The bear's body heavily collided with the ground, back first, causing leaves and dust to fly everywhere.
Silence reigned in the surroundings after the loud crashing noise as the forest seemed frozen in time.
After a long moment, a paw gradually moved with difficulty.
Slowly, as it rose higher and higher, a pale-faced man appeared, exerting his exhausted body to free himself.
"Stupid bear. You tried to eat me? I'm the one who is going to eat you, fucker." Adam said hatefully despite his tiredness. He would never forget this encounter as he genuinely hated the bear.
Luckily, the nightmarish creature swiftly died after he pierced its brain, saving him from its retaliation. Furthermore, the bear's high-fat ratio cushioned his fall, making him suffer from the shock but saving him from the crash.
He stood up weakly in an attempt to move away from the carcass of his sworn enemy. But the moment he took his first step, his legs buckled, making him fall on all fours and vomit.
As the repulsive bitterness of gastric acid filled his mouth, he understood his internal organs were damaged by the fall.
Mustering his remaining strength, he shifted his position, lying against the bear's body to recover.
'Who designed this perverse trial? How can they expect normal humans to kill those kinds of nightmarish creatures? That bear ran faster than me. It also climbed faster. What? Are you going to tell me that it could swim as well?' he thought half-jokingly.
Little did he know that, yes, bears could swim...
'I hope there are rabbits in this forest. They should count since they are wild. Right?' He thought, unwilling to face anything dangerous without thorough preparations. He was already half-dead and doubted his body could handle another confrontation.
Then, he pondered about his remaining time. He had lost consciousness and wondered if the trial would end soon.
Talent: Unlocked at thirteen
HP (health point): 4/8
Remaining time: Forty-Seven hours
Note: Internal organs are slightly damaged. Soul is heavily damaged. Are you trying to kill yourself?
"I never wanted to come here and suffer! Shut up, stupid system." He weakly lashed out after reading the infuriating note. He was doing his best, winning and killing a bear against all odds in a trial he never intended to take, but here was the system, mocking him with its snarky remarks.
After a deep and calming breath, he pondered his next course of action after noticing he had lost half his HP.
'I'm more hurt than I thought. I only see two options. Either I hide and wait for the timer to reach zero. Or find four more beasts to kill. It's doable if I can avoid frontal confrontations... and bears.
No matter what I choose, I have to recover in a safe spot for a few hours first,' he thought, frowning before slowly standing up and moving towards the tree with unsteady steps.
Then, he picked up two thick branches lying around, smiling wryly. They were the ones he threw at the bear during his mad climb to survive.
"Humph, you're lucky. I have no tools to harvest your meat," he said, his voice carrying disdain and hate as he opened the bear's maw and hit its teeth using the thick branches.
Struggling against pain, he persevered until they eventually gave in and fell after a few minutes.
After collecting them, he carefully climbed a nearby tree opposite the bear to hide and recover safely.
Seated on a branch, he leaned against the trunk and reviewed his options, thinking of ways to defeat four more beasts safely.
His mind raced as he came up with a decent idea. However, he was reluctant to apply it. After all, he could die at the slightest mistake.
Yet, he still opted to carve the two branches using the bear's fang as a knife.
After half an hour of work, he produced two crude makeshift weapons. Despite their appearance, they were usable. That's what mattered most.
Then, he placed the bear's fang back in his pocket, planning to keep it as a souvenir and bragging tool. After all, how many humans defeated a bear unarmed? No one would believe him without evidence.
He couldn't help but imagine the shocked gazes of the people after he presented it and recounted his history as he closed his eyes to rest.
After sleeping five hours, he woke up, alerted by the rustle of the nearby bushes. Swiftly opening his eyes and scanning the vicinity, he noticed three wolves hungrily gazing at the bear, wanting nothing more but to take a bite from this fat piece of meat.
He understood they were attracted by the thick scent of blood released from the dead creature's eyes. Then, his eyes lit up as he was sure wolves couldn't climb trees, and considered using this opportunity to increase his kill count.
He had the high-ground advantage, and they couldn't reach him. If he played his cards right, he was sure he could kill one or two.
As he waited patiently for the beasts to feast on the bear's carcass, he silently stood up on the branch, already aiming and contracting his arm's muscles, ready to hurl his spear.
The moment he was waiting for quickly came as he released his arm, his stomach protesting against the effort.
The spear cut swiftly through the air as it approached its target and planted itself... Five meters away.
In response to the muffled sound of the spear sinking into the soft soil, the wolves raised their heads, gazing in that direction for a second before resuming their feast after not seeing any threat.
'It's ok, I have one more shot,' He thought, blushing in shame before focusing harder to adjust his aim.
After a few seconds, he hurled his last spear as hard as he could, clenching his teeth in pain and hoping that, this time, he wouldn't miss.
With bated breath, he followed the spear's trajectory, his balled fists trembling in anticipation as it travelled towards the unsuspecting wolves.
The pained yelp of a wolf resounded in the air as his weapon pierced its side.
'Yes, I got it! I knew I could be the best spear thrower if I wanted to!.' He celebrated inwardly, raising his hand in triumph with a broad smile as the wolves jumped in alarm.
After seeing their companion bleed and whimper without understanding where the enemy was, the other two swiftly ran away, unwilling to share the same fate.
The bleeding third wolf tried to follow its brethren, moving its paws with difficulty. The spear didn't kill him, but it was heavily bleeding.
Adam watched it escape, wondering if he should get down to deliver the coup de grâce before shaking his head in rejection.
'It's already bleeding. If it doesn't die... Well, I can only blame my bad luck.' Adam thought, resolving himself not to take any risk and focusing on resting in the tree to allow his internal organs to heal while crafting more spears using the bear's fang.