Aarav stood motionless.
[ AUTO INSTINCT ]
[ ACTIVATED ]
'What happened to him? He's giving off a different vibe than before. Is he just pretending to be tough?' the man thought.
Then —
THUD!
In a blur, Aarav's kick sent him flying. He crashed through trees — CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! — splinters everywhere.
'Well… he's definitely not pretending. What happened to him… suddenly…?'
Before he could get up,
SWISH!
— Aarav appeared again. A knee smashed into his face.
CRACK!
His nose started bleeding.
'What the f*ck… what is he doing?' he thought. "It hurts…"
He swung a punch —
WHOOSH!
But Aarav slipped aside. A sharp spin —
THWACK!
Aarav's elbow slammed into his face again.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?!" the man yelled.
Aarav didn't answer.
The man grabbed a big stone and hurled it —
THUD!
Aarav swatted it away with one hand. The stone shattered.
The man turned, trying to run.
"Let's see if you can catch me…"
SWOOSH!
Aarav was in front of him again. One kick —
BOOM!
It sent him flying right back where he came from. He crashed down hard.
"Hey! You're really starting to piss me off…" the man growled, glaring.
"What happened to him? He's not the same person anymore…" Mio whispered, eyes wide.
"It's not possible… how is he doing that?" Ross said, stunned.
Aarav stepped out from the shadows, calm, silent.
"Fine… let's see what you got." The man drew his sword slowly.
SHING!
He lunged forward — his blade aimed straight at Aarav's chest.
Aarav tilted aside.
WHAM!
He kicked him in the gut — the man flew up into the air, coughing blood.
"What… power…" the man wheezed.
Aarav jumped after him.
WHOOSH!
He met him mid-air — then smashed him down with a spinning kick.
BOOM!
The man hit the ground hard.
CRACK!
— dirt and rock exploding everywhere. The earth split under him, blood spraying out.
Aarav landed right on him.
THUD!
— more cracks. The man rolled aside just in time, barely dodging Aarav's stomp.
He staggered back up. Laughing.
"Amazing… amazing! You're really amazing! First time someone's made me this crazy!" He cackled, wiping blood from his mouth.
Aarav stood silent. Breath calm.
Mio and Ross watched, frozen. Their voices stuck. They felt like they were seeing something unreal.
...
The man gripped his sword tighter and charged again — but his movements were sloppy now.
He swung.
SWISH!
— Aarav slipped back, blade cutting only air.
He swung again. And again.
SHHK! SHHK! SWISH!
Sword cuts slashed through trees behind Aarav, but every strike was missed.
"Why won't you die, you piece of sh*t!!" he roared. He slashed straight at Aarav.
SLASH!
It landed — but —
CLINK!
Aarav caught the blade with his fingers. The sword snapped in two.
CRACK!
The man's eyes widened.
"ARGH!" He lunged, trying to stab with the broken blade — Aarav grabbed his wrist — CRUNCH! — crushed it.
BAM!
Aarav's punch smashed his face. Blood sprayed as the man tumbled back, screaming.
"I... won't… die…!" he gasped, stumbling up, thrusting at Aarav's gut —
WHAM!
Aarav's knee slammed into his face again.
The man flipped backward, hit the dirt —
THUD!
"Oh f*ck… I'm… really done…" he coughed, barely moving. "I don't… have enough… energy to stand…"
Aarav stepped forward — calm.
Then —
STOMP!
Aarav's foot came down on his face — hard. The ground cracked under his head.
"Hehe…" the man let out a small, broken laugh. Blood dripped from his mouth as he stood up, barely holding himself together.
He shifted back a step, eyes wild. "I understand… I can't beat you. But…"
He staggered, drenched in blood.
Then —
A heavy sound behind him.
THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…
Something massive stepped out of the darkness.
A creature appeared behind him — part beast, part nightmare. It had huge arms and legs like a human but no head at all. Its skin looked like cracked stone, breathing out steam with every move.
The man turned slightly. "First… I die. Then… you will too…"
The beast swung one massive arm —
CRACK!
It smashed the man's body like paper. Blood splattered the ground as his body flew through the air and landed with a dull THUD far away.
The monster turned its focus toward Aarav. Heavy breath echoed through the trees.
It didn't care who he was — this thing killed anything in its way. No reason. No mercy.
Aarav stayed still for a moment. The beast lunged —
He dodged fast, jumping back just in time. Dirt exploded where he stood.
The beast roared — a deep, awful sound — and charged again.
Aarav countered with a sharp kick —
WHAM!
It hit the beast's chest — but the monster didn't budge at all. Its stone-like skin didn't even crack. It was like kicking a mountain.
He tried again — punch after punch, low kicks, spinning strikes —
WHACK! THUD! CRACK!
But nothing worked. The beast's thick hide made him nearly indestructible. If it caught him once — it'd be over.
The monster swung its huge claws, trying to grab him —
Aarav ducked under, twisting away. His speed kept him alive — small and quick enough that the beast's giant arms kept missing him by inches.
Each miss smashed trees apart.
CRASH! CRACK!
Splinters rained down as the forest shook.
Aarav ran, forcing the beast to follow him. Heavy footsteps thundered behind him. The angrier it got, the wilder it swung — ripping through everything in its path.
He sprinted through the broken woods until he reached a cliff's edge — a sheer drop into darkness below. One wrong step would be certain death.
Behind him — the beast kept coming, smashing branches aside.
It was close enough now — Aarav turned, feet right on the edge.
He jumped aside at the last moment.
The beast skidded, massive weight slamming the cliff's ledge. Rocks cracked under its feet.
Aarav swung in with one last desperate kick —
THUD!
It didn't move an inch.
But the broken cliff couldn't hold. The ground split, rocks gave way under the beast's weight —
CRACK! CRUMBLE!
The monster tumbled over the edge, arms flailing as it fell into the deep darkness below.
...
Aarav stood at the edge, breathing hard. His legs wobbled.
But before he could even look down —
His vision blurred.
His knees buckled.
His body dropped to the ground — and everything turned blank.
[ TIME REMAINING: 28 DAYS LEFT ]
***