30 Hunter & Prey

The forest's ruler walked around the tree that Rin had crashed into.

It couldn't help but growl.

It wasn't so much from anger, but annoyance instead.

The weak prey that had dared to enter its den could only run away in the face of its might.

And once again, it had disappeared.

A couple of meters in front of the Beast, a bush trembled.

The Great Tiger immediately leaped onto it, its deadly fangs ready to tear its prey to shreds.

But in the middle of the bush, all it found was a sword.

At the same time, it heard something land on the ground behind it.

It was Rin.

'Gotta hurry! Gotta hurry!' He told himself as he ran as fast as he could towards his Sword Of Flame.

The Great Tiger, whose eyes finally laid upon its prey, growled as it ran.

Before Rin could even pick up his Sword Of Flame, the Beast had already caught up to him.

It leaped forward, ready to trample over him and take its time shredding him to pieces with its fangs.

But just before those fangs could reach the prey, Rin swiftly turned around.

The Beast was momentarily blinded.

"Store." Rin whispered.

Immediately, the Spider Queen's Venom Gland disappeared from his left hand.

As he picked up his Sword Of Flame, it was immediately shrouded in flames.

With a swing of his burning weapon, the Great Tiger lost its left eye.

Raging roars resonated as the flammable venom burnt the Great Tiger's head.

...

The Great Tiger, having its vision impaired, stood at the same spot.

It turned around and around, waiting for Rin to show himself.

The latter was hidden behind a tree.

From his Inventory, he pulled out Items he had bought before leaving the Great City Of Vana.

[You have consumed 1 Health Potion.]

[50 Health Points restored.]

[You have consumed 1 Health Potion.]

[50 Health Points restored.]

Immediately, Rin could feel his wounds ache a bit less.

The bleeding on his stomach stopped.

'Good thing I bought some before coming...' He thought as he peeked at his prey.

Burnt marks on the Great Tiger's head, its left eye missing, a long wound on its foreleg and a sword coated in venom implanted on its back.

'The venom doesn't seem to do much... Although it's possible that the speed it showed earlier is already impaired. No way to know. It lost its eye, which will make close-range fighting easier. Too bad the venom burning didn't take its other eye... Now if I could limit its mobility somehow... Oh...' Rin thought before noticing that he could now move his right arm.

It wasn't to the point that he could swing a sword with it, but he could at least raise it.

Which was more than enough to do what Rin had in mind.

'If I approach from its blindspot...' Rin thought as he sprinted towards the Great Tiger's back.

The Beast was turning around, looking for Rin.

The latter quickly adjusted his positioning to be on the Great Tiger's left side.

The Beast, still unused to only having one eye, couldn't see him.

'You're strong, aren't you? Then...'

Flames arose from Rin's weapon.

The forest's ruler noticed light coming from its blindspot.

'... You won't run away from danger, right?'

And Rin was correct.

Instead of running away, the Great Tiger turned around immediately to face that danger.

The tip of Rin's Sword Of Flame found its way to the Beast's neck.

His blade penetrated its thick hide and tore its skin and muscle.

Blood poured down its neck as Rin pulled out his weapon.

He quickly stepped back, but, the Great Tiger was unfazed.

It pursued him right away, determined to finish the fight as quickly as possible.

As Beast's claws approached Rin's body, the latter and the former noticed the same thing.

'Its movements...' Rin thought as he barely dodged the sharp claws.

By purposefully dodging to the Beast's left side, the Great Tiger lost Rin once more.

An unknown feeling crept up on the forest's ruler.

The Great Tiger quickly turned around, certain that the foe would attack using its flames once more.

But all it found was Rin standing nonchalantly a couple of meters behind it.

'The venom is finally showing some effect.'

The Beast had only lost Rin for a second.

And yet, that unknown feeling had only gotten stronger.

It was the first time its body had felt this heavy.

It was the first time its prey had survived for this long.

The first time it had sustained this much damage.

That unknown feeling, was fear.

The Beast roared.

And as it roared, Rin stepped forward.

The Great Tiger's roar got even louder, before it took a step back.

"Don't be scared. I'll be quick." Rin whispered as flames rose from his weapon.

Nothing had truly changed.

The Beast was still faster and its attacks could only be barely dodged.

But having lost its edge, its fear only grew.

The Great Tiger took another step back.

Its sole remaining eye stared at those burning flames.

The pain from being burnt thrice by those flames came back to mind.

The Great Tiger couldn't help but step back a third time.

The next instant, its body moved before it could take a decision.

The Beast turned around.

It ran away, as Rin stared with wide eyes.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the scene unfolding.

Rin was tempted to pursue it immediately, but then decided against it.

'If this was some random Monster, I would have followed it. But this one... I already know where its den is... Agh! I thought it was slow enough for me to dodge...' Rin thought, as blood flowed down his shoulder.

"Now, where's my other sword?" He whispered.

...

The Great Tiger ran through the forest as fast as its body let it.

With each passing second, it could feel its muscles get a bit stiffer.

It didn't make any sense.

Its foe was beaten half to death previously, and yet it seems as if those injuries had disappeared.

Not only that, but the Great Tiger had defeated its fair share of strong foes.

Fighting at night was its specialty thanks to its sharp night vision.

It had defeated prey that was stronger, such as bears.

Groups of prey, such as packs of wolves.

What was different this time?

The foe was all alone.

Previously, it had never met a human who could put up a fight.

The humans who could put up a fight fought in groups, and even that wasn't enough to hurt it.

What was different about this human?

The other humans had weapons that could not penetrate its hide.

Even the claws of bears or the fangs of wolves could barely make a dent.

At the thought of Rin's flames, the Great Tiger ran even faster.

The other humans could not see in the dark as well as it could.

They could not disappear like this one could.

The Beast entered its den and lay as far from the entry as it could.

Unlike in the forest, where the moonlight shone, it was completely dark inside the den.

The Great Tiger's eye widened to adjust to the change of luminosity.

It licked the wounded foreleg while staring at the den's exit.

Minutes later, Rin entered the den.

As his Mana flowed out, his hair turned white.

The Great Tiger stood up right away.

It growled menacingly.

Piercing blue eyes shone through the darkness.

"Hey. Hope I didn't make you wait too long."