14

"URRGH, URRGH!"

The wild boar, enjoying its day peacefully, never expected a pesky human to invade its territory so blatantly. It had encountered humans before, but they always brought offerings before daring to take even a single leaf. But who would have thought someone would be bold enough to not only ignore the tradition of offerings but also casually start picking herbs?

Such disrespect enraged the beast to the extreme, and in its fury, it was ready to teach this human a bloody lesson.

"BOOM!"

The moment the boar rushed towards the seemingly weak human boy with all its strength, it was sure it would blast him into pieces. After all, even among monsters, it was relatively strong.

But who could have predicted that when it collided with the human, the expected scene of the boy exploding into pieces wouldn't happen? Instead, with a loud bang, the boy was thrown back, smashing through several trees before slamming into a half-broken tree.

On the other hand, the boar truly understood what it meant to hit an iron wall. When it crashed into Lin Kai, the boy instinctively raised his arms to defend himself. The beast's two front tusks smashed into Lin Kai's hands, while the remaining tusks struck his chest. The charge, which should have killed any ordinary human, came to a halt when the tusks pierced Lin Kai's skin and muscles and came into contact with his bones.

"Craaaackkk..."

A loud sound of shattering echoed through the forest as all six tusks shattered like glass, leaving the boar in stunned silence. It struggled to comprehend what had just happened. But its confusion only lasted a moment before being replaced by blind rage. With its limited intelligence, the only thing it knew was that this human was responsible for its broken tusks. It didn't care if the boy died; it wanted to trample him into a paste and eat him to calm its anger.

Earlier, it only wanted to kill the human out of instinct, like stepping on an insect. But now, after the humiliation of losing its tusks, it was filled with murderous fury.

"URRGH, URRGH!"

Without wasting another second, the boar charged at the human again, who was still slumped against the half-broken tree.

"Shit," Lin Kai muttered.

Unlike the beast, Lin Kai took a while to process what had happened. He instinctively raised his arms when the giant boar had charged him. He was expecting the worst, even if he survived by any miracle, he was going to be crippled.

Yet, to his surprise, he survived... The only damage he suffered was the countless cuts and bruises on his arms and back, stretching from his head down to his hips. The force of the impact had torn most of his clothes apart, leaving him in tatters.

After the initial shock, Lin Kai felt ecstatic. When he first heard the middle-aged man say that refining bones would increase one's defense, he hadn't thought much about it. He assumed it would simply allow him to endure a few more hits without breaking bones. But now, seeing how a full-force blow from the boar couldn't shatter his bones, he realized how wrong he had been.

This... was what it meant to be a warrior.

Still, lying against the half-broken tree, Lin Kai didn't immediately stand up. Though the boar's attack hadn't seriously injured him, he knew full well he was no match for the beast. Even if he fought, all he could do was endure a beating.

So, he stayed as still as possible, hoping the boar would think he was dead and leave.

But who would have thought that, while the collision had done little to Lin Kai, it had shattered the boar's tusks? Its anger now knew no bounds.

Watching the beast rush at him again, ready to tear him apart, Lin Kai could only curse in his heart.

"Screw it," he gritted his teeth, slowly moving his hands to grab two sharp, broken pieces of tree wood, which he could use as makeshift spears. He didn't move but gripped them tightly in his hands, waiting for the boar to get close.

And sure enough, he didn't have to wait long. Just as Lin Kai tightened his grip on the wooden shards, the boar reached him. This time, it seemed to have learned its lesson, as it didn't smash its head into Lin Kai's legs. Instead, it opened its mouth wide, clamping its jaws around Lin Kai's right leg, intending to chew it to pieces.

"FUCK!" Lin Kai screamed in pain.

Even though his bones were as hard as iron, his muscles were still those of a mortal. He hadn't even reached the peak of human strength. So, naturally, he couldn't withstand the bite of such a powerful beast.

The moment the boar's teeth dug into his leg, unbearable pain coursed through Lin Kai's body. But he knew this was his chance—if he didn't act now, the boar would soon strip his bones of all muscle.

With a deep grunt, Lin Kai suddenly swung both arms forward as if swatting a fly. But instead of using his palms, he thrust the sharp wooden shards toward the boar's face. His target was its eyes.

The boar, sensing danger, reacted, but too late. One of the shards plunged into its left eye, while the other barely missed, hitting just above the right eye.

"URRGH!"

The boar let out a deafening roar, mad with pain. It had never suffered such a blow before. The agony clouded its mind, and in its madness, it forgot everything about the human in front of it. All it wanted was destruction. It lifted its front hooves and began to stomp wildly, trying to crush Lin Kai beneath its feet.

"FUCK!" Lin Kai cursed again.

Watching the boar raise its legs, preparing to trample him, Lin Kai panicked. Though his bones were unbreakable, the boar could still kill him by targeting his vulnerable spots, like his throat, stomach, or… the place between his legs. Lin Kai shuddered at the thought.

Quickly placing his hand to his right, he pushed himself out of the boar's way just as its hooves slammed into the ground where his stomach had been.

But before he could catch his breath, a shadow loomed over him. One of the boar's hooves came crashing down on his head.

"BANG."

The impact drove Lin Kai's head into the dirt, and for a moment, his vision blurred. The world spun, and stars danced before his eyes.

But thankfully the dizziness passed quickly, and Lin Kai soon regained his senses.

He silently thanked his lucky stars for refining his bones; otherwise, his skull would have been smashed like a watermelon.

"Fuck it," Lin Kai muttered, knowing he couldn't defeat the boar. It was sheer luck that he had somehow blinded it in one eye. But without proper weapons and with his strength still that of a mortal, there was little he could do but take the hits. Worse, he was still vulnerable to damage and could easily die if he wasn't careful.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant before he made up his mind.

"RUN."

Lin Kai knew fighting the boar was pointless. So, he decided to run. Some warriors might have considered fleeing a disgrace, but Lin Kai didn't care. He didn't see it as cowardly. The strong had their ways of survival, and the weak had theirs. Right now, his priority was staying alive. There would be plenty of chances to fight the boar in the future—but only if he lived to see another day.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Kai stumbled to his feet, turned around, and ran.

The boar, momentarily stunned that the human had survived even after being slammed into the ground, roared in rage and began to chase after him.

"Oh, come on!" Lin Kai groaned, seeing the boar charging at him, its speed far greater than his own. Looking around, he saw no clear path of escape.

"The tree?" A sudden thought struck him, and he almost wanted to slap himself for not thinking of it sooner.

Without wasting another second, Lin Kai ran toward the nearest tree, wrapped his arms around it like a monkey, and began to climb. He didn't stop until he was nearly ten meters above the ground, finally allowing himself to breathe.

He looked down, fully intending to mock the boar for failing to catch him, hoping to release some of his pent-up frustration and anger.

But the moment Lin Kai glanced down, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He blinked, wondering if he'd been hit too hard on the head.

The boar, instead of ramming into the tree, was slowly climbing up like a cat.

"FUCK!" Lin Kai swore, trembling.

But after a moment, he gritted his teeth and decided on a plan. Based on his earlier observations, he guessed the boar's bones were those of a mortal or perhaps just slightly stronger. Either way, its bones weren't much more durable than a human's.

Lin Kai climbed a little higher until he was twenty meters off the ground, then stopped and waited. Sure enough, the boar was only a meter away.

"NOW!"

Without hesitation, Lin Kai jumped from the tree.

"Thud."

With a loud thud, Lin Kai landed on the ground, momentarily feeling like his body would collapse. But the sensation passed quickly, and he stood up on trembling legs, looking back up at the tree.

Sure enough, the boar was stuck, glaring at him with furious eyes.

"Heh..."

"....."

"....."

"Hahahahaha..."

After a sneer, Lin Kai immediately burst into laughter, unable to contain himself. Just as he had guessed, the fall didn't harm him because of his refined bones. But the boar wasn't so lucky. If it dared to jump, Lin Kai was sure he'd be feasting on a scrumptious dinner tonight. He could already imagine roasting the beast over a fire, its meat sizzling and filling the air with the mouth-watering aroma of victory.

And just like he thought, the boar didn't jump. Instead, it started to clumsily climb down the tree, its eyes still filled with murderous intent. Clearly, it wasn't ready to give up on killing him just yet.

"Hahahaha..."

Lin Kai laughed again, louder this time. He couldn't help but mock the beast for its persistence. With a smirk, he raised his middle finger.

He wanted to laugh further, but he knew better than to push his luck. Without wasting another moment, Lin Kai turned on his heel and ran away as fast as possible.

The only thing left in the absolute silence of the forest was the unscrupulous laughter of a young boy and the unrelenting fury of a wild boar.