Realizing it's attempt for intimidation not working, the creature growled once again, it's qi flaring. Normally, it would be enough to intimidate or push 1st Stage Genesis Gathering cultivators, but to him, it merely is an annoyance.
"Come on, show me what you got," Ryker call the beast out. He kind of regret the fact he did not bring any weapons with him, but he just need to make do with his martial skills.
Thankfully, his parents thought him everything he needed to know, from different fighting styles, to the best way to utilize it with his qi.
The beast, while powerful, lack experience in controlling it's own power. The only reason it is at the peak of Tier 1 is because of the abundance of qi.
If he had to guess, the bear either is lucky enough to be close to where the qi gathered the most when the formation appeared, or it had been staying here for the length of their stay in the mountain.
It could be the combination of both but he did not have the time to ponder as he dodge a claw to his head, the bear able to increase his speed with the aid of its cultivation.
"That's more like it," Ryker exclaimed, excited at the prospect of a good fight. He is not much of a battle addict, but he do wish for some good fight once in a while, not to mention this fight would allow him to know where his current standing in the cultivation world.
The bear charged the qi into it's claw before slashing at him from a distance, claw-shaped qi crashing towards him. Ryker quickly create a qi barrier, blocking the attack with ease.
The bear crawled in a circular shape, circling him as it try to get behind him. Ryker keep on turning, making sure his eyes always laid on the bear. After all, his opponent is far stronger than him. Any negligence would lead to his quick and painful death.
The bear seem to lost it patience as it crawled before running towards him, ready to smash him into meat paste using it's tremendous bulk. Realizing the danger he was in, Ryker jumped above the bear, easily clearing the charging beast before doing a backflip and turning towards the bear, who crashed into the walls.
The beast pulled itself out, merely shrugging the damage, something he had expected. The bear then growled once more as create more smashing attack, one he easily neutralize.
"Let's bring the fight to you," he said as Ryker dashed towards the beast, punching at the claw in hope of turning the appendage into stumps.
Unfortunately, the bear cultivation realm is greater compared to him, the beast able to coat it's hand with qi, preventing Ryker from blasting his claw and hand away. Realizing the close distance, the creature slashed at him, almost looping his head off from the powerful attack.
Ryker create a distance between him and the beast, changing into a more defensive stance. Though the bear seem to be more wary with him now, his attack having done some small damage to the larger creature.
Normally, wild animals would run away if they face against an equal foe or focused more on intimidating one another. However, the bear is different, likely due to learning some things about cultivators, like the fact it is possible for them to heal themselves.
Whatever the cases, the bear did not back down and instead, growled before dashing towards him again, intend on killing him, or at least get him to back away from the carcasses he was dragging.
This time though, he did not opt to dodge, instead using his qi to form the hardest defense he could at the moment. When the charging bear hit Ryker, both sides stagger and we're sent flying, Ryker suffering the worse of it.
He hit the tree behind him, breaking it in half. Groaning in pain, Ryker stood up. Aside from some bruises though, and maybe some scratches on his back, Ryker escape relatively unscathed.
As for the bear, it was more dazed than anything else, though it seem to recover just as quickly as him.
Another furious roar escaped the beast, as it looked at Ryker with what could only be described as hatred. Ryker merely grinned back, ready for another grueling fight.
-x-
"Argh!"
"RARGH!"
The beast and man growled at one another, both side suffering injuries, non-fatal but still bad.
Ryker's arms have numerous gashes, none punctured through his vein, but still dangerous as his arms bathed in blood.
As for the rest of his body, aside from some smaller cuts, there are no injuries otherwise, Ryker protecting his vitals the best as he can.
As for the bear, there are many patches on its skin that devoid of fur, Ryker's qi infused punches are no joke. Three of it's left claws are also missing, courtesies of a full powered punch by the man in front of him.
The stare at one another, seemingly ready to start another showdown, but the light growling, one unheard to anyone but them make the two stopped.
Ryker used his Soul Sense, detecting opportunistic beasts in their vicinity, clearly hoping to gain something from the fight, likely the carcasses of the loser, and maybe killing the injured winner as well.
The bear and man exchanged a glance before going their way, none of them intending to let others claim their spoils.
Ryker took all the carcasses of beast he slaughtered earlier and put it inside his storage ring, one of the more common spatial tools used by cultivators.
There are many other form of spatial tools, each used for storing a large number of objects inside them without taking much space.
The only reason he did not use it earlier is because he wanted to attract more beast to him, and having trails of food in front of the beast are a good way to do so.
With the trail of carcasses gone, the other beast no longer linger, especially when he glared at them with intention to turn them into his family next meal.
After sensing they scram, Ryker head towards his temporary home, intending to skin and prepare the meat for future meals.
He looked at his injured body and remembered his current state.
"I should help up first before going back," he did not want to scare his younger siblings away with his bloody visage after all.
-x-
After returning, but not before being scolded by his eldest younger siblings, who were annoyed of the injuries he had.
After all, while the physical injuries are all gone, the tatters that once used to be his shirt are still on him.