First Trial Part 3

"Shit."

Alex cursed as he ran straight into a boar-looking beast sleeping in a burrow dug at the base of a large tree.

By the time he saw the danger, it was too late.

*ROAR!*

The boar's enraged roar shook the surrounding area, causing leaves to break free from branches and ripples to form in the knee-deep water.

Alex's eyes widened, not because he was in some unfathomable danger but because the boar roared like a lion's. It shouldn't have been a noteworthy detail to an ordinary human. To a Recen, it spoke volumes about the beast.

'I didn't expect to find an Eryman here. Judging by its power, it most likely just underwent an advancement.'

Knowledge zipped through Alex's mind as he shifted his body into a defensive state. His heartbeat rose alarmingly, his pupils enlarged, covering the irises almost entirely, and adrenaline pumped through his veins.

Some of these processes would naturally happen when confronted with danger. Though, Alex could somewhat control them to a certain point, thanks to Recen's training.

Fighting head-on against an Eryman while still being a human was a stupid idea. So, he didn't do that.

Shoving his hand into his pouch, he threw a small round wooden ball into the swamp water a few meters away, then gripped his sword, feeling the leather creak and whine under his strength. Since he wasn't sure of the beast's power, he wouldn't attack first or recklessly. He was aiming to leave this place alive, after all.

The Eryman stomped its foot and rushed forward with all its might planning to crush the human in one fell swoop.

'Holy...' Alex almost cursed in his mind and clicked his tongue, surprised by the beast's speed.

He barely managed to sidestep the charging Eryman, bringing his blade in an overhead swing aimed at the boar's neck. For such beasts, their neck muscles were vital for survival and fighting ability.

The beast has already lost this fight. The Eryman charged at the human, disregarding the most fundamental rule in battle. Not assessing the opponent first.

The moment it entered the trap's set-off range, it blew upward, sending a shockwave and shrapnel toward the beast's belly.

The blast ripped through the boar's thick skin as though it were nothing more than wet paper, and some pieces of shrapnel exited through its back.

The Eryman could only let out a soft grunt of pain as Alex rushed to its side, his blade descending upon its neck, cutting the boar's neck muscles and severing its spine before cleanly separating its head from the rest of the body.

As though catching up to the fact it was dead, the Eryman's body plopped into the swamp a moment later, its blood dyeing the water red.

Alex grabbed the carcass by its hind legs, pulling the boar from the swamp toward its borrow. 'Damn, you're heavy.'

Very happy with the current situation, Alex couldn't hide the smile forming on his lips as he hastily made a fire before spending ten minutes struggling to hoist the boar up a tree branch.

He had spent years learning about beasts' habits and ways of fighting and prepared countless potions and traps to help him fight against them. And now, all that knowledge bore fruits sweeter than honey.

Not wasting any time, the young man started skinning the carcass. The process proved more challenging than expected because the Eryman's hide was blown to bits from its belly to its sides.

'Should've gutted it right then and there, dammit.' The young man clicked his tongue as he removed the boar's insides. 'Its gut juice spilled everywhere. Let's hope the meat ain't all that spoiled.'

As annoyed as he was, the damage was already done. Now, Alex has to deal with bad-tasting meat for the time being.

His stomach suddenly grumbled in response, seemingly unfazed by some spoiled meat. It wasn't rotten, nor was it uneatable. The meat will taste weird when roasting it, but his stomach could handle that much.

It didn't take long before he was done with cutting the carcass into manageable pieces, then wiped his sweat off and turned his attention to the Eryman's burrow.

The burrow, currently, smelled and looked like a pen, but it was safe from weather changes and, most importantly, was dry.

'Whatever attacked me most likely lost my trace. It would've been here otherwise.' His thoughts circled back to why he was forced to run this way before reminding Alex what had to be done if he wished for a dry place to sleep.

Alex sighed and got to work. He didn't have gloves to use but found some broad green leaves he could use to place the poop left by the boar.

Cleaning the burrow of a wild animal was as bad as it sounded and pushed Alex to his limits. Fortunately, the teen was famished, so nothing could resurface to be enjoyed a second time.

After finishing the grossest part of the job, he bunched some leaves together in a makeshift broom, cleaning the floor before throwing inside some logs that were still smoking.

'That should take care of the smell and bacteria inside.' Alex nodded, ready to pat himself for a well-done job.

Eventually, he focused on roasting some meat to appease his grumbling stomach and restore some energy to his body. Alex seemed alright from an outside view, but he knew his body was running on fumes.

He had eaten nothing since very early in the morning, after all, plus he had undergone some rigorous training before he was thrown in this hellhole.

His stomach had every right to protest, and far from Alex, the thought of blaming his trustworthy, food-digesting friend.

Soon, the slightly musty smell of roasted meat spread through the area, moving faster than the wind carried it, bringing some unexpected and unwanted guests.

'Oh, come on.' Alex stood up, irritated by another beast slowly creeping closer.

The beast in question looked more bone than flesh, stepping from branch to branch with such ease and elegance one would think it was a dance of some kind rather than any sort of movement.

The beast had three legs, thin as broomsticks, and two long arms that ended in pointy appendices that resembled javelins. The needle-like weapons hooked onto the beast's five inverted fingers, acting like improvized atlatls. (A/N: The fingers are inverted and touch the beast's forearms. Imagine overextending your fingers to the point they touch your palm. It's the same idea, only on a much larger scale.)

Alex squinted to get a better look at the weird monster in front of him, but it didn't help much.

'What the fuck is even that?' He asked himself as though expecting an answer.

The beast was unlike anything Alex had ever seen or heard of. Even the monster manuals, or bestiaries, the elders forced them to study, didn't mention such a creature. Moreover, this beast went against everything an ambush predator swore by.

To succeed in killing its prey, a predator had to be very hard to see, blending with its environment to the point of almost fusing with it.

This beast, however, was white as snow, and it was moving as slowly as a snail. Neither 'qualities' could help this beast in catching prey. Then again, whatever this was, it wasn't catching prey. It was hunting it, killing it from a distance, and only then approaching to retrieve it.

Alex pondered what to do next and what plan of action was best suited for this situation.

Going by the teachings of his elders, he should just run away and stalk the beast; to gauge its strengths and weaknesses before finally stepping in and finishing the job. In other words, Alex had to step back and learn everything about this unknown beast before taking any action against it.

The problem was Alex had neither the time nor the will to step back. Especially not now, when he had something to protect.

Food and shelter were hard to find in this dense, harsh, and wet swamp, so he couldn't abandon them like this unless he absolutely had to.

Grabbing his sword, Alex made a decision. Just like the Eryman boar did, Alex would also forego the most fundamental rule in battle.

He couldn't abandon this place, so he would have to kill the predator here. Grabbing a bomb and several traps, Alex banked on the fact the beast was unaware of its cover being blown.

With a quick motion, Alex threw a bomb at the beast's face while deploying his traps at the same time.

He will spend whatever amount of traps, potions, and bombs to defeat this unknown beast. He could study it afterward.

Bony saw the approaching bomb and tilted its skull-like head to the side, confused by it.

It couldn't sense any danger from the small ball, so it ignored it.

It was the biggest mistake Bony had ever accomplished in its entire life.

The bomb's fuse reached its end, lighting up its insides.

A mighty boom immediately ensued, blasting fire and shrapnel in every direction.

The monster screeched horribly as the bomb set off in its face, burning its skin, eyes, and every other fleshy bits. Pain assaulted its senses, disorienting the beast.

Alex didn't know how effective the bomb was, as he did not even see a trace of blood flowing out of its wounds. However, he wasn't going to sit around to find out.

Grabbing another bomb from his pouch, he threw it at the beast's face, blasting another hole in its body, making it lose its grip.

As soon as Bony fell into the swamp water, it started swinging its arms, trying to push the water away from its nose.

Alex saw this opportunity and rushed from his spot, appearing above the monster's body, killing it with a single well-placed swing.

"Phew!" He sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Since it was best to not let the beast have any breathing room, Alex was forced to use a Recen movement technique, increasing his speed four times over at the cost of increased energy consumption.

"Now, what the hell are you?" The young man asked out loud, using the tip of his blade to shift the beast's head.