A Villain's POV
Chapter 42: Fighting the bear part 1

Chapter 42: Fighting the bear part 1

The system had done a lot of odd things since his arrival, but this takes the cake. It was not odd; it was simply evil. Raze was heavily injured at the moment, his wounds had not yet healed, and he didn’t have a way to heal them. And now, he had to fight against such a beast.

He tried to think of a reasonable way to handle this matter. His mind worked on heavy overdrive, his eyes darting around, trying to find a solution, but nothing was there to help him right now.

He had never read of an earth bear during the survival competition. This was a first, and to make matters worse, it was a peak rank-one beast.

There was only one thing he could do, and that was to fight. The beast was closing in quickly, and their options were limited, so Raze decided to use his free stat points.

Name: Raze

Race: Human

Magical Affinities: Space

Mana: 1000

EXP: 500/700

SP: 1050

Level: 7

Strength: 12

Dexterity: 12

Speed: 12

Constitution: 12

Intelligence: 16

Free stat points: 12.

He had twelve free stat points. All his base stats right now were at twelve, aside from his intelligence, but right now, some were more important than others.

"Four points to strength, three to speed and dexterity, and two to constitution." He distributed them in a way he felt would help the situation.

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 15

Speed: 15

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 16

He felt a sudden influx of strength all around, like a soft flow. Now he was ready. He planted his feet into the ground, made a sudden turn, and fired a special blade at the beast.

The beast had not been expecting this sudden turn of events, so it could not dodge the attack, and it was hit in the face. Luckily, its skin was very thick, and the blade only cut a few centimeters deep.

But the wound still hurt the beast. It let out a growl and charged at Raze. Raze watched as this mountain of a creature headed his way. He swallowed his saliva and got ready.

He gripped his sword to his side as best as he could, his eyes watching the beast without a single blink. He knew that if he could make a lethal contact now, he would make the whole fight far easier to handle in the long run.

His plan at the moment was to do something that he had never done, and that was why he needed extreme focus to do it.

He wanted to use Void Step and Phantom Blade at the same time, meaning while he was in motion with his feet, his blade would also be in motion, headed for the cut.

He had to consider three things in parallel while making his move. The first was to execute the footwork as perfectly as possible, the second was to execute the bladework as well as possible, and the third was to keep an eye on his target and make sure to adapt to any sudden new movements.

He wasn’t sure if he had the capability to do all that, but he sure as hell was going to try regardless. When the beast got into an effective range, Raze made his move.

His left foot pushed him forward, his blade still at his side as he used Void Step. The motion began, and he was already sidestepping at that incredible speed, but now, midway through that sidestep, he had to execute the Phantom Blade technique.

His sword started moving as well, going with the flow and making the perfect phantom to confuse the beast. But all the processes that Raze wanted to do were easier said than done.

Because he tried to focus on the sword to execute the perfect slash, he lost sight of the beast’s little movements. The bear raised its hand in reaction. Though it was slow, it was still coming toward Raze, and he had not noticed it.

Raze’s blade dug into the shoulder of the beast and went several inches deep by force. Raze felt he would end this here, but that was when he noticed the paw headed his way, and now it was too late to react.

The paw slammed into him and sent him flying in an arc. He slammed into a tree and broke right through it. The beast, on the other hand, let out a deafening roar as the pain from the cut flooded its mind.

The cut Raze had landed was not small and was very deep. It was long and ran for a length along the shoulder.

Raze coughed out a mouthful of blood as he lay there. His vision was blurry, and his body ached all over, but he could not stop yet. He had to keep fighting.

He pushed himself up and picked up his sword beside him, his eyes pinned on the beast. The beast saw Raze as well—the person that had given it such a wound. It got enraged and charged at Raze, but Raze didn’t move. He planted his feet into the ground, raised the tip of his sword to the sky, and took a deep breath.

He used Special Sense to watch his surroundings and waited. The moment the beast got into the effective range, he would make a move.

The beast, not knowing Raze’s plan, charged at him and entered the sense range. Immediately, it did, Raze moved. He used Void Step to move to the side, giving him a clear angle at the bear’s abdomen.

He went in for a stab, but as if he had been expecting it, he flipped over the bear when the bear noticed and reacted to him. His plan had never been the first side; it was the other side, and so he pulled off this unexpected wound.

He landed and wanted to use Void Step to close in and end everything, but right before he moved, his injured leg kicked in because he had placed too much weight on it. Like a falling tree, he hit the ground right next to the bear.