The truck-sized bear watched Zulu with a soul-piercing glare. Its fur was thick and brown with white stripes across its eyes and brow; It looked almost as if it had a scar. Its eyes were a ferocious scarlet with deep black pupils. Looking into the gaze of the monstrous beast, one would only see a premonition of their demise.
The Mother observed the orange furred intruder with ire. She would kill the creature as punishment for daring to threaten her children.
'Momma bear is home,' Zulu thought, watching the beast with immense caution. His heart was on the brink of collapse with the amount of dread that thrashed inside of it. His chest pulsated madly, and he could hear warning signals erupting throughout his mind. He was facing a true Rank 3.
The bear lunged at Zulu as he leaped away with a [Dash]. Despite its size, the bear was no slower than Zulu's natural speed. His [Dash] could only create momentary respite.
'Damn! Rank 3 creatures are unfair!' Zulu thought as the bear charged at him again, 'Fuck! [Fireball]!'
A great mass of red flame materialized in front of Zulu's snoot before launching at the bear with intensity. The bear quickly stood on its hind legs, reaching a height of nearly fifteen feet; It's head was only a few inches short of scraping the cave's ceiling.
The fireball struck the bear's broad chest before erupting into an explosion of heat and flame. Zulu could only watch with a tinge of hope remaining in his heart.
'I'm really screwed if this doesn't work,' Zulu thought.
As the fire cleared, the bear was revealed to be utterly unscathed with the exception of a minor scorching of black that adorned its sternum; Scant fur on its chest and throat had been burned away. The bear simply stood tall and watched Zulu with contempt.
Zulu's hope faded as his mind frantically pursued methods of survival. In the meantime, he continued relying on [Dash] to escape the bear's clutches, but his stamina was being drained drastically as a result.
'If I want to live, I'm going to have to resort to more desperate measures,' Zulu thought with a sly grin.
Zulu avoided the bear's charge once again before dashing towards the three innocent bears that were as small as puppies.
Seeing her enemy avoiding her attacks and moving towards her children, the Mother bellowed with rage and quickly followed. Her primordial instincts were telling her to protect her offspring at all costs.
Zulu ignored the incensed roars behind him and snatched one of the oblivious baby bears by the scruff of its neck with his jaws before speeding away. He intended to use the tiny bear as a deterrent to prevent the mother bear from attacking.
The baby bear desperately squirmed in a feeble attempt to escape, but its body lacked the muscle to break the grip of Zulu's Rank 2 jaws. It could only helplessly hang from his teeth.
Zulu dashed towards the exit with the tiny bear in tow, but the mother bear immediately blocked it off with its bulky frame.
'Damn! Fine, you wanna be like? Then come and get me! If you want your child to die that is!' Zulu shouted in his mind.
The bear rushed Zulu with only malice in its gaze. Its heavy build and powerful legs aided in its outrageous momentum as it quickly reached Zulu's position.
'Hey, uh- She's not really slowing down…' Zulu thought, watching the massive bear near him with zero indication of ceasing its charge, 'Don't you see your kid dangling from my mouth like a twizzler? You'll kill us both!'
The Mother was firm in her resolve. Sacrifices of some kin to increase the chances of survival for the others was not an unfamiliar practice in the kingdom of beasts. Cannibalism was an even more common occurrence. As long as most of her children lived long enough to continue the propagation of their species, then that was all that mattered.
The bear swung its paw, which dawned savage claws, as it closed in on the dumbfounded Zulu. The claw cleaved through the baby bear, horribly gashing Zulu's chest soon thereafter and throwing him across the cave like a rag doll.
The Mother was not satisfied with inflicting injury on her foe a single time. In front of her giant maws formed four ethereal spears, which quickly darted forward like the wind.
Slamming into the wall with a thud, Zulu cursed in his mind, 'Damn! You'd really sacrifice one of your kids just to kill me?! Crazy woman! Where are your motherly instincts?!'
Zulu dropped to the cold rocky ground like a lifeless puppet before hauling his battered body off the floor. However, that was the extent at which he could force his body to move. He pleaded with his muscles to take action, but his mental commands went unheard as he stood in place as though he were frozen in ice.
The crash didn't significantly injure Zulu's Rank 2 body, but the bear's claws did. His chest was pouring blood profusely and many of his ribs had been directly severed like cords. He would perish soon if he didn't implement some significantly effective scheme.
'Is this one of those "I can always make more" situations?!' Zulu thought as a harrowing pain invaded his mind. He felt as though his body had gone through a wood chipper.
However, before Zulu could assimilate the pain into his body as though it were background noise, four sharp pains shattered that steadying equilibrium.
Zulu collapsed to the floor once again as four clear holes an inch in diameter had appeared throughout his chest and stomach. Fortunately, his heart had eluded the attack, but one of his lungs had been punctured. He coughed blood profusely as he dragged himself up to stare down the incoming beast.
Zulu begrudgingly fought off the desire to sleep that now permeated his mind. He understood that if he slept now, he would likely die of blood loss; Yet, sleeping was the only way in which he could access the world of white and heal with Essence. He was done for regardless of how he viewed it.
'Damn it! What do I do? Can I trick her? [Auditory Confusion],' Zulu thought, implanting the sound of an ambushing fireball within the bear's mind; However, the beast showed no reaction.
'It failed? Hmm, it seems illusion magic does not work on a higher ranked creature unless the spell's rank is sufficiently high enough. I've been too complacent with my spells' ranks. Fuck you past me,' Zulu thought, regretful of his previously frugal thinking.
'My body is done for. I can only rely on my fire magic, but even that is useless. My [Fireball] didn't leave a scratch on the bear and I only have enough mana for one more spell or so. Maybe I can have one of those cliche "any last words?" talks that main characters use to buy time; Maybe then I could recover some of my mana. Alas, I don't think this psychopath of a bear is too keen in conversation. All its mouth is good for is roaring like a madm-'
The foxes' pointed teeth formed into a wide grin, though, the Mother ignored the odd facial expression of the puny Rank 2 creature and resumed her charge. The orange creature's corpse would serve as food for her surviving two children.
Gradually, Zulu's breathing halted and he crumbled to the floor listlessly. He laid motionless, a pool of crimson slowly spreading out from below his body.
The Mother understood that her prey was dead and she steadily slowed her assault. She sauntered forward to inspect the corpse of the orange beast. When she neared it, she began sniffing at it to assure that it was indeed dead; However, she could not smell even a whiff of the beast's breath.
Satisfied that the fox was dead, the Mother unhinged her massive jaws, baring her ferocious set of tapering teeth. As she neared her mouth to the deceased creature, a line of saliva slipped from her fangs before subtly contacting the beast's orange fur.
Feeling the the breath of the beast brushing up against his face and saliva dripping onto his head, Zulu's eyes shot apart. He instantly lifted his head to greet the inside of the bear's maws.
'You're mouth is too big for its own good,' Zulu thought, swinging his jaws wide before launching a [Fire Snake] directly into the bear's opened mouth.
The spell had been materialized seconds beforehand within Zulu's body. It had been a mere theory of his, that the [Fire Snake] spell did not need to be formed outside the caster. If fire did not hurt him during its casting phase, then couldn't he cast it wherever he pleased? With his life on the line, he had proven this to be the case.
The fire snake assailed the inside of the bear's throat, greedily torching every bit of flesh that it came into contact with. No matter how thick the bear's hide was, it could not protect it from an internal attack.
The Mother recoiled backward at the intense burst of pain that spread through her esophagus like a raving infection. She felt as though a torch had been stuck inside her throat, except airflow was not a problem. That said, the flames were far more unforgiving. She could feel her tissue and muscle being actively razed away like a flame melting a candle. Her own stomach was soon filled with clumps of her own scorched flesh and muddled blood.
'The almighty-torch would be proud,' Zulu thought with a grin.
After a few seconds of merciless internal ravaging, the fire snake faded away and the Mother was finally freed from her torture. However, as she looked up, she discovered that the fox had disappeared!
Zulu looked up at the towering bear from below its head. His body was in a pitiful state, but he managed to press himself forward for one last ditch effort, activating [Creep] in the process.
Packing the last of his strength into his hind legs, Zulu leaped into the air. His jaws opened before clamping together with a [Bite]. His teeth sheered through the bear's singed throat hide before continuing through the thin strand of muscle that remained. He punctured the beast's carotid artery, releasing a torrent of red liquid across his face before losing his battle against gravity and falling down to earth.
The Mother was utterly stunned. The small fox had the strength to drag its mutilated body beneath her before jumping to crunch her neck between its jaws. She hadn't even noticed his approach while she endured the fire snake. Now she could only watch her two children with a reluctant gaze before losing the light in her eyes. Immediately afterward, she collapsed in a puddle of her own blood; The ground trembled violently under her enormous weight.
'I don't have a lot of time,' Zulu thought, using his teeth and claws to rip the bear's hide from its body.
'My mana is limited, but it will have to do. [Corporeal Illusion].'
Transforming into a human, Zulu's wounds carried over, altering slightly to match his humanoid anatomy. He hastily wrapped a sliver of the bear's hide around his torso before tightening it as best he could.
'Hopefully I can stop the bleeding just enough to by myself enough to time to heal. I can only pray to the fox god,' Zulu thought, quickly falling unconscious.
--------------------------------
[Rank-]
Awaking in the white space, Zulu immediately understood the urgency of his situation and didn't dare wait patiently for the female voice to finish speaking.
"Shut up, guide! Show me the injury panel! And without the curse!"
>—————————<
>>Injury Report<<
-Broken ribs x9, lacerated muscle (extensive), lacerated skin (extensive), punctured lung, perforated large intestine x2, perforated small intestine
>>Ailment Report<<
-N/A
>>Death ETA<<
-11 seconds
>>Heal all injuries and ailments?<<
-14 Essence
>—————————<
"Heal everything! And then send me back!"
[Confirmed. Healing injuries.]
And everything went dark.
--------------------------------
Zulu's eyelids steadily broke apart as he observed his surroundings. The deceased mother bear was behind him and the cave's entrance was to his front; Through which he could see the glimmering moon that illuminated him with a mesmerizing gleam of light. Looking at his body, he found that he was completely healthy, albeit a little sore.
Zulu released a hearty sigh as a wave of relief washed over him; He had narrowly avoided death.
'I'm still in my human form? Deactivate [Corporeal Illusion].'
Returning to his fox form, Zulu began to consume the hulking mass of meat that was the mother bear. After half an hour, he approached the two tiny bears who were anxiously huddled in the corner, terrified of the monster that had killed their mother.
'Sorry, little guys, but evolution doesn't favor picky eaters.'
Zulu quickly ended the mother bear's lineage and ate the corpses of the three baby bears.
'Okay, now for some proper rest,' Zulu thought, lying on a wide bear rug.
Zulu was exhausted both physically and mentally; It had been two entire days since he last slept after all.
Like that, Zulu curled into an orange ball and slipped unconscious.