Both Iron-Tusk Boars staggered.
Their massive chests heaved violently, breath coming out in harsh snorts. Blood dripped steadily from deep wounds, soaking into the forest floor. The metallic sheen of their tusks was dulled, cracked from repeated collisions.
They were exhausted.
They were wounded.
And they were desperate.
Arjun's eyes sharpened as he watched their movements slow—how their charges had lost rhythm, how their legs trembled each time they shifted their weight.
He inhaled once.
"This is it," he said quietly.
Then—
"Now!"
The command snapped through the forest like a whip.
Both boars reacted instantly, letting out enraged roars as they sensed new threats closing in.
"Split into two teams!" Arjun ordered.
The group moved without hesitation.
"Raya, Tim, Koushik—left!"
"Divya, Rohit—with me!"
"Rita, stay back and keep us alive!"
Rita nodded, gripping her staff. "Don't push yourselves too hard."
Left Side
Raya charged first.
"Frenzy!"
A dull red aura flared around him as he slammed into the wounded boar, his sword crashing against its metal tusk with a screech of steel and sparks.
"It's slower!" Tim shouted.
"But it is still dangerous!" Koushik replied, firing a bolt that buried itself deep into the boar's shoulder.
The monster roared in pain and tried to counter charge—but its legs gave out mid-step.
Tim appeared from its blind spot.
Slash.
Then another.
Each strike targeted open wounds, draining what little strength the beast had left.
With a final, desperate scream, the boar collapsed heavily onto its side, motionless.
Raya stepped back, breathing hard. "One down!"
Right Side
The second boar lowered its head and charged Arjun's group with reckless fury.
"Rohit—cripple its movement!" Arjun shouted.
BOOM.
The blast shattered bone in its front leg. The boar stumbled—but didn't fall.
Instead, it twisted violently, swinging its iron tusk in a wide arc.
Too fast.
Arjun stepped forward instinctively and raised his arm to block—
CRACK.
Pain exploded through him.
His forearm bent at an impossible angle as the iron tusk slammed into it.
Arjun was thrown back, skidding across the dirt.
"Arjun!" Divya screamed.
"I'm fine!" he gritted through clenched teeth. "Finish it!"
Divya gathered mana and fired a condensed spell straight into the boar's head, staggering it.
Raya rushed in from the side, sword raised high.
With a brutal downward strike, he drove the blade through the monster's neck.
The Iron-Tusk Boar collapsed with a heavy thud, its body twitching once before going still.
After the Battle
Silence returned.
Only heavy breathing remained.
Rita rushed to Arjun's side immediately. "Don't move."
They carefully set his arm back into position, tying it tightly with cloth .
Rita raised her staff, hands shaking.
"Minor Heal."
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Sweat formed on her forehead as she continued.
Ninth time
"…Minor Heal." she whispered
The glow faded.
Arjun flexed his fingers slowly. The pain was gone.
"…It's healed," he sighed in relief.
Rita nearly slumped in relief. "Don't ever block a metal tusk with your body again."
Arjun gave a tired smile. "I'll try not to."
Divya exhaled. "That was reckless."
"But it was necessary," Arjun replied, then looked at the fallen boars. "If I did not block it with my hand its tusk would have drilled a hole in my stomach"
Everyone went pale in realisation that they could lose their life anytime.
"Let's do the same thing we did before,"Arjun said.
They moved quickly.
The boars' bodies were dragged aside, dug into the earth, and buried carefully. Strong-smelling plants were crushed and scattered to mask the scent of blood.
Rohit pressed the soil down firmly. "We'll come back for them later."
Arjun nodded, eyes already scanning the forest ahead.
"Let's continue the hunt," he said.
And deeper into the forest, they moved once more.
They pushed on for a while longer, cutting down a few scattered monsters that wandered too close to their path.
A blue monkey fell.
Then another.
Finally, a Level 2 Blue Monkey leapt from the canopy, screeching as it attacked.
The fight was fast and controlled. Raya intercepted it head-on, Tim struck from the shadows, and a single enhanced shot from Rohit ended it. The creature collapsed in a heap of blue fur and blood.
Arjun felt it first.
His muscles tightened, responding faster than thought. His breathing grew steady, his heart calm, even as power surged through his limbs.
A translucent window appeared.
[Level Up]
He clenched his fist. The strength in his arm felt denser—solid. When he took a step forward, the ground seemed to yield less resistance.
"…My body's faster," Arjun muttered. "And stronger too."
Beside him, Divya inhaled sharply.
Mana gathered naturally around her, flowing smoother than before.
Her interface flickered.
[Level Up]
"…My mana capacity increased," she said quietly. "And my control is more precise. I can cast longer without exhausting myself."
They stared at their system interface
[Gold:25]
Rohit exhaled. "That's enough to cover town's tax for a month."
"Which means we can stop here for now," Divya said. "We've pushed far enough."
Arjun nodded. "Alright then, Let's head back."
They turned—
And then a scream cut through the forest.
Not from behind.
Not from the direction of town.
From deep ahead.
A raw, desperate scream—cut short abruptly.
Everyone froze.
"That came from inside the forest," Tim said instantly, eyes sharp.
Raya's grip tightened around his sword. "…That wasn't a monster."
Another scream followed.
Then shouting.
Then the unmistakable sound of metal striking metal—and something heavy crashing through trees.
Arjun didn't hesitate. "Move."
They broke into a run.
The deeper they went, the thicker the smell became.
Iron.
Blood.
The first body lay facedown between two broken shrubs.
Then another.
Then many more.
The ground was soaked, dark red, churned into mud by frantic movement. Drag marks streaked the earth, ending abruptly where bodies had been torn apart.
One corpse lay missing its chest entirely.
Another had been skewered clean through, the wound burned black around the edges by friction and force.
Rita gagged violently and dropped to her knees.
Rohit turned away, vomiting.
Even Arjun's stomach twisted painfully as bile rose in his throat. He bent forward, breathing hard.
"…This is my first time," he muttered hoarsely. "Seeing human corpses like this…"
Divya pressed a hand to her mouth, face pale. "They didn't even have time to run…"
They forced themselves to stand.
To keep moving.
And then they saw it.
A clearing lay ahead.
More than fifty people—fighters, civilians, poorly equipped adventurers—were scattered in broken formations, some injured, some already dead.
At the centre stood a monster larger than any they had faced so far.
A massive boar.
Its hide was thick and scarred. Its metal tusk was long, jagged, and soaked in blood. Steam rose from its nostrils as it snorted, muscles bulging beneath its skin.
[Iron-Tusk Boar – Level 3]
The monster charged.
A man screamed as the tusk pierced through his armor and lifted him off the ground. The boar shook its head violently, flinging the broken body aside like trash.
Panic spread instantly.
"They're being slaughtered," Raya said grimly.
"They don't have any coordination," Tim added. "And they're already exhausted."
Divya tightened her grip on her staff. "If we don't step in, no one here will survive."
Arjun stared at the battlefield.
He felt the new strength in his legs.
The sharper reflexes.
The steadier control over his body.
He drew his blade.
"Let's help them," he said simply.
No one argued.
The group moved as one.
Arjun stepped forward, eyes locked on the Level 3 Iron-Tusk Boar.
"Let's end this," he said.
And they charged into the blood-soaked clearing.