Chapter 19: Chapter 19 - Hate
I moved to the center of the chamber as the tiles on the opposite wall split again, the same grinding roar tearing through the chamber, as they opened up into two separate hatches.
Two hatches...two beasts.
My grip on the axe tightened as I slid into the Guard stance.
SHRIIEEEEK! SNORT!
Boars. Again.
They trudged out, shrieking in tandem as they pushed themselves into the space. Both were bull-sized, one of them the same as the last, a club-tailed boar, but the other was a little different. In place of the blunt knot of bone on the end of its tail, was a sharp, spear-head like appendage.
Everything else about them was the same. Ashen hides, tusks gleaming pale yellow, and glowing beads of red for eyes.
[The Second Wave has begun.]
I moved quick, circling right, but still keeping my distance. This would force the beasts to charge towards me in a way I could predict. But I had to keep in mind that there were two this time.
Positioning would be key.
One pawed at the floor, the other huffed, its breath steaming as it lowered its head, then, they charged together.
As I had hoped, my trajectory forced that charge into a curve, and the further I moved, the sharper the curve became. And when that curve grew too sharp, when their bodies had no choice but to swing past and turn for my back---
I cut all momentum. My boots slammed into the tile as my weight shifted into a quick backstep dashing to the boars’ left. They couldn’t adjust anywhere near fast enough.
My swing tore in from the side. A simple, perfectly placed, perfectly timed, Horizontal Slash.
Steel howled as the heavy blade met the nearest beast head-on. Bone and muscle parted in a single stroke, hide splitting from jawline to hip. The beast couldn’t even shriek---its body sheared in two, blood spraying as both halves toppled apart and slid away on their own momentum.
[You have killed a Lv.3 Squall-Class Club-Tailed Boar]
My satisfaction was immeasurable in that moment. Seeing my forethought, my positioning, my timing, and the practiced swing all combine to create this result was electrifying.
But because I took that moment to admire my genius, I lapsed on controlling my Axe’s follow through. It carried me with it.
My boots scraped, struggling to find purchase, it only took a few moments to recover, but that’s all the second boar needed. It slammed into me, tusks impaling my gut, my own blood spraying as I was lifted off my feet yet again.
[You have been impaled by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
[You have been impaled by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
But the beast didn’t indiscriminately charge to the wall like the one in the first wave.
Clearly enraged by the death of its brethren, it repeatedly bashed me into the ground as it barreled forward, dragging me along like a ragdoll skewered on its tusks.
I forced my hands to tighten on the greataxe, but I wasn’t given the leeway to swing.
Despite having 80% damage negation, the force from the impacts still fractured the bones of my back.
[Your shoulder blade has been shattered by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
[Three ribs have been fractured by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
[Two vertebrae have been fractured by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
I roared through gritted teeth, bashing my elbow into its snout, but the raging beast barely flinched.
Forced to improvise, I reversed my grip on the axe, then hauled the weapon sideways like I was rowing a boat with all the power I could generate.
Steel met flesh. The blade hacked deep into its chest, stopping its charge with a fit of shrieks.
The beast stumbled, coughing out a ragged bellow as it swung its massive head straight up, virtually throwing my rag-dolled body straight above it. And then its tail moved.
The spear-head like bone whipped around, and before I could process it, my own legs were severed from the knee down, and I dropped to the floor in a sick, wet splatter of blood and dismembered limbs.
[Both of your legs have been dismembered by a Knife-Tailed Boar]
Agony. Unbearable agony. My lip split open from how hard I was biting into it, but my eyes never left the beast.
It huffed as it turned to face me, but it’s front knees gave, and it lost its balance. It was heavily injured, but between the two of us, it was clear which was currently at a disadvantage.
But then I started healing. Bones mended and snapped into place, the holes in my gut knitted up from the inside out, and the bloody stumps of my legs were slowly, but surely, growing back.
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly. : x4]
[The Skill [Pierce Resistance VI] has been upgraded to [Pierce Resistance VII].]
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly. : x3]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly. : x10]
[The Skill [Slash Resistance VI] has been upgraded to [Slash Resistance VII].]
It was good to know that I could regenerate a full limb, but I could tell that, at the very least, it would take me 30 minutes to fully regrow both legs. I couldn’t afford that right now.
The Beast was already stirring. It was still struggling to get back on all fours, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be 30 minutes before it did.
With a bellow of my own I swung my axe, chopping off the re-growing stump of one of my legs, and then, I reached out for the severed limb to my side, and pushed the two bloody ends together. The fibers re-attached without pause, and I instinctively knew my gift could handle the rest.
Another roar of effort and I chopped off the other stump, then using my arms, I dragged myself to the other severed leg a few meters away, horrific smears of blood trailing behind me as I went. I grabbed it, and chucked it back over the raw stump, and once again, let the regeneration do its work.
All this, because you lost focus for a moment, Axel. A single moment.
I was livid at myself. I wouldn’t make the same mistake ever again.
Admiration could wait until after the battle was over. Until after my opponents were dead.
I looked back to the struggling boar, and an emotion similar to anger surged from inside me. It was thick. Palpable.
It Boiled. It wanted to erupt. To explode, and use every means at its body’s disposal to cause harm and wreak destruction.
It was far more than anger.
Hate, I realized.
I hate this creature. It’s accursed smell. Its swine-like build. Its ear-ringing shrieks. I can’t stand it.
The emotion was Hate. And what it yearned for...was revenge.