BANG!
The sound of a heavy collision rang out as Everlearn collided head-on with the Panthercrack.
The claw headed straight for his face, but he weaved to the side.
Instead, it smashed into his shoulder, leaving a diagonal line that sent red blood spraying into the air.
CREAK!
His teeth clenched from the pain, blood oozing from the corner of his lips.
Just as he was sent reeling back from the force of the attack, his hands, gripping tightly onto the spear, moved.
BOOM!
The floor shook heavily as Everlearn crashed into the ground, a crater forming beneath him while blood quickly pooled over.
The Panthercrack, on the other hand, landed on the tree branch Everlearn had leapt from, but this time it didn't immediately follow up with its next attack.
GROWL
A deep growl rang out, not predatory, but filled with pain.
SPLITTER!
The sound of liquid faintly splashing rang out behind it as the beast turned slowly.
There was Everlearn, rising slowly with the aid of the spear by his side.
Pain racked through him, his left arm dangling helplessly, yet a wicked grin curved on his lips as he looked at the Panthercrack.
One of its five eyes, the one in the very center of its face, had been broken, a diagonal cut slicing clean through it.
The creature's tail flickered, claws digging deeper into the tree as it prepared to lunge forward, clearly unfazed by one eye being blinded.
But Everlearn only scoffed.
'Idiot.'
The creature hadn't leapt a meter before it suddenly crashed uncontrollably to the ground.
Everlearn appeared right before it, a moment before it hit, his right hand stabbing the spear toward its neck.
But,
BANG!
A force slammed into his arm, sending him staggering five steps backward.
On the sixth step, however, he was already rushing forward again.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
For the next few minutes, the only sound in the night was the clash of metal and claws.
Everlearn stabbed out relentlessly, each strike rough and amateurish, but all aimed at the creature's neck, giving it some little bit of precision.
But even with its erratic movements, the Panthercrack still managed to deflect the obviously predictable blows.
It roared in fury, its claws clashing against the spear, sending him tumbling backward before quickly following up with a tail slam.
He dodged to the side, but was still too slow.
BANG!
SPLATTER!
Everlearn's dangling left arm was completely cleaved off, torn away when the panthercrack's tail slammed into it.
"Tch,"
DIIIEEEE!"
Everlearn roared in anger.
Instead of stabbing at its neck, he drove the spear through its palms, nailing it into the ground.
A mournful roar tore out of its throat as its second claw instantly lashed forward, aiming for Everlearn's head.
He expected it, dodging through as the creature stumbled from the miss.
[Here's your chance!]
The system panel blinked as Everlearn yanked the spear free from the Panthercrack's claws and rushed forward toward its neck.
Jumping into the air, his right hand gripped the spear tightly as he thrust it downward toward its wide, exposed neck.
'I have won...'
He thought, looking at the wide exposed neck and his spear heading straight for it, but then,
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
Something pierced forth.
So fast his eyes could barely follow, and the object, whatever it was, pierced through his navel and burst out of his back, hanging him in the air.
BLERGH!
Blood gushed out of his lips like a broken dam, as the forest fell into a crippling silence.
The creature's tail had suddenly transformed, the end opening up like a bud, to reveal a sharp blade that had pierced straight through Everlearn.
The beast raised itself slowly, its tail still skewering Everlearn.
While it had five eyes, two of them contributed to nearly ninety percent of its sensory ability, and Everlearn had blinded one of those special two, leaving it disoriented.
Still, it forced itself up, stepping toward him.
It sniffed at him, a sneer of disdain curling its maw as it looked at its prey.
Throwing its head back,
ROOOOOOAA—
PUUUUUUCCCHII!
The roar of victory was cut short by the sound of something piercing into flesh.
Its four remaining eyes widened in shock as it slowly looked down, and there was the one it considered prey, grinning wickedly up at it.
"I know your special ability, Panthercrack!" he spat with mockery, forcing the spear forward with every last bit of strength.
It drove deeper into the creature's neck, bursting out of its head and killing it instantly.
The beast collapsed to the ground, its cruel tail tearing roughly out of Everlearn's stomach, blood spilling everywhere.
The Panthercrack had a single special ability that it only uses when cornered.
Its flickering tail wasn't merely for balance; wrapped beneath the skin was a lethally sharp blade.
In an instant, it could unfurl and pierce through prey, finishing them just when they think they had the upper hand.
The panthercrack must have thought it was the one who had everything under control, but it was wrong.
Every move in that fight had been carefully calculated by Everlearn:
Blinding one of its two special eyes was no coincidence.
It was to disorient it, and he had sacrificed his left hand to ensure that happened.
Attacking fiercely, but only at its neck, was to give the feeling of desperation but also control, and it had prompted the creature to use its desperate move on Everlearn's own terms.
This was Everlearn's first fight, and he had won, but the cost was also expensive, perhaps too expensive: a hole in his stomach and one hand missing.
His consciousness was also slipping rapidly.
"At least I didn't go down without a good fight," he thought, sneering at himself in mockery.
Just as it all darkened, the system panel flashed.
║Congratulations, Host HAS Completed his First Quest: Kill 1 Nocturnal Beast║
║Rewards:
+100 EXP!
+1 Level Up Card
+1 Ability Upgrade Card║
║EXP: 100/100║
║Host has reached the criteria for leveling up, along with a Level-Up Card!║
║Leveling will now begin!║