Fit completely abandons his sword and quickly unsheathes a knife from his waist and rams it into the bear's claws, who quickly counterattacks. Being a thin blade, it manages to find its place and penetrate the skin, although only superficially.

The bear doesn't stand still and drives its teeth into Fit's chest sinking them deep and crushing his bones along with his lung, while moving its head from side to side tearing any bits of flesh.

Fit finds himself on the ground again, but this time his body no longer responds as before and he barely manages to get to his feet. Small bubbles of blood are generated in the holes in his chest, demonstrating the perforation of his lung.

He would have died if it wasn't for his resilience and energy that circulated through his body giving life to the already dying cells of his body.

'There's a saying in the army. 'Never face dead soldiers', and I will prove it to you now.” He spits blood that prevented him from speaking clearly.

Dead soldiers are those who only have death as their only way out, this means that it doesn't matter if you rip off all their limbs, they will still bite you until they are lifeless.

In this instance, he already discovered that this beast has a much more advanced level of intelligence than any animal. And Fit instinctively wants someone to listen to his last words.

The world seems to slow down as he runs towards the bear, you can see every hair and the steam coming from his nose in detail as he puts all his energy into his legs. His heart pumps more blood fighting against the lack of oxygen, with one less lung, the task cost twice as much.

He planned to slip under the beast and rip its stomach apart in the process. But the bear doesn't take it lightly and repels him with its strongest attack before he even gets within three meters.

His mouth opens completely showing each edge of his teeth, but the most striking thing was the pressure that was generated inside it. The air was compressed to such an extent that it was visible, or perhaps the density of the magic caused it.

The same attack that had knocked Ezer off the cliff in the past now compressed every inch of Fit's organs. It is launched a third time into the air, but this time not even the trees can stop him and he passes through them generating a shower of splinters and slight tremors each time one falls.

He can't even breathe anymore as he watches as the bear ignores him and continues on its way with nothing but a slight cut between its claws.

“Now I understand why they are called beasts… A scratch, just a scratch even though I use all my strength… What level will it be? His vision darkens and he can't tell if he's still alive or dead.

"I wonder if mother is still alive? I couldn't say goodbye...” That was his last thought before his worn heart stopped.

The bear licked its paw after carefully sniffing the air and the tracks on the ground. He follows them north knowing that his target is headed that way, the flames of revenge reflecting in his eyes.

---------------------------

The incessant sound of small drops falling from the ceiling of the cave could be heard rhythmically and unstoppably. Ezer finds himself in a corner huddled near a small fire fueled by what little wood he managed to get.

He had lost count of how many times he woke up from nightmares, every time he opened his eyes it seemed to him that he felt the warm blood of that man on his fingers. There was a moment when he almost got rid of his dagger, but stopped when he saw the initials of his mother and sister, his last memory of them.

The fault did not lie with the object, but who used it and for what. "The world is cruel, and there will be times when you must be too, but never accept cruelty, never be the darkness, because you are light." He repeats his mother's words over and over as he prays for the sun to rise and drive away the endless night.

At first you could see a few trees on the slopes of the mountains. But now, after two days of walking, there were none left in sight. Ezer remained alert for any sign of his pursuers, though his concern lessened as time went on.

“I have no choice but to climb this.” His path is closed before a mountain and there is no other way but to cross it.

Despite the fact that summer was near, these mountains only know the cold. Some puddles still have a thin layer of ice and the grasses had fine droplets glistening in the sun on their stems.

Ezer starts up the mountain when the sun is shining and stops when its dark. Huddled behind a rock, Ezer is wrapped in his cloak and in front of him is a small fire that is struggling not to be extinguished by the wind and lack of fuel. Now the temperatures are so low that neither the flames nor his coat can completely comfort Ezer. The nightmares fail to wake him up this time due to exhaustion, the next morning, he steps on the snow again.

Fifth day, having already reached the valley on the other side of the previous mountain, Ezer decides to prepare a more voluptuous meal to regain energy. He chose his last potatoes and a few pieces of dried meat to make a small soup, adding a fair amount of salt to mask the lack of ingredients.

“I have one more week of dried meat, two of black bread and some leftover cakes... The bread looks like a stone, I better soak it in the soup to make it edible.” Checks his supplies to kill time waiting for the food to cook.

"Mountains may be wearing, but they're not that dangerous. So far I haven't seen any beasts or animals…in fact I haven't seen anything alive…the environment reminds me of…” He stops the spoon halfway to his mouth.

“I was walking very relaxed, starting tomorrow I have to speed up my pace.” He doesn’t feel the taste of the food because of the nervousness and pressure generated by his thoughts.

He doesn't have nightmares that night since he almost can't fall asleep feeling a close presence, it was as if he had a weight on his shoulders and the environment became colder than it already was.

Sixth day, the mountains were getting steeper and Ezer needed to find passes to cross them. The feeling of oppression was getting stronger and stronger to the point of generating cold sweat on his back.

On the seventh day, Ezer was standing hundreds of meters from a river looking at the horizon with his bow in hand and an arrow ready.

“So, in the end, he ended up catching up with me, it took longer than I expected or maybe he never rushed at first.”