523 – Time Of The Dog And The Wolf – 11
Fenrir and Aji fought as they always had. They used their forelegs and claws to pin each other down, taking the better position and baring their teeth at each other. Even though they had human forms, their instincts were those of dogs. To end their opponent’s life, they had to use their teeth.
The brown furball and the gray furball trampled the ground as they aimed for each other. Their speed was impossible to follow with the eye. While the two beast kings fought the battle of the century, my eyes just spun around.
Was this the helplessness of an ordinary human facing his destiny? I couldn’t keep up with their strength, speed, or even their senses. The moment I felt the wind blowing, Aji and Fenrir were already passing me by.
If only I could read their minds, I could coordinate with Aji and provide support, but unfortunately, Aji was a dog. The best I could do was to use Aji and Jizan as shields to get out of Fenrir’s line of fire.
What’s the point of gathering Mashin? They’re just pure specs.
I thought I heard a click of the tongue. I made eye contact with Fenrir for a moment. As he bared his teeth, his gaze shot in like a meteor. Despite being about 50m away, Fenrir rushed in with terrifying speed, aiming for my neck.
Aji was too far away. The only one who could protect me now was Jizan. Before I could even think about it, my body had already moved to grab Jizan, my lifeline.
Fenrir’s foreleg slammed into Jizan. A beat later, the wind pressure hit me with full force. The dizzying sensation was only momentary, and Jizan repelled Fenrir’s foreleg with only a slight resistance. Even the beast king couldn’t overcome Mashin.
However, even with the same Mashin, it depends on the skill of the person using it. Unlike me, who was staggering from the wind pressure, Fenrir kicked off the ground again and jumped at me. I didn’t have the strength to block it. Even with the sacred treasure Jizan, I could only withstand a single blow.
“Hey! That’s not fair! Fight fair and square!”
But I wasn’t alone. The moment I endured a single blow, a brown bullet struck Fenrir’s flank. Aji and Fenrir’s specs were almost equal. When Aji hit him with his full force, Fenrir’s body crumpled and he was thrown far away.
I steadied my swaying body and calculated coldly. That was all he could do. With my strength, I could only withstand a single blow. In that gap, Aji could strike Fenrir, but… it wasn’t worth it to risk my life for a tightrope walk.
“Hey! You’re just getting in the way!”
“That’s a harsh thing to say. I’m trying to help.”
“You’re just a nuisance!”
Even Aji didn’t seem to like it very much. How ungrateful.
What could I use? Mashin? Mashin wouldn’t help against overwhelming power. Aside from Jizan, which was a relic in itself, the other Mashin were all just support items.
I need to get stronger. There’s no other way. There’s no way I can get stronger without mastering Ki, but…
Just one. I took out the card I had been saving until now.
Heart. A potion that causes changes in the body.
After Ki became the main player in history, potions became obsolete. Ki, which completely separates oneself from the world and refines it further, cannot receive the effects of potions or may even have the opposite effect. So at some point, potions were used as a concept of elixir that explores Ki.
But the old potions were different.
The strength of a bear, the senses of a hawk, the unwavering courage, the inexhaustible tenacity. The stamina to stand up again even after being injured. Potions were originally meant to give strength to the present self by consuming the future self.
I took out the Heart card I had been keeping and drew it.
Heart 1 is a potion that replenishes blood, but it’s not available now. I have no choice but to replace it with Blood Arts.
Heart 2, a potion for shortness of breath.
Heart 3, a potion for bear tendons.Heart 4 and 5 relieve pain and improve concentration, but I don’t have them because I used them last time.
Heart 6, gelatin.
I take out 2, 3, and 6 and pour them into Heart J.
Individually, they are not that great of drugs. Heart 2 just makes your heart beat faster, and Heart 3 just releases the power that was restricting your muscles from breaking down. 6 is a drug that temporarily heals internal injuries.
Even these minor drugs have side effects that make you rattle for days if you take one, and if you take three at once, you could die. To minimize the side effects, I pour them into Heart J and adjust them delicately.
The red medicine seeps into the card with the knight’s portrait. The three types of medicine mix and gradually rise from the bottom to the top, bringing color back to the knight’s body. I fold the lifelike card and pour the mixed medicine into my mouth.
It’s bitter, sour, and painful. My tongue sends out a series of warnings. It urges me to spit it out immediately, saying that what is entering my body now will put you in danger.
But I ignore it and swallow the medicine. My throat burns as the medicine flows down.
After taking all the medicine, I throw the empty card. Pak, it is half-stuck in the rock.
“Ha. Ha.”
My heart beats fast. Unlike the excitement before the battle, it is a very artificial beat. My chest hurts as if it will burst just by taking a breath.
“Ah.”
I felt a sharp pain in my palm. I looked down and saw that my fingernails were digging into my palm because I had clenched my fist too tightly, and blood was flowing out. I muttered as I rubbed the blood away.
“This is something to worry about tomorrow.”
My breathing is fast, so my speech is faster than usual. A tingling sensation comes up from my joints. It must be the price my body is paying for breaking the limit without any chi.
However, the fact that tomorrow is coming is a privilege for those who survived today. What matters is now.
I gripped Jizan tightly. Even though I didn’t put much strength into it, my hand was white without a trace of blood.
I’m still far from the power of Aji and Fenrir… but still, this is the limit my body can reach now.
I aimed Jizan at the rock and thrust it in. Jizan went in as if cutting tofu. As I raised my arm, the rock pierced by Jizan suddenly rose. Dry gravel falls to the ground.
Lifting a rock larger than a person is impossible even with my strength enhanced by medicine, but Jizan, a sword without recoil, makes the impossible a reality. I attached the rock to Jizan with earth magic and looked at Aji.
Aji and Fenrir are still too fast to follow with my eyes. Still, the cycle of their appearance has become shorter than before. I watched Aji and Fenrir’s movements carefully and raised Jizan over my head.
If there is one characteristic of humans, it is tools. As the king of humans, I can use any tool. Even if it is the relic of a demon.
So, how do you use a tool? Of course, tools are used by hand. And humans have the physical ability to use tools ‘well’ with their hands. It is possible that we used tools because we had such physical abilities.
Grabbing, throwing, swinging. The power that humans have as animals that cannot run on four legs.
I pulled my whole body like a bowstring and squeezed all my muscles at once to swing Jizan. Wrist, arm, shoulder, waist, leg. Each one is weak, but it continues to exert force over a wide range of motion. I pulled my waist while extending my forelegs as much as possible. At the extreme where the speed increased, I bent my wrist, and the rock pierced by Jizan shot out with the same speed.The boulder shot from the catapult was supposed to draw an arc. However, the boulder I threw skimmed the ground like a swallow. The stone thrown by a human enhanced by Elixir flew surprisingly fast.
“Aji! Bite!”
Fenrir’s ears perked up. Even the king of beasts couldn’t ignore a boulder dozens of times heavier than him rushing towards him. As Fenrir was about to dodge, Aji grabbed Fenrir.
He wagged his tail as if he was happy to see the boulder flying towards him.
“Dumbass!”
“Grrr! You…!”
How many times do you think Aji has received my ball? I had already noticed it since I was preparing to throw it.
Aji pushed Fenrir away. Fenrir, who had collided with a boulder several times larger than his body, was thrown far away.
A single hit is trivial but valuable. The boulder I threw with all my might was just a pebble to the king of beasts. However, a boulder flying in the middle of a close fight with an opponent was a very annoying hindrance to Fenrir.
“Auuu! Human!”
Fenrir, who couldn’t bear it anymore, ran towards me. At that moment, Aji ran out like a shot and grabbed Fenrir’s ankle. Even though he had the upper hand, Aji and Fenrir had almost equal strength. He didn’t have the leeway to shake off Aji and attack me.
Besides.
Bang, bang. Every time a boulder fell, there was a loud noise. Weight is a weapon in itself. In particular, the king of beasts, whose body was light compared to his powerful strength, was swept away by the broken debris.
I threw a boulder at the moment when Aji grabbed Fenrir. Fenrir, who had barely shaken off Aji, kicked the rock with his forelegs. The boulder shattered in the air.
The attack was in vain, but in the meantime, Aji rushed in again. It was a great achievement just to take away Fenrir’s chance to chase Aji.
…I’m not sure if that’s an achievement.
“I wish you would hurt as much as I do.”
I felt pain in my limbs that shouldn’t be there. I tried not to be conscious of it, but my right arm seemed to be a little longer than my left arm.
Throwing heavy objects can put a strain on your body even without drinking Elixir. When you overdo it with a force that exceeds your limits, your body screams.
“I need one more. It’s impossible with just me and Aji.”
As I once again stabbed the boulder with the javelin, the sound of short sprints approached me. Two wolves jumped up in an instant and ran towards me.
“Do you want to play ball too?”
It’s too late to swing like before. Instead, I hit the boulder hard with the side of the javelin. Hundreds and thousands of stone fragments spread out like a bomb and stuck to the wolves’ fur. The wolves hesitated for a moment due to the shock, then let out a scream-like cry and ran towards my limbs.
“Tsk.”
I twisted the javelin like a key and inserted it. My earth magic can only push and pull the ground a little, but I can use much larger earth magic if I use a javelin. At the command of the javelin, a rock rose like a horn and pierced the abdomen of the wolf. Maybe it was because he had never received this kind of attack before. One of the wolves let out a miserable scream and fell out.
In the meantime, the wolf that had bravely dodged attacked me. He put his feet on my chest and shoulders and opened his snout. I felt a shock like being hit by a bullet, but I didn’t have time to care as sharp teeth approached my face.
Even as my body was pushed back, I kicked out with my hind legs. I withstood the wolf’s charge with the strength of my waist and legs. It was something I could only do now that I was strong with Elixir. I lifted my palm under the wolf’s jaw, which had stopped for a moment.I twisted my left wrist because I couldn’t control my strength. The snout, from which saliva was dripping, narrowly dodged. Now it’s my turn to fight back. I grabbed the Jizan and swung it up high.
The Jizan also played the role of a club. From the bottom to the top, the wolf’s belly skin was lifted up, and the wolf jumped up to nearly 30m. I was about to finish off the wolf, which was struggling in shock, but I suddenly felt flesh and instead slammed the Jizan into the ground.
“Awoooooooooooooooo!”
The ground where I was standing sank, and a wall of earth and rock rose up around it. Fenrir, who had broken through the makeshift wall in one breath, rushed in.
“Woof! Run away!”
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Aji, who followed, shouted desperately, but it was already like a stranger since he was facing Fenrir. Fenrir ran through the gap the wolf had made. It was fatal even if it just grazed him. I tried to block it, but Fenrir, who had learned the Jizan, ran with his whole body. A sharp attack came from outside the area that the Jizan could block.