He had learned a few things, having come here almost daily for the last week and a half. First, he didn't like eating fish. He knew it the second day of eating fish; it left this horrible taste in his mouth, and it wasn't all that pleasant. That could be his fault, considering how he was cooking it. The second thing was that something was affecting the fish. It wouldn't have been strange if just a few fish had left. However, every time he showed up, there were fewer of them around. He was the only one ever to show up here, and no other animals ever wandered or left traces of them remaining here. That raised the question of who or what was getting the fish.
He wanted to find them and pray It might be something he could practice on. He had been yearning for something to test his strength on. The only problem was that fighting would almost be impossible in the water. He doubted it was, though, since he had been diving into the water and swimming for one and a half weeks.
He has been hiding inside the branches of a tree, waiting patiently for anything to make itself known; he didn't waste his time just waiting, though, as he periodically took a bit of Chi and moved it around his body. It wasn't too difficult, and he wasn't wasting much Chi if a fight broke out.
The night seemed to pass without anything approaching the lake; the moon's reflection was lovely. He wished he could draw; this would make a beautiful drawing. He stood up and climbed a bit higher to see it much better.
It was good that he climbed up there as he got a better view of the moon's reflection. He could see something small with a noticeable glow moving up the river and away from the lake; it might have been a reflection of the stars. He focused his Chi into his eyes, and the movement became apparent; it was a fish...with golden fins.
He quickly climbed down and focused on his legs, speeding up as he ran around the lake to catch up and follow the fish; if its fins were golden, it had Chi. This was a terrifying thing to find out. Finding a frog with a golden tongue was one thing, but to then find a fish as well. This location wasn't unique in having a place to gather Chi from, meaning the lake had something hidden inside it.
He could see the fish ahead of him; as much as he wanted to grab onto it and take its Chi, it was a bad idea. If all those fishes left before were similar to this one, he could find where the rest were and have a feast. He remained hidden quite a distance away from the fish, not wanting to scare it or alarm it of his existence.
The longer he followed the fish, the more suspicious he felt. The feeling only grew when he noticed the movements of the fish; having to catch fish, he had learned a bit about how they moved. It behaved strangely, which could be simply because of the Chi and the fish getting used to its new power. That felt like the wrong assumption, though.
He froze, hearing a sound similar to a growl, and hid behind a tree. He saw a bear walking over to the river; the fish didn't move; instead, it swam towards them. The bear would bite into it and begin eating the fish; it didn't seem to have noticed him yet.
The bear had golden claws, and its fur seemed to be colored a slight tinge of golden, but the scary and strange part of it all was that the neck of the bear had holes. He could also hear sound from them; it was small but noticeable. If he was right, the bear was at stage two, meaning the holes were part of its power.
He had been looking for a feast, but it seemed the beast had beaten him. He was planning to leave, but as soon as he began moving, the bear turned in his direction, and the two looked at each other.
He moved first, attempting to run away. But the bear opened its mouth as if to scream, except nothing seemed to come out. Instead, the holes of the bear blared with sound, and he felt his balance and movement slow to a crawl. The bear began running towards him as he managed to turn to face them. The closer the beast came, the worse and more disoriented he felt; he nearly felt like passing out.
The bear swiped as he barely managed to move his body. He focused his Chi on his legs and leaped back. He rolled on the ground, but the effects of the sound weakened. The bear was relentless, though, and moved to chase him; the speed it was showing was nothing short of terrifying.
He didn't have time to hesitate or think, so he did the only thing he thought could work and used the sharp ends of the gauntlet to stab into his ears. He couldn't hear anything, but he still felt the sound. He jumped to his feet as the blood spilled down his neck; the effects had at least lessened.
The bear seemed to think nothing of him standing up as it kept running at him; he let the bear get close, spreading the Chi to his fists and legs. The bear tried to take a bite from his legs; he moved back at the last second and struck it in the nose, and he then moved to its side and sent another blow into its side before stepping away.
That small exchange told him a few things: the bear wasn't used to fighting with its powers, or else why didn't it do to him what it did to the fish? It was also strangely confident; it didn't seem to think anything of him...Well, that changed after that exchange, as it turned to him and stood on its hind legs. The second thing it showed him was that his attacks could hurt the beast. He could see blood running down its nose, and where he had struck its ribs caused blood to flow.
The bear seemed to scream again, but he didn't hear anything. He took this chance to rush in and try to strike into their chest. He immediately felt his mistake; the closer he got to the beast, the harder the sound hit his body. He could feel the pain inside him as well. It caused him to freeze, and soon, he felt the bear's paw strike the left side of his body.
He flew through the air; the bear had done something similar to him and focused their Chi onto their paw. The sound had died a few seconds before he got hit, although he didn't notice.
He had momentarily passed out once he got hit and sent flying. He was still alive because his training had paid off, and he had maintained his focus. This allowed him to move his Chi to the chest, and he managed to prevent his ribs from caving in.
When he came to, he was on the ground. The bear at least remained where it was, hesitant to close the distance now. He forced himself to his feet; his right side felt like it was on fire. The chest plate caved in slightly, and claw marks were visible.
The chest plate was already attempting to fix itself; he wasn't so lucky.
He couldn't kill the bear yet but was afraid of leaving. If he did, the bear might migrate elsewhere, and he would lose his chance to get anything out of this. He grits his teeth and focuses his Chi on his chest, trying to heal as much as possible.
The bear seemed to notice the change, dropped down on all fours, and began charging toward him; he grabbed a nearby rock, focused a small amount of Chi to his fist, and tossed the rock directly at the bear, striking its eye as he ran back to gain enough distance to be safe from the sound attack and keep a close eye on the bear.
This was his compromise; he would keep slowly whittling the bear and kill it.