Eric stared down the Primeval Boar as it barreled towards him. An action that seemed to cause the short-sighted monstrosity a moment of hesitation, before it charged with even more aggression than before.
The Eastern downhill wind cut through the right side of Eric's tattered uniform. The breeze that was strong enough to send his scent to this thing was not strong enough to diffuse the stench of this giant pig. The musk was enough to make one dizzy.
'Too late to back down now.'
He could tell that his cultivation had solidly reached the peak of the second stage of Strength Training and was perfectly solid already. The increase of power meant that his strength, speed and stamina had all universally increased yet again. Although at a slightly lesser degree than before. Since each realm of cultivation was divided into three levels, each with three stages, the rate of increase naturally tapered off to some extent between stages before spiking between levels. Where there was once a comparative increase of two to five times in terms of overall strength, there was now an additional two to four, for a total possibility of four to nine. Breaking through to another realm would bring an even more exaggerated increase in power.
Eric was only at the second stage of Strength Training and therefore wasn't even considered a mid-level Strength Training cultivator. Even though his foundation was perfectly solid after each breakthrough, he was only nine times stronger than a mortal of this world at most. The Primeval Boar, that was currently charging towards him, was already at the peak of Strength Training and was therefore already eighteen to thirty-six times stronger than a boar of its size.
'Focus.'
Eric maintained his breathing technique while he crouched, ever so slightly, and awaited the arrival of the irrationally sized beast. The deep, thunderous vibrations from its charge could be felt through the ground. Its large tusks were visably sharp at their points and were curved at a wicked angle. The blackish-brown hide glistened with an oily sheen whenever the second sun's light managed to cut through the dense forest, revealing the bright red stripes that ran across its large body.
And the smell. Heavens, the smell. Eric was certain that this thing had evolved to emit the foul aroma as a way to stave off larger predators and to disorient any prey it may have. Whatever the case may be, it was increasingly nauseating to his freshly enhanced senses.
The Primal Boar had reached its striking range and dipped its head in preparation to either ram or impale the small nuisance before it, only to hit open air while receiving a hit behind its right mandible, causing it to lose it's balance and stumble even more than it would have previously. It managed to avoid hitting a tree this time, somehow.
Eric rolled to his feet several meters away from his attacker. A look a pure focus in his eyes. His plan of spinning to the side at the last possible second and using another boost in his cultivation to emphasize a spinning kick to its jaw, thus launching him a safe distance away, had worked.
A fog of condensed primal essence seeped out through his teeth as he reached the peak of the third stage of Strength Training. In other words, the peak of lower Strength Training. Power spread throughout his being, the euphoria less intense than before but still noticeable.
Eric fought to maintain focus as the boar turned its ugly head to face him. He could imagine how mad he had just made the thing. Not only had he avoided it, he had managed to counterstrike as well.
'It definitely felt that.'
The Primeval Boar snorted out a cloud of primal essence and dug its hooves at the ground before releasing another one of its roar-squeals. The sound almost causing a shockwave to reach him.
It was annoyed.
It was hurt.
It was confused.
And it was angry.
'Good.'
The corner of Eric's mouth raised in a slight smirk as he watched the Primal Boar charge him in a blind rage. He was sure his provocation had worked as planned. Perhaps too well.
The only worry of his was now gone, at least. That worry being this thing having reached the realm of Flesh Training, because if it had, his kick wouldn't have even tickled it.
The purpose of the Strength Training realm was to serve as a foundation for the later stages that made up the greater realm of Body Transformation. It conditioned the body to accept primal essence within it, reinforcing every part of the body evenly and thus causing a relatively gradual and unfocused increase of over all power. To reach its peak was to open the path for further growth.
That was it however, in the end, it was the weakest of all realms. The next realm of Flesh Training focused on creating a shell, of sorts. One that used the cultivator's own flesh to contain the primal essence that was absorbed in order to prevent any leakage from their body. The process caused the body to gain a steel-like firmness, the effects causing the cultivator to immediately be twice as durable as an average peak level Strength Training cultivator.
The fact that the Primeval Boar was stunned in any way from the kick of a lower level Strength training human meant that it had yet to advance to the realm of Flesh Training.
Eric didn't let this get to his head though. The numb feeling on the bottom of his right heel was a constant reminder that while he was currently most likely twelve times as strong as someone with his build, this thing was, at the lowest, at least eighteen times the strength of an animal that was naturally several times stronger than a human his size.
A single mistake meant death.
He turned and ran back towards the river as the beast drew near. His path slowly curved downhill to the east this time, his third stage Strength Training cultivation allowing him just enough speed to travel enough distance that both he and the boar were heading straight down hill before Eric gave it the slip, dodging to its right, yet again. The maneuver caught the Primeval Boar off guard and caused it to hit another tree, this time with a sickening crunch. Its hind legs nearly touching the back of its head.
Eric used the opportunity to land a kick and a few punches in the soft spot behind its jaw before retreating and throwing some dirt into its right eye. The beast tossed its head in anger, an action that brought even more pain and dizziness to it.
"Ha! How'd like that you ugly bastard!"
Eric punctuated his provocation with a large rock that managed to hit the thing in its right eye again. The euphoria brought on by this most recent breakthrough into the fourth stage of Strength Training nearly had him giddy. The success of his throw had him extremely close to pumping his fist in excitement.
'C'mon brain. Focus.'
He dodged to the boar's right again, avoiding a swinging tusk.
...
By the time Eric had reached the beach, he was covered in a condensed layer of primal essence thick enough to be mistaken as sweat. A few near misses had ensured that his clothes were truly beyond repair and his shoes were long gone.
The Primeval Boar however, was much worse off. It's head was covered with bruises and was bleeding profusely. It's right eye was swollen closed and it was missing its right tusk.
The ivory, eighty centimeter long, tusk was currently held in Eric's right hand like a makeshift club. He had managed to remove his hair bands and tie them near the tip, in order to make a handle of sorts.
He had wanted the tusk to be broken at a slightly shorter length so he could use the tip to peirce more effectively. However, the width of the broken part turned out to be around twenty four centimeters and was therefore too wide to wield practically.
'Beggars can't be choosers.'
He had made due, and as a result had seemed to be able to wear his prey down even more than he thought he would be able to if he was stabbing it. The constant clubbing making it impossible for it to leave him alone.
The Primeval Boar paused in the sudden brightness of the second noon's sun as it reflected off of the rushing river. Its head was tilted to the right in order to see out of its left eye. Ragged breath was weakly coming from its bloody snout.
Eric stood poised as the beast began the final charge. his back to the rock he had once hidden behind. The Boar was long used to Eric's pattern of provocation, dodging to the right and either running into a tree or being beaten on its right side. It was honestly the only reason Eric had almost been taken out a couple times. He had conditioned the wild beast to expect this pattern, so much so that it moved to correct its path before he even began moving.
All in preparation for this final moment.
The Primeval Boar seemed to muster its last bit of strength and put it into this final charge. It closed in, dipped its head and veered to the right quicker than it ever had previously. Only to realize all too late that the small being that was constantly causing it injury had instead jumped back and to its left, the broken tusk now facing the exposed soft spot behind its ear, point first.
Eric dug his heels into the riverbank and used both hands to thrust the curved tusk right into the beast's neck, jumping out of the way at the last second in order to avoid its falling body. A sickening sound accompanied the loud thud of its heavy body as its own body weight drove the tusk fully into its body.
He immediately fell on his back in exhaustion, his eyes closed to the blazing sun, before tiredly sitting up and entering a state of cultivation. He had made several breakthroughs in succession and, while each one had been perfect and fully solid, had put an unprecedented strain on his body. He needed time to fully adjust his body in order to avoid injuring himself to a degree that he wouldn't be able to recover from.