After closing his eyes, Raven focused on his ultra instinct. Activating his instincts was no longer as difficult as it used to be. Due to the explosions and unsettling energy in the area, all the creatures nearby had fled. Both insects and birds were no longer present, leaving the forest in silence.
Raven leaped from his spot and lunged at the creature, guarding himself as he swung a punch at the symbiote’s head with his right hand. He felt his instincts warning him to pull back his punch. When he retracted his fist and stepped back, a slimy arm extended from the symbiote's shoulder, attempting to grab where his fist would have been.
Although the symbiote seemed affected, there wasn’t much else Raven could do. He could try punching again, but as before, it would be blocked. And if he anticipated being blocked, he’d retreat. The only difference was that while the symbiote wouldn’t tire, Raven’s energy would eventually run out.
The symbiote swung its arm forward, extending it toward Raven’s head. While considering where the fight might lead, Raven jumped to dodge the attack. No matter what he did, he was bound to lose. If the symbiote could tire, Raven could buy time to escape. But that wasn’t possible.
As Raven dodged the symbiote’s extending arms, he realized they were striking so fast that the sound of them slicing through the air echoed around him. The only reason he could evade was not just his speed but also his ability to see the attacks coming.
While thinking, a potential escape plan crossed his mind: "If I fight long enough, it’ll eventually need sustenance and be forced to leave. Or, if it becomes exhausted, I might be able to kill it." Raven thought this was the most optimistic scenario, as he didn’t know how long symbiotes could go without food. For the creature to visibly slow down, it would likely need to go several days without eating. Since symbiotes consume large amounts of food, what they eat can sustain them for days. Even if this one had eaten yesterday, Raven would need to exhaust it for at least a day.
The symbiote finally stopped its arm attacks, and although Raven wasn’t too tired, he took a moment to catch his breath, understanding this fight would be a long one. The symbiote, on the other hand, began approaching him.
In close combat, Raven would be like a decorative puppy facing an elephant against the symbiote. Most likely, the symbiote could grab him and tear him in half with its two hands. Therefore, he couldn’t let it get any closer. Jumping from his spot, he climbed onto a tree branch. The symbiote raised its head, and a limb extended from its back, launching itself at Raven once again.
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"This is getting really boring now," Raven muttered as he jumped again, landing on the ground. Picking up a rock, he hurled it at the symbiote. The rock created a dent in the symbiote’s slimy body before falling to the ground, and the dent quickly healed itself. The symbiote turned around and looked back at Raven.
Its massive mouth and sharp teeth, along with its enormous white, pupil-less eyes, always appeared terrifying when staring at Raven in the darkness.
When Raven threw the rock, an idea struck him. The only way to fight without getting close was to use a ranged weapon. However, he didn’t even have a melee weapon, let alone a ranged one. But what he had just done gave him an idea. They were already walking on an endless supply of the first ranged weapon in history: rocks.
Defeating the symbiote with just rocks was impossible, but trying something was better than waiting to die while dodging its attacks. No matter how much food it had stored, forcing its slimy structure to constantly regenerate might accelerate its need for sustenance. If he could tire it enough, his theory could prove correct.
To test its effectiveness, Raven picked up a rock, drew his arm back, and hurled it at the symbiote with all his might. Although slower than the symbiote’s arms, the rock was still quite fast. The creature extended a small shield from its back to block the rock. When the rock made contact with the shield, it spun like a drill, pressing forward. The symbiote allocated more biomass to the shield, and once the rock lost its energy, it fell to the ground.
When the symbiote dissipated the shield, its body grew again as the biomass redistributed. While the symbiote couldn’t see past the shield, Raven threw another rock, this time hitting its abdomen. Unable to harden the area in time, the rock sunk into its soft body.
When the symbiote removed the rock, Raven could tell it was furious. Its previously mocking and perpetually grinning face now had narrowed eyes and a closed mouth. Raven chuckled and threw another rock, only to see it miss and hit a tree on the other side.
The symbiote was no longer playing and had started hunting in earnest. Looking around, Raven couldn’t see anything. Feeling uneasy, he leaped from his spot. The moment he jumped, a massive, pointed limb crashed into where he had been, piercing the ground.
The symbiote had funneled all its biomass into its arm, weaving it into a massive spear. Seeing the symbiote suspended in the air, Raven took the opportunity to throw another rock at its chest. Just as the rock was about to hit, the spear merged back into its body, and the symbiote absorbed the incoming rock with its large, fortified form.
From this, Raven learned something important: "The area with the least biomass is the most vulnerable."
This meant Raven had to counterattack whenever the symbiote launched an attack. During its strikes, it became vulnerable—especially when executing large-scale attacks like this one.
As long as he had energy and focus for his ultra instinct, Raven could dodge any attack. In fact, the snake he had evaded before was much faster than this symbiote. The only problem was finishing this fight before his energy or focus ran out.