The Four-Armed Centaur

The world God crafted was truly breathtaking. The scenery around me was so unreal and alien that I thought I was in a dream. The different colors in the dirt made me wonder if there were any gems under there. It seemed like the whole world was a treasure, and simply standing in it was a magnificent experience.

"RAAAAGGHHHH!!!!"

Of course, crouching down under a weird green slimy tree hiding from some sort of four-armed centaur was also kind of nice.

"COME OUT YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!"

Okay, it wasn't nice. Right now I am hiding under the tree, in the space between its roots. Luckily enough he was too large to fit in the hole, so the centaur thing could only lurk around outside.

A while ago when I was looking for dry wood to make a fire, all these other creatures started to spawn. I found a little rabbit here that I could eat for dinner, but apparently this guy was also eyeing the rabbit.

"GIVE ME BACK MY PREY!!"

"Fuck off!"

Okay, triggering him might not have been the best idea. As I said that, he rammed into the tree I was hiding under. The roots underneath started unearthing. What the hell is this guy made off?!

"I found the rabbit first! Go look for your own dinner!"

I hugged the rabbit in my arms. It was still trying to struggle out of my arms, not knowing that it would still end up dead once it leaves this hole.

The huge guy crouched down and looked at me straight in the eye. He had red glowing eyes and slits for nose. He seemed like a mix of Voldemort and the Hulk covered in fur.

"If you don't give me that thing, I'm going to eat you first."

He moved backwards and started charging against the tree again. With another hit, more of the tree's roots unearthed. I secretly felt sorry for the tree who was about to die right after transmigrating. Rest in peace tree.

Without a weapon, I would be risking my life trying to fight against this huge hulking monster. The slimy tree was slowly going down, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he knocks it over and starts chasing me again. He has a horse's lower body, so of course I can't run away from him. He has the upper body of certain alien from a certain kid's watch, so I can't really fight him. So what do I do?

"Fuck it!"

I ran out of the tree's spot while Four Arms was busy gaining momentum. I went pass him just as he hit the tree with all of his strength.

"Come get some you freak!!"

I decided to face him head on. I feel like I would have a higher chance of winning a fight instead of running away from him. I picked up a nearby stick that fell from the slimy tree and readied it as my weapon. The stick was slimy, but surprisingly helped make my hand's grip stick more. It was awkwardly bent to one side, but I had to make do with it.

With these words, he slowly faced his body towards me. He towered over me, and seemed to only grow bigger as time ticked away. His ripped upper body was constantly pulsating, as if it was a machine ready to kill at any moment. His eyes glowed red, and in this darkening forest, it looked as if the devil himself descended.

I could only stare back against those beady red eyes, giving him a defiant stare. I readied the slimy stick in my hand, not sure if it was sweating or not.

Once I'm in sparring mode, the world starts to blur, and the only thing I can see is the enemy in front of me. I had to start thinking on my approach, because I have never fought anyone taller than me. Usually when I would spar, my partner would be shorter than me, giving me the advantage of my reach. But right now, it looks like the roles have switched for me.

Whenever my instructor spars with me, instead of trying to defend my blows from above, he would evade them and deal a low strike towards my legs. I usually get hit by that, as I always forget to dodge his low strikes. I think I could try this now since my opponent is almost twice my height.

As time started to flow normally again, I stepped in and took initiative to start the fight. When I was in range, Four Arms smashed all four arms in front of him. I dodged, and tried to recover my balance. Even then I couldn't get close enough to hit him. I ran around him, but he would always turn to face me immediately.

Getting closer again, this time he tried to hit me with his two right fists. I dealt a hit to his left fore leg before being blown away. My whole body went flying until it hit a nearby tree. I fell to the ground, with my whole body feeling numb.

Spitting a mouthful of blood, I stood up without the support of my stick. I was chuckling and smiling even while bleeding.

"HAHAHAHA, FIGHT ME!"

Living in a world where everyday life was peaceful, sparring with someone was always stimulating for me. I stopped thinking about anything else and started charging against him again. I slowly turned into a battle hungry maniac. I kept charging towards him, repeatedly exchanging blows, and repeatedly getting blown away by his inhuman strength. The adrenaline in my body was numbing my sense of pain, but I was enjoying it nonetheless.

After a few exchange of blows, Four Arms stopped and paused for a moment.

"Oy, where's the prey?!"

...

HOLY SHIT.

I looked around frantically and saw the rabbit hopping away.

"Shit."

Suddenly, a huge lizard creature swallowed it whole.

"Bigger shit."

Then... a huge hound came out from the ground and ate that huge lizard in one mouthful.

"FUCKING DINOSAUR SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT."

My first instinct was to run, and so was the other guy's. I bolted it, wanting to leave with my life intact. When I was tens of strides away, I looked back seeing four arms was struggling hard enough to even stand. He didn't stop because he was looking for the rabbit, he stopped because he couldn't move anymore. I tried not to look back while running but felt bad for it. No, don't turn back, he is an enemy. He is an enemy. He's an enemy. He's...

"Aghh fuck it!!"

I made a 180 degree turn and started bolting towards the monstrous dog. I went past Four Arms, ignoring him. I started roaring at the hound like a wild animal, all the while slamming my stick onto the ground.

"RAAAGGGHHH!!!"

With all my effort, the hound was only slightly provoked. He kept roaring back at me, even taking steps closer to me. With every step he takes, I smash the ground really hard, trying to force him back.

While hitting the stick against the ground, it started making sparks, which contributed to scaring the huge dog. With one long scratch on the ground, the stick I was holding caught on fire, which frightened both the hound and I. Making use of the fire, I forced it back even further. After a while of waving the fire against the hound's face, it backed off and started to run away.

I looked back at Four Arms, and he also had a look of astonishment on his face. Well, who would've thought that this stick, despite being slimy, would light up? Maybe if this liquid was flammable it would've made sense that it caught fire ha ha ha...

Wait, flammable?

*looks at fire creeping downwards towards the slime*

*looks down at slime covered hand*

"AHH GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!"

I frantically threw the stick away and dried my hand. After calming down from the flaming stick, I look back at Four Arms and saw him looking back at me too. His eyes were still glowing red in the dark, but it was less intimidating before. We stared at each other for a few seconds before his mouth started to move.

"T-thank you."

He stood up from the ground and walked away from me. "I'm sorry for fighting you for food. I'll go on my way."

"Wait."

I stopped him from walking any further. "I know you're a good guy, and you were just desperate for food."

"We can't survive on our own out here." I stopped and pointed at the fire, "You also can't survive against the monsters without the fire."

I went around and faced him. I looked at him in the eye and said, "I know we were fighting a while ago, but we'd have to be stupid to think that we can survive on our own out here."

I held out my hand in front of him. "Team?"

His eyes went back and forth between my hand and the dark forest ahead of him. The of the trees only intensified by the fire behind us. He tightly grabbed my hand with his lower right arm. "Yeah, alright. Thanks."

I let go of his hand and went for the stick. While I was trying to dry the lower part of the stick I asked him, "So, what should I call you?"

He slowly walked towards me. "Butok. You?"

"David."

We silently warmed ourselves around the fire. We were both tired, but we chose not to sleep. The animals were noisy in the night, probably trying to claim territory amongst themselves.

We were both getting really sleepy, but the fire was also weakening. The slime was burning up, and we didn't have any dry wood nearby to keep it burning. Unless...

"Hey Butok, I have an idea."