard to breathe. Jem glanced above and saw the gaping mouth. He wanted to chuckle.
Unexpectedly, the snake lost its fangs. How ironic that both of them lost something on the mouth. A toothless prey and fangless predator.
Aside from its fangs, he also noticed the eye of the snake was almost popping out. It was bloodied and looked gruesome.
Jem wanted to mock it. But he had no strength to do so.
After constricting him, the snake pushed him into its wide mouth.
He wanted to vomit. The smell was much worse than the canal at the back of the Academy. Also, it was so dark, like he was back in that space of darkness.
However, before the snake could swallow him, he stabbed it using the claw knife. He wasn't sure if it was the throat or stomach, but he was confident that his attack succeeded in hitting it.
He could recognize the snake was in pain through the slight hissing sound it produced and the wriggling of it.
Jem continued stabbing until the snake had no choice but to spit him out. After the snake spat him, he was sent flying away and rolled several times on the ground.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
He coughed several times. "Heh…" Jem snorted as he looked at the dancing snake. More blood was gushing out from the wound where he stabbed it.
Honestly, he didn't move a while ago as he was resting and was trying to regain his strength.
Fortunately, he succeeded before he became a good meal. No, he's a tenacious meal.
Jem grinned. "Now, who will become the meal and the eater?" Jem muttered while looking at the meaty body of the snake.
He slowly crawled towards it.