Chapter 17: A Pig in the Courtyard
1130 Words
A picture of a prehistoric mammoth came to his mind. The pig looked similar to the mammoth, besides its tusks and snout. Maybe the pig was a descendant of the mammoth.
It was nothing more than a mutated pig, but its size was enormous! It had to be a Bronze IV level mutant at least.
Luther looked up at the fat man. This man was a natal tamer and the mutant pig was his beast.
The man grunted his orders to the pig. Luther planted his feet and stood his ground.
"Kid, aren’t you scared? I can forgive you if you beg. I see you have powers of your own. If you beg, I’ll...uh... accept you as my own personal man. You’d have an easy life, full of girls just like the one you came here with..."
The man barely finished his sentence before Luther raised his hand and shot an ice arrow at him. It sliced forward in the air and the man ducked, afraid to fall off his beast.
The arrow did not target the fat man but at the face of the mutant pig. The beast barely flinched as the arrow cracked on its nose and fell to the ground
Luther’s eyes widened at this. The arrow did not hurt it. Its nose only had a small red mark where the arrow had hit, but its skin hadn’t been broken.
Luther realized he had underestimated the strength of the mutant pig. It was not up to a Bronze V.
The mutant pig was hit by the ice arrow and snorted in anger. It couldn't wait to kill the tiny human. But without its tamer’s command, it only stomped the ground and roared.
The fat man slipped off the animal’s back and groaned. He hid behind the mutant pig and said, "He’s all yours, piggy. Kill him."
At his tamer’s order, the pig roared up to the sky and ran to Luther with its fat limbs. The force of its feet made the whole ground shake. The pig was gifted not only with large body mass but also with extraordinary speed. In just seconds, it rushed close to Luther with a ferocious growl.
Luther was afraid now, knowing a collision from this beast would be worse than a car driving at full speed at him. With its long tusks, its target would be impaled fatally.
Luther ducked and rolled on the ground to avoid the pig, then shot an ice arrow into its eyes, thinking it was probably the most vulnerable part of its body.
But it was a very small target. Luther knew this and groaned when his arrow had missed. The mutant pig shook its head, and the remaining ice slid away from its snout and fell to the ground.
Luther frowned. He approached the pig now. If the beast had space to run, it had the advantage, so Luther took the upper hand by fighting at a close range.
Luther pulled out the ax from his waist and covered it with ice. Glittering and clear, the ax became harder and sharper.
He sliced at the pig with the ax but still couldn’t break its skin. It only left a red mark as the arrows had done.
The pig shook its head at Luther. He dodged its tusks and ran to the beast’s rear, chopping at the sensitive skin on its butt. This blow made the mutant pig roar, but it didn’t seem to be in pain.
Luther circled behind the pig, keeping away from its tusks. Luther began to exhaust himself, chopping at the pig repeatedly, not drawing a single drop of blood.
"Thick skin, strong attack. I think it’s reached the Silver level."
He mumbled this quietly as the mutant pig swung its head and charged straight at him.
Luther ducked out of the way. Its force was immense, ramming into the big tree behind Luther. Its tusks goring the tree. The pig was stuck now, its face planted against the tree trunk.
Here’s my chance!
Luther seized the opportunity to s***h the pig. He swung his ax to hit the pig in the same spot, over and over. After a few more blows, he finally broke into the beast’s flesh, but only a few drops of blood poured out.
The attack seemed to have angered the pig more. It roared and stomped into the ground, pushing the whole tree down. It bared its teeth and rushed at Luther.
Luther tried to catch his breath. His clothes clung to his body, drenched in sweat. He was dodging the pig while he was trying to kill it. At times, he had the upper hand, but he was getting tired quickly.
Luther knew that his strength was almost depleted, but still had to keep his mind focused on the fight.
If he was distracted or made any mistakes, he would definitely be impaled by the tusks of the mutant pig, if he wasn’t crushed to death by its hooves.
Then he heard an order from behind him.
"Piggy, kick him!”
The mutant pig seemed to understand and raised its hind foot swiftly into Luther's chest.
It was a sudden strike that Luther was not ready for, and he tried to raise the ax to shield him.
The pig’s feet kicked the ax with a loud ring, but the ax was curved out of the way and the large hooves pounded into Luther.
Luther spit out a mouthful of blood and fell back against the courtyard wall before falling to the ground.
His head was dizzy. His eyes were blurred with sweat. The pain in his chest made him cough up a few mouthfuls of blood.
There was a taunting voice now. "You pissed me off. Piggy! Don’t kill him so quickly. Make him hurt first."
Luther felt the ground start to rumble. He saw the shadow of the pig rush towards him.
Luther knew he didn’t have much time before he couldn’t fight back anymore.
The pig’s bloodshot eyes widened as it raised its giant hooves and stepped on his chest again.
If he got attacked one more time, Luther would be very seriously injured. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get back up.
Luther quickly reached forward and grabbed the pig's feet with all his strength.
Luther grunted loudly, and the veins on his neck got thicker. “Go to hell!"
Luther pushed with all his power, holding the pig’s feet in the air and releasing cold air from his hands. The ice spread out from his fingers, and the feet were quickly shrouded deep in a layer of ice.
The pig roared from the bite of the ice and summoned up its strength to free his foot. It kicked out at Luther's chest. Luther felt the painful thud and coughed up more blood.
But he held the pig's feet tight and flashed a half-smile from his bloodied mouth. He then loosened his grip and made a fist with one hand. He yelled at the mutant pig, "You can't defeat me!”
- Writer
