Another fun fact about the Deera is that they have an excellent sense of smell, to the point, I'm surprised it's taking the Deera this long to find me. And, then it hit me. No matter how much of a beating my body took, with it's crystal split and both of it's spiral horns sliced off, the Deera was most definitely in a state worse than mine.
'I should be able to do this.' Grunting, I forced myself to focus which is really hard when pain and fatigue is bearing down on your mind. Prana, like all the other energies under the major god's systems, was something that came from inside your body. Sure you can cultivate and refine it, but you couldn't use it in it's pure form, from your surroundings directly like you could with chi.
But, it was far more concentrated and refined, since it was something that the major gods had crafted after all.
Basically, the output of the major five energies would always be significantly higher than any other natural energies, just that the amount you could use is limited. And, you could obtain the five systemic energies through either hunting monsters, cultivating and refining, or simply killing other prana users and stealing their reserves. You don't need me to tell you that the last one is extremely forbidden, to the point, if you were caught, even the gods might have to get involved.
My prana reserves were, in honesty, quite terrible. It wasn't my fault since after achieving chi, Ivanka had me dabbling in martial arts and physical strengthening for weeks, giving me only a few chances to gather and expand my prana reserves.
Although, if I manage to somehow heal myself up and kill the Deera, I should be able to increase my emblem rank somewhat, and therefore my prana reserves significantly so.
Focus. By this point in time, I had already healed up all my internal injuries, which only left my external ones. The bleeding stopped but my legs were still fucked up, and so was my eye.
The pain was still there, but it was more of a stinging pain rather than the hellish one I felt before. I focused on my immediate surroundings, trying to think of ways to finish the damn monster for good. With no godly dagger in sight, and only a few branches, I wouldn't be able to do shit to the Deera's thick hide, even if I coat the branches with all the chaotic chi in the world.
A lightbulb appeared inside my head. Why did I need to pierce it through it's hide? After all, I had already formed a little hole in it's forehead, didn't I? Through that crack, even if it's with a branch, I should be able to enhance it enough so that I can thrust it in, deep and raw. It's a rough plan but it was at least significantly better than my other one, which involved trying to find the dagger which could be anywhere in this goddamn forest.
So, now the only question is how I'd get in close enough to the Deera. I'm pretty sure with how much I had injured it, it would especially be wary of any surprise attacks either from below or above.
Just then, a golden apple fell on the top of my head, rolling off into my lap. I was about to curse at it for disturbing my thought process before another idea popped into my head.
What if I had a distraction? I looked up at the multitude of golden apples on the tree. Multiple ones at that?
A plan slowly condensed into form. There were multiple risks to this plan and I was basically betting my life on this but even if my luck was bad, it was never bad enough for me to die.
So, if the Deera catches me, I'm dead. If it hears me, I'm dead. If it even gets a whiff of my scent, I'm dead.
Just then, the trembles of the ground started to vibrate even harder. The Deera was close but luckily, both of my legs had popped back into place but not before a silent grunt left my lips. It felt like paresthesia, like a million ants were crawling up my legs, the same type of feeling you get when you get up from a squat performed too long.
After a few seconds, I tried to move my legs, one at a time, slowly and gently. They were starting to feel better, like they weren't just twisted 180 degrees just a couple minutes back. When the numbness finally subsided, and a thousand birds just flew away a hundred meters away, squawking in fear, I simply let out a sigh.
Sometimes, I wondered if I should have just let myself be taken by the Demon God. Sure, it would have been a life consisting of being fucked a thousand times a day, and having to birth the World's End, but then again, surely it was better than having your body all mangled up from a careless mistake.
Grabbing on the tree behind me as support, I slowly got up and checked my body for any other injuries, slowly flexing them, one muscle group at a time. When I looked back, I let out another sigh at the fact that my ass seemed to have gotten even fatter and rounder too. I blame all the delicious fatty meat I've been cooking over the fireplace with Ivanka. Sheesh, if I'd seen a lady with an absolute dumptruck like this back on earth, I would have spread her fat asscheeks and gone to town on her. A weird feeling however, when you realize that the person with the dumptruck was you, and that I had been gone to town on, multiple times already in this life.
I picked up all the branches on the floor, before selectively choosing the sturdiest one that luckily came with a spiked, sharp end. Weird. Then, when I heard a distinct roar a little too close for my liking, I disabled my emblem skills and instead poured chi onto my body, enhancing myself. The wave of nausea that followed after, nearly knocked me out.
A sturdy, sharp branch in hand, I looked up before climbing the tree.