Fist King - Chapter 1 - Episode 8: Swordsman Junior High School Arc ⑦ Izu Highlands Mortal Combat Begins

 

Fist King: I Will Save the Earth from Zero in Another Reincarnation, Starting from Real World

Swordsman Junior High School Arc ⑦ Izu Highlands Mortal Combat Begins

While I was in the middle of taking care of the last mandragora, a direwolf attacked me.

The direwolf bit my left arm.

However, since it would be troublesome if it called its companions, I first slashed and defeated the last mandragora with the sword in my right hand.

With this, I was able to defeat all the companions that the first mandragora had called.

I looked away from the mandragora and saw my left arm, which was throbbing with intense pain. The direwolf was shaking its head from side to side, trying to tear off my arm.

While continuously casting "Heal" on my arm, I thrust my sword into the direwolf's flank.

When the sword pierced it, the direwolf flinched, and its biting power weakened.

I shook off the direwolf and, holding the sword with both hands, slammed a "Bash" into the direwolf's torso. Blood continued to flow from the direwolf's belly as it was slammed into the ground.

As I was casting "Heal" on my left hand, my parents came over, apparently having confirmed that there were no monsters around. My mother saw the blood coming from my left hand and cast "Heal" on me.

"Mom, I already cast 'Heal,' so I'm fine."

"But, dear... but..."

My mother kept saying "but" and continued to cast "Heal" on me while crying. My father looked at me with a complicated expression.

I told my mother it was enough and wiped the blood from my arm with my shirt, showing her my fully healed left hand.

Shaking off the blood from my sword, I looked around and confirmed there were eight mandragoras and two direwolves. I spread my hands towards my parents and asked,

"What are we going to do with these? Take them home?"

My parents also looked at the fallen monsters and seemed to be thinking, as they didn't answer immediately. Thinking it was dangerous to stay here, I made a proposal to my parents, saying, "For now..."

"Something else will come if we stay here, so let's carry everything to the car. We can think about it after that, right?"

My parents gasped at those words and hurried to start carrying the monsters. I didn't help carry them; instead, I kept watch over our surroundings.

As my parents finished carrying the mandragoras and were disassembling the direwolves, a rustling sound came from the forest.

Looking in the direction of the sound, a large mass slowly emerged from the forest. My father, who had confirmed its appearance, quietly muttered, his voice trembling with fear.

"Grizzly... why is it coming down from the forest..."

The animal-type monster called a grizzly emerged from the forest, walking on all four limbs.

I also confirmed its appearance; it resembled a brown bear, and its fur looked reddish-brown. Even just in its walking posture, its size was over 2 meters.

My father stopped the disassembly, picked up the gun that was lying nearby, and spoke in a low voice to my mother and me.

"Your dad will be the decoy, so you two run away in the meantime."

"Dear, you can't..."

"Just do it. An adult grizzly is an E-rank monster, so think about escaping."

"No, I won't either..."

My mother tried to continue her words, but seeing my father's determined face, she stopped speaking. My father called out "Kazuya," so I looked at him.

"Take care of your mother."

My father said that, then fired the gun into the sky to attract attention. There was a popping sound, and the grizzly started running towards us.

My father confirmed this and began to run away from us. However, the grizzly didn't go towards my father; it came towards us.

Perhaps lured by the smell of the direwolf's blood, the grizzly had descended from the forest, showing no interest in my father and coming straight for us. My mother tried to run away, but the sheer force of the approaching grizzly made her legs give out, and she couldn't stand up.

(I have no choice but to do this!)

I started running in a different direction from where my father had run.

Looking at my father, he was aiming his gun at the grizzly to draw further attention. Now that I had some distance, I let out the loudest possible shout from the pit of my stomach towards the grizzly, before my father could shoot.

"Bear! I'll be your opponent!"

When I shouted that, the grizzly changed direction and came towards me. It seemed I could now use the Provocation skill, allowing me to change the grizzly's target.

Even though I was relieved that the grizzly was coming for me, I had to be careful so that my father wouldn't shoot it.

"Dad, don't shoot! Please take care of Mom!"

A few seconds after I shouted, my father lowered his gun and started to return to my mother. After confirming that, I turned to face forward and looked at the grizzly growling and charging towards me.

(Now I can fight without worry.)

The grizzly, rapidly closing the distance, swung its paw, larger than my face, and brought it down on me. Even though I leaped hard to the left to dodge, I couldn't fully avoid it, and the tips of its claws grazed my chest, tearing my clothes.

As I regained my distance and re-gripped my sword, the grizzly stood up. The standing grizzly appeared to be over 4 meters tall.

(If I take even one direct hit, I'll die...)

A smile involuntarily crept onto my face with that tension.

I cast a buff spell on myself, just as before, and charged towards the grizzly. The grizzly also roared and swung both paws down to meet me.

"GROOOAR!"

Even when I dodged and slammed a "Bash" into the grizzly's torso, it didn't seem to have any effect. When the grizzly's attacks hit the ground, they churned up dirt and gouged out the earth.

I steeled myself for a long battle and continued towards the grizzly.