Yang woke suddenly, jolted awake by his inner instinct. Light peeking into the cavern, pale dawn illuminating the small space. He tried to stretch out as consciousness returned, then suddenly realized he was still tied up except for one arm.
The memory crashed back. The lizard beast outside the small cavern, trying to claw him out so it could kill or eat him. The terror of being trapped with no escape. The lizard refusing to leave, denying him any chance to sneak or run away. His desperate decision to eat six beast cores at once, gambling everything on the possibility of gaining enough strength to survive.
Yang fumbled with the ropes binding him, having difficulty because the knots had tightened during his thrashing in agony. But despite the awkward position, his body felt surprisingly relaxed and without strain. The ropes had done their job, keeping him anchored and safe while the cores transformed him.
He tried to hurry with the knots since he couldn't feel any warning from the inner instinct. That likely meant either the beast had already left, or it was no longer a danger to him because of his strength increase.
Yang would prefer to sneak away rather than confront any powerful magical beast directly. In his hurry to free himself, he pulled too hard and the rope suddenly snapped with a sharp crack that echoed through the small space.
The broken rope dangled from his hands, frayed ends swaying. He'd worked very hard to collect materials and weave this rope. But it was also definite proof of his increased strength. He'd just snapped thick rope like it was thread.
He crawled out of the cavern into the main cave. Thankfully the sun was already up, morning light streaming through the entrance. He finally managed to stretch out all his limbs properly after who knows how many days cramped in that tiny space.
Spear in hand, he moved towards the cave exit. He was only a few steps away from freedom when he suddenly felt an urgent pull from his inner instinct. Run. Now.
Yang's legs pumped, enhanced muscles carrying him faster than before. A glance back sent his stomach plummeting. The lizard followed, running after him with terrifying speed.
It was longer and bigger than Yang had expected from the brief glimpses in the darkness. The creature had a long protruding jaw like an alligator but without all the teeth, just that long flickering tongue. Its body was a mixture of green, gray, and brown with a reptilian skin texture that seemed to shift colors as it moved.
Yang plunged through the bushes, hoping the dense forest would slow the creature down. The damn animal crashed through most branches and bushes without feeling pain, plowing through obstacles that would have stopped Yang completely.
The inner instinct kept guiding him to turn and twist. The lizard gained ground. Much faster than Yang despite his enhanced speed. Almost at his back, Yang thrust his spear backward.
The tip of the spear slid off the lizard's skin like it was stone. The weapon that had pierced through other beasts couldn't even scratch this creature's hide.
Yang's breath came in short gasps. His hands trembled, gripping the spear tighter. The lizard got close and lashed out, Its tail a blur, as fire exploded across his ribs.. It hurt like being slapped by a stone wall, the impact lifting him off his feet and throwing him into a nearby tree trunk.
Yang hit the tree hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs, but adrenaline kept him moving. He scrambled up and tried to climb the tree to get out of reach. But the damn beast clamped its jaw on his leg and started shaking and dragging him back down.
Thankfully it looked like the creature's teeth weren't too sharp, or else with its strength the bite would have severed his leg entirely. As it was, Yang could feel the pressure crushing his calf, bruising deep into the muscle.
Yang tried to stab near its mouth with his spear, hoping to hit a vulnerable spot. But the attack only pissed the lizard off. It wrenched him off the tree completely and slammed him to the ground with bone-jarring force.
The creature tried to bring its mouth to Yang's neck, going for a killing bite. Yang grappled with it desperately, his hands trying to hold its jaws away from his throat. The lizard was still stronger than him despite the cores he'd consumed, with more endurance and mass.
Yang was losing strength, his arms beginning to shake from the effort of keeping those jaws away. Suddenly the lizard backed off and came at him again, trying to bite his face. It wrenched its head out of Yang's grasp to get a better angle.
The moment it backed away to remove its jaw from Yang's hands provided precious seconds. Yang grabbed the stone knife at his waist and pulled it free. As the lizard came close again, going for his throat, Yang didn't try to stop it or push it away.
Instead, he used all his strength and concentration to stab it in the eye.
The knife sank deep. The lizard's eye burst with a wet pop, fluid spraying across Yang's face and chest. The creature let out a wretched cry unlike anything Yang had heard before, a sound of pure agony that echoed through the forest.
The lizard twisted away from Yang, trying to dislodge the knife embedded in its eye socket. It rubbed its head against a tree trunk, but that just drove the knife in further and deeper. Yang watched as the blade slid all the way in until it looked like it had penetrated the lizard's brain.
The creature suddenly stopped moving. Its body went rigid, then collapsed sideways onto the forest floor with a heavy thud that shook the ground.
The lizard wasn't moving, but Yang still carefully picked up his spear from where he'd dropped it during the struggle. He poked the lizard's body with the spear point, testing for any reaction. Nothing. The creature was truly dead.
Yang went closer and grabbed the handle of his knife, wrenching it out of the ruined eye socket with a sickening sucking sound. He tried to slit the lizard's throat to be absolutely certain it was dead, but the skin was still strong enough to withstand his knife's edge. The blade couldn't penetrate that armored hide.
Yang grabbed hold of the lizard's tail and started dragging its carcass back toward the cave where this thing had terrified him. It was heavy, far heavier than anything else he'd killed before, but his enhanced strength allowed him to move it.
He got the body inside the cave and drew it to a corner away from the entrance. Yang looked at the dead lizard and realized this was the strongest animal he'd ever killed. There was no way he was leaving without its beast core.
Yang took his knife and tried cutting into the creature's hide from the outside. Nothing worked. The skin was like stone, resisting every attempt to pierce or slice it. Finally, Yang tried putting the knife inside the mouth, attempting to cut the beast from the inside out.
He found it was easier to cut from the interior. The flesh inside the mouth gave way to his blade. Yang separated the jaw joints and found he could dislocate them and break the bones with his enhanced strength. But even then, he was unable to separate the skin from the outside.
Yang tried going through the eye socket where he'd stabbed it, attempting to reach the brain and find the core. He scraped and dug, pulling out brain matter and flesh and bone fragments. It took hours. Night fell while he worked, the cave growing dark around him.
Yang had to take a break to light a fire because he refused to give up on the beast core. The flickering flames cast dancing shadows on the cave walls while he continued his grisly work.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of digging through the creature's skull, Yang managed to extract the core. It was light blue in color, larger and more intensely glowing than any beast core he'd hunted before. The crystal was almost the size of his thumb, pulsing with inner light.
In his hunting trips over the past weeks, Yang had realized that the more dangerous the animal, the larger or more intense its beast core. But he mused that it was inevitable that the beast which had almost killed him would have the strongest core he'd encountered yet.
Yang carefully cleaned the core and placed it with the remaining crystals he carried. Then he crawled back into the small cavern to sleep. It had been hours since nightfall, and he'd spent all that time extracting the beast core from the lizard's skull.
Yang lay down in the cramped space, exhausted beyond measure. His body ached from the fight and the hours of work. His leg throbbed where the lizard had bitten him, and his side hurt where its tail had struck him.
He held the light blue beast core in his hand, feeling its warmth against his palm.
Yang closed his eyes, wondering how this core would affect him when he eventually consumed it. Would it be worse than the six he'd taken at once? Or would his body have adapted, making the process easier?
He didn't know. But that was a problem for tomorrow. For now, Yang just needed to rest and let his battered body recover.
Sleep claimed him quickly, his fingers still wrapped around the blue crystal.