"The forest smelled of metal and blood. A ragged breath echoed through the trees. Not mine, but the creature's."
Before me, an Ironhide Bull pawed the earth. It stood three meters tall, its muscles shifting beneath a hide that carried a metallic sheen. The red crystal embedded in its neck pulsed, pumping adrenaline and raw rage directly into its nervous system.
I stood motionless. My breathing was steady. My heart beat at a slow, glacial pace—a stark contrast to the rumbling beast ahead.
Visual data processed:
Target mass: ± 2,500 kg.
Charge velocity: 60 km/h.
Distance: 15 meters.
My hand reached for the bone spear slung across my back. It was the finest weapon I had managed to fashion from the remains in the cave—the rib of an alpha wolf, meticulously sharpened over three days.
"Let's test it," I murmured.
The bull charged. The earth trembled beneath its weight. Small trees snapped like matchsticks in its wake.
I lowered my stance, engaging every muscle in my shoulders and back. The energy I had absorbed from the elven forest surged through me. Time seemed to dilate. I could see the individual dust particles kicked up by its hooves.
I threw the spear.
It was not an ordinary throw. It was a kinetic detonation.
Whoosh—
Crack!
A sharp explosion of sound echoed right in front of my face. The spear never reached its target. The bone shattered into a cloud of white dust the moment it left my hand. The propulsive force had been too immense. The organic bone material simply could not withstand the sheer, instantaneous acceleration.
"Fragile." I clicked my tongue.
The bull was already upon me. I sidestepped. The creature collided with the massive tree behind me. CRACK! The trunk splintered.
I stepped back, drawing taut the root-rope I had rigged. A rudimentary trap born of basic physics. The bull wheeled around and charged again. Its forelegs caught the snare.
SNAP!
The sound rang out like a giant guitar string snapping under tension. The root-rope—the strongest natural fiber in this forest—severed instantly. The frayed ends fell uselessly to the dirt. A miscalculation. The tensile strength of organic matter in this world could not hold up against the sheer power output of its monsters.
Logic had failed. Science had failed.
The bull pivoted once more. It wasn't fatigued. It was enraged. I dropped the remnants of my bone arsenal to the soil. They were useless.
The bull charged straight at me. A barreling locomotive of flesh and bone.
This time, I didn't evade. I dropped my center of gravity.
THUD.
The collision hit. But I was not thrown back. My hands seized the beast's horns. The ground beneath my boots cracked and caved in, forming a small crater. The beast froze, its momentum nullified. We locked eyes.
Before it could react, I twisted my hands in opposing directions.
CRACK!
The violent snapping of cervical vertebrae echoed through the quiet forest. The bull's head was wrenched a full hundred and eighty degrees. Its massive bulk collapsed into the dirt.