I Defeated a Child and His Pet Bear

As Teddywumpus the bear grew to a towering height, the boxing gloves on its paws shredded apart. Underneath were serrated claws that looked perfectly suited for the job of ripping Frank's organs and skeleton apart from one another.

Frank threw himself to the ground in terror as Teddywumpus's claw slashed through the air directly where his head had been. "You're insane!" Frank screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Die, unemployed!" screamed the boy who owned and controlled the monstrous bear. "Teddywumpus needs to level up, so die!"

Frank tried to stumble to his feet and just barely dodged another slash from the monster bear. Frank finally caught his feet underneath himself and set off at the fastest speed he'd ever achieved. Pure terror was pretty good for bringing out his full potential, as it happened.

Teddywumpus lumbered after him. Thankfully, it seemed that the monster bear wasn't terribly interested in murdering Frank in the fastest manner possible. Sure, it was following its master's orders, but it didn't seem to be anywhere near as full of hatred and bloodlust as the little boy holding a whip. Indeed, though Teddywumpus's growls were much louder and deeper than they'd been a few moments ago, the sounds of "Bloooogh" were just as curious and casual as they had been when Teddywumpus was just a little cub.

But despite this lack of murderous rage, Teddywumpus was still obeying his master and chasing his prey.

Frank fled as quickly as he could through the forest, but eventually found himself cornered by an unexpected gorge in the forest. The drop below was dozens of feet and Frank didn't enjoy the thought of jumping down and bouncing off the rocky dirt walls before eventually breaking his bones at the base of the gorge. Surely a quick death from a savage bear claw would be preferable.

Frank turned around, gasping for breath at the end of his sprint. Teddywumpus was getting closer. Soon, Frank's pathetic life would be over.

Unless...

Frank sighed. "I'm sorry, little guy," he said as the giant bear approached and prepared to tear him to shreds. "I know you're just doing what that little bastard is forcing you to do. Maybe in another life, we could've been friends."

"Ghlorsbib," growled Teddywumpus, then raised one massive, clawed paw.

With the new magical knowledge the dragon had implanted into his mind and soul before sending him to this world, Frank stretched out his hand to touch Teddywumpus's soft chest.

Then he imagined the event that happened only a single heartbeat later:

The bear exploded into uncountable trillions of grains of rice which whispered past Frank to cascade into the gorge behind him.

Frank looked sadly at the pile of dried rice grains that had settled in his hand—all that remained of the little slave bear.

Then Frank let the rice fall to the ground as he turned to glare at the boy who had, of course, followed his bear in pursuit of Frank.

"W-what happened?" the boy asked, his voice shaking. The whip fell from his fingers as his hands began to shake. "W-what did you do to him?"

"Ready for an ass-whupping?" Frank asked in response, then cracked his knuckles and walked forward.