Since I can't see my enemy I will have to spot its attacks and react instantly. This will be a much better test of my combat skills than the lizard was. Whatever comes out of the cage, it's either going to be really dangerous, or it's going to be really tough.

If it's super dangerous I will kill it as quickly as I can, if it's not so dangerous then I will practice against it for a while. Before the cage is opened the surrounding soldiers take up shields and spears to make a wall around the pen. It looks like they are worried that whatever is in the cage is going to try to jump the fence.

When the cage opens all I see is a wall of flesh and fire coming at me. After I dodge and turn to look at it I can see that it is a giant boar that is on fire. Even dodging out of its way I can feel the heat from it scorching my fur, the fire doesn't look like much but it is intense.

As it turns around to come at me again I can see that it is at least fourteen feet at the shoulder. As it charges me again my eyes are drawn to the foot long tusks on either side of its snout. The soldiers cheer as I dodge the boar's charge, apparently just surviving is impressive to them.

'This thing is dangerous, no playing around, I need to kill it!'

Summoning my mind blade I wait for the boar to charge again, and when it does I dodge. As I dodge I slash at its neck with my mind blade, but it barely scratches the thing's hide. The boar is big and tough, but luckily for me it is not fast or smart.

I stay in the middle of the yard so the boar has plenty of room to turn and charge. It looks like the soldiers were worried about the thing crashing through the fence rather than jumping over it. I keep letting the boar charge me and each time I dodge I cut at its neck aiming for the same spot each time.

After the fifth hit the hide finally cracks and blood starts to dribble out. By this point patches of fur have burned off and my skin feels like I have a severe sunburn. At this point it looks like it is going to turn me into beef jerky if I don't kill it first.

All I can really do is keep dodging and attacking the same spot and hope that I am tougher than it is. Each time I hit the neck the bleeding gets a little worse, but so far the boar doesn't seem to care. I hit its neck dozens of times before the blood flow is decent, but it still seems unaffected.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Mind Blade has progressed to level 3!

Mind Blade

Level: 3

Int +6 Willpower +3 Dmg = Int

A blade created with mental strength.

'That helps! More damage will make this quicker.'

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After all the dodges most of the fur on my chest has burned away and my skin looks severely burned and hurts a ton. I can only imagine the agony I would be in if I didn't have the pain resist skill. My next slash causes more damage and visibly increases the blood flow.

A few more slashes and I may be able to just avoid it until it bleeds out. The soldiers by this point are cheering nonstop so I figure even if I take the easy way out they will still be impressed. After a few more cuts the boar's neck and chest are covered in blood.

As the boar turns to charge me again it stumbles, the blood loss is finally having an effect. It is also slower as it charges me so that when I dodge I have more time to slash its neck. This time when I slash its neck blood sprays out and the boar squeals in pain.

As the boar staggers away I am about to attack again when I realize that the blood that splashed onto me is burning its way through my skin. I frantically start brushing away the blood trying to keep it from burning deeper into me. Luckily, the boar is in no condition to attack me, by the time I look for it the boar has collapsed.

If it had been able to attack me while I was worried about the blood I don't think I would have been able to dodge. As it is I am still standing and the boar is lying on the ground bleeding out. The soldiers surrounding the pen have dropped their weapons and are jumping around cheering.

Even the officers are celebrating my win, while I wait and watch the boar waiting for it to die. There is no way that thing is native to this area, and I doubt the soldiers went a long distance to capture it. I am guessing that it was summoned from hell, meaning I should be able to absorb its core.

Once it stops breathing I walk over and first touch its blood to make sure it's not going to burn me. Once I am sure it is safe I kneel down and start trying to cut its chest open. Again it takes repeated cuts to get through the hide, I wish I could take its hide back to Walter.

After cutting through the hide it still takes me several minutes of cutting to get through the flesh and muscle beneath. This thing is just plain tough through and through. As I am working the cheering slowly dies out and the soldiers start taking down the fences.

While the rest of the soldiers are busy the captain just stands there watching me. I can feel his eyes on me so when I find the boar's core I keep it hidden from him and slip it into my pouch. Then I start cutting the heart free, which is almost the size of my torso.

Once I manage to wrestle it free I start eating it one bite at a time. Considering it is raw it is actually quite tasty, with a spicy flavor that I find very pleasant. As I am eating the heart the captain asks permission to take the body, it takes thirty soldiers to drag the boar out of the yard.

Devour activated! Str +4 End +10 Toughness +5 Hellfire Resist +10!

I am happy when I get the announcement since I have eaten a quarter of the heart and feel absolutely stuffed. I was worried it wasn't going to work unless I ate the whole thing which would have taken me days. I toss what's left of the heart aside and head back into the castle, the captain is nowhere in sight.

As soon as I find a servant I ask to be led to somewhere I can take a bath. The servant takes me to a bathhouse and fills a tub with hot water for me. As I am washing off the burnt skin and fur the servant returns with an ointment for me to rub onto my burns.

When I return to my room I find Vacker and a group of servants waiting for me. Vacker is no longer in his prison clothes, he looks freshly washed and is dressed in real clothes, he looks very uncomfortable. The servants approach me carrying clothes that look sort of weird.

Since the manacles and chains can't be removed they have brought clothes that can be wrapped around me and then tied in place. It looks a little weird once they are on but isn't too uncomfortable. Considering my size the fact that the clothes fit fairly well probably means they were made for me.

"So, what's going on?"

Vacker says "We have been invited to dine with Lady Xinun."