4 Fighting the Ghost Ape (1/2)

With the wind in his stride, Anselm charged directly at the Ghost Ape with a smile across his face.

'I can't fight the Ghost Ape head-on. With a beast like this, its weakness lies in disrupting its balance and catching it off guard.'

As Anselm approached the ape, a white fist came crashing down from above him. The ape's fist was so powerful that it separated the wind in its path.

'Too slow.'

In that instant, he swiftly sidestepped and dodged the attack. The ape's fist made contact with the ground, shockwaves sending the dirt and dust that covered the surface flying into the air.

In the instant that the ape had yet to retract its fist, Anselm sprinted faster than he ever had before and on one foot leapt forward. Putting his entire body weight and momentum from the jump into the attack, he slashed at the ape's right heel. The moment he landed, he twisted his body and leapt in the same direction he came from, slashing again at the back of the ape's heel with perfect precision.

Turning to look at the heel he attacked, the only thing Anselm could see was a light wound that seemed to do nothing more than shaving the fur from that region. There was no blood nor deep cut.

'Damn it. The Ghost Ape's body is tougher than I expected. I'm still too weak to be able to cut deep enough and wound it heavily.'

As though it was staring at an annoying fly, the Ghost Ape coldly looked down on Anselm with its twisted face. Bringing its arms up, it started to alternately beat its chest with open hands like it were a war drum. In a rhythmic pattern, its speed gradually accelerated until with each strike, tremors travelled through the ground. Facing its gaze, Anselm pondered over the best way to defeat the ape.

'This must be one of its aura techniques. Now that I've entered Vitalisation, I can faintly detect a power rising inside the Ghost Ape. I need to finish this quickly before it reaches its peak state. Maybe I can interrupt its ability...'

Anselm darted towards the ape in an attempt to flank it and slash at a weak spot that he could injure with his current strength. After travelling a dozen metres, before he could charge any further, a powerful force sudden suddenly erupted from the Ghost Ape as it stopped pounding its chest.

Moments later, another white fist abruptly appeared in front of Anselm - the speed of it vastly exceeding that of when it attacked before. Although he could see the fist, his body was too slow to react.

The fist fiercely connected, completely overpowering him despite his futile attempt to dodge. He was sent flying and knocked dozens of meters backwards before colliding with a tree; the impact of his body on the tree injuring him even further.

'Such strength…'

After laying paralysed on the ground for a moment, Anselm struggled to rise to his feet as he coughed blood.

'I can't move well like this.'

Struggling to barely stand on two feet, he thought of how to deal with the current situation.

'I'm in no state to fight anymore. My organs have been damaged, a few of my bones broken, and…'

He looked down at his sword, or rather now part a sword.

'My sword broke from that last blow. I couldn't attack the Ghost Ape even if I were feeling suicidal right now.'

With blood leaking from his mouth, he looked at the ape ahead of him, a hint of confusion evident in his eyes. Walking towards the cave, its back faced him, leaving it vulnerable.

'So it thinks its attack has already killed me. Ha. It looks like I'm nothing to the ape. How stupid of me to think that I could fight a demonic beast with the measly new strength I gained. Time to leave.'

Anselm turned around and limped back into the forest. Although he wouldn't be able to navigate well, he really would die if he continued staying here. The moment the ape realised he was still alive would be the end of him.

Faltering through the forest, his injuries showed no signs of improvement; they only seemed to worsen. With a pale face, blood still trickled from his mouth, staining the plants around him crimson red.

His eyes began to close as his vision turned blurry. Mustering any strength in his body, he faltered forward.

'No… I can't die here like this'

Taking a few more steps forward, his legs eventually gave way - his body crashing to the ground. On the forest floor, he was surrounded by an army of crimson-dyed vegetation. The forest was deathly quiet. Anybody who arrived here would be oblivious to the deadly battle that took place.

Gently, his eyelids covered his eyes - like curtains drawing shut at the end of a play.

In the moment before his eyes completely shut, a flash of blue suddenly engulfed his vision, disappearing nearly instantly.

After that, everything went black.

----------------------------------------------------

Opening his eyes unhurriedly, Anselm was greeted by the sight of nothing but darkness above him.

'Where am I?'

With little effort, he managed to pull his body up from the ground and stand on his two feet.

Inspecting his body, he shockingly found that there were no signs of any injuries.