Chapter 2: Part 7

Alright, that's enough thinking for now. It's time to take action ― I should move on while the day is still bright.

I ripped up the common reeds. It's possible to make it strong and brittle through willpower. Magic skills aren't limited to the battlefield, but can also be used for things like this. So convenient.

My skills have improved, and I know what to do from now on. I will definitely survive!

It turns out the Great Borf Forest is massive. It was nine days ago that I'd been dumped there, and I was about to welcome the morning of the tenth. I was able to strengthen myself by learning skills and improving my ability with [Cooking].

The monsters I encountered the most were the Hyena Wolf, Boagnon, Dark Bat and Venom Whisperer. Especially the Hyena Wolf and Boagnon ― I encountered them every single day, so I've been able to learn all of their skills.

I also met a Hell Bear last night. Along with the warning alarm from [Wild Intuition] that I had just recently learned, I felt an enormous bloodthirst with [Presence Detection]. I ran away in a hurry, but it caught up to me easily.

I thought I could lose it with my [Acceleration] skill, but the Hell Bear just charged straight at me, knocking down the trees in its way without slowing down at all. It was like the trees weren't even there. As it caught up to me, I steeled my nerves to confront the beast.

The Hell Bear was definitely a muscle-brain, based not only on its appearance, but its ability and skills. I made a preemptive attack, dropping a large amount of water with [Spring Water], but it didn't even flinch.

The monster came rushing at me with its [Charge] skill at a tremendous speed, so I tried tangling up its legs with common reeds from [Plant Magic], but it started tearing through those as well. As it came closer, I also activated [Shadow Sewing] and was finally able to stop it with that combination of restraints.

After that, I started throwing rocks at the Hell Bear with my [Throwing] skill. The rocks were from my [Material Storage], they were from back when I picked up a bunch of them from the riverbank. To be clear, [Throwing] wasn't very effective; it only pissed it off even more.

The angry Hell Bear finally tore through the restraints from both [Plant Magic] and [Shadow Sewing] with its muscle-brained determination and went after me with [Charge].

I reacted a little too slowly, so I was blown away by the impact; the moment the bear passed me felt like being hit by a dump truck. Apparently, that was just from the wind pressure generated by its [Charge].

Wind pressure it may have been, but the damage on my body was real and substantial. I was still able to stand with some effort, but I was shaking.

As the Hell Bear approached me slowly while gushing out its nassal breath, with eyes that saw me as prey, each crashing step filled me with indescribable terror. However, with my weakened state, it apparently had let its guard down. Thanks to it stepping so slowly towards me, and seeing me as already beaten, I was able to use [Ignition] once it was within range.

The Hell Bear's face was engulfed in flames, and it writhed in pain, crashing through the surrounding big trees and jumping up and down with incredible power, to the extent that it was leaving craters in the ground. I know for a fact that once the fire is set, it won't go out unless I order it to, or the target dies.

The Hell Bear, in such a burning predicament, looked at me with hatred. Its next action was to activate its [Roar] skill, sending a guttural blast directly at me. I was just about to run, but because of the [Roar], I couldn't even stand anymore; all of my limbs were quivering. This was apparently a side effect caused by [Roar] ― not only couldn't I move, my whole body froze up, and I fell face-first onto the ground.

If I'm gonna eat dirt, how many bites should I take? This is stupid.

It was like being temporarily paralyzed, but this 'temporary' felt like it was about to be an eternity.

The Hell Bear now approached at high speed, still enraged and with its face being wrapped in flames, and sent me flying with a single strike from one of its massive front paws. Now, I had already leveled up quite a bit, and my [HP] attribute had risen to [C], but I felt like every bone in my body had shattered.

I hit the ground so hard I bounced several times, compounding the damage across my entire body. My field of view was distorted by blood and narrowed from swelling. I want to praise myself for being able to stay conscious and alive in such a miserable state.

It was as if my whole body had just run out of pain. Despite the situation, for some reason I just felt cold. The signals from my brain were all out of whack, and I couldn't even move a finger.

Ahh, I realized. I'm going to die here.