Chapter 29: The Forest's Ruler
The ground trembled below the roaring Beast.
Rin immediately ran away.
The Monster was enormous.
Its jaw was armed with two deadly fangs resembling those of a saber-toothed predator.
The Great Tiger's muscles twitched explosively, and the Beast was propelled forward with great force.
But as it arrived right where Rin had been standing, it could not find the intruder.
As the Great Tiger turned towards the exit, convinced that the intruder had run away, it felt something relatively light in weight land on its back.
STAB-
A second earlier, hanging from the ceiling thanks to his newly acquired Spider Glove, was Rin.
The Beast, wounded, instinctively crashed its flank against the wall.
Rin, who had jumped off just before he was knocked down, landed safely and ran away from the Beast as it roared ferociously.
'Let's hope I'm right...' He thought as he exited the Dungeon.
Rin only turned around when he was about twenty meters away from the Dungeon's entry.
Burning eyes shone through the darkness that reigned inside the cave.
'Is it not leaving... It has to, right? After all...'
The Beast leaped out of the Dungeon.
'... It's only its den.'
Faced with a Monster several times stronger than himself, Rin felt extreme pressure.
His tense muscles twitched.
A nervous chuckle.
The Great Tiger, the forest's apex predator, took slow yet heavy steps.
Steps towards, now that the surprise effect had worn off, what it considered nothing more than its prey.
'I don't have to beat it 1-on-1...' Rin thought.
He pulled his Dual Swords Of Flame And Frost out of their sheaths, as he took careful steps back.
'The venom on three arrows isn't much, but my sword is still implanted on its back. Slowly but surely...'
The Iron Sword's blade, that Rin had acquired during the Tutorial, had been completely coated in venom.
The Great Tiger leaped forward.
'... More venom will enter its body.'
...
On top of a tree's branch, Rin stared at the Beast he had run away from.
The Great Tiger walked through the dark forest with absolute confidence, in search of the one who had entered its den.
Stealthily and cautiously, Rin studied the Beast as it approached the tree he was on.
It was unclear who was the hunter, and who was prey.
In a way, both were hunters.
'The venom from the Spider Queen should have kicked in by now... I doubt it's strong enough to kill this guy. But if the venom makes its muscles a bit stiffer, its movements a bit slower...'
The Great Tiger was now under Rin.
The latter stepped off the high branch.
As Rin was falling, the apex predator noticed him right away.
It showed its teeth and growled, ready to tear Rin's body apart as soon as he got into range.
Before Rin's body hit the ground, the Great Tiger attacked.
Wild flames appeared.
Out of surprise, the monster's movements were halted, and a long wound appeared on its right foreleg.
The Beast quickly stepped back.
"Good. It seems you're scared of fire too..." Rin whispered.
The forest ruler's pride had been hurt.
It was the first time in its life that the Great Tiger had stepped back against a foe.
A great roar resonated throughout the forest.
It was, maybe, at that instant, that the Great Tiger stopped thinking of Rin as prey.
But rather as an enemy.
"Tsk... Even my body knows that I'm no match for it." Rin whispered as his leg muscles trembled ever so slightly.
Just as Rin was thinking about running away once more to gain time, the Beast leaped forward.
Its muscles were so strong and its movements so fast that it appeared in front of Rin before he could react.
He barely had the time to raise his weapons defensively while letting out more Mana.
As flames rose from Rin's weapon, the Great Tiger's attention was redirected toward it.
"AGH!"
A strong swing of the Beast's paw left Rin's Sword Of Flame spinning in the air.
His right hand was now empty.
The force was such that Rin was knocked off balance.
His shoulder started feeling numb.
'The venom... Isn't doing shit!!'
A second swing hit Rin's right side.
His body was launched into the air.
The Great Tiger's foe spun on the ground many times before crashing into a tree.
Crack-
'AGH!!'
Rin bit his lips to stop himself from shouting.
Just one swing of the Beast's paw was enough to break two of his ribs.
Using his left hand, Rin touched his right arm.
It felt so numb that he had to touch it, to make sure that it was still attached.
Rin struggled to get on his knees, only to notice that his stomach was bleeding.
'Shit...'
The wound he had received from the Spider Queen had been reopened.
Meanwhile, the Great Tiger's eyes shined brightly.
No matter how dark it was outside, it could see clearly.
And so, noticing its foe's struggle to stand, the Beast slowly walked towards it.
Like a cat playing with its prey.
Despite its massive size, it stayed true to the grace and elegance of felines, taking surprisingly light steps towards Rin.
Sure, it might have felt slight stinging from the wounds that it had received, but it was far from enough to actually damage such a Beast.
The Great Tiger's eyes widened as its prey had vanished into thin air.
[Your Title "Perfectionist Fighter" wants to see you perfectly deal with the strong foe!]
[Your Title "He Who Paves His Own Way" forbids you from running away!]
'Tsk... Forbids me?! I'm not planning to run anyway...' Rin thought as he hid behind the tree he had crashed into.
Despite the pain from his broken ribs and wounded stomach, he began climbing up the tree using his Spider Glove.
Rin barely managed to stand on one of its branches.
'Looking for me, huh? It won't take a while for it to find me... Can't attack from here either. The same trick won't work twice. So all I can do is...' Rin thought.
He spotted his Sword Of Flame on the ground, about twenty meters away.
A drop of blood made its way down Rin's chin.
'My right arm... Yeah...'
He was unable to feel it, let alone move it.
A smirk appeared on Rin's face.
'A good hit... Might be enough to kill me.'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone