The hunter and the prey

If Ryu had reacted a second later, he would be dead for sure, luckily his analysis over the quest helped him react in time, saving his life. He jumped out of the bush using all the strength he can summon with his legs, fearing that the beast was close, preparing a sneak attack on him, and he was right.

The beast jumped to attack as soon as Ryu made the first move leaving his hiding spot, but as an experienced hunter, the dog would not let its prey go so easily after getting so close to it. The dog was aiming for the throat, a fatal spot once wounded, would result in death.

He saw the dog getting closer, coming to his face, and midair after his leap Ryu, would not be able to dodge this attack. Even if he were in a firm position, he probably would be unable to avoid the coming attack. It came fast and from such a close distance that the best he could do to survive was to make a sacrifice and reduce the damage.

Bending his body in the opposite direction, he contracted his neck against his right shoulder the same time as he stretched his left shoulder, placing it in the beast's mouth. He sacrificed one shoulder to avoid an attack on the neck, thus skipping a death sentence.

< left shoulder severely damaged, left arm immovable.

Consider Run>>

He fell on the ground rolling on the grass, pressing his right hand, holding the sword against the ground, he lifted his body up. Then he turned to face the beast before it could attack him again. His left arm was suspended at his side as a terrifying amount of blood ran down and soaked his robe with a hot red liquid that trickled down his arm until it covered his hand and began to fall to the floor, one drop at a time.

The hound dog would not let this opportunity go without giving his prey time to recollect his mind, it charged forward, growling excitedly to devour its new prey, his jaw red with blood.

The beast came running at fast speed, when it got closer, it made another jump, but this time Ryu was able to dodge in time, and the beast passed him, almost taking another bite. In Ryu's face, there was only despair, he got no time to recompose himself, while the pain assaulting him blurred his mind, preventing him from thinking about what to do.

The beast charged again, but this time Ryu pointed his sword thrusting to the beast's head. At the same time that this move threatens the dog, it also prevents it from recklessly jumping to his neck.

But this dog had much more experience than Ryu. As the sword came in its direction, the dog swiftly avoided the attack by taking one step to the side and launching an attack using its sharp claw. This attack landed on Ryu's right tight, leaving three red marks with blood flowing.

The onslaught continued for some time, with the dog assaulting Ryu Sei without giving him any chance to recollect his composture. While, Ryu Sei used his sword, slashing and thrusting, to keep distance, avoiding the incoming attacks. But as time progress, more and more cuts could be seen on Ryu Sei.

<< Losing blood at an alarming rate.>>

His breath started to get heavy, pull air with full force was not enough anymore, as his lunges asked for more, desperately trying to supply the endless demand his body needed. Sweat covered his face while blood rolled down all over his body, and adrenaline rushed in his veins. At this moment, he had only one thought.

'At this rate, I am going to die.'.

After avoiding another attack, he took the opposite direction of the dog and started to run at full speed. One step after the other, he could barely feel the pain over his body due to adrenaline.

But there was no way to ran fast enough in the middle of this jungle full of obstacles. The beast reached him just a few meters away. Running was not a good idea in the end, but a desperate man is incapable of making good choices.

The dog jumped on his back, aiming at the nape. The moment the dog made the jump, in a lucky strike, Ryu stopped his running, and he made a 180° turn rotation slashing his sword with the whole momentum of his running, a slash devoided of any technique made on pure instinct.

The slash landed right onto the side of the dog, the force of this slash pushed the dog out of his way, throwing it into a tree, making a loud *Thud* sound.

But, the dog was not dead yet, if a strong cultivator used Ryu's sword, the dog would have been cut in half midair, together with all the trees in the path of the sword, but he Ryu is just a level 1 rookie, and he had no practice using the sword. This high-grade sword in his hands was no different than any other sword, it was just sharper and tougher.

This slash was only able to make a small cut into the side of the dog. Ryu saw blood flowing, staining the dog's fur in red, but it was now his time to take revenge and not give time for this vicious dog to recover.

One step forward, getting closer to the beast, and he prepared to pierce the beast aiming where the heart should be located. Just this moment, the dog made a leap ignoring the incoming danger. Ryu's sword landed above the hind leg, while the dog bit his ankle.

An exchange of blows, the true danger of a berserker creature, it had no fear for its life and is willing to share blows, accumulating damage. The two foes separated for a brief time, opening a distance, with one looking into the eye of the other.

Without putting much thought, the dog made another charge, as it was not concerned with his safety at all.

The dog came for his life running fast, but this brief time of separation was enough for him to arrange his mind. When the dog jumped at him, his right hand went forward, ignoring the sword.

And the dog landed on an orange transparent wall made of essence. It was a life-saving talisman given to Ryu by his parents.

As the son of two cultivators, he actually has many life savings artifacts in his spatial ring, but the problem was that he does not have power enough to use most of it. Another reason to not pull this early was his lack of experience that made his mind blank in a life and death situation. He was not expecting to be in this situation in his very first battle.

This protection talisman is one of the few he can use, and it would protect him from a direct attack making a barrier for a few seconds. It is a waste to use this on a rank 0 beast, but, since the other option is to die, Ryu used it anyway.

Using the few seconds at disposal, Ryu swallowed a healing pill and used the opportunity to think about dealing with this situation. The healing pill he swallowed didn't close his wounds right away, as such miracle pills don't exist, but at least they helped ease the pain and lessen the blood loss.

A few seconds later, the barrier extinguished and forced the two opponents to face each other again. However, this time, Ryu's expression was much calmer than before.