Indra spotted the lone beetle from six hundred meters up.
'Perfect.'
He pulled ki from his core, and red light bloomed behind his back. The energy gathered into a flat, spinning formation between his shoulder blades - a chakram of red light, rotating slowly. A spear came out of the red light and dropped into his right hand.
'Oh, how I miss you, my baby.' Indra thought, kissing his spear.
Indra had years of spearsmanship training in his previous life; it was a fun hobby for him, but now that all of his skills were locked behind this body, he wanted to get them back. He dropped down, and the beetle turned before he landed.
His feet hit the crater floor, and rock cracked outward from the impact. Indra set his stance, pointing his spear at the beetle's head and lunged with his arm extended, shooting the spear forward, but what should have punched clean through the throat of the beetle skidded across the beetle's armor in a shower of sparks.
The beetle retaliated, and its tongue whipped forward, aimed at his chest. His Byakugan saw it from three angles simultaneously, and he twisted sideways. The tongue barely missed his ribs.
'Shit. That should have landed.'
He reset and went two steps back, spawning another spear. The beetle charged towards him like a battering ram, screeching. Indra sidestepped and brought the spear around at an angle, where the beetle's side plates overlapped, driving in diagonally to bypass the armor, but his hips didn't turn in time, causing his spear hit to be too shallow.
The beetle's body slammed sideways into him, and it launched him backwards, hitting the crater wall.
'Okay. That one's on me.'
He got himself off the wall with no injuries, but the beetle was already coming at him again with its tongue snapping out. He saw it coming and flew ten feet up dodgeing it. He hovered there, then landed again, driving forward with his spear aimed at the beetle's head.
Indra went farther than he expected, and now he was inside the beetle's space with no room to thrust. The spear jammed against the beetle's underbelly at an angle that had zero penetration.
The beetle reared back and shot his tongue foward but Indra shoved off with both, planting a foot against the beetle's chest plate, kicking himself backwards and skidded across the floor.
'Fuck, I thought I was done dealing with that.'
The beetle attacked again, its tongue shot out, aiming at his chest. Indra swung his spear sideways and knocked the tongue off course. It scraped loudly against the shaft and missed him.
Then he pushed off his back foot and turned his hips, thrusting the spear forward along the same path the tongue had just taken. The spear stabbed where the head connects to the hard outer shell of the body.
The hit shook his arms, and green blood sprayed everywhere. The beetle screamed and jerked away, ripping itself off the spear. Indra stood there, breathing hard with his spear dipped.
'That worked at least.'
The beetle started circling. It moved more slowly on the injured side. Its tongue lashed around angrily, but it wasn't as fast as before. Indra adjusted his grip and pointed his spear at it.
"Come on, bug."
---
The fight turned into a pattern, the beetle attacked, and Indra countered with each exchange, slowing the beetle a little more, but between the counters, he kept trying to use his techniques, but each time he failed.
The beetle charged one more time, but at half the speed it had at the start. Indra didn't attack back but instead step foward, aiming at the same wound he'd been stabbing for the last five minutes.
His spear sank into the wound, and the beetle froze up. Indra pulled the blade free, and the beetle collapsed sideways, hitting the floor with a heavy, wet thud. Indra stood over it, breathing tiredly.
'That has got to be my most sloppy fight yet, but atleast i won with the spear.' Indra thought, grinning slightly.
----
He let the spear dissolve, and it broke apart like shattered glass. Indra crouched beside the beetle and pressed his right palm against its body. The beetle's body warped inward, and a small red pill sat in his palm just like before. He put it in his mouth, and it tasted just like before.
'God, that's never going to get old.'
He swallowed and felt the same, felt a faint whisper of wanting more; his shoulders stopped aching, and he felt brand new. He stood and threw a punch, creating a small shockwave that kicked up dust.
'Yeah. That's a jump.'
How much? He didn't know. He couldn't quantify it as his Byakugan wasn't as precise at accurately determining a power level with numbers compared to a scouter, but what he needed to really focus on now was his spearmanship; it might take him a couple of months to get back his skills. He kicked off the ground and flew towards the cave.
"Same time tomorrow, bugs."
---
A/N: Indra's power level at the start is 5,000, but at the end it's now 8,500. The beetle's power level is 5,000. Power level does not scale linearly but exponentially, and Indra is more durable than he is strong due to being able to coat his body in ki.
I appreciate the support so far. Send me more powerstones if you want; they greatly motivate me, and this is also my first time writing, so sorry if the action scene is not up to par, and same with writing.