Arifureta Vol 2 Chapter 1 (2/2)
“Gaaa!”
Roaring, it rushed forward with tremendous speed. Seeing the figure of a 2 m tall beast with spread out stout arms, was a very imposing image.
“Haha! That’s it! I’m your enemy! Not some prey you can hunt!”
While taking in the frightful pressure from the bear, Hajime did not break his smile. Here was the turning point. Thoughts of his left arm and broken heart racked his brain. The cause of his apostasy was going down. A ceremony needed to move towards the future. If he didn’t, his heart would not compromise; this he believed in.
The bear comes rus.h.i.+ng back. Donner is fired. A supersonic bullet drove towards the area in between the bear’s eyebrows, but somehow the charging bear was able to avoid it. How did he have such a reaction for such a ma.s.sive figure?
When the bear had entered its strike range, it brandished its claws. The Special Magic it had was activated, and its three claws seemed to distort. In Hajime’s mind, the memory of the bisected rabbit that tried to dodge that move; played in his mind. Instead of dodging at the last moment, he choose to back step in full force.
In a grand style, the bear’s claws pa.s.sed the area Hajime left. The claws did not touch the ground at all; three groves were engraved into the ground.
The bear gave an irritated roar at missing his target. Clang-clang, something rolled close to the bear. A dark green ball-shaped object about 5 cm in diameter caught the bears attention as it laid at its feet. The moment the bear was able to study it, the object emitted an intense light.
Hajime had made this flash grenade. The principle is simple. Fill a Green Light Stone’s magic to the brim. Coat the stone’s surface so the light does not escape. Powdered Combustion Stone is compressed into the center of the flash grenade. A line of Combustion Stone powder is used as a fuse; it leads to the hole into the center compartment. Using “Lightning Clad”, Hajime lights the outside powder that will fire up the compressed center. When the ignition reaches the center, we get the explosion. The moment it breaks, the stone will release all the light it had h.o.a.rded. Hajime had created the fuse to last 3 seconds. There were a lot of problems, but it was a gem of pride for Hajime.
The bear had never encountered such a weapon, so it was completely blinded for a moment when it stared right at it. While flouris.h.i.+ng his arm in chaos, it struggled to roar. Not being able to see anything caused it to panic.
Hajime was not going to let this chance go. Donner was once again fired. The bullet that was electromagnetically accelerated hit the left shoulder of the bear, and blew it away from the base.
“Guru-uaaa!”
A terrified scream originated from the bear when it suffered a never known sensation in its pain free life. Abundant amount of blood started to flow from the wound. The left arm that was blown off was twirling in the arm, and fell on the ground with a thud.
“Wow, what a coincidence…”
That was not his intended aim. Hajime was still not an expert marksman. He had fought with many enemies that just rushed forward. Unless you had full knowledge of its movement, it was very difficult to fire a pinpoint shot. So the bullet taking the left arm was totally not planned.
Hajime continued to fire at the rampaging bear that had not recovered. Even though the bear was confused, it instinctively reacted to the bloodl.u.s.t that came with the shot; it jumped to the side to avoid it. Using his “Flicker”, Hajime landed near the bear’s fallen arm. To the slightly recovered bear, he lifted the left arm to show it off.
A bit slowly, using his strengthened jaw from consuming demon flesh; he tore into the bear flesh. He was reproducing the nightmare that the bear showed him.
“Chew… Chew… As always, it sucks. How is it better than the other though?”
While he said it, Hajime crouches down while being vigilant of the bear. Bear did not move. There was no fear in its eyes. Still, it couldn’t move carelessly because of its recovering eyesight and the show he just saw.
At that intermission, he continued his meal. Then came the incident. The intense pain he felt the first time he ate demon flesh returned.
“Tsu!?”
Hurriedly, Hajime tried to take the sacred water. Though it wasn’t as fierce as that time, he could not fully stand; he fell to one knee and his face distorted from the pain. Because the bear had so much more power than the wolf and rabbit; it was going to cause the pain.
The bear did not care about his situation. When it saw the chance, it started to charge again. Hajime did not move from his crouch. At this rate he would be trampled. When it seemed like it would be a reproduction of their first meeting; Hajime’s lips split into a grin.
He put Donner back in its holster, and pressed the ground with his right hand. His hand became clad with lightning. A maximum powered “Lightning Clad” traversed the liquid on the ground. When the bear stepped into the area, the power ruthlessly a.s.saulted him.
The liquid on the ground was the bear’s blood. A sea of blood scattered like fountains. Hajime picked up the bear’s bleeding left arm, and scattered the blood to the winds. He connected the surrounding blood puddles with his. Eating in battle and showing off was not something he did. Although he did not factor in the possibility of pain from consuming the flesh. Hajime had already intended to lay a trap for it. He wanted to eat the arm to anger the bear enough to get it to rush straight at him. The plan went a little haywired, but the results were alright.
When the bear stepped into the sea of blood, the strong electric current and voltage violated its body. Nerve to nerve it ravished; grilled the muscles. Even at full power, Hajime’s Special Magic fall short of the original. He couldn’t launch his lightning and also his output was halved. At this moment, it was enough to temporarily paralyze. It wouldn’t be weird if this spell had enough power to vaporize a human.
“Rugu-uuuu!”
The bear fell down with a thud into a puddle of its own blood. Its eyes were still bright and glaring at Hajime.
Hajime just returned the glare. Slowly he stood up while enduring the pain. Unholstering Donner, he placed the muzzle on the bear’s head.
“Become my chow.”
After he said his words, he pulled the trigger. The bullet faithfully executed its master’s will; it pulverized the bear’s head.
The gunshot ripped an echo through the labyrinth. Not for a moment did the bear takes its eyes off Hajime, not even till the end. Neither did Hajime.
There was no exhilarating feeling like he imagined, but he didn’t feel empty either. He just did what he had to. In order to live, in order to earn the right to survive in this area.
Hajime closed his eyes, and faced his own heart. He determined he would live this way. Fighting was not something he liked. Pain was not his ideal companion. Starving was on the last of his to do list. Live, was what he wanted to do. He crushed unreasonableness, like he would to his enemies. All in order to survive.
He will live that way…And…Return home.
“Yeah, I want to return. Other things did not matter. I’ll find my own way home. I will fulfill my wish. Anyone that gets in my way, no matter the being…”
Hajime opened his eyes and broke into a fearless laugh.
” KILL”
Name
Nagumo Hajime
Age
17 Years Old
Gender
Male
Level
17
Cla.s.s
Trans.m.u.tation Artist (Synergist)
Strength
300
Vitality
400
Resistance
300
Agility
450
Magic
400
Magic Resistance
400
Skills
Trans.m.u.tation
Mineral Appraisal
Precision Trans.m.u.tation
Mineral Enquiry
Mineral Separation
Mineral Fusion
Magic Manipulation
Iron Stomach
Lightning Clad
Divine Step
Air Walk
Flicker
Air Claws
Language Comprehension
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