Hajin swung high above the tusks where the new plates split, and a mutated forelimb threw bone across his path.
Steel rang off that guard and bounced back, jolting both wrists while the claw snapped toward his sword hand.
"Nope, hands off, this one's brand new!" he squeaked, yanking the hilt to his chest.
He kicked off the limb's side and tore free before those fingers could close around the hilt.
Fresh bone crawled across the struck limb as he landed, sealing the exact gap he just tried to use.
'Ranks change between fights, they said, and this pig thinks every single swing starts a new fight.'
"Oh, come on, you're growing armor where I hit you? That's cheating!" he whined at the boar, jabbing an accusing finger.
He circled away from Juna's boulder, dragging the tusks after him toward the open part of the clearing.
'Better edge, worse target, and this pig keeps charging me extra for the same carcass.'
"Anyone watching," he called, slipping past the next swipe with a reckless grin, "highest donation picks how this thing dies, get your bids in while I keep its hands busy!"
'Shopping one-handed with claws in my face sounds like a great way to lose the other hand.'
[ Donation settled: CringeSlayer91 | +20 Credits | Wallet: 35 ]
[ CringeSlayer91: tusks first, break the pretty part ]
"Twenty for the tusks, I'll take the refund in broken teeth."
He ducked beneath a torn branch and kept it between his shoulder and the claw.
[ Donation settled: ShadowMage44 | +50 Credits | Wallet: 85 ]
[ ShadowMage44: front legs, let it crawl before you finish ]
"Fifty for the legs? Those are shields now, but sure, I'll go knock."
Past the swinging shoulder, Juna stayed slumped beside the boulder with one arm folded against her side.
Her fingers no longer scraped at the dirt, and his smile died as his next breath came out short.
[ Donation settled: JunaFanClub | +100 Credits | Wallet: 185 ]
[ JunaFanClub: make it regret touching her ]
[ Donation settled: NewViewer_02 | +30 Credits | Wallet: 215 ]
[ NewViewer_02: payback, adding mine to the pile ]
"Yeah, she's breathing, I'm watching, give me a second to remind this bacon who holds the sword." His jaw clenched as he swept the point across its sight without losing the rock.
'She's bleeding over there, and they can close the window whenever, so I'm ending this fast.'
[ Donation settled: LurkerNoMore | +75 Credits | Wallet: 290 ]
[ LurkerNoMore: eyes, it can't aim if it can't see ]
"Eyes, now we're talking, that's a plan with actual teeth."
He drew the point higher and stepped wide, forcing the head to choose between his body and the blade.
The boar picked his body and swung the eye behind a rising tusk before he could commit.
[ Donation settled: DarkBlade | +500 Credits | Wallet: 790 ]
[ DarkBlade: finish it quickly, don't drag this into another episode ]
[ Donation settled: JunaFanClub | +25 Credits | Wallet: 815 ]
[ JunaFanClub: adding mine, still voting no mercy ]
"Five hund—"
A claw ripped through the spot where his knee stood, and he hopped the furrow with a yelp.
"Five hundred, holy shit, okay, I can't even admire it right now!"
[ Donations received: 800 Credits | Wallet: 815 | Viewers: 44 ]
'Eight hundred credits from seven gifts, and I can't spend a single coin until this thing drops.'
"Five hundred wins, quickest finish I can manage, and the eyes still count if it gives me a chance!" He yelled toward the feed, eyes bright with that wild, giddy grin.
He ran straight at the lowered tusks instead of leading another charge back toward the boulder where Juna lay bleeding. The head followed his rush and began rising to meet him, exposing the shoulder behind its jaw for one heartbeat.
He kicked off a root and cleared the outer tusk as the hooked point swept beneath his feet.
His landing hit its back while the answering forelimb whistled through the space his jump abandoned.
"Ha! Didn't see that coming, did you, you overgrown—" he cackled, grabbing the ridge behind the skull.
The boar slammed sideways into a trunk, but he scrambled toward the neck, and the bark only skinned his shin.
New plates slid across the skull and sealed the path he picked out for the blade.
'Slashing that again just buys another bounce, so fine, we're doing this the fun way.'
He tucked the sword beside his thigh as the Ring blazed beneath his sleeve and poured into his raised fist.
"Try wearing that skull closer to the ground!" He twisted from the waist as the neck bucked beneath him.
The punch drove the head into the earth, and soil exploded around the tusks as both forelimbs folded.
He vaulted clear of the claws and landed beside the crater, his fingers tingling and refusing to open.
"Ow, ow, okay, that hurt me too, why does that keep happening?"
His right arm refused to straighten, so his left hand guided the sword while the right throbbed.
The boar dragged its snout free while its rear hooves churned the broken ground behind it.
Three Shards still circled the skull, denying him the satisfying fade he wanted after that punch.
"You're still glowing?" he muttered, scowling as he backed off with the point across his body, "somebody paid for a quick death, not a nap, so get up and finish the argument."
The jaw opened wider than before, and darkness gathered beneath its swollen tongue as mana pressed outward.
'Maybe that's the deer's scream trick, maybe something worse, and either way I already hate it.'
[ Mutation progress: 74% | External mana feeding continues ]
[ ShadowMage44: something building in the mouth, clear that line ]
The throat swung toward the ground between Hajin and the boulder he needed to protect.
Backing straight off might leave Juna inside the blast, so he charged to cut the discharge short.
"Not her, look at me, you ugly—"
The boar slammed its snout into the earth before his sword could reach the opening mouth.
He threw the blade up to shield his face as the gathered mana exploded beneath its jaw.
Soil and stone burst upward over the forelimbs, and dust swallowed the clearing beyond the edge of his blade.
"Mouth full of dirt, great trick, were the extra hands not enough?" he grumbled, squinting through the falling debris.
A scrape came from his right, and he turned toward it while remembering the boulder behind that larger shadow somewhere. The real strike came from his left through the dust, and he could not correct the guess before it hit.
A claw crashed into his ribs, ripped the breath out of him, and slammed his shoulder into the dirt.
"Gh—fuck!"
He rolled with the sword still in his fist, its edge scraping stone as he dragged his arm close.
Pain stabbed beneath his left elbow, sharper than the leftover tenderness from the camp's one reconstruction.
He coughed blood onto the soil and dragged one knee beneath him without letting the hilt slip.
'Wrong side, I chased a scrape and paid with ribs, now keep the blade before it takes the rest.'
[ Condition warning: Left ribs fractured | Further impacts worsen injury ]
"Yeah, thanks, I noticed, great timing."
He owned enough money for treatment and no safe moment to find out what might help.
The pack strap dug into the injury, so he loosened it and shifted the load toward his better shoulder.
Their clothes and his wrapped old sword rode in that pack, and the old blade would answer nothing here.
He wiped blood off his mouth with his wrist and forced a crooked smirk, "Ribs filed a complaint, take a number, I'm collecting from the pig first."
[ CringeSlayer91: say something, couldn't see where that hit sent you ]
[ DarkBlade: quick as you can, forget a fancy finish ]
Footsteps closed through the settling dust while his point barely stayed above the ground.
A hand scraped beside the rock, and Juna's claws dug into the dirt as she tried to lift herself up. Her arm folded beneath the effort and dropped her chest back onto the same bloodied patch of ground once again.
"Stay down, I've got this, just keep breathing, okay?" His voice came out soft and shaky as he shifted until the rock blocked her one exposed route.
He planted himself before its face in plain view, leaving Juna sheltered behind the thicker side.
The tusks pushed through the dust with the limbs curled beside them, lower than his aching chest.
"Come on then, round two, and this time I'm not guessing."
[ Viewers: 47 | Stream: Active ]
[ CringeSlayer91: unpaid bet, eighty on the rock, five hundred on him ]
"Eighty on the rock? I'll remember that, you traitor," he laughed, wincing as it tugged his ribs.
Hajin set his heel against the rock's footing, ready to force an opening for the waiting wallet.