The wind brushed against his skin like sharpened needles.

After he reoriented himself in mid-air, he now fell head-first towards the ground. It was then that he felt it. The power of gravity. It pushed him forward, encouraged him, goaded him along to a path that he might have otherwise not taken. It was like a pair of wings. Like the wings on a majestic eagle soaring through the skies.

Ellis clenched his fists and stretched his arms out forward. He mimicked the pose of an iconic superhero.

The hydra felt an imperceptible change in the air. The warnings in its head flashed. Instinct. An ability that many humans lacked, but most animals possessed. Its instincts were telling it that something was coming.

All fourteen heads simultaneously looked up, but by that point, it was already too late.

The human missile (type homunculus) plummeted towards it.

Plop!

“Eh?” Ellis widened his eyes. A stunned expression colored his face.

He hit it. He had certainly hit the monster square on its back, but what he had originally expected to happen did not happen. Ellis was unable to penetrate its scales. A slight grunt leaked out from his throat as his body harmlessly bounced off the creature’s skin.

A second later, he fell to the ground with a resounding crash.

Clouds of dust circled around him.

Ellis let out a strained cough. Still a bit disoriented, he shook his head and stared up at the hydra.

The multi-headed dragon looked back with slight confusion. It was probably thinking something along the lines of ‘what the hell was this dumbass trying to do?’

Ellis felt a bit awkward. “I was a bit careless.” He muttered half to himself and half to the hydra in front of him. “It just goes to show that you can’t beat a boss-class monster with gravity alone.”

In retrospect, it was something he should have expected. His first attack with the spear had featured Ellis’s own destructive strength. In comparison, the freefall from earlier was powered solely by gravity. No wonder it failed.

“Well, mistakes are meant to be learned. I’ll just work a little bit harder next ti-OOOAAAH!!”

While in the middle of his self-absorbed musings, a strong force suddenly swept him off his feet.

One of the fourteen hydra heads suddenly bit down on his legs. Saying it like that somewhat underwhelmed the situation. In truth, nearly half of his body was currently inside the Hydra’s mouth.

The multi-headed dragon thrashed and whipped him around like a rag doll. It swung him through the air and slammed him to the ground numerous times. It was like watching a dog play with a chew toy.

Ellis saw the world blur before his very eyes. His joints dislocated. Half the bones inside him fractured. His organs rearranged themselves, following to the tune of the ever-shifting g-forces that ruthlessly bombarded his body. In short, it wasn’t a very good experience.

In fact, wasn’t this situation kind of dangerous?

Without a doubt, the hydra was several times stronger than the last dragon that he had encountered. True to its moniker as a boss-class monster, it had even exceeded Ellis’s original expectations. And because of his carelessness, he was now teetering on the brink of death (dramatization).

It hurt. It hurt a lot. Still, it was at a level that he could endure. If it was just a little bit more painful, if it was just a little bit more dangerous, then he would have given up already, but not now. At least, not yet.

Ellis had yet to give up hope. He still had plenty of cards up his sleeve and tricks left to be unveiled.

Throughout his five years of life, Ellis steadily grew, not in height or appearance, but purely in power. Up until now, he had yet to test out his limits.

Wasn’t this situation perfect, then? To test him to his limits, to push him to the edge, to fight to his heart's content… although Ellis wasn’t a battle junky, even he occasionally felt the desire to run wild.

Just because you’re a little bit bigger… just because you’re a little bit stronger… don’t get too cocky!

Ellis gritted his teeth and rocked his body forward. He fought through the pressure and latched onto one of the hydra’s tooth. This tooth was the same one currently embedded into his upper thigh. Every time the hydra shook its head, the tooth would vibrate, completely shredding the surrounding flesh.

The hydra’s teeth were serrated. They somewhat resembled crocodile teeth. At the same time, the creature possessed more than one row of teeth. Just from his position alone, Ellis could make out five rows of jagged teeth. There were plenty more even deeper in its mouth.

The teeth of a crocodile but the structure of a shark. This damn thing was absolutely ridiculous.

He steadied himself with one hand and cocked the other one back. Ellis glared, his eyes locked onto the part where the slightly-yellow tooth connected with the hydra’s gums. He took a deep breath and punched out.

CRACK!

The tooth immediately broke in half. Splintered pieces danced through the air like flakes of snow.

The head let out a pained roar. It instinctively opened its mouth. Ellis hugged onto the severed tooth as he plummeted to the ground.

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THUD!

He hit the ground with a resounding thud. Another cloud of dust circled around him, but Ellis tried his best to ignore it.

After he landed, he quickly stood up and dusted himself off. He promptly checked his injuries. The taste of blood colored his tongue. Wasn’t that a sign of internal bleeding? It wouldn’t even surprise him if it was. Right now, all Ellis could do was rely on his body’s natural regenerative abilities.

On the outside, aside from some light bruising, the only notable injury were the ones on his legs. A giant gash nearly bisected his left thigh. Only a thin line of skin kept it in place. It was a truly gruesome scene, but for Ellis, it wasn’t much of an issue.

Even now, he could feel the wriggling tendrils of muscle rapidly regenerating. It slightly tickled.

Interrupting his thoughts, the hydra let out a furious bellow. More specifically, its injured head did. The rest were too busy glaring in his direction.

“…” He could feel some serious heat coming from their eyes. If it wasn’t for the palpable bloodlust, then he would have thought that they were actually lusting after him.

The hydra attempted to turn its body towards him. Unfortunately, it met with the realization that it couldn’t. It feebly thrashed around. The earth lightly shook as a result, but otherwise, nothing happened.

Seeing it struggle like that, a sly smirk floated to his lips.

The beauty spear (named after the fact that it had been attached to a beauty) had done its job. It firmly held the dragon in place. Right now, it was nothing more than a fish on a chopping board.

No, considering all of its necks… wouldn’t it be more like an octopus? Just as such a useless thought floated to his head, one of the hydra’s heads suddenly rushed towards him. At the same time, a plume of purple smog jetted out of another head’s mouth.

It was a pincer attack!

Ellis braced himself. When the smog hit, for a moment, he felt disoriented. Of course, such a feeling lasted for less than a fraction of a second. His head cleared up almost immediately after.

Still, the smog had done its job. Even though it was only for a fraction of a second, it was a fraction of a second that Ellis had his guard down. In that time, the first head’s attack hit. It slammed into him like a runaway freight train.

Ellis felt his organs loosen once more. A heavy force swept him off his feet. Still, Ellis gritted through the pain. In that split instant during impact, he firmly grabbed onto the side of the hydra’s head. His fingers penetrated its scales as he kept himself glued to its face.

The head screamed in agony. From the looks of things, a hydra’s face was rather sensitive. At least, the parts underneath all of its scales were.

It desperately tried to shake him off but to no avail. Ellis stayed like that for a few seconds before he slowly crawled his way towards its eye. Sensing the impending danger, the head began to panic.

The rest of the hydra wanted to help, but they couldn’t. If they attacked now, their fellow body-mate would be the one to get injured.

Ignorant of their worries, Ellis quickly arrived at the eye. In one swift motion, he wedged his arm into its eye socket. The head’s screams grew louder, but Ellis ignored it. He fished around in there for a little while longer, before he eventually found his grip. With a furious yank, he pulled out its eyeball.

The hydra head wailed in agony. Ellis silently watched as the detached eye fell and hit the ground below.

It was a gruesome scene and it caused no small amounts of pain to his opponent. Still, he wasn’t satisfied. Ellis began crawling towards the other eye.

Just then, he felt a scorching heat emanating from behind him. Ellis slightly turned around, only to see a column of green colored fire barrel towards him.

He narrowed his eyes.

They attacked? Do they not care what happens to the other head?

Apparently, they didn’t. Half a second later, the temperature around him immediately increased. Green quickly invaded his peripherals. It wasn’t just one fireball, but multiple fireballs!

At this point, Ellis immediately let go. He plummeted to the ground, just as the green flames completely enveloped the hydra’s head. He heard a muffled wail before silence.

The hydra apparently anticipated his move. As he was falling, a dark shadow suddenly blotted out the light.

He quickly turned around, just in time to see another head hurtle towards him. For a moment, time froze. Ellis stared absentmindedly at its shimmering red eyes.

That’s quite the scary glare… Those were his last thoughts before a tremendous impact swept through his body.

Ellis crashed to the ground like a streaking meteor. He repeatedly bounced across the forest floor before he skidded to a stop nearly two hundred meters away.

“Gah…” A throaty groan leaked out from the tiny crater that his crash had unwittingly created. He felt a bit groggy, and his mind a bit hazy. He craned his neck up and stared at the hydra. The one-eyed head lay slumped on the ground. Its entire skull was charred black. Still, the other heads seemingly did not care. The hydra struggled to climb out of the hole.

Unlike before, it was actually making progress.

His expression immediately tensed.

This isn’t the time to be resting. If I don’t move now, it really might escape the hole… Imagining all the wasted blood that would result from such an outcome, a fire ignited deep within his heart.

Ellis stood back up. He quickly noticed that his left arm had twisted in a weird angle, while his entire back had been completely scorched. From the looks of things, even though he had previously escaped, the residual heat still burned him.

He calmly popped his arm back into place before he rushed forward.

After three steps, he lowered his center of gravity and jumped.

The space around him blurred. Ellis reached a height that was almost eye-level to the hydra. He did not stop there, his tiny body soared higher and higher into the sky. Gravity fought against his ascent, but it was like wings had suddenly grown on his back. He soared higher and higher like a majestic eagle taking flight!

Naturally, the hydra noticed. It bared its teeth, before all thirteen remaining heads rushed towards him!

Ellis watched all this transpire with limpid eyes. Beside him, his fist slightly clenched.

He did not know any fancy moves or colorful magic. Even the spear arts that he had painstakingly learned were basic. Right now, the only things he could rely on were his durable body and his super strength. It was a bit barbaric, but that was his brand of fighting.

The first head quickly arrived. Ellis twisted his body to the side and narrowly avoided collision. A beat later and the next one showed up. It came at him from a downward angle. This time, Ellis lightly brushed against the tip of snout. This small action changed the course of his trajectory.

Ellis avoided the rest of the heads through the skin of his teeth. He leaped and dodged all oncoming heads like a spider monkey in a jungle. Fifteen seconds passed in a blink of an eye. Eventually, there was only one left. It was a head with a tooth embedded in its eye.

He cocked his arm back. The rushing hydra opened its mouth, almost as if it was waiting for Ellis to just jump right in. He did not hesitate. With a grunt, he swung his arm forward.

For a moment, he felt something rough and grainy brush against his knuckles.

BOOM!

The hydra’s head snapped back. The resulting recoil caused it to slam into a nearby tree. The head let out a soft groan, before it sank to the floor, motionless.

As Ellis landed back to the ground, he stared at the head. Even after thirty seconds passed, it still remained motionless. Ellis did not think it was dead, rather, it was unconscious. A peculiar glint flashed through his eyes. He shifted his gaze to the remaining heads.

After seeing what had just happened, the hydra abruptly turned cautious. All twelve remaining heads bared their teeth. Purple smog leaked out from a few of their mouths, but otherwise, they did not attack.

He stared silently for a few seconds. Eventually, he nodded to himself.

If it’s like this, then it could probably work… Unknowingly, a sly smile twisted his lips.

The hunt… no, was this still hunt? If the previous exchange was considered a fight, then the thing that was about to happen next… well, it was nothing more than Ellis’s play time.