Multiple loud cracks rang out in the night, the sounds akin to explosions, as Mican blasted through multiple trees, leaving a path of wide-spread destruction in his wake.

A large rustle sounded, and dirt sprayed up in a wave as the young man made a rough landing in the bushes off to the side.

A bleary sensation overtook the young man, and he lay there stunned. His ears rang slightly, and his heart was beating out of his chest.

The pause of silence was broken shortly thereafter by the loud thumps of three medium-sized trees.

As they fell to the ground, their weight kicked up a wave of noise beneath the moon, silencing all other sounds in the night.

The sound breaking his shock, the young man quickly felt his chest, expecting it to be completely crushed.

Groping at his chest, then repeating the motion right after, he was dumbfounded at the complete lack of a concave in his chest, or the feeling of any pain for that matter.

Getting up on his knee, Mican shook off his emotions and swiftly inspected his condition. Besides the slight ringing in his ears and a dull ache in his back, he felt completely fine. The young man thought himself to be in shock, but that did not matter at the moment.

The young man’s eyes flashed golden in the night, as his hands curled into fists, and he turned around to face his opponent.

Vibrations that seemed to shake the earth pounded out like soundwaves, as the culprit of his anger charged at him on all fours, barreling through the small greenery in its path.

Dirt sprayed up with each step it took, and a deep imprint could be seen in the ground afterwards, proof of its enormous weight.

“RAAAAAGHHH!”

Spittle flew out from its wide-open maw as the beast screamed, two rows of discolored, jagged teeth and red gums fully on display. Its third eye swung uselessly from its socket, and the other two were unnaturally bloodshot.

The young man swung his head towards his surroundings, looking for his weapons. He was unable to spot the torch, but seeing how there was no firelight in his surroundings, he assumed it to be extinguished. To his left, a dagger lay gleaming golden in the moonlight, stabbed hilt deep into the ground off to the side, too far to reach at the pace the bear was moving.

A sense of powerlessness filled Mican as the beast approached through the clearing, knowing full well he would not be able to contest with its power, though the young man felt no fear. Fear to a mere bear was a thing long past after having experienced the abyss.

“I’ll kill you!”

Three simple words left the young man’s mouth as his powerlessness was replaced with anger, and he stormed toward the beast, letting loose a deep and guttural war-cry. His right arm pulled back to its farthest extent as he prepared his strongest blow.

Two screams reverberated in the night as two individuals, bathed in moonlight, one large and one small, one beast and one man, charged at each other across a clearing in a forest, beneath the head of a giant dragon.

As the two got within two meters of each other, the bear stood up on its hind legs and swung its left arm at the young man, the full weight of the beast behind the blow.

The young man threw his punch second, much faster, having already readied himself. His fist flew towards the creature’s stomach, his momentum too great to change course.

Time seemingly slowing down, Mican could only prepare himself for the worst as he watched the massive claws of the bear slowly flying towards his shoulder, a small smile growing on his face.

“Glrch.”

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A sickening spurting sound came out in the night, but it was from the body of the bear, not of the man. Mican’s fist penetrated the gut of the beast in a single swift motion and warm blood sprayed out from its back. It was as if a hot knife was taken to butter, he felt almost no resistance.

Before he could feel an sorts of emotions about the situation, a whump sounded out as he was sent flying into the air by the paw, spiraling around, spittle flying out of his mouth before a large tree broke his fall, granting him yet another rough landing.

Rubbing his head, the young man stood up once again, adrenaline pumping through his body. Much calmer this time, he quickly tensed his muscles, feeling for pain as he crouched down in a leaping motion ready for an assault.

Fully prepared, the young man swung his head up looking for his opponent, but sweeping his eyes across the vicinity, he found nothing.

A silence reigned in the small field, the sounds of wildlife completely absent, having cleared the area upon the chaos caused by the fight.

A huddled form about ten meters away from the young man lay prone in the clearing, a large amount of blood pooling beneath its body. It was still alive, pushing its limbs forward, seemingly clawing its way toward something.

Standing up, the young man cautiously approached the bear as it slowly crawled, examining its situation.

The first thing he noticed was the trail of blood behind the bear, lined with exorbitant amounts of blood and small organs he could not recognize. The red of the trail and its objects gleamed beneath the moonlight, and a slight smell of iron wafted in the air, filling the young man with distaste.

Confusion filled Mican as he examined the animal. A creature of this size and ferocity should still be full of vitality, despite being heavily injured.

How did it even get in this state? Looking at his warm arm that was soaked in blood up to his elbow, and feeling his body that should have been caved in twice now, he knew that he had whole host of even more questions that urgently needed answering.

“Unnghh.”

A groan sounded out as the three-eyed bear stopped moving, bending over on a spot in the field of flowers, a slurping sound echoing out in the clearing a moment after.

Walking ahead of the bear, giving it a wide berth, a gruesome sight was revealed to the young man.

A dagger was being held in the creature’s grasp, being licked and sucked on with relish. It was not a careful relish, as the animal did not seem to mind the sharpness of the blade, blood pouring out of deep cuts on its tongue with each lick.

The young man quickly realized the source of the dagger, remembering the empty sheath at his side, and he also realized what the bear was licking at, the dried golden liquid quickly disappearing into its mouth.

A sense of urgency dawned upon the man as he realized that the only clue to the perpetrators behind the portal was disappearing into the dumb beast’s maw.

His brain told him to just give the beast the knife and flee while it was distracted, but his heart told him to remember the gaping hole in the creature’s stomach, its blood loss, and his seemingly unstoppable strength as he plowed through its stomach.

Decisively making his decision, before the liquid was completely gone, the young man jumped forward and snatched the dagger out of the preoccupied bear’s grip.

He quickly jumped back several large steps and cautiously looked at the bear, sheathing the dagger and raising his fists in front of his body, in a defensive stance.

The bear was extremely slow to react, sluggishly standing up on its four limbs, as if intoxicated. Blood poured from its open mouth and the gaping hole in its guts, but the creature didn’t seem to even feel it. Swaying on its feet, a groan came out of its mouth towards Mican, as if asking him why he took the blade away.

After a few seconds passed by, a low, menacing growl sounded out from the throat of the bear. Faint traces of red began surfacing up from the veins in its eyes as it gritted its teeth and sharpened its gaze towards the young man.

Seeing this, Mican knew he would be a fool not to act and ran towards the beast with his fists out. Before the bear could sober up and properly comprehend what was happening, the young man’s long strides breached the gap between him and the bear, and blows began to rain down on its head.

“AUNGGHHH!”

A scream of pain rang across the clearing, combined with the sickening sound of flesh being flattened. The bear fell onto its side after the first strike, the third eye hanging out of its socket exploding into a red paste.

The young man did not give it a moment to rest, striking blow after blow on the beast with both of his fists, each hit softening the creatures head and wearing down on its skull. Curling both of his hands together, Mican launched his eighth and final strike, smashing down with all of his strength.

A crack sounded out, echoing between the trees of the forest, as the strike met the bear’s head.

The creature’s skull concaved in on itself, grey and red matter flying out across the field from the sheer ferocity of the strike, painting the once peaceful field in colors of gore.

“Ahahahaha!” A laughter arose from Mican’s mouth as the wonderous feeling of living filled his body.

Panting heavily, the young man scanned his surroundings, not letting his guard down. Even after the battle, he strangely did not find himself tired at all, only slightly drained of energy.

The battle had made too much noise and had taken too long, he knew he had to leave as quickly as possible.

Full of questions, he secured the sheathe tightened to his waist, straightened his clothes, and sprinted off into the forest, leaving only the bloody pulp of a bear he had brutalized behind.