Sparring With A Bear? A Panda?

It has been a year since I found myself in that small forest clearing, met gramps, and learned that it's actually a different world. Day after day I kept pushing my body to the limit. If not body training, then running. If not running, then do drills. This and meditation.

Here, once again, I was lying on the grass, trying to catch my breath from another training session.

After my breathing stabilized, I sat up and muttered "This is getting boring. I need a change of pace. Uh. What should I do? Back home it would be sparring, but here… Except for me, there is only this damn old man and he is a real monster. What should I do?"

I started to crack my brains out, However, the option left was to find a creature in the forest for a fight. Oh! According to gramps, it was called a "magical beast" That's all he said about them by the way. Gramps is a true man of a few words or so it seems. But pestering him for magic training and irritating him with silly banter became a habit of mine, helping me to get some entertainment in this boring place. Of course, I quickly learned when to stop, since the desire to experience being tied up to the tree upside down, again, wasn't high on my list.

"Alright then, I don't have a choice, do I? Let's go and kick some magical beast's ass" Making this decision, I stood up and went towards the forest depth.

---

I was looking around, taking the beautiful scenery in.

"No matter how many times I see it, it never fails to amaze me. There are different kinds of trees in every direction. Some look vaguely familiar, but most of them are different from anything I've ever seen back on earth. And some of them even have those delicious-looking fruits… I wonder how they taste… There are so many different plants as well. I should ask Gramps if there is something useful to look out for."

'I was talking to myself again… Gramps wasn't the most talkative person and there wasn't anyone else to talk with. I hope this won't become a habit.'

After walking for a while I finally found just what I was looking for. There was a lone magical beast. I looked around to make sure that there were no other magical beasts around. At least as far as my senses could tell. The magical beast was busy eating some kind of berries and still didn't detect me at first.

This ferocious magical beast looked like… a bear? A panda? A mix of both? Let's just call it "pandabear". Or would "bearpanda" sound better?

"Sweet! Found my sparring partner. At last." I whispered to myself, trying not to catch its attention as I slowly shortened the distance.

Suddenly, "pandabear" turned its head towards me. And then it stood upright on its hind legs.

"Oh crap, this thing is huge. Let's hope that the huge size means it's slow."

A mix of different feelings washed my mind. Nervousness, uncertainly, even a bit of fear. And a lot of excitement. Yes, this would be an interesting fight.

The pandabear stared at me as if looking at its prey, it even began to salivate. And then it roared at me in a clear challenge.

I dashed towards the monster and jumped high to kick its head.

Bang!

The bearpanda didn't even flinch from the impact, but at least some dirt or whatever that got into its eye made the monster momentarily squint. This gave me a moment to recover and dodge the incoming attack via backflip. I felt incredibly lucky and incredibly stupid for using a jumping attack on a superior foe. Beast swung its paw at me, which I barely dodged by diving in towards its open stomach. With no real alternatives, I kicked the monster's knee with all my might.

Bang!

My kick connected, however, It seemed it didn't receive any damage. The pandabear took a step back and punched at me. I dodged it by the skin of my teeth and distanced myself again.

'What to do next? I wasn't strong enough to break its leg with a low kick. That much is clear.'

Bearpanda made another wild swing that missed me somehow. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, I tried to kick the beast's wide-open stomach, thinking that the monster's gut would be softer than other bony parts. Apparently, my thinking was wrong and it didn't even itch from the impact.

Yet another wild swing from the pandabear. This time it was so close, that I felt a wind pressure hitting me. I felt blood flowing at the side of my lips. 'What, did it clip me somehow? No, just the air pressure alone was enough to hurt me, huh.'

I tasted the red blood and laughed. 'Hahaha! The taste of my blood, strong opponent, all those way-too-close dodges that made my heart beat faster. This excitement. This nervousness. These feelings made me feel more alive.'

I looked at my opponent. It looked back at me with a visible irritation on its mug. Bearpanda scowled, showing a row of sharp teeth. I smirked back.

"Roar"

It roared angrily as if provoked and ran towards me. I was startled by its sudden increase in speed.

'I-it's fast!' Was all I could think of, caught off guard by its swiftness, as the pandabear swung down its paws downward to smash me. I've clearly seen the trajectory of this motion. And there were no outs. No matter what, this hit will connect. This kid body of mine couldn't move fast enough to match my reflexes.

'Shit… I won't make it'. I crossed my hands before me, trying to lower impact and defend myself.

Bang!

Bearpanda's paw smashed into my guard and I was sent flying like a broken kite. The sheer power behind this hit was enough to shock me momentarily. And then my body met the ground and I just kept sliding, stopping just barely before hitting a tree.

"Gha!" I coughed up a mouthful of blood and thought 'T-this damn magical beast is really strong… If not for my past training I would be dead by now' I also was incredibly lucky not to be smashed into a tree or a stone or it would've been much worse. Still, it hurts like hell.

I tried to stand up quickly and felt dizzy. I tried to wipe the blood and sweat from my face, but I couldn't raise my left arm. Was it broken? Thank you adrenaline, you lessen my pain. I barely managed to get into a bearable stance, when pandabear suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Roar"

As soon as I saw the monster raising its two hands. My mind went into overdrive. There wasn't any other way but to grit my teeth and endure the pain. There was one way out and even then it was a huge gamble. I kicked the tree and used it as a spring to increase my speed. The tree bent a little, giving me a little bit more momentum as I shot between the monster's two legs and went behind it. Two paws landed heavily on the tree, exactly where I was standing just a moment ago, destroying the tree.

I had no time to think about the next move, so jumped high to deliver a huge blow using my strongest kick in the back of its head. It was another gamble that was heavily skewed not in my favor. I banked on the fact that the bearpanda stood with its back to me and won't be fast enough to counterattack if this attack fails.

Bang!

My face turned ugly as the bear panda didn't receive any damage. And then it turned around with too much swiftness, shocking me, and grabbed me with its hands right from the air. I was caught in a literal bear hug.

It squeezed me hard enough, for me to cough up a mouthful of blood. Here go my ribs. I tried to struggle but the disparity in our strength was obvious. It was hopeless. I couldn't do anything. And pandabear kept squeezing me harder.

*Crack*

"Ahhhh!" I cried out in pain. Was it my spine? Or something else?

My bones made a cracking sound as bearpanda slowly crushed me. I looked into its eyes and saw a dark enjoyment. Is it playing with food? I suddenly remembered a bit of trivia from my previous life. Bears prefer to eat still living prey. They break their victims thoroughly and leave them barely alive to eat them later.

'What should I do? What could I do? Is this how I'm gonna die this time? Is this the taste of defeat?'

I was in a dire pinch and negative thoughts surfaced in my mind, however, my pride as the "Undefeatable prodigy" from my previous life was refusing to just bow and give up. I felt a dark heat rising from my depths.

"Even if you die, it must cost your killer dearly". Suddenly a face of a certain master of mine appeared in my mind.

I gathered the energy left inside my body to free my right hand. I gritted my teeth and shouted with all my might. Surprisingly I felt a faint surge of energy inside my body and finally succeeded in freeing my right hand. With my last bit of energy left, I jammed my finger into the pandabear's left eye.

"Chowa, bitch". I hope master Ma would be proud of me

*Puchi~*

*Roar!*

It roared in pain, momentarily relaxing its grip and dropping me on the ground. Blood was ticking from its eye as It angrily looked at me. At least now monsters would kill me swiftly. I tried to stand up but failed to do so. When it was about to devour me. I just smiled.

"Well. To whoever cares. I'm sorry, but it seems that I'm dead".