Success and Failure Hang in the Balance (Part 2)

Breathing heavily, Grant was trying his best to control his heart rate and recompose himself. Although he had just fought more than 50 monsters, he knew that fight was a cake walk compared to fighting the big guy in front of him.

The javelina was still a couple hundred feet away from him but Grant could feel the pressure increase with each step it took.

[Son of a bitch, this pressure is insane! You said that guy hadn't started on its Path yet, right Sherlock? Why does it feel like I'm looking death in the face even though I'm only 6 levels behind him?

How strong would a monster on its Path be compared to this guy?!]

{That monster is most likely similar to you in some ways. If that monster had fought and won against enemies stronger than itself, then it too would have absorbed stats that were beyond its level.

I have no way of accurately measuring how strong that guy is. You must undertake this fight at your own risk. But victory will be worth more than any price you have to pay to attain it.}

[Worth any price?! Death is not a fun price to pay for victory!

What happens if I have to give up an arm and a leg to win?! Am I supposed to role-play the Black Knight from Monty Python for the rest of my life?!]

Although Grant was complaining, he had no intention of running at this point. The desire to grow as strong as possible had already overtaken his desire for anything else.

Since the mere presence of the giant javelina was forcing Grant to endure so much pressure, he knew he needed to grow even stronger, and he needed to do it as soon as he possibly could. If monsters like this guy were already appearing, it was only a matter of time until he was forced to confront something even stronger.

Grant was even more concerned for the rest of humanity. If a monster of this magnitude was already appearing on day 2 after The Path's emergence, the future would be truly grim for the people who tried to avoid fights rather than growing stronger.

While watching the giant javelina advance towards himself, Grant tried to come up with any battle strategy he could think of, but fighting something that large with unknown strength made it hard to come up with a viable strategy.

His Wet Noodle and Track Suit were only exceptional against monsters at level 20 or below. Which meant that, any damage he managed to cause would be from using brute force rather than the blade of the weapon.

[Sherlock, you got any ideas on how to fight this oversized pig?]

{This is your fight. You must learn how to fight and adapt to situations on your own.}

Grant just clicked his tongue in annoyance, [Helpful as always..]

After formulating a few strategies and making sure that he had finally gotten his breathing under control, Grant didn't wait for the giant monster any longer and decided to advance towards it of his own accord.

Seeing Grant move in its direction, the giant javelina let out a low gurgling growl as if taunting him to bring it on and try his best.

After hearing the giant pig's taunt, Grant decided to kick it up a notch and started charging towards the monster at his top speed, which the javelina mirrored with its own movements, though it was clearly not as fast as Grant.

Before the two could collide though, Grant attempted to slide to his right to avoid a head on collision. His goal was to pass by the javelina while attempting to take a swipe at the side of the monster as he passed by.

Before he could even attempt to stab at the side of the monster though, the javelina had already pushed off of its right two legs and rammed its oversized body into Grant, catapulting him away from the pig.

Since Grant was caught off guard, he wasn't able to control his body, so he was sent flying, bouncing off the ground occasionally, and only coming to a stop after skidding across the ground for more than 20 feet.

After finally coming to a halt, Grant struggled to his feet coughing because of the dirt and dust that he had been forced to eat while sliding across the ground.

A trace of blood started to leak from the corner of his mouth, an indication that the impact had actually managed to damage him to some degree.

[Damnit, it's like I was just hit point blank by an artillery shell fired from a tank! I can't take many more of those shots, it feels like my insides are twisting into and around each other.]

While Grant was struggling to control himself and the pain he was experiencing, he could hear the javelina grunting rhythmically at him, almost as if it was trying to laugh at his plight.

"Oh you think that's funny do ya?! Bring it on you oversized pig! I don't know if you can make javelina bacon but I'm about to find out!"

As if understanding his words, the javelina stopped it's grunting and glared at Grant for a few moments before it charged directly at him once again.

Fortunately for Grant, it appeared that a blunt force attack was really the only type of attack that the javelina could use. Other than to try and bite Grant to death of course. Unlike boars and hogs, javelinas didn't have any sort of tusk and the fact the javelina hadn't gained any after The Path's emergence was the only saving grace in this situation.

If the javelina did have some sort of "weapon" at its disposal, Grant had absolutely no confidence that he could win this fight.

Shaking off those useless thoughts though, Grant prepared his next strategy.

The only stat that Grant was 100% sure he exceeded the javelina in, was agility and speed. So, he wanted to try and utilize that speed by creating a distance between the two of them and then trying to circle around the monster, in an attempt to get a better attacking angle.

Unfortunately for Grant, after reaching a sizeable distance from the giant javelina, it suddenly stopped its movements and just stared at Grant waiting for him to approach it once again. Every time Grant tried to circle around to a different angle, the giant pig would just take small steps to rotate its body.

[Well shit, this guy isn't as dumb as he looks... why are all the monsters intelligent?! If this was a normal javelina it would either charge at me relentlessly or run away from me! Which would make this so much easier!]

{Just count your blessings you haven't run into a monster that is fast, strong, and smart. You are far too inexperienced to deal with that right now.}

[Thanks for your valuable input, o-wise-one. Man you're useless when it really matters.]

{I am a guide, remember? I am here to teach you about The Path and related topics, not to fight your battles for you.}

[Arghhh!! Whatever, stop talking. You're distracting me.]

While Sherlock and Grant were having their mental back and forth, the giant javelina remained completely still, which told Grant that he had no choice but to be the initiator in this fight.

It was time to try strategy number three.

Grant slid Wet Noodle back into its scabbard and let it hang at the side of his waist. He brought his fists in front of himself and did the iconic, if not slightly useless, self fist bump and cracking of his knuckles. Trying to look tough in front of the monster but also trying to psyche himself up for the upcoming melee.

After Grant was done make a fool of himself, he once again charged head long at the monster. Unlike before though, he had no plans to try and out maneuver the javelina, so he just ran straight at it. He figured that no matter how hard he tried, he would either have to go face to face with the monster or take a hip check to the body, so he threw out any plan that depended on finesse.

Just as the two were about to meet each other head on, the javelina ducked its head to in order to ram it's head into Grant. Seeing the javelina's movements, an idea popped into Grant's head, so he pushed off of the ground with all his strength and jumped over the giant head of the javelina and landed on it's back.

Before the monster could react to Grant landing on its back, Grant pulled his arm back like he was pulling the string of a bow and launched it at the base of the monsters skull, aiming for the exact spot where the spine connects with the skull itself.

The moment that Grant's fist impacted the spine of the monster, the monster roared in pain and anger. Clearly the attack had rattled the monster, if only for an instant, because the monster immediately started to buck and jump around like it was some untamed horse that was being ridden for the first time.

While the monster was trying to shake Grant from its back, Grant never stopped launching blow after blow at the base of the monsters head.

The giant javelina seemed to realize that bucking and jumping around wasn't going to get Grant off its back, because after a half a minute of trying and failing, the monster suddenly dropped to the ground and started to roll over.

Before the monster could crush him with the weight of its own body though, Grant had jumped off and backed a small distance away.

Noticing that Grant was no longer on its back, the javelina scrambled to its feet and stared at Grant like he was looking at his mortal enemy. Never in its short rise to power had the javelina ever been humiliated in such a way.

While preparing himself for a second attack, Grant noticed something was wrong. The feeling of dread he had been experiencing the whole fight had increased exponentially for a split second and before he could even process what was going on, the monster was already inches away from him.

With eyes wide as saucers at the javelina's surprise burst of speed, Grant attempted to punch at the head in front of him while pushing himself away. Before Grant could make contact with the snout of the giant javelina, it opened its mouth and bit down hard on Grant's outstretched left arm.

A blood curdling scream rang out the moment the massive teeth of the javelina bit down on Grant's arm.

Reacting on instinct, Grant balled his right hand into a fist and threw a punch as hard as he could at the side of the monsters head; impacting it right below its left eye.

The pain caused by the punch forced the javelina let out a pained roar. Since it had to open its mouth to roar, Grant was able to free his arm, or what was left of his arm.

Without hesitation and while enduring the searing pain assaulting his consciousness, Grant took a few leaps backwards. The monster was busy shaking its head back and forth, as if trying to shake off the pain and dizziness caused by the punch. Which thankfully, gave Grant a moment of respite.

While taking deep breathes, Grant forced himself to ignore the searing pain coming from his arm and focus on trying to end this fight, if it went on much longer he would be in serious danger of dying.

He didn't even taken the time to look at his wounded arm because he knew that if he did, it would cause him enough mental damage that he might give up the fight due to shock.

The more the pain assaulted his mind, the angrier Grant became at his own shortcomings and the audacity of an oversized pig to injure him so badly.

"I will fucking kill you, you ugly ass pig!"

The words were more for Grant than they were for the giant javelina.

He knew that he had caused some damage to the monster, and he was happy that he had managed that, but now that his arm was in shambles, he needed to end this fight and he need to end it now.

For the second time this fight, Grant withdrew his sword from its scabbard using his remaining good arm this time and prepared to face the giant javelina again.

He wasn't sure what had happened when he felt the immense sense of dread or how the javelina seemed to move so quickly, but he knew he had to be prepared for when the monster did it again.

By the time Grant had gotten his sword in hand and squared up, the javelina had shaken off what little damage Grant had managed to inflict and was preparing to attack again.

Just like the last time, Grant felt an immense amount of danger before the giant monster appeared directly in front of him once again.

This time however, Grant didn't move. Just before the javelina could open it's jaw and attack, Grant yelled at the top of his lungs, "Blind!"

A nano second later, a bright light flashed through the area surrounding Grant. The javelina, taking the full impact of the skill, started to trash around in panic.

Since the light didn't effect Grant in any way, and knowing he only had five seconds to inflict maximum damage, he didn't hesitate and immediately jumped to the side of the javelinas head.

Grant pulled back his sword as far as he could behind his head and stabbed it right into the monsters eye trying to imbed the sword as deep as he could.

The giant javelina pulled its head away on instinct which allowed Grant to withdraw the sword quickly. Once his sword was free, he side stepped further down the side of the javelina, pulled his sword back behind his head once again and then launched it forward. The sword was thrust deep into the ear canal of the monster.

The blade seemed to travel unimpeded for a split second before it stuck into something hard. Since Grant only had the one good arm, he didn't try to use his arm strength to force the blade any further. Instead, he jumped off of the ground and did a full 360 degree spin and kicked the end of the handle of the sword that was still sticking out of its ear.

When his foot made contact with the sword, he could feel the blade being pushed further into the ear canal.

Before the effect of Blind ended and before the monster could make another sound, a notification appeared in Grants field of view before he collapsed on the ground and passed out due to pain and exhaustion.

{Congratulations on killing Gigantic King Peccary Level 25

You have reached Level 22

You have absorbed...}