Hunting: The Dawning

Chapter 3: Battle! The Great Wild Boar King!

With a ridge height exceeding two hundred and fifty centimeters and a body weight measured in tons, its massive frame was so huge that it was hard to believe it belonged to the same species as the ordinary big wild boar.

The solid, highly raised back was just like a small hill.

The wedge-shaped protrusions on both sides of the spine, which were similar to horns, were actually the thick vertebrae that protruded out of the body surface. Paired with its bulging, lumpy muscles, it could burst out with terrifying power like a mountain torrent at any time.

Two streams of white steam spurted out from its nostrils, which was a precursor to the "Mighty Warrior"'s fury.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the female big wild boar with a miserable appearance not far away, Gordon felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

He was afraid that he had killed its mate, and no wonder this guy was so enraged.

He couldn't turn and run!

At this moment, running away was a suicidal move. The speed of a human running in a straight line could never match that of the Great Wild Boar King.

Engaging it in a fight and looking for an opportunity was the only option.

He adjusted his breathing to force himself to calm down. Gordon took out a spherical item the size of an egg from his backpack under the cover of his shield with the smallest range of motion.

He really hoped that it was a sonic bomb or a flash bomb or something. Those lovely little things could buy him a lot of time.

Unfortunately, he didn't bring such items that were expensive, or rather, expensive for him as an apprentice hunter.

It was just the most ordinary paintball.

With a flick of his arm, the paintball accurately hit the back of the Great Wild Boar King. A large amount of fluorescent red liquid like paint splashed out and smeared all over the fur of the Great Wild Boar King.

At the same time, a pungent smell spread in the air.

This was the item that hunters used to mark the target monsters.

Trained monster hunters could precisely track the target by distinguishing the smell and following the traces of the paint dripping on the ground and rubbing against the rock walls and vegetation.

Of course, the purpose of Gordon throwing the paintball at this time was not just for tracking.

It was to further enrage the Great Wild Boar King and force it to launch an attack—an arrow that hadn't been shot was the most terrifying.

For the Great Wild Boar King, this "blow" didn't cause any harm, but it was extremely insulting.

It was almost like urinating with a strong smell on its head...

The huge tusks swayed violently a few times with the movement of the Great Wild Boar King's head.

Its short but thick and powerful front limbs dug into the ground. It let out a furious howl and, lowering its head, charged towards Gordon like a steam locomotive with a rumbling sound.

Suppressing the impulse and fear in his heart to dodge to one side by leaping, Gordon kept telling himself that it wasn't the right time yet.

If the rolling movement was done too early and gave the monster the distance to adjust its direction while he hadn't had time to get up, it would be a disaster.

The young hunter lowered his body, tensed all his muscles, and stared fixedly at the rapidly approaching behemoth.

"Now!"

His tensed body sprang out like a spring.

Gordon pounced and rolled to the right, successfully dodging this deadly blow. The fierce air current brought by the body of the Great Wild Boar King even blew up the turf, leaving a mess wherever it passed.

Before he could take a breath of relief.

Just after finishing the roll and before he even had time to fully stand up, Gordon felt a gust of wind coming from behind him.

The Great Wild Boar King, which had failed to hit with the charge, stopped in time, turned around, and swung its huge tusks at the hunter.

"Damn it! Even though its body is several times bigger, is it so much more agile than an ordinary big wild boar!?"

Gordon gritted his teeth and put the round shield in front of him. Barely managing to take an impact-resistant posture, he was then sent flying backward like a kicked ball.

After landing on the ground, Gordon, who hadn't managed to complete the proper landing posture, felt his head buzzing, and his right arm holding the shield was in intense pain as if it were broken.

Feeling as if his whole body was falling apart, he really wanted to lie on the ground and catch his breath, but he knew that this wasn't the time.

The Great Wild Boar King's another full-force charge was already right in front of him.

It was too late to get up at this time. Gordon could only roll to one side with all his strength for a few rounds and narrowly dodged this surprise attack again.

However, how soon would the next attack come? In one second? Or two seconds?

Was he going to die here?

Just when Gordon, who didn't even have the time to get up, was about to fall into despair, a rumbling sound of broken trees and the howl of the Great Wild Boar King came from not far behind him.

Not knowing what had happened but finally getting a bit of a breather, Gordon endured the intense pain and climbed to his feet. Only then did he realize that luck seemed to be on his side this time.

The Great Wild Boar King, who had lost some of its wits in its fury, had actually crashed head-on into a huge tree that was as thick as two people hugging each other.

The most outrageous thing was that the tree was even broken!

However, the Great Wild Boar King was clearly not in a good state either.

Its steps were staggering as if it were drunk, as if it had fallen into a dizzy state.

This was undoubtedly the best time to escape!

However, Gordon once again stopped the thought of turning around and running.

Judging from the movement of the Great Wild Boar King shaking its head vigorously, it would recover from the dizzy state in at most a few seconds.

How far could he run during this time? Ten meters? Or twenty meters?

Indeed, when moving in the densely vegetated jungle, he, with his nimble figure, had an advantage over the bulky Great Wild Boar King. But now he was also injured, and his right arm might even be broken.

Could he really escape by running directly?

"I must inflict some injuries on the Great Wild Boar King, at least slow down its movements!"

Gordon vented the fear in his heart with a roar. Grasping the Hunter's Dagger tightly with his left hand, he rushed behind the Great Wild Boar King and aimed at the Achilles tendon area of its hind leg.

Without holding back any strength, he swung what was probably the heaviest blow since he started his hunter training.

The heel area, which wasn't covered by thick fur, was indeed one of the areas where the Great Wild Boar King's defense was relatively weak, but that was only relatively speaking.

Rather than swinging, it was more like chopping and smashing. The Hunter's Dagger successfully cut through that not-too-thick layer of skin, but it didn't cut the Achilles tendon of the Great Wild Boar King as Gordon had expected.

The blade was only forced halfway in and was then firmly stuck by the rock-hard muscles and tendons.

But this blow really hurt the Great Wild Boar King.

Just after regaining consciousness, it let out a miserable howl. With the support of the terrifying core strength that was unimaginable for humans, it suddenly turned around and swung its head. Its thick tusks sent Gordon flying again.

Under the shock of the immense strength， Gordon, who was rolling and smashing on the ground, couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

With all his strength dissipated by the shock, Gordon gritted his teeth, tried hard to raise his head, and stared fixedly at the Great Wild Boar King charging again with his gradually blurring vision.

The law of the jungle was the rule of nature. Since he was powerless to win, as a loser, witnessing the end of his own life with his own eyes might also be an ending.

However, just at the instant when the young hunter was about to be trampled into minced meat, a strange horn sound rang out.

"Toot-toot~Toot-toot~Toot-toot~"

The Great Wild Boar King irritably turned its head and was temporarily distracted.

At the same time, several short figures with a mix of white and brown colors approached Gordon, who was lying on the ground, with an agility that was far beyond that of humans.

They hastily lifted him onto a simple wooden cart and disappeared into the gloomy forest in the blink of an eye.

Only the Great Wild Boar King, who was a bit dazed for a moment, was left roaring to vent its fury and unwillingness.

"Growl-ow-ow-ow-ow!"