Transcendent Gene
Chapter 98: On The Hunt [6]

Chapter 98: On The Hunt [6]

The world never actually slowed down when Gio felt like it did. It was no more than an illusion created by the height of his concentration.

Even this time, as he watched the bear approach him in slow motion, he knew that he wasn’t moving much faster. It wasn’t as if he was unfrozen in the slow world.

However, he only needed to see it once. He only needed that trajectory to be registered in his mind so he could act accordingly.

After that, he no longer had a need to see the beast. He knew where it would be and where it was going.

He tucked his body into the ground. His perception remained slow, but time flowed as always. In just two or three seconds, the bear reached him and slammed its weight directly on his position.

WHOOSH!

The sound of the bear’s body was huge in his ears. He slid, barely slipping onto the ground before the bear slammed down. Its stride was long enough to carry it all the way over his body before it took another step, but Gio never planned to give it that opportunity.

The sword in his hand stabbed upward. He pushed it as far as he could before momentum forced him to let go. At the same time, he pulled his other arm up, bringing with it an earthen sword that replaced the one he lost.

Gio flipped onto his stomach and pushed himself backward, completely leaving the bear’s shadow just in time to watch it land for its next step.

It was running forward as fast as it could. It put its entire weight into its paws with every bound to maximize the power it was carrying when it reached Amaya.

However, there was a sword sticking out of its stomach.

And it did not have the means to stop its own momentum in the slightest.

SHIK!

The moment its paws landed on the ground, its body slammed down in response. The hilt of Gio’s sword was crushed against the ground, forcing the blade deep into the bear’s body.

ROOOOAR–!

It was an immediate burst of sharp pain. Even if it was strong, the bear couldn’t ignore it. It stumbled, falling to the side before rapidly trying to get back to its feet.

However, Gio made it to his feet first. He rushed at the bear before it could move and grabbed the hilt of the sword. A white hue appeared on his hand, but he wasn’t summoning Hekat’s power.

Rather, when the sword recognized the energy of a Sequence, it responded.

Voom!

A blue hue leaked from within the bear’s open wound. It roared and thrashed its body There was a new rage in the bear’s eye that wasn’t present before.

Gio wasn’t recognized as an enemy, but even if he was a flea, he was one who needed to die.

As it swept its paw out to force him away, he ducked back and dragged the sword down the gash as far as he could. The blade, now covered in the light of Aether empowered by his Sequence, could cut through the flesh Amaya prepared for him.

Whoosh!

He rolled away, narrowly dodging the paw before scrambling to his–

’Tch!’

Gio abruptly kicked his feet into the air and forcefully slammed himself to the ground.

Whooosh!

He gritted his teeth as a sudden wave of heat traveled over his body, searing the hairs on the back of his neck.

Right, only its mouth had been rendered flameless. Everything else was free game.

’She made it harder this time. On purpose?’

He rolled to the side and stood up, watching the bear do the same. His eyes went over to Amaya for a second.

If she sensed danger, she would step in to save him.

’She’s not moving at all. No, is she smiling over there?’

From the very first time he pierced the gash with a rock spike, he realized that this wasn’t like the other battles he’d fought thus far.

Usually, Amaya dragged the beasts down to his level. The fights were difficult because he couldn’t do damage outside the spots she prepared for him, but if he hit those spots, he would be able to do damage as if he were fighting an equal opponent.

But to the Crimson Ash Bear, he was still nothing.

The gash on its stomach was bleeding, but only from the wounds Gio made. The gash Amaya made was just deep enough for Gio to exploit.

The bear wasn’t anywhere near close to caring about the blood spilling from its body.

Though, its blood was indeed leaking consistently.

’This isn’t like fighting an equal opponent or even someone several levels higher. This is like what happened during the vehicle delivery.’

It was as it was. A powerful enemy who was injured and weakened, yet still much, much stronger than him.

’The difference here is...’

Gio ran, circling around the bear as it pushed its paws out, throwing rings of fire to chase him. The Aether in his legs made him barely fast enough to avoid being hit, but he wasn’t nearly far enough to avoid the blistering heat hitting his back.

His eyes never left the bear. Even as he ran, he was slowly approaching it.

Whoosh!

Another flame ring sped at him like a bullet, and, well, he decided to imitate his seniors. Power went to his legs and into the ground as he propelled himself upward.

The ground itself gave him a boost as he flew up, sending him a dozen feet in the air and far above any of the rings the bear had thrown thus far.

It looked up, following his trajectory perfectly.

Did he think it was a good idea to be in the air?

That only made him an easier target.

Now, they were looking eye to eye.

How could it miss?

It pulled its paw back. The power of Aether didn’t need to be summoned from a body. Its nature as a beast created a system that naturally moved the energy.

It wasn’t wrong to think it had an advantage in this situation. Objectively, it did.

However, that was only if Gio’s presence in the air wasn’t a distraction.

The Crimson Ash Bear left itself completely defenseless to prepare a bigger burst to incinerate him. That was all he needed.

Without any rhyme or reason, he yanked his arm back. All of a sudden, the spike embedded in the bear’s stomach was jerked out and thrown into the air. The wound started leaking blood, but that was irrelevant.

The blood-stained spike didn’t stay airborne for long.

The bear wasn’t the only one who could aim better from this position.

Gio’s gaze remained on its eyes. He threw his arm forward, and the spike shot through the air like a missile.

Shik!

Before the bear understood what was happening, half of its world went black.

And the huge attack it had been readying was thrown far to the right, missing Gio by almost ten feet.

That was the difference between them and the reason why Gio felt no fear.

Unlike a Crimson Ash Bear, he wasn’t stupid enough to fight like a beast.