Banda ran wild through the forest, hunting its beasts and eating their souls without rest. He’d already eaten more during this hunt than he had all his other hunts together, but still his fourth claw would not form. He needed more.

  As he searched for more prey, he found himself in a barren land. The trees and shrubs and grass and all living things were missing. Rooted up and torn away. It was as though the forest itself was being killed. Being eaten.

  Banda soon found the cause. A massive boar greedily devouring the forest to satisfy its insatiable hunger. It gorged on bark as easily as it did grass, paying no care to the piles of dirt its swallowed in the process.

  Its snout twitched with a snort, and it turned to face him with menacing pressure. Its body was a mass of knotted muscle. Frothing drool poured down its tusked mouth as horrid roars belched from its throat.

  Bloodshot eyes that lacked anything more than the barest trace of reason fixated solely on Banda, as its whole brutish body seemed to twist in rage and aggression.

  The Calydon shot forward so fast Banda nearly failed to dodge. Trees exploded in the distance upon the impact of the boar’s charge, and exploded again with barely a split moment’s delay as it charged back.

  Banda darted and lept out of its path as the Calydon charged at him without end. He knew from its raw speed and power that a single hit would mean his death.

  He threw a stone as he dodged, but it shattered to dust against the force of the boar’s charge.

  It was a powerful creature. More dangerous than other normal beast in the forest he had encountered. His instincts told him to run from such a threat, but he needed power.

  Banda bore the strain as his face turned monstrous. Cracking thunder roared over his fist, and he lunged with the Calydon’s charge.

  The impact of his fist against the boar’s head blew a crater into the ground and toppled the nearby trees, but the Calydon only staggered back a few yards, and charged again.

  Banda grit his teeth in thought. The boar’s charge and his fist were equal in power, but the boar was unharmed, while his fist ached dangerously from a single blow.

  Before he could think of his next action, the Calydon let out a terrible roar, and lept into the air. Banda jumped away from its hooves, but the shockwave that followed sent him crashing away.

  The boar gave him no time to think. It leapt again and again, trampling the forest with viscous Thunderstomps in its murderous pursuit.

  Banda dodged again and was knocked away again. He was forced to remain in Monstrous Feral Form to stay alive, and even then his wounds were mounting.

  He felt his back hit the wall of a cliff, and the boar crashed face first into it. The Calydon shook itself out and stones rained down on it from above, as Bande darted up over the precarious footing.

  The boar bellowed again and charged up the wall of the cliff. Banda let it pass by then pursued. The foolish boar had thrown itself into the air where it was defenseless.

  The violent creature caught notice of Banda through its mad thrashes, but that changed little. The young savage’s claws shone sharp and he slashed into the boar’s hide.

  But the hide was too tough. Too thick. His claws cut through only muscle, nowhere near deep enough to be lethal. Though Banda did not despair. He scurried over the thrashing airborne boor, clawing and tearing everywhere he went.

  The boar’s thrashes grew more violent, but it’s speed was nothing without footing and its hooves a poor counter to his hands. Banda clawed towards its throat, and a shockwave sent him crashing back down into the cliff.

  Banda rose just as the boar landed, and watched it loom to its feet. Blood gushed from its body, but its legs were firm and the overwhelming violence swirling within its eyes had only grown.

  Shockwaves snapped off of the boar’s hide as it charged again. The ground cratered beneath its feet as Thunderstomp combined with its rushing blitz to create a weapon of simple onslaught.

  Banda readied himself, but the cliff shattered before the charge reached him. As he started to fall, he realized his chance. And he took advantage.

  A thunderous Roar knocked the boar higher into the air, and Banda lunged from the remains of the cliff. He did not aim to wound or hinder. He aimed to kill.

  The boar turned its bloodshot eye and Banda buried his arm in it. It thrashed with more violence than every before, but Banda held on. He channelled Thunder in his fist, and let the impact explode within the boar’s head.

  The massive creature crashed down from the air, and it did not rise again. Banda ripped his blood-soaked arm out of its eye and stood over the beast victoriously, but he showed no satisfaction.

  It had been a tough fight. Too tough. He had to risk the strain of his power just for a chance to win, and that was not acceptable.

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  His Monstrous Feral Form was lacking. He could use it normally just fine, but the drawbacks for pushing beyond his limits were too great. He needed more power, and he needed to withstand it.

  Divinity surged with his desire like a violent storm. It molded itself to his will and his will became form. The light broke into fragments and a web of divine light coursed over his body.

  He had created his fourth ‘claw’. Not only could he go monstrous without the strain, but his limit seemed even higher now. He felt stronger than ten of what he had been just moments ago.

  Banda clenched his fist. He was strong enough to face The Wolf now. But hesitation still remained in him. He was strong, but he could be stronger.

  With his mind in doubt, he sped off back to the safe land. Monga knew many things. He would ask how to fight The Wolf better. How to kill it.

  ---

  Banda scoured through the safe land, but Monga was nowhere to be found. He had searched all over for hours now, called out to him, but nothing worked.

  Banda grew frustrated. He needed Monga’s answers. And that thought made his frustration grow even more.

  With a burst of resolve, he raced out of the safe land. He didn’t need the answers. He was strong now. Strong enough to kill The Wolf.

  The face of The Wolf appeared, and the fear Banda never wanted to feel again struck deep. But this time, he acted.

  He whipped a rock with booming speed that destroyed The Wolf’s eye. It flailed with a sickening howl and slipped back between the trees out of sight.

  Banda’s instincts flared as the wolf snapped its long jaw from the other side of the forest, but he managed to dodge in time and claw deep into its cheek.

  The Wolf slipped back and attacked from another side again. A strange trick. Disappearing behind the trees even though Banda could see past them, and reappearing somewhere else even though Banda never saw it move. He did not understand how it did it, but he knew he could win anyway.

  Banda turned and whipped a rock into its other eye, and lunged for the kill. But The Wolf spasmed into a demented frenzy and danger blared in Banda’s mind.

  He blitzed around rapidly as The Wolf attacked in a barrage from all sides in rapid succession. How it moved shouldn’t be possible, but it lunged its twisted maw from elsewhere the moment it retreated.

  Panic filled Banda. A flash of inspiration, made him punch a crater into the ground to lower himself below its surface. Banda inhaled deep and roared up to blast The Wolf’s head into the air. With its rampage stalled, he lunged up and clawed through its throat.

  Blood drenched down on him and the ground beneath from its wound. The Wolf writhed and staggered, but Banda did not relent. He pummeled and clawed and ripped and tore away, relentlessly, desperately, until finally The Wolf fell still.

  Banda waited tensely. His heart raced in his chest and his nerves pulsed like lightning. A few more moments passed, and he threw a stone at it but got no response.

  Finally, a smile started to form on his face. He had killed this terrifying foe. Nothing in this forest would threaten him again.

  Suddenly, The Wolf’s body pulsed grotesquely, scaring him back a step. And it started to heal. Flesh weaved into flesh unlike any creature he’s seen before, and it started to rise.

  The Wolf’s long maw became short and wide. It’s face became a blend of many beasts he had seen before and many he had not. And that face twisted into an unsettling smile.

  “Brave Child… Ignorant Savage… Flesh.”

  The overwhelming sense of dread returned. And Banda fled. The Beast could not be killed.

  He ran into the safe land, but The Beast followed. The rest of his monstrous form now in full view. Its smile seemed more intense, and its eyes intelligent and focused.

  “Hollow Flesh.”

  Banda fled.

  He fled as fast as he could, until he reached the boundary of the forest. It worried him, but he hesitated for only a moment, and for the first time he left the forest.

  But The Beast pursued. From the shadow of his eye, always just out of sight until it was far too close.

  “Where do you flee, child? You cannot leave the forest…”

  Banda fled.

  He ran through the desert. He ran through the mountains. He ran to the end of the land where it met the sea. He felt a strong sense of aversion to its depths, but when he turned, The Beast was there.

  “You cannot flee…”

  Banda trembled before The Beast. He could not kill it. He could not flee from it. All that remained was death.

  He glanced back to the abyss below, and then at the cliff beneath his feet. At the dry rocky surface, skewered in gnarled roots.

  Banda mustered everything he could to lunge at The Beast who lunged back. Its fangs opened to his claws, but his claws closed into a fist, and he struck the cliff.

  Stone shattered whole in an instant, causing them both to plummet down. But Banda was ready. He caught a root and swung himself back to the land, just out of reach of The Beast’s snapping jaws.

  Banda looked back from the edge of the cliff as The Beast fell into the sea. The waters attacked it like poison, dissolving its thrashing body until flesh and bone turned to black sludge and that sludge sank below the surface.

  Banda climbed up to the top of the cliff, and looked again. The remaining ripples gradually calmed into silence, and The Beast was gone.

  This victory felt hollow. There was no sense of superiority. Only a sense of relief that did not fully wash away his fears.

  It was not his strength that defeated The Beast, but his thoughts. His trick. Nothing more.

  Banda turned, slowly at first, and ran back towards the forest. Confliction remained, but he was glad The Beast was gone.

  Monga said he would fear nothing if he was stronger. Banda wanted to never fear again. He never wanted to feel this way again.

  Banda vowed in his heart to become stronger. Stronger than Monga. Stronger than gods. Stronger than The Beast. Stronger than anything in the forest. Strong enough to kill his fear forever.

  ---

  Banda stood beside Eres among a crowd in the light of dawn. The monster wave and demon scourge had carved away the town of 3,000 to a mere few hundred. And all stood before Otto who displayed his infernal form openly.

  Banda stared at the smiling wolf, and clenched his fist. He was too powerful to defeat as he was now. His only chance was to outsmart him.

  This too, was a challenge he could not defeat. But he could overcome it. He could survive it. And the longer he survived, the stronger he would become. Until there would truly be no one who could threaten him.