Chapter 12: The Direboar

Chapter 12: The Direboar

Kai stared at the charging mass of tusks and muscle the size of a wagon and wished he had a bigger sword. The weapon that the Irunians had created for him was still undamaged, but it was not going to be enough. Not for the Direboar.

As he began to retreat, Kai tried to look at the monster with his spiritual vision one more time. Nothing but a muddle of symbols that made it clear the boar was a monster instead of intelligent creature. He had a vague sense that it was rather powerful, enough that he wasn't going to take it head on. Beyond that, he would need to use his instincts. And those instincts told him that standing directly in front of that thing's charge would be suicide.

He needed a better arena to fight it, and in the monster reserve, he didn't have many options. All he saw in range was a region of clustered rocks and a small cluster of trees. Not the rocks - the Direboar could probably charge over them. That left the forest.

Though he managed to reach the first trees before the monster caught up, it wasn't far behind. Kai slipped behind a tree, then ducked and crawled around a small bush to another location.

Less than a minute later the Direboar leveled the tree with a single swipe of its enormous head. Its pointed hooves tore apart the ground where he had been not long ago. Realizing he wasn't there, the Direboar stabbed through the fallen trunk with both tusks and hurled it deeper into the trees. The points of its horns pierced the old wood like it was paper.

From his hiding place, Kai tried not to breathe. It was a damn good thing he hadn't tried to hide behind one of the nearest trees and ambush the monster immediately. Now the Direboar was stomping around the grove searching for him, giving him a little more time to prepare.

First he got a better look at the creature. There were several metal hooks still hanging in its fur, and an Irunian sword had been thrust deep into its neck. One leg was matted with blood and someone had managed to burn part of its flank. None of that seemed to slow the monster down in the slightest.

Kai figured he only had one thing going for him: he wouldn't have to deal with any other monsters. He spotted several of the twisted monkeys, but they fled from the Direboar. One that was too slow was trampled, then the beast bent down to eat its corpse. While it was occupied with its meal, Kai crept further away and began preparing.

Once again, the optional survival training he'd taken on was going to be essential. Kai saw a few vines that could be turned into trip ropes and discarded the idea almost immediately: the boar was charged with so much mana that it would probably tear straight through. A pit trap might have worked, if he had a day to prepare. But there were plenty of branches, and he'd already tested them as spears.

Keeping an ear open for the Direboar's rampages, Kai carefully found several appropriate branches and turned them into sharpened stakes. There wasn't enough time for a large pit, but maybe an alternative would work...

If he'd had hours, Kai might have been able to set up a perfect trap. Part of him had been hoping that his Laborer Class would somehow make the work easier. Unfortunately, he was only partially done when the Direboar began to leave the small forest. It had been grunting and snorting through the trees for some time, pursuing his scent, but apparently it was giving up. Since he stood no chance out in the wasteland, Kai decided that he needed to make the attempt now.

He got into position, swallowed his last mana seedling, hefted a wooden spear he hadn't had time to finish, and yelled, "Hey ugly!"

Instantly the boar whirled in his direction. Its eyes actually burned with mana, and it shot mana-flecked spittle in all directions as it roared. Kai hurled his spear as hard as he could, aiming for its open mouth, but it closed its jaws as it charged. The dull tip glanced off the thick fur, just as he'd feared.

The earth itself seemed to shake as the Direboar charged directly at him. Suddenly his plan didn't seem so smart, and holding his ground in front of it felt incredibly stupid. Too late now: Kai drew his sword and held it by his shoulder in thrusting position.

Several paces from his position, the Direboar's hooves smashed through the hastily covered pit. It stumbled forward only a step into the shallow pit... directly into the sharpened stakes. The beast's momentum rammed it straight into the points, and some of them drove into its stomach. As it roared in pain, Kai thrust forward with all his strength.

He had nothing left. If the Direboar had survived even that, he was dead.

Slowly the enormous body slumped forward, half-pinning him to the ground. Blood was beginning to gush from the wound now, and the ground was muddy with the gore from its torso. It all burned with foul mana, but Kai was too exhausted to escape from underneath it. By the time he managed to pull himself out, he was coated in the blood.

Had he actually done it? Kai stared at the corpse in disbelief. He wanted to retrieve the monster core, but he'd lost his sword and his hands ached.

"That's it for you, kid." One of the scarred veterans stepped from a portal and grabbed him by the arm. "We need to treat you before the toxicity takes hold."

"Toxicity?" Kai resisted on instinct. Going into the portal meant ending the Hunter Trials early. It meant giving up. "What... what's the...?"

"You don't want monster blood on you ever, and especially not in open wounds. Come back. You'll get credit for killing it, but you can't stay like this."

"No... keep going..." Kai used what little strength he was regaining to pull away. "Feel fine..."

"That's absurd, you..." The hunter trailed off and frowned at him. "Did you actually resist the toxicity? Your training has been extreme for a candidate, so..."

He stood back and watched Kai as if expecting him to collapse any moment. Kai couldn't pretend that he felt well, but as he got further from that vicious encounter, he felt further from death. Wiping away the blood hurt worse than anything during the fight: the shallow wounds caught with every movement and sent pain shooting through him.

Eventually the warrior departed with a shake of his head. Kai stared at the Direboar corpse for a little while before using a few of the wooden spears to try to get deeper. If the monster core had been lodged in the center of the beast's mass, he almost didn't want it.

Fortunately, he found the core not far from the place the tusk had pierced and was able to pull it out. His arm was covered in blood again, but he held his largest core yet. When he tried to pull free the tusk to use as a weapon, it proved to be stuck firm in the Direboar's skull. That wasn't coming out.

Once he felt better, he'd make some more weapons from the trees. For the time being, Kai sat on the corpse and let himself recover a little. Should have stockpiled potions. He wasn't near death, but he ached all over and his hands were still numb.

"There you are!"

Exhausted as he was, Kai hadn't sensed anyone approaching. He looked up just in time to see Fhazi and his goons entering the forest. Fhazi frowned at the Direboar and then turned to shake a finger at him.

"You stole my kill. You're going to pay for that."