'Or not.'
The bull hadn't taken as much of a beating after Ackster's torrent of kicks as he would have liked, and it was still breathing, even if it was wheezing rather than panting or huffing like earlier. It was also still struggling to get back up or retaliate against Ackster's attacks. But its efforts had weakened, and even without Battlesight, Ackster still easily avoided getting hit.
However, the bull wasn't dead yet, and it wouldn't die if he left it alone. And since his foot was a soggy mess of broken bone, Ackster bent down. He was already training to acquire Iron Wall. So, while he was at it, he might as well try and turn his Stone Fists into Iron Fists.
He ignored his hands' injuries and closed them into solid fists protected and reinforced by the gauntlets. Then, supported by Strong Body and Strike, he lashed out with a series of quick, precise, and heavy punches at the same exact spot.
It probably wouldn't be that easy to modify or change a skill, but since his target and prey was such a mighty bull, its death would likely affect the development of his skills, so there was hope. The only question was if it was even a valid method.
Stone Fists were a sign of heavy bouldering punches, like the ones he had used when punching the rock lizard. Iron Fists were quick and hard but maybe not quite as heavy as the stone ones.
Ackster entered a daze as he punched the bull until its skin broke and revealed the bloody and mangled mess within. Ackster's kicks and punches had done a lot of damage through the skin, and he could understand why the bull had finally died.
Ackster made use of the damage he had done to the bull's throat and used that as his starting point to dismantle and eat the bull. It was tough, but the bull's defenses weren't as great as the rock lizard's. It was just that he had been tired before he even started attacking it, and he had worn his training equipment during the fight.
So, once the bull was finally dead, Ackster didn't have much trouble picking it apart and throwing the raw meat in his mouth to let Monster Muncher and Iron Stomach do their work. Strong Body, too, since it would use the nutrients to heal and strengthen his body.
While eating, Ackster sat and watched his surroundings, enjoying the view of the peach-orange sunrise bathing the green grass in its glow. The area directly around him, where he and the bull had fought, was almost even more dazzling since the juices from the trampled grass and the blood he spilled caught the sunlight and reflected it like beads of colorful crystals.
The sunrise's beauty helped detract from the unpleasantness of the destruction Ackster and the bull's fight had caused since there were deep furrows in the ground and piles of torn-up grass littered around the place.
'Camp acquired, I guess.'
But it wasn't all bad. Ackster still didn't have reliable access to water, but now he didn't have to waste time clearing an area to set up something like a base camp he could use in between hunts and while training Nold's secret technique. So, after eating the bull, which, despite its size, went down easy, he got to clearing it up a little. He didn't have to harm himself or get Strong Body to burn through what he had already eaten to make place for more.
He flattened the ground, gathered the grass in one place, and put the bull remains in one corner. He looked at the homely camp with satisfaction. It was simple, without shelter, he had just eaten the last of the food, and there was no water. But it had traces of his first fight in the Grasslands, and it was also the first proper camp he had set up.
He wanted to start trying Nold's secret technique now that he had trained his Iron Wall a little. Some variation would do his mentality and training well since it would be easy to repeat the same mistakes if he did the same thing over and over. But he could already tell in advance that he would need a lot of nutrients to keep Strong Body healing his body after he started pulverizing his bones.
The first thing he had to do was stock up on food. And if the secret technique were as painful and debilitating as Wilma and its own description made it sound, he would probably need a lot of food since he wouldn't be in a state to hunt for a while after he began.
Without even taking a break after defeating and eating the bull and cleaning up his new camp, Ackster set out again on the prowl for more prey to bring back to his camp and turn into food. It was a shame he didn't have anything to conserve the food with since raw meat would probably grow bad pretty quickly in the summery heat. But, as long as it didn't rot and become worse than ten poison goblin fingers, it would be fine training for Iron Stomach and Poison Resistance.
Well, it would probably be unpleasant to be sick or poisoned in addition to the pain from the secret technique, so he hoped that wouldn't happen.
Ackster's thoughts wandered a little as he looked for traces to follow, but his thoughts didn't get very far. Probably because of his fight with the bull, a lot of nearby beasts and monsters had been startled and moved around to get away from the battle and whatever else may follow.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't good enough at hiding their tracks to evade Ackster's pursuit. And, since he prioritized hunting as efficiently as possible, not training, he brought back a bunch of beasts like cows, deers, goats, horses, and monsters like hobgoblins and gravellers.
With food storage secured, Ackster only had to dig a hole for it. Otherwise, it would draw other hungry predators, which wasn't the kind of environment Ackster wanted to train the secret technique in.