High Endurance?

Ethan was falling down with savage bears from the cliff with savage bear being down while Ethan being above it. Ethan kicked his elbow pit with everything he had. Claw was still in his stomach and he was holding it with his hand to stop the bear from tearing his apart but his kick did its work and has it withdraw his claw out of his body.

Savage Bear tried to attack him with other hand but Ethan hug it down and dodge his claw. Ethan withdraws the Thompson contender, the same gun he stole with Raven and put the barrel over its shoulder joint and fired it.

Bang.

Its arm was detached and blown away the body. Ethan whole body jerked back as his hand flew back from the recoil but he already knew about it so he kept his grip tightened. She already reminds him of the recoil but its scale was still unexpected.

Roar.

Bear roared in pain and tried to bite his head off but Ethan already put the gun back to storage and withdraws his sword. He put it in its opened mouth and stabs down. Ethan put it down and pushed it toward the brain. He is just hoping it might stab throw its mouth to brain and it die somehow.

Roar.

It roars again and again in pain, agony and rage over this tiny creature over him who won't let it bite his head. Ethan just pushes down more and closed his eyes in hope that it somehow worked.

Slam.

Savage Bear hit the ground on his back. Ethan was forced to release the sword due to inertia. His body slammed into its chest. Ethan had already strengthened his body with mana but force almost crushes his bones all over the body. His left arm had wholly dislocated though.

"Grrr…"

He raised himself up and heard a growl. He cursed his luck again. Why? Just… why? Why is it that he always survives one danger only to suffer another one? Can't he just survive one and everything ends after that? Why life is so cruel?

Ethan turns around a spot a savage bear standing over its two legs with its both arm injured in different way. One is almost on verge of falling while other one is mangled up badly but its ferociousness was not diminished by even a bit. Ethan took deep breathe to calm himself down. He is not scared of it but this free fall had taken too much of his stamina out of him.

He withdraws his sword from storage and looked at it with half-closed eyes. It's unlikely now he will survive so all he can do is to buy time enough for Alice to escape. He knows that she is a selfish girl. She would have already left the cliff already. He can just buy enough for her to do that. It's not like he will survive either way. So, why not, do a good deed before dying…

Savage Bear is it an E-Rank but he doesn't have its main weapon now which are its claw. Ethan didn't believe that its endurance will be any good in this situation. It had fallen from the height of 100m straight. Ethan only survived because his fall was cushioned by late bear but it's not same for it.

Ethan charged forward and Bears also did the same with his broken arms and legs. Ethan jumped right when he was a meter away from it. It raised its head and tried to bite him but Ethan dodged narrowly and turned around to land on its back. He raised his sword with his one hand and stabbed it right over its shoulder joint. It penetrated halfway to his bones and stops.

Ethan gritted his teeth and slammed his dislocated arm over the hilt of the sword to push it further down but it was no use… but it had a reaction and bear fiercely tried to jump up and down to get rid of the pesky creature hanging on it back. Ethan was thrown toward the wall of the cliff as his body was not in good shape to endure its tantrum.

Ethan bends his back in pain as it slammed him into the stone wall. He might need some long term rest this time. He raised his head only to see the savage bear slowly charging toward him with its three legs. Ethan hurriedly rolled away and dodges its charge. Bear slammed into stones by its head and stone broke down into multiple pieces.

Ethan gulped down at the sight and calls the gun out of his storage. He fired few shots at it and circles around it. It hit bear but it only annoyed him more. It turned toward him and charges again. This time its movement was more sluggish than before. Ethan can tell it is having hard time of its own. He will just need to take advantage of it.

Recall.

Ethan puts the gun on his pants behind and uses Recall. Bear charge slows down completely in his vision as he put all his focused on to the savage bear. Savage bear was less than a meter away from him when Ethan push himself forward and wrap his hand around its neck. His feet were dragged over the ground as bear keep charging forward.

Ethan pulls his handgun from behind and tried to thrust the barrel over its eye but it suddenly jerked his head upward and his handgun slipped through his finger. Bear was injured heavily, no. It is on verge of death but it still won't let a weak bug like him to become its end. It is still an E-Rank after all.

It did again and this time Ethan was thrown up in the air but Ethan was already prepared as he pull the sword stuck onto its shoulder.

Ethan looked down and prepare for his fall with his sword in the hand. Bear stands in its two legs and wait for the human prey to fall down. Ethan falls down and sharpened its body like paper plane falling down with its head pointing down.

Ethan was one meter above him when he spins around and tried to attack to its neck to decapitate it in one swing but instead it's sword that broke down. Ethan rolled away and lie on the ground and grunt in pain. Savage bear clutched its throat in pain. Sword didn't slit its throat but it did pierce its skin. It turned around and looked at its prey on the ground.

Ethan was lying down while looking at the sky. His whole body was aching all over and his head was ringing in pain. Ethan can stand up if he wants to but he had enough already. Alice would have no trouble escape from here. He had done enough already, if he resist more, bear might kill him in one strike but he wouldn't be able to buy time that way.

He can just buy enough time for it not to chase her. He just needs to lie down and let it eat slowly. It might be painful but it will save her life. He is doing a good thing. Saving a life is a good thing, at the least it will be more worthy than his life.

Savage Bear saw that its prey had stop resisting and moves toward it with wary and unbalanced steps. Its prey had struggle for quite a long so its instinct was still not relaxing. It reach his legs and climb over it. It looked at Ethan who seems to be give up on everything and was staring at the sky as if he was memorizing it within his eyes. Savage bear opened its mouth and roared in victory over its prey.

!

An arrow suddenly struck its wide open mouth and explodes. Explosion was strong, it didn't explode its mouth but it directed toward its inside and wreak havoc inside its body. It falls on its back and twitched in the pain.

Alice landed on the ground and but her leg didn't hold as she feel on her knee. Her breathing was heavy and shock from the fall just made her whole body numb. She looked up and noticed the savage bear lying on the ground, twitching as explosion burnt its inside. It still hasn't died yet?! She wonder if she had mistaken immortal word as high endurance. Why won't it just die?!

She wasn't worried anymore though. Savage Bear was out of commission now. Ethan had already damage it a lot and last arrow did direct damage to its inside. It is just a struggle of dying. Her head turned toward Ethan who was lying on the ground and was looking at her with surprised expression. He alone almost killed two genuine E-Ranks. He would have also killed this one but…

Ethan was looking at her with his inverted vision. He was surprised by her arrival. He never thought that she would actually come to save him instead of running away. She was the last person he accepted to save her. Ethan stands up with struggles and his limbs keep giving up in the middle. He looked at her and smile.

She might act tough but maybe she is one of those type that can't be honest with themselves. She must not want to appear weak by showing him her care. It might be the reason for everything she had done.

She starts walking toward him. Ethan looked at her and drag his leg toward her. A single movement of muscles sends a sack of pain all over his body but he still maintains his expression for her sake. Alice suddenly starts running slowly to him and speed up in the middle.

He was right she did care about him after all. Now, all he need to reach toward her and fell into her arms. She might even carry him out. She was few meters away from when Ethan loosened his body and let himself fall toward her. She will grab him and hug him tightly. She might even cry for him, since he did this for her.

Slap.

Ethan had loose his body when he fall toward Alice. She slapped his face with a clear strike and all her finger dug in his cheek. Her slap releases a wave to his whole face. Ethan spins on one foot and falls to his side.

Whole world was spinning… no, it is his head that is spinning, he tried to support his body with his elbow but he was unable to due to all the damage all over the body.

Alice was not done yet. She went down and grabs his collar and raised him. She slapped again but this time it was light as she just want to bring his focus on her.

"…What do you think you are doing?!"

She shakes him back and forth as she talked with peeved and disturbed expression. Ethan looked at her with lost expression. Why? He did everything to save her life yet instead of giving him support and treating him with care why is she treated him so violently.

"I did it… to save your life…"

Ethan had hard time talking as his head was still not in its place. He doesn't even know if it's bear or her slap that caused this.

"Bullshit! You didn't do it to save my life!"

Ethan heard and looked at her with slightly bewildered expression. What the hell is she talking about?

"You did it to die, didn't you? I saw your face when you were lying down. It was a face of a person who had given up on everything and just want to die, do you really think I wouldn't notice?!"

"What's wrong…with that? I was going to die… either way. Isn't it natural… that I will make that face?"

"As I said, all of this is bullshit! You just wanted to die and you use me as an excuse. If you wanted to die then do it by other way. Don't you dare to use me as an excuse for it?!"

"Seriously…, it's already bad enough as it is… just what the hell are you talking about?"

"You always appear to be weird but now I understand it, you just wanted to die but you don't have in you to kill yourself so you use other people as your excuse…"

"…!" Ethan was shaken when he heard her. He looked at Alice with trembling eyes and look down instantly to avoid her eyes. He wants to stop her. He wants to shut her up. Just shut up, SHUT UP.

"…You are just using saving other people to convince yourself that-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"