The sun gradually rose to the zenith, and the temperature continued to climb.
The clothes under his armor were already soaked with sweat, but Gordon, who was fully focused on dodging the Great Wild Boar King's Attack Up and looking for openings, naturally didn't notice this.
Ten minutes had passed since the battle officially began.
The high-intensity rolling, dodging, and sword-swinging caused his stamina to drop very quickly, and the Great Wild Boar King, as the hunting target, was naturally not having an easy time either.
The toxins from the Paralysis Mushroom and Poison Mushroom continued to work, which made its stamina deplete even faster.
The knife marks covering its entire body looked terrifying, but most of the wounds were not deep; the truly serious one was the injury to its left hind leg's Achilles tendon.
After the adrenaline surge from its rage subsided, the intense pain in its hind leg made its movements sluggish.
The initial thought of crushing its opponent into meat paste had also faded significantly. After a standoff lasting several seconds, the Great Wild Boar King, panting heavily, turned around and trotted away.
Gordon let out a long breath.
He didn't pursue immediately because his stamina had also dropped to a dangerously low level, and furthermore, he was by no means unscathed from the previous battle.
After briefly confirming the surroundings were temporarily safe, Gordon took out a water skin filled with recovery medicine and took several large gulps.
He pressed his palm against his side ribs, and the not-so-unbearable pain from his ribs made him feel relieved.
He had just taken a kick from the Great Wild Boar King there; even with armor protection, bruising was inevitable, but as long as the Gu Tou was fine, it was good.
His right shoulder had also been grazed by the Great Wild Boar King's tusks, and it was very swollen now, but fortunately, it also didn't injure the bone, and a little rest should alleviate it.
Taking out a piece of carried food, and washing it down with recovery medicine mixed with honey, Gordon took out a whetstone and began sharpening his Hunter's Knife.
The originally sharp blade was now covered in blood and fat, and there were several nicks; if he didn't sharpen it in time, he might not even be able to cut through the Great Wild Boar King's fur later.
After resting for about ten minutes, Gordon, feeling that his condition had largely recovered, continued the hunt and began his pursuit.
While he was recovering his stamina, the Great Wild Boar King was doing the same; he dared not let that fellow rest for too long.
The scent of the paint ball applied not long ago was distinct, and Gordon didn't spend much effort tracking the Great Wild Boar King's whereabouts.
It was standing by a Stream, drinking water with its head down, its body covered in wounds that looked quite miserable, attracting countless buzzing flies and insects from the forest.
The Stream bank was full of pebbles and fallen leaves, and there was no cover, making it impossible to approach quietly, so Gordon abandoned the plan of stealthy ambush.
He casually picked up a pebble, threw it from a distance, and accurately hit the Great Wild Boar Kingon its forehead.
The Great Wild Boar King shook its body, turned its head angrily, and its small eyes stared intently at the hateful human.
Gordon raised both hands and made a provocative gesture that even an Ant could understand, laughing as he said, "Come! Let's continue!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"
From the scorching midday sun until sunset in the west.
The entire afternoon was spent in Gordon's continuous struggle and pursuit with the Great Wild Boar King.
The Great Wild Boar King's condition was getting worse and worse.
The effects of the Paralysis Mushroom and Poison Mushroom had long since worn off, but its situation had not improved because of this; in these five or six hours, it had lost too much blood, had no time to recover its stamina, and even less time to eat.
Its mind was constantly in a state of high tension; whenever it wanted to catch its breath, that malicious human would appear, wielding his Hunter's Knife.
The injury to its left hind leg was severe; to reduce the burden on its left leg, the Great Wild Boar King tried its best to keep its left hind leg suspended, walking on its other three legs.
This not only made its walking speed slow but also further consumed its stamina, but the Great Wild Boar King had no choice.
If it didn't rest its left leg, it might not even be able to perform its most accustomed charge during battle.
As the pursuer, Gordon's condition was not much better.
The recovery medicine in his water skin was already exhausted, and he had several new injuries on his body; to block one impact, his right arm, which held the shield, fractured again, and moving it caused excruciating pain.
And what worried him most was the Hunter's Knife in his hand.
There were more and more nicks, and the whetstone could no longer restore its original sharpness; a crack even appeared on the originally smooth blade surface, and perhaps after the next swing, it would completely break.
The inexperienced young Hunter did not know that the culprit behind the excessive wear of his weapon was actually himself.
Why didn't the instructor mention how easy it was to poison a weapon with Poison Mushroom? It was because the corrosive sap of the Poison Mushroomwould cause irreversible damage to the weapon.
Those special weapons with potent poisons were not as simple as applying poison to the blade; instead, they used targeted materials and structural designs.
Indeed, the potent sap on the blade suppressed the Great Wild Boar King's self-healing ability to some extent, causing it to bleed continuously, but whether it was a loss or a gain, who could say before the final result was out?
Now, Gordon once again stood before the Great Wild Boar King.
Both were already pushed to their limits; this might be their final confrontation.
"Come, let's continue."
The Hunter waved at the Great Wild Boar King for the countless time.
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Pushed to its limit, the Great Wild Boar King's eyes once again turned blood red.
The pride of a "fierce general" made it unwilling to spend its last bit of stamina on escaping; its left hind leg, with its Achilles tendon almost completely severed, miraculously stood firmly on the ground.
A long Stream of white vapor, like a steam engine releasing pressure, sprayed from its nostrils.
A charge, far more powerful than any before, began; at this moment, even if a wyvern stood in its path, it would surely be severely wounded by this Attack Up.
Gordon, feeling the opponent's resolve, certainly wouldn't act like the heroes in storybooks—both charging simultaneously, passing each other, the victor sheathing his Hunter's Knife, the loser falling.
No matter how brave, one should not play head-on with the Great Wild Boar King.
Dodging was the only option.
Staring directly at the charging Great Wild Boar King, Gordon rolled and dodged at the very last moment, beautifully evading the charge, just as he had every time before.
However, this time, the Great Wild Boar King's movements changed.
It didn't stop its charge; instead, it forcefully changed direction while at full speed, its mountain-like body drawing a nearly ninety-degree turn in the forest clearing, its massive tusks pointing directly at the Hunter.
"How is that possible!?"
Gordon's face changed drastically; he never imagined the Great Wild Boar King still had a continuous charge up its sleeve?
In a life-or-death situation, he couldn't even bother with a recovery roll; he lunged sideways with all his might, falling heavily to the ground.
Even so, the distance he lunged was not far enough, and the Great Wild Boar King's heavy hoof was about to crush his knee.
At this moment, Gordon could only choose to leave everything to luck.
He didn't bother to estimate the distance, gritted his teeth, and rolled sideways, and it was this gambling-like sideways roll that miraculously allowed him to dodge the Great Wild Boar King's stomp.
The Great Wild Boar King, charging at full speed with no strength left, crashed head-on into the trunk of a large tree in front, letting out an explosive roar.
"Crack!"
A distinct sound, different from the breaking of a tree, reached Gordon's ears.
Gordon, getting up in a disheveled state, looked up in astonishment.
The Great Wild Boar King's tusks were broken!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.