Haran and Ravi moved in, their spears raised.
While Kailash distracted the beast, they struck.
Haran's spear drove deep into the beast's flank, and Ravi swung his club with all the strength he could muster, landing a heavy blow on the creature's side.
The beast let out a deafening roar, thrashing in pain as it tried to shake them off.
Kailash, breathing hard, stumbled backward, his muscles burning from the exertion.
The pills had given him strength and agility, but they wouldn't last forever.
He had to make this count.
"Hit it again!" Haran barked, his spear still lodged in the beast's side.
Ravi swung his club once more, and Ajit, despite his earlier reluctance, jabbed his spear at the creature's legs, trying to trip it up.
The beast howled, blood dripping from its wounds, but it wasn't going down easily.
It whipped its head around, snapping its jaws at Haran, who barely managed to pull back in time.
Kailash's heart raced. They were close, but the beast was still dangerous.
One wrong move, and someone would get killed.
He tightened his grip on his sword, steeling himself.
"I need to end this," he thought, his mind racing.
But just as he moved to strike again, the beast lunged forward, its claws catching him across the chest.
Pain shot through him as the beast's claws ripped through his shirt and tore into his skin.
He gasped, stumbling backward, blood pouring from the fresh wound.
His vision blurred for a moment, and for a second, he thought he might pass out.
"Kailash!" Ajit shouted, rushing toward him, panic clear in his voice.
"I'm fine," Kailash gritted out, though the pain was almost unbearable.
He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to slow the bleeding, but he couldn't stop now. If he gave up, the beast would kill them all.
The beast, wounded and enraged, turned its attention back to Haran and Ravi. Kailash could barely stay on his feet, but he forced himself to focus. He had to distract it again, just long enough for the others to land the final blow.
"Hey!" Kailash shouted, his voice hoarse from the pain. He lifted his sword, waving it at the beast. "Come on, you overgrown wolf! You want a piece of me?"
The beast snarled, its red eyes narrowing as it turned toward him.
"That's right, I'm talking to you!" Kailash taunted, taking a step back as the beast stalked toward him.
His legs felt weak, and his chest burned, but he wasn't going to let this thing win.
Just as the beast lunged again, Ravi and Haran moved in from behind.
Ravi brought his club down with all his might, smashing it into the back of the beast's skull. Haran, with a fierce yell, drove his spear deeper into the creature's side, twisting it for good measure.
The beast let out one final, guttural roar, then collapsed to the ground, its body twitching before it went still.
For a long moment, there was silence. The only sound was the ragged breathing of the hunters and the wind rustling through the trees.
"Is it... is it dead?" Ajit asked, his voice trembling.
Haran, still gripping his spear, gave the beast a hard kick. It didn't move. "Yeah," he said, his voice gruff. "It's dead."
Ravi let out a long breath, dropping his club to the ground. "Finally."
Kailash stood there, swaying on his feet, his chest still bleeding, but relief washed over him.
The beast was dead.
They had done it.
"You alright, Kailash?" Ajit asked, rushing over to him. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide with concern.
Kailash tried to smile, though it came out more like a grimace. "Yeah... just a scratch."
"A scratch?" Ajit repeated, looking at the blood soaking through Kailash's shirt. "That's not a scratch, that's... you're bleeding a lot, man."
"It's fine," Kailash insisted, though his legs were starting to feel like jelly. "We won, didn't we?"
Ajit shook his head. "You're insane."
Haran approached, wiping blood from his hands onto his shirt. "You did good, boy," he said, his tone gruff but approving.
"Damn good." He glanced at Kailash's chest. "But you need to get that looked at. No sense dying from an infection after all this."
Ravi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, for a minute there, I thought you were going to be the beast's dinner. But you held up."
Kailash smiled weakly, feeling a strange sense of pride despite the pain.
He had faced the beast head-on.
He had been injured, but he hadn't backed down.
And now, the villagers who had doubted him were looking at him with respect.
"Let's get back," Haran said, nodding toward the path leading out of the forest. "We'll need to tell the village it's safe again. And we'll need a few more hands to drag this thing back."
Ajit, always quick with a joke, grinned as they started walking. "Well, look at you, Kailash. First, you're swinging at air in the fields, and now you're taking on spiritual beasts. What's next? You going to challenge a sect leader to a duel?"
Kailash laughed, wincing at the pain in his chest. "Let's take it one beast at a time, alright?"
The group made their way back through the forest, their pace slower now that the fight was over.
The tension had lifted, and there was an unspoken sense of camaraderie among them.
They had faced danger together, and they had survived.
The victory came at the right time where this sends a message to himself.
He wasn't the same boy who had been killed by a speeding car and a snake bite in his last life neither he is that degenerate who was not able to do anything with his life.
He wasn't the same kid who had been lost and directionless.
He was Kailash Varuna, and he was on the path to becoming something more.
[Status Update]
Name: Kailash Varuna
Age: 12
Cultivation Level: Basic Level 1
Qi: 5/10
Strength: 8 (Boosted by pill)
Agility: 9 (Boosted by pill)
Endurance: 4
Intelligence: 7
Luck: 1
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Beginner), Foundational Qi Absorption (Beginner)