Forcing my body to react, I fought against the pain radiating through every inch of me. Each part of my body felt impossibly heavy, but my mind screamed:

‘Get up, move, do something!’ Yet, no matter how unbreakable my will, my body refused to obey.

It was as if I were trapped in a cocoon of pain and exhaustion. My hand, still clutching the hardened branch, felt frozen. The air itself seemed heavier, every breath tearing through my lungs like sharp blades.

The silhouette of the giant bear dominated my vision, a dark blur amidst the faint glow of the forest, where sunlight barely filtered through the trees.

It advanced slowly, each step booming like thunder in my mind. I could hear the deep, guttural growl resonating from its throat, the sound vibrating through the ground and reverberating in my chest.

‘Not like this... I won’t die like this,’ I thought again, a bitter determination stirring deep in my soul, even as the reality around me seemed to conspire against me.

The rabbit, now still and lifeless, was a cruel reminder of the fragility of life. “It must have died on impact,”

I concluded, my gaze locking onto the wolf pup nearby, panting and struggling to stand.

Even injured, it refused to give up, its eyes gleaming with a primal instinct to survive—an instinct I envied. It was cornered, just like me, but it kept trying. It kept fighting.

My heart skipped a beat, and something within me flared to life. “If it can keep going... why can’t I?”

The weakness that had crept into my thoughts began to dissipate, replaced by a spark of anger. Not at the bear. Not at the wolf. But at the situation. At the universe. At myself.

“DAMMIT!” My childish voice shattered the silence, more a cry of frustration than a defyance.

“DAMN YOU, DRACKNUM!”

“DAMN YOU, LEOPOLD, FOR THROWING ME INTO THIS WORLD!”

“DAMN THAT WHITE DIMENSION THAT WOULDN’T LET ME ACCEPT DEATH!”

The words poured out in a torrent, each one laced with desperation and rage.

The bear raised its head in a slow, deliberate motion, its ears twitching as if it had heard every word of my furious outburst. Its eyes—two dark voids of animal fury—locked onto me, gleaming with something that felt disturbingly human.

I froze. My body wouldn’t move. It was as if all the air around me had been sucked away.

"I…" My voice faltered, but I pressed on, a whisper growing into a shout. "I can’t die like this! Not after being given another chance!"

Tears burned in my eyes as my childish voice carried the weight of all my frustration, helplessness, and, above all, fear.

The bear, was sizing me up—aware that I was weaker, more vulnerable. Its heavy steps crushed the ground beneath it, the sound pounding in my chest like the beat of war drums.

My mind raced, frantically searching for a solution. Anything. I still held onto the hardened branch, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. Even so, I gripped it tighter, desperately trying to convince myself it was a weapon.

‘Think, think!’ my mind screamed, but my body refused to respond. The wind blew around me, carrying the earthy, damp scent of the forest mixed with something sharper, more metallic, more threatening—the unmistakable scent of blood.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The wolf pup howled again, a weak, desperate sound that echoed deep inside me. We were both trapped.

The bear’s silhouette loomed larger as it drew closer, each step shaking the ground beneath me. The faint sunlight filtering through the treetops illuminated its rippling muscles and razor-sharp claws, glinting menacingly.

Finally, my survival instinct took over. I channeled the elemental mana in the surrounding nature, feeling it hesitate before it began to flow sluggishly through my body. I knew I didn’t have much time and that, with my current skill level, anything I did would be a desperate gamble.

— "Charge!" — I roared, the word leaving my lips in a hoarse cry as I gathered every last fragment of energy I had left. My trembling hand rose, and I watched as a small spark of lightning crackled between my fingers before shooting toward the bear.

The bolt struck its side, but it was like throwing a pebble at a stone wall. The bear paused for a moment, its fur barely ruffled, and then its gaze ignited with even more fury. A guttural roar erupted from its throat, shaking the trees and freezing me in place.

‘It’s now or never,’ I thought, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst. I funneled every ounce of mana I could muster into a final, reckless attempt.

— "Breeze!" — I shouted, the spell leaving my lips as I overloaded it with mana. The wind swirled violently around me, pressing against my skin like a suffocating force before suddenly launching me backward.

The impact was brutal. The ground scraped against my skin as I tumbled, my body rolling uncontrollably across the forest floor. A groan of pain escaped my lips as I finally came to a stop, my limbs screaming in protest.

‘I’m still alive’ I thought, struggling to catch my breath.

The bear, now furious, let out a deafening roar that echoed through the trees, sending an icy wave of fear coursing through me. It started moving toward me again, its eyes filled with a predatory resolve.

I tried to stand, but once more, my body refused to cooperate. Only my arms still seemed functional. ‘Damn it, why? Why now?’

I glanced over at the wolf pup, still lying motionless near the base of the tree. Something inside me wouldn’t let me abandon it, even though I knew staying meant risking my own life.

‘Judging by the way it’s upright, it must still have the strength to escape. It probably just doesn’t run because it’s afraid it’ll be chased.’

I took a deep breath, preparing to do something that I knew was probably suicide. I didn’t know how or why, but I couldn’t just run. Not after that pup gave me the willpower I’d been missing.

‘Maybe they’ll forgive me for this.’

I looked at the pup again, and, by some coincidence, it looked back at me—or at least, that’s what it seemed like.

“Run! Get out of here!” I croaked, my voice hoarse and broken. I didn’t know if it could understand me, but I had to say it. I had to try. My unsteady smile was as much for the wolf as it was for myself—a desperate attempt to hold onto courage.

The pup hesitated, its gaze darting between me and the bear as though trying to decide what to do. But in the end, it turned and ran in the opposite direction.

‘I think it understood me.’ I exhaled in relief, quickly taking stock of the situation.

‘This might be the last thing I ever do,’ I thought, a faint tremor running through me—not from fear this time, but from sheer determination.

“I must be insane,” I muttered with a self-deprecating smile, raising the hardened branch with what little strength I had left.

— “Charge!” — I shouted, sending another bolt of lightning straight into the bear’s chest. The magic barely hurt it, but it achieved what I needed: it pissed it off even more.

“Hey!” I yelled, my voice filled with raw emotion as I raised the branch like it was the most powerful weapon in the world. “Come at me! Fight something that can hit back, you bastard!”

The bear stopped for a moment, its attention snapping fully onto me. Its eyes burned like twin flames of pure fury. It let out another earth-shaking roar, the sound reverberating through my chest.

The words escaped me with more force than I expected, as if they had been torn from some deep, hidden place. For a moment, everything around me faded: the wind, the trees, even the wolf pup. It was just me and the bear.

It charged forward, each step shaking the ground beneath me. Its claws tore into the earth as it came at me like a living avalanche. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst, but I didn’t step back.

The bear leapt.

‘If I’m going down, I’m going down fighting,’ I thought, gripping the branch tightly. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, burning away the fear as I gathered every ounce of courage I had.