Staring into the eyes of the bear with only a few meters between them, Yune's heart was beating out of his chest, and his mind was racing as fast, trying to come up with something, anything, that would get him out of this situation alive.
Time felt like it was moving in slow-motion as Yune desperately thought of numerous scenarios inside his head. However, each and every scenario led to certain death.
The only sliver of hope he could think of was to throw the bear into the ravine, but Yune just couldn't think of a way to let the bear plummet to his death in this ravine as the bear seemed to be wary of the ravine.
But for now, this was the only viable solution until he could think of a better plan.
But thinking of another plan, Yune didn't have time for as the bear broke the deadlock and got on all four legs again, slowly walking up towards Yune. The distance between Yune and the bear was now becoming much less than Yune was comfortable with.
Yune however, against every fiber of his being, stayed in his place, not wanting to move even the tiniest bit away from the ravine as that was his only hope in defeating the bear.
With the bear inching closer to Yune, his concentration was put to the test, focusing his full attention to the warmth inside his body while keeping his eyes on every little movement of the bear.
And then, the inching bear suddenly lunged at him. Baring its teeth, the bear was headed straight for Yune without the slightest fear in its bloodshot eyes as it likely didn't see Yune as a threat at all.
Yune, however, had already started moving the moment he saw the bear's hind legs tense up, instantly activating as much mana as he could to decrease his weight to increase his speed to hopefully dodge the bear.
Choosing to dodge to the left, Yune put all his weight to one side of his body, letting him almost fall to the ground, and then quickly strained last fiber in the muscles of his right leg to desperately throw himself to the side. Instantly, with one giant leap, Yune had moved out of the way of the bear.
This was the moment that decided if Yune would live or die, and it seemed like Yune had succeeded. Yune's eyes couldn't help but portray hope.
'I did it!'
However, that thought was instantly shattered.
Yune had dodged the bear's massive body, but something Yune hadn't thought of was quickly the only thing that was on his mind.
'No! I am going to be hit-'
The bear's massive clawed paws were on its way to collide with Yune's head at a frightening speed.
Filled with adrenaline, time seemed to have slowed down. But this only helped him think a little faster, his body was still moving as fast as before.
Making a quick decision, Yune ducked to the floor and leaped forward as close to the ground as possible in the hope of dodging the devastating impact the bear's claw would do to his body.
Having pushed forward with both legs, his bodyweight still being decreased, Yune practically flew forward. His whole body not making contact with the ground anymore, there wasn't anything Yune could do anymore but hope.
With his eyes wide open, Yune stared at the big clawed paw of the bear which was quickly redirecting its trajectory towards Yune. But Yune was faster. Ducking his head ever so slightly, almost brushing the floor, Yune saw the bear's paw go past him.
He had managed to make his way behind the bear!
Yune didn't come out of it unscathed though. Yune had just barely managed the bear's clawed paw from hitting his head, but the same couldn't be said for his back. Unbeknownst to Yune, who was filled with adrenaline, his whole back had been clawed open, blood quickly flowing out from the deep lacerations.
Not feeling the pain, the only thing that Yune knew was that he had made it behind the bear in some miraculous way, something he hadn't even thought of as an option while he was thinking of a plan to get out of this situation alive.
Having made it behind the bear, there was a clear path in front of him. Yune could just simply run away as he knew he was faster than the bear. But this thought didn't even have the time to fester in his mind.
Before Yune even knew it, his hands were already pushing on the bear's back. There was no flight response even in his mind anymore. Having seen the bear so close to the ravine, Yune's brain became overwhelmed with a sudden fight response.
Having acted before he thought about it, though, was quickly turning out to be a big mistake. Putting all his weight on pushing the bear, who was o so close to the edge, wasn't even budging on bit.
Yune having used his mana to decrease his weight as much as he could, almost decreasing it by 20%, seemed like an ant compared to the bear who stood at three meters tall, weighing well over half a ton.
But despite the bear not even budging, Yune kept pushing, digging his feet into the ground with all his might as this was his only hope. He had wasted his only chance to run away.
And, unfortunately, determination and effort weren't winning from the bitter reality.
Unbothered, the bear turned its head and bared its teeth, letting a deep growl escape like a sneer.
Once again, like a sense of déjà vu, Yune was staring into the bear's eyes. But at this moment the bear's bloodshot eyes were giving of an immense pressure. Unlike before, it now looked at Yune with a murderous gaze as if it finally saw Yune as a threat.
The strong primal killing intent made a cold shiver run through Yune's body, instantly making his body start to feel colder. With every second passing, Yune's body began colder and colder.
And suddenly, even the warmth in his chest turned into a terrible cold. It felt like his heart had turned into ice for an instance. But, as suddenly as this terrible cold appeared, it vanished. And instantly Yune's body became heavier, much heavier.
Yune's feet dug into the ground as his body felt burdened but full of strength at the same time. Still desperately pushing against the bear, it suddenly began moving slightly, making Yune flinch as he felt this change.
The bear, however, also seemed to have noticed this as it hastened its actions, quickly swiping its clawed paw towards Yune at a frightening speed.
Yune saw this devastating blow coming directly towards his head, but didn't try and avoid it as this was his only chance.
Straining every last muscle in his body, Yune's whole body felt like it was ripping itself apart as he gave one last push before his body got sent flying as the bear's clawed paw hit Yune.
"AAAHHHH"
Thrown against the wall, Yune let out a pained scream, which was as loud as the impact of him hitting the hard wall, cracking it from Yune's heavy body.
Dazed by the impact, a black flash obstructed Yune's vision, threatening to fall into unconsciousness. Yune desperately resisted the urge to just close his eyes as he knew he was dead the moment he did.
But it didn't seem like he was winning against that urge as his eyelids became heavier.
It was only when he felt a big tremble, followed by the sound of a big impact that Yune came to his senses.
Looking in front of him, Yune's eyes darted around as fast as his body would allow it, but the monstrous bear was nowhere to be seen. The impact he had heard was cause by the bear falling in the ravine.
Yune couldn't help but form a victorious smile.
"Have that, you stupid bear! Who has the last laugh now, huh?! Ha-Ha!"
But it was not like Yune had achieved a flawless victory, anything but. He had paid a big price for it.
Yune had multiple deep lacerations on the whole length of his back from the bear's first attack and a good chuck of flesh was now also missing from his shoulder from the bear's last attack.
If he didn't act fast, he would end up with the same fate as the bear.
Yune also knew this and quickly began wrapping the wounds with his clothes as tight as possible to reduce the bleeding. With adrenaline still in his body, Yune could do this without feeling much pain. But the pain would soon return as adrenaline isn't some wonder drug.
Not wasting a single second, Yune hurried back the way he came from as fast as his body would allow it. His goal to use the mana gemstones he hadn't absorbed yet to replenish his mana as mana passively made regenerative powers faster and one's body stronger in general.
His whole body hurting as the adrenaline was leaving his body, Yune limped as fast as he could and finally arrived at the mana gemstones. Placing his hand on one of them, mana greedily flowed to his body faster than before, emptying out the mana stone in under ten seconds.
Moving on to the few remaining mana crystals, they were also quickly absorbed, and Yune had nearly regained half of his mana.
Even in this state, his body beat and battered, Yune couldn't help but think what a waste it was to use the mana crystal like this instead of using them to increase his mana quantity, but it couldn't be helped.
Having emptied out every last mana gemstone that was there, Yune sat down with his back against the wall. Feeling like he had done everything he could to increase his chances of not dying, all of his strength suddenly left his body.
Yune didn't even have the energy to think about anything anymore. Unbeknownst to Yune he had already been awake for over 36 hours now. Fatigue was finally catching up to him. His eyelids feeling heavy as he quickly fell asleep.