Necrosis? He felt nothing in his thigh. The flesh and muscle art the site had died. He ripped away more of his underclothes near the wound, making the hole bigger. The necrotic rot had already spread to the size of the bottom of a beer glass. Visible to his eyes, he saw the black skin slowly push out, making it larger by the second. His health was dipping too, already it was below half.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He had been careless or more like he lacked the ability to focus on multiple opponents as once. He knew it was wishful thinking that the rat would merely take a chunk out of his thigh. Instead, it had infected his body with necrosis. If he didn’t take care of it soon, it would spread deeper into his leg until eventually that leg wouldn’t be able to move.

Kai looked around for anything useful. There were plenty of plants and herbs around. But he knew nothing about herbology. He could just as easily consume a plant that would make him die faster or one that did absolutely nothing. Squeezing his eyes shut, he cursed himself.

Wait. Just maybe. Now that Kai’s life was on the line, he disregarded the decency and respect that was due to a corpse. He patted around Hector’s body looking, no, praying that he had something useful on him. The man had always been prepared.

Under the robe, he found two pouches. One was filled with bronze and silver coins. Why even bring coins to an excursion? Inside the other pouch to Kai’s dwindling delight were travel rations. Something he hadn’t thought to bring. Not that it would matter in a few hours if he couldn’t find a solution to his necrosis problem.

He started patting down his once friend near the hips on the opposite side. It only took a moment before he found what he was looking for. Underneath the robe were three vials. One was broken, with shattered glass and remnants of red liquid inside. The other two were still whole and corked.

[Shattered Vial]

[Weak Health Potion]

[Standard Health Potion]

His eyes lit up with happiness after identifying the two potions. He had been right. Hector did bring his own supply of potions, not simply relying on the instructor to provide them. He had been better prepared than Kai.

The weak health potion could heal bruises, minor cuts, and other topical ailments. Kai didn’t think it would be strong enough to handle something more dangerous like necrosis. Meanwhile, the standard health potion was a gem of a find. He didn’t know how it would interact with his necrosis, but it could mend broken bones and other stronger injuries. For the price of a single gold coin, it had better heal his current injuries.

There was no need to think further. He didn’t want to be wasteful by using two health potions in case the weak health potion didn’t fully heal him the first time. He popped off the cork of the standard health potion and down the red liquid.

A strong itching sensation spread out across his body, eventually settling on his shoulder, ribs, and thigh. Kai stared at his thigh unblinking, the health potion was doing its magic, as the dead black skin began to recede to a smaller circle until it vanished completely.

Kai fell back onto his ass, sighing in relief. He watched his health go up faster than ever, the standard potion outstripping the weak in terms of performance without question. Take my money. I’m buying a dozen of them when I get back to the city.

After Kai’s health was back to full, he knew it was time to move. He couldn’t wait here to recover his mana. The body would attract more monsters, and perhaps even bring ones he couldn’t handle. Akane had sat at his side patiently waiting for him to heal.

With the necrosis gone, he was able to stand unimpeded. Fresh, smooth pink skin covered where the once black death had been.

Time to go. Kai had hoped he was nearing the forest edge after finding Hector. He gave one last look to his friend before turning his back and leaving. Akane trotted by his side. She had a contemplative look on her face. Kai could tell because of the way her eyes were looking at the ground instead of looking in front of her.

The trees were beginning to thin as he near the forest edge. Less ambient noise could be heard around him. All he had to do was find a road and pick the right direction to the capital. He had a 50-50 chance.

Kai’s eyes widened with confusion immediately followed by fear, and panic. In the distance, he could see the silhouette of some kind of beast. Through the shadows, he could tell it was taller than him, even on all four legs. Something about the creature set off alarm bells in his head. Identify wasn’t working since he wasn’t able to make out any details about the beast. It might work if he went closer, but he didn’t want to alert it. Something that large was likely a higher level than him. Even with Akane beside him, assuming she would help, he didn’t think they should fight it.

Beside him, Akane growled lightly, her body arched in an aggressive stance. Kai’s eyes went wide in fright, but the creature didn’t appear to take notice of the noise. Relieved Kai motioned for Akane to retreat backward. They would find a way around the beast and out of the forest.

Taking a tentative step back, he kept his eyes trained on the beast. No reaction. He took another step, and then another. He walked back until a dreaded familiar sound of rumbling. Akane’s stomach was protesting loudly. Akane at least had the decency to look apologetic.

Returning his eyes to the silhouette, he saw its head raise. Under the shadows of darkness, he saw bright orange eyes lock onto him. The beast roared at him. Kai blanched, hearing the familiar sound.

“RUN!” he yelled. Instead of running backward deeper into the forest, he cut to the side, hoping to still get out of the forest. He glided across the forest ground as fast as his low dexterity could carry him. Akane effortlessly stayed to his side. His eyes were wide in terror as he looked back. Running on all fours, the beast was chasing after him. Not only that, but it was also gaining ground quickly.

No longer wreathed in shadows, he could see the beast in all its terrifying glory. Reflected in the moonlight, he could see it was the same type of beast that killed the instructor only smaller. Its entire arm, the left side of its body, and part of its face were charred black. Red blood saturated the hardened spikes on its right arm.

Between the burns and the blood, Kai only knew of one person who could have fought this monster, and his body was rotting away somewhere deeper in the forest. Within a minute of running, the beast was almost upon him.

Abruptly stopping, Akane quickly turned, doing a 180 to face the monster. Kai also stopped running. For as much of a pain as Akane was, he wouldn’t leave her behind.

Just as he was ripping his sword out of the sheathe, the forest lit up suddenly with light, causing him to shield his eyes. Fire streamed out of Akane’s mouth, shooting across the ground until it engulfed the monster.

The beast roared in pain, as the flames enveloped its entire body. Through the fire, Kai could see the beast was still coming closer, undeterred by the flames.

Adding his own [Gravity Pillar] to the mix, he hoped to pin it down inside the flames even longer. Akane’s fire lowered slightly as his gravity took effect. Kai could see the beast’s bloodthirsty eyes above the flames.

[Spiked Earth Bear – Forging Level 41]

Kai grimaced, even though it wasn’t the same one as earlier; it was still much stronger than him. Any monster capable of killing his instructor almost immediately was definitely above the fourth realm. Kai could only be thankful he had found a young bear, or he probably would have been killed already. Right now, he was really missing his blood magic range attacks. Unless he could outright crush or break his opponents, his gravity magic lacked the offensive power to hurt his enemies.

Kai watched Akane keep up her flames for 10 seconds, unrelenting in her attack. The monster inched closer regardless. Unleashing a bellowing roar, a wall of earth and dirt rushed out, pushing against the flames, until it hit both Kai and Akane.

Putting his arms in front of his face, Kai blocked the attack, he felt rocks and dirt crash against his armor, which forced him a few steps back. The attack passed through Kai and Akane, but it had stopped her flames abruptly.

After the wall of earth had passed over both Kai and Akane, there was a moment of peace between the three. And in that moment of peace, it was primarily the bear deciding which one he was going to kill first.

Patches of fire clung to the bear’s fur, illuminating his wild eyes which shifted between Kai and the fox, until they settled on Akane, finding her to be the bigger threat so far. With unexpected speed, it pushed off the ground, and swung a giant clawed paw toward the small fox.

Taking advantage of its disregard, Kai dashed to its side. [Heavy Blow] activated as he stabbed his sword straight into the bear’s side. Maybe this won’t be so hard, after all. Immediately upon contact, he felt a great deal of resistance against the bear’s hide, but the sword sunk near its ribs.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the gigantic paw meant for Akane, now coming at him. Barely getting his arm up in time, he held it up as the bear’s paw smashed into him. Something audibly snapped inside his arm as he went flying through the air.

Health: 536/1050

Pain erupted in Kai’s arm as he tried to push himself off the ground. For the first time all day, he tasted iron inside his own mouth. Even though he had blocked the blow with his left arm, the force of it had shaken him to his core. He was confident the attack had snapped a bone in his arm; a critical injury in the midst of battle.

Akane was shooting concentrated streams of fire at the bear, playing a game of cat and mouse, as she attacked with fire, she ran back using her superior speed, then shot fire again. Still stuck halfway inside the bear’s ribs was his sword. By now most of the bear’s fur was charred black, but the rocks scattered about its outside remained normal. Kai shot another gravity pillar at the bear slowing it down as it chased after Akane once more.

He saw Akane give him a glance before returning to her fire breath attacks. Trees and bushes were now engulfed all over the battlefield, giving the area light as the fight continued. Kai was at a loss for what to do. Akane would be running out of mana shortly, the rate of her attacks was fast for the little Foundation realm fox. He also noticed she wasn’t teleporting. Which meant either she couldn’t do it in the heat of battle or didn’t want to waste her mana. Kai knew he had to do something soon. Once she ran out of mana, she would be useless and he would be swordless.

Running behind the bear, he tried to approach it while it was distracted by the fire. The bear looked more pissed off than injured despite looking like an overcooked piece of meat. It hadn’t slowed down yet. Ignoring the flames concentrated on the bear’s face and front, Kai ran in from behind and grabbed onto his sword, pulling it back with both hands. The bear tensed, causing its muscles and body to tighten its hold on the sword. The pain in his left arm was excruciating as the sword slid out slowly. Finally free he prepared to stab into its side again, but the bear didn’t give him a chance. It took a swipe at him again, forcing him to jump back.

He could tell the bear was getting annoyed with this game of tag. Kai didn’t get a chance to attack again, the bear had shifted focus from Akane to him. He tried to slow down the bear as he retreated backward, but his gravity pillars didn’t seem to matter much to the physically powerful specimen. The bear ran at him faster than he could move backward. He could see Akane preparing to breathe fire somewhere behind the bear, but she looked ragged, her body heaved as she took deep breaths. To his surprise, she looked like she was enjoying herself, with an odd smile on her face.

Swiping its paw into the ground, it launched dirt and rocks at him. Too many to dodge, he covered his face with his arm. He felt the impact of rocks smashing against his armor and unprotected areas. Each hit felt like he was being bludgeoned with solid steel.

Face still covered he felt something powerful grasp his leg. Before he could see what, it was, he felt himself being ripped into the air, as he was swung from side to side like a ragdoll. Squeezing his fist closed tightly, he tried to keep his grip on his sword. The intense stabbing pain in his leg threatened to knock him out as his vision blurred and unblurred.

Through the shaking, he saw his left leg was partially inside the bear’s mouth. Its razor teeth crunched down, tearing the muscle and skin on the back of his shin. His alderlite shin guards were protecting the front of his shin, but his calf was getting shredded and torn. The teeth had reached his bones. Agonizing pain flared, as teeth grated on bone.

“Ahhhhh!” He yelled. Somewhere in his left leg, he felt the bone snap under the massive pressure from the beast’s jaw.

Through pain induced tears, Kai saw Akane still trying her hardest to attack the bear, but the small fox was woefully underpowered for the fight. Still, in the jaws of the bear, it swung him around until he felt a small impact against his armor.

He heard a small squeak as Akane’s flames suddenly stopped. No longer hearing Akane, Kai prayed she was still alive.

Still hanging out of the bear’s mouth, Kai pulled his upper body towards the bear’s face as he slashed at it. [Heavy blow] flashed across the unsuspecting bear’s face, and a spray of blood shot out.

They both roared in pain, as Kai was dropped onto the ground. He tried to scramble backward, but between his broken arm and leg, he struggled to move. The pain overwhelmed him. Looking at the face of the bear, it had a slash mark across its face and right eye. Fresh blood was flowing over the charred black fur of its face. It’s one eye trained fiercely on Kai. His arm shook as he pointed his sword at the approaching bear. It took one step, then another towards the human that had caused it such agony.