The rain hammered the broken courtyard, washing blood into thin crimson streams.
William crouched low, eyes fixed on the creature ahead.
It was no ordinary mutated beast, this was something else. Something colossal.
The boar-like monster hunched in the mud, its hulking body easily the size of a full delivery truck. Steam poured off its back. Each breath shook the trees beside the campus exit. Bone plates jutted like armored ridges, layered thick and uneven across its massive form. Its tusks glowed faintly, curved and long enough to impale a car.
The heartbeat beneath its hide stabilized as green mana surged through its veins
THUMP!!
Its eyes snapped open.
William's pulse thinned, steady but sharp.
Celeste's whisper floated behind him. "This one isn't like the tiger, little mortal."
He didn't answer, he lifted Splitfang his heart pounding in his chest as he prepared for the fight of his life.
The boar suddenly charged, a blur of unstoppable muscle.
Booom!!
The ground ruptured behind it, asphalt curling like paper.
William dove aside, but the shockwave alone flipped him mid-air. He crashed, skidding across wet stone, ribs screaming in protest. The rain stung his face as he rolled onto one knee.
The beast turned its truck-sized head and bellowed. The sound rattled his skull.
William tightened his jaw. "Shit" realizing he may have overestimated himself.
The boar stamped forward,and the earth detonated beneath its hoofs.
William tried to counter its next charge, stepping in to cut at its neck.
The boar swung its tusk sideways with uncanny precision, Like a sledgehammer.
It smashed into his braced blades and sent William flying again.
He hit the metal frame of a destroyed bench and rolled limply across the ground. A burning pain shot through his shoulder.
His vision blurred. He had probably cracked a rib or two as his lungs wouldn't expand
He forced himself to stand, leaning on Splitfang.
The boar's hulking form loomed through the curtain of rain.
Its bloodied tusk dripped green mana. As it sized William up like prey.
William wiped rain and blood from his eyes.
Celeste's voice drifted like smoke. "If you're thinking of retreating, it's too late, the beast has ma…. ."
Roarrr!!!!
Before she could finish the beast suddenly bellowed as it charged at him once more.
Taking inspiration from Elnora, William thrust out his hand as he consumed almost half his mana points and called out.
Blood Wall!!
William noticed that calling out the construct he wanted to create made it easier as the blood in the soaked soil surged up, forming a thick red barrier.
The boar collided with it and the barrier shattered instantly.
William barely rolled aside as the boar's tusk sliced through the earth, carving a trench over a meter deep.
Rain poured through the steaming crater. The boar was way too strong as it had torn through the barrier like paper.
But he wasn't done. He flicked his fingers.
Blood chains!!
Chains of hardened blood wrapped around the boar's hind leg and the beast dragged him across the courtyard like a ragdoll.
William gritted his teeth as he dumped all his free stats point into strength, digging Splitfang into the ground to stop the pull. His shoulder nearly dislocated But he finally stopped it's charge losing his sword in the process.
The boar screeched as it turned to face him, mana swelling around its tusks.
The air crackled, then it unleashed a compressed wave of green mana.
A slicing crescent.
William's instincts flared, He tried to dodge.
The shockblade seared past, taking his left arm's sleeve, tearing skin and obliterating a tree behind him. The tree didn't fall, it exploded.
Celeste spoke a little worried, "If that hit you directly, you'd be paste."
William breathed hard, rainwater dripping from his hair."I can't block that. I can't outrun it either."
The boar lowered its stance.
Mana gathered again.
Another shockblade incoming.
William's jaw tightened as he glanced at his status window, his health stat was getting low and he wasn't planning on finding out what happens when it hits zero.
He whispered, "Fine… then I'll bet everything.
Activating Blood Rage William immediately felt the power up as his stats shot up, especially strength.
He slammed his hands together.
Blood all around him responded violently.
The puddles, the droplets, even the mist
All of it surged toward him.
Blood Blade!!
A huge blade started to take form in front of him, this was different from all his other constructs, the amount of mana and blood he used was enormous.
Holding the blade, his veins burned and his skin cracked as the amount of mana pulsing through him was too much for his body to bear.
Just enough
William's vision blurred, but he bit his tongue to stop himself from passing out
Just as the beast fired its shockblade, William dove forward.
The blade grazed his back, carving a line of blood across his skin. Bearing with the pain he swung the huge blade at the boar's head.
As the blade was about to collide, the boar suddenly turned it head making the blade miss it's neck and cut off one of it's tusk.
He barely had time to react as the the boar stomped downward, its massive hoof slammed into his chest.
CRRRRK!
William's body was embedded into the mud, his lungs emptied. Black spots filled his vision.If the beast pressed down harder, he'd be crushed in half.
Move, move, MOVE!!!" He screamed in his head. Blood rose in his throat. his hand twitched as he tried to force the beast off him
His fingers wrapped around the broken tusk lying near his leg, the one from his earlier attack.
He didn't think.
He stabbed it upward with everything he had, straight into the exposed gap beneath the boar's jaw.
The tusk pierced flesh. The beast shrieked. Its weight lifted for a moment.
William rolled free, coughing violently. He forced himself to his feet. The beast staggered, bleeding heavily from the wound, But its rage increased tenfold as it charged blindly.
pulling Splitfang into his grasp with a blood thread, William charged too, no tricks, no techniques, just a final gamble.
He leaped, Splitfang raised overhead as lightning cracked above and drove the blade directly into the deep wound created by the tusk.
SPLECH!!
The sword plunged through flesh, sinew, and into the brain.
The boar convulsed violently before it collapsed, barely missing him by inches.
William lay on the ground, chest heaving, vision flickering, his body was moments from giving up.
Celeste hovered over him slowly, eyes unreadable."You won," she whispered.
Then William smirked, "By a hair's breath." Before darkness swallowed his vision.