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Instinctively, his eyes scrutinized every last movement the bear made. Unbeknownst to him, a latent effect of his Intelligence indicator was showing.

[Ah, you are entering the Sensitive Instinct state, but don\'t make light of it because unfortunately, it can\'t be held for long in your current condition. Do your best to end the fight before it vanishes.]

"Okay," Apollo quickly answered before taking a cautious step forward. Once the bear responded, it then turned into an abrupt dash.

Growling in response, the Violet Stone Bear slammed its paws against the ground causing two earth spikes to erect in the position Apollo stood. However, how could he not perceive this?

In his heightened state, he vaguely sensed the flow of Natural Essence and weaved between the two earth spike like a slithering snake. His movements were fluid and faintly trained after a few run-ins with agile beasts.

Unfortunately, a third spike appeared right before him without a moment\'s notice.

In this situation, he didn\'t tense up as one would usually do. His 8 months of continuous training where his rest relied upon him surviving in a half-awake state wasn\'t for show. Not to mention, he was already on edge from this bizarre state he was in.

\'Fwoosh!\'

Apollo performed a swift horizontal slash. Typically, someone his size would fail to mow down that spike, but the Dark Cutter was not to be estimated. The Dark Cutter sliced through the earthen spike like a warm knife through butter.

After all, the material from within the Nihilistic Rings was much denser than the matter found in this world. To strengthen the spike to that degree would require an obscene amount of Natural Essence to be imbued.

Apollo then stomped the ground, performing an uninterrupted straight dash.

Due to the cub lacking in maturity, its control over Natural Essence wasn\'t that great when it came to endurance, thus it hit a limit and entered a temporarily fatigued state.

Once Apollo arrived before the cub\'s he punctured its torso with a reverse grip. Though, he didn\'t stop there, continuing to drag the blade across the length of the cub\'s hind legs.

A long gash appeared as a result. However, only a trace amount of blood leaked from the wound. In its stead, a yellowish glow appeared coating the wound.

Once again, Irauk was surprised by the situation at hand. \'It seems the cub possesses the means to activate its innate defensive ability; Lesser Earthen Armor. Although it\'s an inferior technique; it can still increase its defense greatly. I wonder how he will deal with this in his current state. I was correct about him. That state he has entered is something that shouldn\'t appear until one has matured adequately.\'

"Is my attack ineffective?" Apollo murmured incredulously. The strike felt deep yet the condition of the wound betrayed his assumptions. Of course, the evident light was hard to miss, allowing Apollo to draw some conclusions.

Afterward, he spared some attention to the alert.

«Damage reduced! You have dealt 20 damage.»

\'I wield 28 Zuls, which means it mitigated at least ¼ of my damage. If it\'s like this, I wonder which will last longer—my stamina or its health?\' Apollo mused while shifting back to his earlier tactics—attacking vitals.

Changing to a neutral grip, Apollo attempted to stab his knife into the eye of the cub. However, a shockwave exuded from its body as it emitted a loud roar. It was strong, forcing Apollo to retreat a few steps.

\'What\'s that?\' 

As Apollo observed the bear again, a more complete earthen armor surrounded its body now. Furthermore, a rock helmet appeared on its head. While the armor didn\'t cover the bear\'s entire body, it covered pretty much all of its vitals. Its head, back, joints and torso were protected.

"Luckily, I possess this knife. Though, I think its new form should also present a large drawback," Apollo said to himself.

With the weight of the armor, it was bound to be a hindrance to its speed—it should essentially be a stone fortress due to its joints solidifying.

[Sound judgment. It has indeed sacrificed copious amounts of speed to protect itself after deeming your knife to be of grave danger. In doing so, it probably believes it has saved itself from imminent danger. It is now your turn to show it that it isn\'t the case.]

Nodding in agreement, Apollo dashed forward. If he couldn\'t approach its vitals then the number of injuries would have to become compensation. Within moments, he began to take advantage of his superior speed.

1...5...10…

The number of small cuts on its fur and chips on its armor continued to grow in number with each passing second. Of course, it didn\'t simply wait to be injured. It tried to present attacks of its own. Regrettably, it was entirely too slow.

The repercussions of its new armor were apparent. It was akin to a sitting duck after being pinned against its bane.

After the light attack, Apollo moved around rapidly. While it constant momentum, it thwarted any opportunity for the bear to retaliate. 

"Groooahhh!" It roared indignantly a few times as the fact that it couldn\'t land a paw on Apollo infuriated it.

In response, a small smirk appeared on Apollo\'s lips.

At the same time, he began to question why it was he felt even a pang of apprehension for this beast. As long as he possessed high enough stats, he didn\'t need such emotions. While it would take time, it seemed he was capable of hunting beasts beyond his level.

Granted, they needed to be in line with his strengths and not too far off..

Krrk! Krrrk!

Repeated cracking sounds echoed from the Violet Stone Bear\'s Earthen Armor as the Dark Cutter solidified itself at the cub\'s worst nightmare. The obsidian weapon truly became the bane of its existence.

«You have dealt 25 damage.»

«You have dealt 23 damage.»

Depending on the area he attacked and the extent of the damage Apollo he inflicted upon the Earthen Armor, the values of his attacks varied albeit minuscule in difference.

By now, he had chipped away nearly 60% of the Spirit Beasts\' health. However, he had already been embroiled in battle for over 5 minutes!

His stamina was reaching dangerous levels. Taking note of this, Irauk rubbed his chin with a peculiar expression in his eyes, \'This young lad has already passed my test but let\'s see where his heart lies. Is he capable of finishing what he started? If so, I\'ll present even more to him. After all, I\'ll need to prepare him for the future.\'

On the other hand, Apollo kept mental notes of his stamina as well as the overall situation. \'My stamina is approximately 80% depleted while this beast still possesses 40% of its health. It\'s hard to tell if I will last. I really want that experience...\'

After making the call, Apollo stopped any excessive movements and instead stuck close to the beast. Any movement it made, he began mirroring it, only retaliating with the least amount of energy.

In this way, he also began noticing small errors in the beast\'s movement. Its intent on survival caused its actions to become sloppy.

Not to mention, it was a cub and barely possessed combat experience. Apollo could truly say the odds were now in his favor. In mere moments, Apollo lowered its health to 5%. Of course, it was strenuous on his stamina.

Luckily, the Resplendent Jadeite Pendant was mitigating just enough stamina consumption to extend his time spent in battle.

At this point, the movements of the cub became an utter mess. Its mangled armor was falling off in chunks while it struggled to stand with all the cuts to its joints.

\'It\'s now or never!\'

  Apollo threw caution to the wind and performed an arc step before lunging forward as he thrust the Dark Cutter with all his might.

\'Pucht!\'

«Fatal Damage! You have dealt 100 damage.»

«Congratulations...»