Quintessence of Arcana

The Clawed Bear (1)

“Munch... Munch... even rabbit meat tastes like shit...”

A few days after he had finished crafting Shardslicer, Erald was sitting outside his base eating rabbit meat. By rabbit meat, he of course meant the same powerful rabbit that had looked down on Erald before was nothing more than his prey. Erald had hoped the rabbit’s meat might taste a bit better, but it was every bit as disgusting as the wolves he had eaten. It was still monster meat, after all.

Despite its disgusting taste, he still ate it with gusto. Now that he doesn't suffer from the meat's poison, he was able to eat as much as he wanted whenever he felt himself getting hungry. Using the 'magical abilities' he had acquired from monsters made him grow hungry quickly. And since he had used that skill to take down the rabbit, he had eaten it all to replenish his energy.

If Erald overused his magical skills, his hunger pangs would flare up again. While he wouldn’t die thanks his physique, he still needed to be careful about how much mana he used.

Incidentally, Erald had killed the rabbit by luring it into a trap. He had drawn water from the river he had first woken up in, and lured the rabbit close. Once it had dashed forward into the wet surface he had created, he had used his lightning skill to transmit a powerful electric shock. Once the electricity passed, smoke started rising from the rabbit’s body, and as he had expected, its movements had been slowed. Erald had finished the weakened rabbit off with Shardslicer.

Just as he thought, his mana-powered blade was able to bypass the rabbit’s thick hide and skin easily, as though slicing a piece of bread. Shardslicer was even more powerful than Erald had imagined.

“Now then, let’s see how much my body changed...”

As he had thought, eating monsters can increased his physical abilities and senses. Though he hadn’t gotten much stronger by eating more Twin-tail Wolves, his current stats had taken a huge leap when he ate a new type of monster.

After eating the rabbit, what first came to Erald’s mind was the way the rabbit had moved. It had rushed forward so fast that he’d only been able to make it out as a blur. He inferred that it was most likely a type of supersonic movement akin to a jet that is about to take off.

Erald kept the image of explosive power gathering in his legs and dashed forward. He felt mana gather within his legs. The ground underneath his feet exploded in a shower of rubble as he leaped forward... and slammed face first into the wall.

“Controlling my acceleration is harder than I thought.”

However, his experiment was still a success. He imagined that if he trained it a little, he too would be able to move like the rabbit had. Used in tandem with his blade, those skills would be a powerful weapon indeed.

Next, he tried to use the aerodynamic skill of the rabbit. However, he found himself unable to activate it. After testing a bunch of different things, Erald suddenly remembered how the rabbit had sometimes looked to be standing in midair. And so, he quickly stuck his foot out and imagined there being an invisible shield supporting it from below. Then he jumped forward. He found himself face-planting magnificently into the ground.

“Guooooh!?” He cradled his face in his hand as he rolled around in pain. After the aching subsided a little, he quickly recovered later.

“Well... at least it works...”

The reason he had faceplanted into the ground despite jumping forward was because he hadn’t properly formed his footing. That was why he had effectively stumbled and fallen in midair. Aerodynamic was apparently a skill that allowed him to create footholds in midair. He had obtained multiple skills at once from the rabbit, though they were all derivative skills.

Pleased that he had obtained multiple skills at once, Erald began training them at once. He wanted to be strong enough to take down a Clawed Bear. He figured he’d be able to defeat it at short-range with Shardslicer easily enough, but he wanted to make completely sure, just in case. There was always the possibility of even stronger monsters showing up. Overconfidence in the dungeon can get a person killed. Once Erald was certain that he could kill the bear, it would be the time to start searching for an exit.

Erald redoubled his resolve, training harder than ever before.

.........................

A figure sped down the dungeon corridors so fast that he appeared no more than a blur. That figure was, of course, Erald.

Having completely mastered the rabbit's innate movement skills, he was dashing off the walls, while sometimes create mid-air footholds for himself. He traversed the dungeon at high speed, seeking out a rare prey, a Clawed Bear.

In fact, searching for an exit should have taken priority, but Erald was consumed by the desire to get revenge on the bear. He wouldn’t be able to move on unless he was able to prove to himself that he was more than a match for the monster that had once crushed his spirit.

“Graaaaah!” He ran into a pack of Twin-tailed Wolves, and one of them leaped at him. Erald calmly vaulted into the air, did a mid-air somersault, and swung his blade.

Swoosh! The sound of wind echoed down the corridor and Erald’s Lightning-powered blade cut the head of the first Twin-tailed Wolf.

He then used his aerodynamic movements to do a double jump in the air, before taking aim and strike at the other wolves. They didn’t all hit their vital parts, but he was still able to render them immobile.

Erald swung his Shardslicer in order to removed the blood that sticked in it. Then, without so much as a backward glance at the fallen wolves, he dashed off once more.

After spending a while of killing any Rabbits or Twin-tailed Wolves that he came across, Erald finally spotted his prey.

The Clawed Bear was in the middle of a meal. It was chewing on the remains of what appeared to have been a rabbit. Erald grinned triumphantly and began leisurely walking closer.

The Clawed Bear was the strongest monsters to appear on this floor. In other words, it was the king. While there were hordes of Twin-tailed Wolves and Kickmaster Rabbits, the Clawed Bear only had a few of its kind.

Thus, the other monsters all took great pains to stay out of its way, and if they ever encountered it, they ran as fast as they could in the other direction. No creature dared oppose it. The thought of anyone approaching it of their own free will was patently absurd.

However, that very absurdity was currently unfolding before the bear’s eyes.

“Sup, Been a while...”

The Clawed Bear narrowed its angry eyes. What is this creature? Why doesn’t it run? Why is it not trembling in fear? Why does despair not fill its eyes? The bear was confused, having never seen something like this before.

“I’m here for my revenge match. But first, I’m going to make you see me as your enemy, and not just prey.”

Erald pointed his blade at the Clawed Bear. He wasn’t shivering in fear, nor was he in the grips of despair. The only emotions roiling within him were a fierce will to survive, and a burning desire to kill his enemies.

Erald’s lips curled upward into a ferocious grin.

“I’m going to kill you and eat you, you bastard.”

He then dashed forward at a breakneck speed, instantly disappearing from the bear's sight. However, Erald’s bloodlust had made it reflexively dodge. It wasn’t this floor’s strongest monster for nothing. It had reacted far faster than its massive, two meter long, frame would have suggested.

Unfortunately, it hadn’t been able to completely avoid the attack. The blade had grazed its shoulder, gouging out a slice of it. The creature angrily glared at Erald, blood staining the white fur around its shoulder. It looked like it finally saw him as an enemy and not just food.

“Graaaooooo!!!” With a furious roar, it charged toward Erald. The ground thundered as its tree trunk sized legs pounded down the corridor, making for a truly awe-inspiring spectacle.

“Hahaha! That’s right! I’m your enemy! Not just some prey to be hunted!”

Despite how foreboding the Clawed Bear looked as it bore down on Erald, his smirk didn’t waver.

This was the moment of truth. It was the moment that would decide if Erald could overcome the monster that crushed his soul, and been the impetus of his transformation. A necessary ritual he needed to overcome, if he was ever to move forward. Something deep inside made him feel that he would give up for good if he failed at that point. He couldn’t explain how or why, he just knew.

He positioned himself in a defensive stance, to counter the charging bear. It then barreled its way into range of Erald and swiped at him with one of its massive claws. The edge of its claws looked slightly warped as they swept down.

“Is that related to its special ability?”

Erald recalled the rabbit that had supposedly dodged the bear’s swipe had still been cut in half. So instead of taking it's attack, he leaped back with all his might.

An instant later the bear’s claw swiped past where Erald had just been standing, followed by a ferocious gale. He looked down and saw shallow cuts running down his chest. Though he didn't feel pain, he hadn’t been able to completely dodge it. His reaction time wasn’t able to keep up with the rapid increase in his physical abilities.

The Clawed Bear roared, angry that its prey still lived, and in the blink of an eye, swiped down a second time at his enemy.

“Damn, you’re fast!” Erald cursed without realizing it as he saw a second set of wind blades bear down on him.

He instantly used his skill to flee into the air. However, the Clawed Bear instantly changed directions. Upon closer inspection, Erald saw deep ruts in the ground and realized it must have used its claws as a fulcrum to pivot off the the ground. It was certainly far more intelligent and far more agile than a normal beast.

The bear roared again, then swung its foreclaws in a cross at Erald, who was still up in the air. Warning bells went off inside his head. Without sparing a moment to think, Erald activated both his movement skills at the same time, then dashed away from that spot.

He felt a gust of wind brush past his thigh, and a second later the wall behind him had a crosshatched lattice of furrows gouged into it.

“Damn bastard, you can do that too?”

Erald groaned as he fell to the ground. He hit the ground off-balance, and fell. He righted himself instantly, but staggered as a sharp pain ran through his thigh. It seemed that the bear could throw its wind claws too.