Man Versus Tiger

 

In a remote area of this dangerous mountain range, a loud sound of wood being cut resounded from its deepest regions. Each time it sounded, the earth would vibrate as a towering tree in the distance would fall to the ground, the noise of hedges, plants, and crushed objects soon after sounding.

A few unusual creatures more powerful than even the Flaming Ice Tiger gazed towards the deepest direction in horror before they scampered off to different sectors. Nevertheless, the scene merely continued, as if the person cutting wood did not need to concern themselves with those in the area.

Traveling beyond the endless sight of trees and under brushes that spanned the mountain range, one would come across an open meadow at the edge of a clear lake. A simple wooden house stood at its center, with a few neatly chopped logs piled up together at its side, resting on the trimmed grass.

Suddenly, the cutting sounds had ended as a rustling sounded as if someone dragged something immense across the ground. Moments later, a person appeared from the mists that shrouded a fraction of the field, leaving an area of tall trees.

Upon a closer look, one would notice that he was an older man with a large ax in one hand. He had a thick-beard black and white hair and wore simple trousers with his shirt wrapped around his waist, revealing his large potbelly and muscular arms.

A crest was on his chest, but one could hardly make it out as if someone had burnt something over it. The old mountain man made his way to the house, carrying a massive tree trunk that he pulled effortlessly. His brown eyes were staring before him at a few glowing sprites that flew about in the

“Today is such a wonderful day; even the mountain spirits are joyful.” The old mountain man said with a smile.

Not long after, he arrived at the location of the logs and shrugged his shoulder, causing the tree to fall to the ground with a loud vibration.

The old mountain man then cracked his knuckles, setting himself into a strange position as he lifted only one arm into the air as the ax was hoisted above his head.

The mist soon faded, revealing a sharp ray that caused its edge to glisten as the man’s arm swelled up with many veins as if he was about to use some strange method.

Soon though, the man’s eyes narrowed as he glanced towards a relatively distant section of this mountain range. As if he sensed something, the man frowned as he thought, A disturbance, here? Odd, let’s see which brat has gotten so brave in these recent years.

Immediately after his thoughts, the mountain man vanished from his location, as if he was no different from the air itself. A cool wind blew from here, pushing away more of the mists as the morning slowly came into effect.

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The tension around both Marius and the Flaming Ice Tiger was dense enough for any knife to cut it apart, their killing intent which shone from their sharp eyes, causing even the atmosphere to shudder at their bloodlust.

Suddenly, the Flaming Ice Tiger erupted with terrifying flaming ice energy; the ground below its feet formed more fissures as a rippling wave of power scattered across the area, pushing away some of the remnant stones with great force.

One of the stones had swept by Marius with alarming speed, soaring towards the unguarded Grevlin and Rose. However, Marius didn’t dare to look back; he knew that creature before him would not be so kind if he had another moment of distraction.

Of course, even if he didn’t do anything, with his son at guard, a stone like that wouldn’t be able to harm anyone else, let alone himself. As if proving his thoughts correct, Grevlin, who saw the incoming rock, was alarmed at first, but as he recalled his father’s former words to protect his family; his face grew a bit determined.

Father said to protect the family, even if I have to use these hateful arms of mine, Grevlin thought as he heard the swooshing noises of the violent rock hurling towards their position. He gritted his teeth while slowly unveiling his arms from beneath his zipper, looking no different from an ordinary child’s.

“Brwother, look out!” Rose cried out as she stood behind him in alarm, her small palms trembling as she gripped the corner of his shirt.

Grevlin, roused from his negative thoughts, looked at his mother lying on the ground in a sickly state. As he heard his sister’s cry of alarm. His eyes turned sharp.

“Break to pieces!” Grevlin quickly yelled as he stepped forward and struck one of his cursed arms towards the boulder. The force of his punch made a whooshing noise as it tore through the violent winds before smashing into the rock with a loud bang, causing it to shatter into many different fragments of rocks around him.

Looking at the scene, Grevlin was surprised; he knew he was strong, but he didn’t think he was that powerful, in all honesty. Of course, even if he was a bit curious, he didn’t have time to express it as he soon heard something in his mind.

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Ding!

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User has expressed the will to fight!

User has activated their hidden potential!

Conditions for system awakening have been met!

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Ding!

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User’s maturity is not yet at the standard!

Limiting effects of awakening.

Awakening will continue as the User progresses to adulthood.

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Ding!

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Your level has increased by 1.

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Ding!

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All Combat Stats have awakened!

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Ding!

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Your (A-Max) Innate Skill:

Arms of Darkness has partially awakened!

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Ding!

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Due to the User’s bloodline, Arms of Darkness has mutated!

You have partially awakened the (S-Max) Innate Skill:

Empowered Arms of Darkness!

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Ding!

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(S-Max) Innate Skill:

Empowered Arms of Darkness has advanced to Level 2!

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Ding!

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(S-Max) Innate Skill Dark Calling is now awakened.

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“Huh? What’s happening?” Grevlin asked aloud. He couldn’t see anything, but only heared strange sounds in his mind. Due to his surprise, he wanted to find out more, but the violent collisions of the other stray boulders pulled away from his distractions as the situation was dangerous.

Not watching his son, Marius, who was enduring most of the tiger’s energy, was also transforming on his own.

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Ding!

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Empowerment has achieved Level 2

(EX-Max) Empowerment Level 2

Grade: Tier I

Skill Type: Active

(SM:0/1000)

Available Mastery Points: 7165

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Ding!

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Empowerment has achieved Level 3

(EX-Max) Empowerment Level 3

Grade: Tier I

Skill Type: Active

(SM:0/2000)

Available Mastery Points: 6165

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Ding!

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Empowerment has achieved Level 4!

Your innate skill has ranked up to the Second Tier!

New: Sense attribute can now be empowered!

(EX-Max) Empowerment Level 4

Grade: Tier II

Skill Type: Active

(SM:0/4000)

Available Mastery Points: 4165

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Ding!

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Empowerment has achieved Level 5

(EX-Max) Empowerment Level 5

Grade: Tier II

Skill Type: Active

(SM:0/8000)

…

Effects:

Increases Strength, Defense and Sense by five-★-star levels.

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Available Mastery Points: 165

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As if it had already gathered enough momentum, the Flaming Ice Tiger roared in a savage manner as it charged towards Marius. Its feet kicked against the fissured earth to push itself forward like a rocket at launch.

Marius didn’t have time to understand his skill advancement thoroughly; he promptly acted to resist the incoming threat.

Empower! He shouted in his mind. His body grew even more muscular before erupting an astonishing, white-colored mana power. It was to such a scale that even the charging tiger had a look of shock in its eyes.

Of course, its surprise was only for a moment as its eyes became colder; it knew that it should use all its strength to finish its prey right now. Instantly, it had arrived in front of Marius, opening its mouth to bite his upper torso with its sharp-looking fangs.

Marius had a solemn look when he stared at the tiger that was even bigger than himself, his radiant body arched in a combat stance as muscles and veins now filled his entire body. His skin turned darker, almost as if transitioning from light brown to bronze.

“You wretched beast, get lost!” He yelled while tackling the tiger directly. He wasn’t prepared with any weapons, so he could now only adapt to fighting in a primitive manner.

In seconds, following a loud crash, both man and tiger collided, creating earth-shaking sounds; the ground shook for a second before returning to normal.

In this clash, Marius’s mana power collided against the flaming ice power of the tiger. These energies then ravaged the environment around them for a few meters, reaching out to even Grevlin and the rest of the family.

Sensing the danger, Grevlin could only retreat with his mother and Rose, grasping both safely in his dangerous arms by his elbows. The entire field had turned into a chaotic mess in a short while, trees and rocks shattering everywhere as the two silhouettes struggled back and forth.

Grevlin, who had only now stopped at its edge, observed with stern eyes as he put down his mother and sister before speaking.

“You can do it, father.”

At this moment, Marius, who was wrestling the Flaming Ice Tiger and struggling to push it back, had noticed this scene. He grew even more enraged as his eyes turned slightly red, the energy around his body turning even more chaotic as he gripped the massive tiger firmly with both arms wrapping around its head.

The Flaming Ice Tiger felt a surge of danger, but Marius had already kicked the ground with his leg before it could respond. Instantly, he propelled the two into the air as Marius took the chance of the beast’s confusion to spin around like a gig.

The world view of the tiger soon changed to one of strangeness as all it saw were rapidly moving scenes, unable to tell left from right as it quickly grew dizzy. Marius had a brutal grin while he kept twisting around the tiger.

“You damn beast, go to hell!” Marius yelled as they descended from the sky. Using the force of his downward spin, Marius accurately smashed the head of the Flaming Ice Tiger into the ground, creating a loud boom as the earth shattered into a small crater.

The Flaming Ice Tiger’s eyes carried a tinge of dizziness when its head smashed into the earth; blood dripped from the corner of its mouth as its body twitched.

Marius, who used all his strength to perform the former attack, didn’t feel better. He had also suffered from the brunt of the impact. While kneeling on his leg, he spat out a bit of blood as he pulled away from the Flaming Ice Tiger, staring at it with a hint of caution as he prepared to finish it off.

Suddenly, Marius saw that the tiger’s dizzy eyes grew fiercer. It was as if it wasn’t willing to accept death. The Flaming Ice Tiger raised its body from the ground with a vengeful roar, ignoring its serious wounds as it glared at Marius with blood-red eyes. Looking at it now, one would even notice that clumps of flaming ice were conjured around its claws.

“What the heck? Why is it such a persistent animal? Such a troublesome beast!” Marius cursed as he saw this creature going berserk. He knew he had to give it one more shot and end it in one blow.

The two looked at each other; a soft wind blew across the field, rustling their hairs as it swept across the dust and debris from their surroundings. In an instant, they blurred and charged toward each other, quickly arriving within their attack range.

“Drop dead!”

“Roar!”

The cry of man and tiger sounded once more throughout this part of the mountain range as they crashed into each other, creating a loud boom. In the final clash, Marius’ fist smashed onto the jaw of the Flaming Ice Tiger, whose claws made a huge wound on his chest, sinking into his iron-like muscles as flames and ice ravaged his body.

“Ugh!” Marius groaned in pain, but he sucked up the feeling and conjured his remaining power into his other arm.

“Ahhhh!” He roared with a violent battle cry to rouse his fighting spirit before striking with everything he had. The golden-white colored energy conjured around his fist instinctively, giving off an astonishing pressure. Instantly, his fist, which collided with the head of the tiger, made a snapping noise as it twisted at a strange angle.

Marius looked at this in relief as they both collapsed on the ground, utterly exhausted. He watched the tiger with the broken neck, struggling with a trace of life within it. Despite being on the verge of death, it glared at him sharply before the light faded as it finally entered true death.

Finally, it’s over, Marius thought as he heaved a sigh of relief, but before he could even check his condition, a series of notifications sounded with screens of text appearing before his eyes.

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Ding!

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You have defeated a considerably stronger monster than you, converting the creature’s life force into EXP!

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Ding!

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You have achieved Level 2!

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Ding!

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You have achieved Level 3!

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All attributes have increased by (★) One Combat Star!

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Your Battle Rank has awakened!

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As one or more attributes have achieved the G★ rating.

Your Battle Rank has advanced to One-★-Star G Rank!

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Though intrigued, Marius didn’t bother to think about his current change. He knew that this area was still dangerous, and as such, he needed to leave to find safety with his family.

As if he understood this, Grevlin, who had been watching from afar, hurriedly approached with his mother and little sister. He carried them over between his elbows rather than his palms to ensure he didn’t accidentally hurt them with his strength.

“Father, are you fine?” Grevlin asked in worry.

“Is Dadda hurt?” Rose asked adorably from Grevlin’s arms.

Marius had an exhausted look, the blood on his chest visible as traces of fire and ice were still rampant. Yet, as if he didn’t feel it, he looked at his children calmly as he replied, “Don’t worry, father is fine.”

Grevlin looked at him a bit suspiciously, but he decided not to say anything.

Rose, however, asked in a worried tone, “Really? But… But… Dadda… Dadda’s cut is bad!”

Marius sucked up the pain and brushed his chest; the flames died down, but the internal damage was still in effect. Naturally, he didn’t want to show weakness in this kind of setting; he also didn’t want to stay here any longer.

“Haha, no worries, such a small cut won’t hurt your dad. Now come on, let us hurry and leave here,” Marius said as he held the unconscious Ria in one arm before pulling along Rose with the other.

“Okway,” Rose said, as she followed along with small steps, Grevlin also followed behind with silence.

Marius was hoping to leave the danger-filled forest, but the very moment he led his children onward, his eyes opened wide in shock as, unknowingly, a stranger had appeared.