Another Threat

The moth had no voice to scream with, but it could still feel pain. Stabbed in the eye with a dagger, it tried to get away from Jax. And yet, its wings were caught by him, so it couldn't leave.

Jax pulled the dagger out and swung it back into the moth's other eye.

This time, the moth really did all it could to run away. It flapped its wings faster than ever, lifting somewhat above Jax.

Jax pulled the dagger out and cut through the moth's wings, slicing through a good chunk of what he could reach. The remaining tore off while the moth tried to fly away.

And yet, the moth couldn't fly with only wings on one side. It tried, but it soon flipped over, coming back down on the ground.

It tried its best to continue beating its wings, but it could only drag itself around on the ground. There was no possibility of flying in its future.

Jax slowly got up from where he was, the adrenaline in his body so high that he could barely feel the pain anymore. He looked at the moth that had stopped flying. It tried to walk, but it couldn't see anymore. It was helpless.

Cold blood flowed down on the inside of his shirt and down his pants, and even then, Jax could only think about the moth before him. Since it was on its last leg, he could kill it.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard loud footsteps with leaves being crushed and twigs being snapped. Looking to the side, Jax saw the bear from before. It had noticed them.

Jax took a step back. He had barely defeated the moth and gotten away from it. He could not fight the bear as he was. He was simply not strong enough.

There was only so much Navi in him, after all. He had used it up now, so the strength in his fist was gone.

Thankfully, the bear seemed more interested in the fidgeting moth than him. It made its way toward it.

"I should say it again, whoever deals the last blow gets the loot," Gemma spoke into his ears just then. "Are you okay with the bear reaping the benefits of your sacrifice?"

Jax clenched his fist suddenly as his entire body got rigid.

A part of him got angry at Gemma for returning only after so long, but that part was too small for Jax to care about right now.

He had worked so hard to get the moth to the state it was in. He couldn't let the bear be the one to kill it in the end. The priority now for him was to get the bear away from the moth.

He reached into his Inventory again and pulled out a few more bones. The cut in his hands stung still, but he gripped the bones tightly and tossed them at the bear to grab its attention.

"Look here, you big oaf!" Jax shouted as he threw the bones one after another. It only took a few hits for the bear to get angry.

It turned toward him, its body taller than his. They needed five fighters stronger than him to kill it. Alone as he was, the only thing he could do right now was survive.

Could he do that?

'I'm losing blood,' Jax thought. 'But I feel fine. No, I feel better.'

Somehow, while logic told him that bleeding was bad for him, his instinct told him it was good. He couldn't understand why that was, but his instincts were something that were ingrained into him either from birth or throughout his life.

He needed to trust his instinct.

As the bear charged for him, Jax charged toward the bear. The bear raised its paw, slamming down on him, but Jax acted fast. He moved to the side at the last moment, letting the paw miss him by inches.

He dug the dagger into the side of the bear and rushed forward while trying to cut a long section of it.

The bear growled when Jax was done, but it wasn't very hurt. 'Its skin is too thick. My dagger can't reach deep. The only thing I can do is play around with it.'

Jax went straight to the moth and got on its back, cutting through its other wings. With that, it wouldn't be able to move around as much as it did.

The moth's skin was still quite thick, so Jax could only attack it through the eyes. Thankfully, its eyes were quite massive, allowing for his own fist to dig into them should he need to.

The bear turned around and came back running.

Jax had seen this species of bear fight so many times now, and despite its size, it ran so quickly. If he were to try and run away, he would be halfway back to his party before the bear caught up to him.

Running was out of the option.

Jax got off the moth and kicked it away while he himself jumped to the other side to get away from the bear. He rolled on the ground, his chest burning with pain.

He was ready to pull out a bone to attack the bear again, but it seemed it was angered by him already. All it wanted to do now was kill him.

Jax quickly got up and dashed away from the bear. He couldn't run away, but he could hide from the bear.

Arriving next to a tree, he stopped and waited for the bear to arrive. As it tried to attack him, Jax dashed to the other side and made a run for the moth again while remaining in the blind spot of the bear.

It would notice soon, but the few seconds he got would be enough for him to do what he needed to do.