Again

When he first stumbled across it he almost ran away at first but then he remembered that this was supposed to be dangerous and if he won against it, it would help him a lot more than continuing to fight Awakening Beast. Luckily from a book he found in town that gave him some basic information of the creatures of the area he had a general idea of his own power and its against each other and how it acted to some extent.

Thankfully him and the Fire Charger were pretty even on the attack front but in defense he was stronger so he could take a couple hits if need be. Though the Fire Charger also had higher speed them him just like the Ice Bird. The plan he had thought of this time around to deal with it was to do the same thing he did to the Ice bird Slowing it down with his Astral Energy and taking it out. That required him getting in range or it getting in range though which wouldn't be an easy task for himself.

But this time around since the Fire Charger hadn't noticed him yet he would attempt a sneak attack to hopefully leave a wound and slowly whittle it away. When coming to the forest today he was able to bring a knife he found lying around in a storage closet and for the whole duration of hunting today he hadn't used it yet simply because he didn't need to, but now it would definitely come in handy. Slowly he crept up on it making the least amount of noise as possible and watching where he was going so he wouldn't mess up this time around.

*step*

*step*

After getting close enough to be in attacking range he sprang out as quickly as possible so he could try and stab the Fire Charger. But he had severely underestimated the Fire Chargers reaction time and speed. When he was a couple decimeters from having his attack connect the Fire Charger quickly jumped backed and evaded it last second. Leaving him mid strike to only connect to the ground and leave him wide open.

After it jumped back to avoid his strike it quickly took control of the situation and charged at him with its two heads. The fire Charger quickly slammed into him and started biting him causing him to slightly stagger while he pushed himself to the side to avoid further fighting and create distance. But that just lead to the Fire Charger being able to freely launch his flames at him instead.

Watching the flame come hurtling toward him he released his energy to slightly slow it down and duck out of the way. After dodging that attack he collected his bearings and prepared himself to get attacked again. But what else could he do if he barely had any ranged ways of attacking on him while being simple slower than his enemy. The only thing that came to mind was baiting it out with a bluff but it was risky. Even so it was still something he had to try and do because if not he would be stuck in his position while it constantly bombarded him with its flame balls.

He began channeling his Astral Energy while making big obvious movements to hopefully trick the Fire Charger into charging him. Faithful to its instincts the Fire Charger did exactly what he wanted to after seeing his actions. It charged once again at him but now he was prepared to send out his Astral Energy with its charge.

"Don't get impatient and do it at the right moment the second it comes into your range."

Calming himself down after the sudden turn of events he prepared himself for when it crossed his range slightly. This trick could probably only work once so he had to kill it now or never. As he watched it getting closer and closer to him he calmed down more and more until finally the Fire Charger stepped in his Astral Energies range.

"Now!"

A cold low snarl left his mouth as he dashed forward bringing the knife over his head while he brought all the Astral Energy pressure he could muster from out of his body. When the Fire Charger felt the pressure in his range it slightly slowed down and ended up losing control of its body due to the sudden change and slightly tripped. That trip was its fatal mistake though because as it happened he was already in front of it bringing his weapon down.

*Bam*

Along with his knife going through its skull the force continued to bring it down and ended up slamming the Fire Chargers skull into the ground and breaking it even more then it would of. It didn't die at first with the knife in it but as soon as it slammed into the ground it instantly died.

Looking over the dead body of it he could finally take a breath of fresh air and relax his tension and worry filled body. After messing up his sneak attack he seriously thought he screwed up there but thankfully he was able to turn the situation around and kill it before it noticed his tricks.

"Phew a little too close honestly."

After he settled down he looked down at the dead body of the Fire Charger with all its flames put out and stared at it for a couple seconds contemplating what to do before finally deciding.

Over the course of his hunting he had been taking parts of the newer animals he'd seen and killed throughout the day hoping to test more things and learn more about the Hunger he felt. But this time around he killed a full fledged Awakened Stage beast. Naturally he really wanted to drag the whole thing back to his home but he really couldn't. He was already tired out from all the fighting he'd done today plus this last fight had killed him completely so doing such a thing just wasn't possible even if you excluded the potential dangers that could threaten him along the way back.

He was still in the Myriad Locked Forest after all.

That's why he ended up deciding to only take a part he could easily carry and take with him instead. It could be a waste potentially but it was way safer and still helped him get more information on his devouring urge.

After taking a piece of it and heading back out of the forest he once again noticed that silly lizard standing in front of him.