Kyle jumped back immediately.
BANG!
A long and scaly object shot past him and entered the lake.
Kyle saw the object originating from behind one of the huge stalactites while flying back.
The next moment, the object shot out of the water again, chasing after Kyle.
From Kyle's perspective, it looked like a spear.
Instead of evading to the side, Kyle held the head of his hammer in front of him and stepped on it.
BANG!
The spear hit the hammer with a ton of force.
CRK!
Small cracks appeared on the hammer, and Kyle's eyes widened for just a moment.
Then, an incredible force pushed Kyle back.
Since he was essentially standing on the hammer, Kyle only felt like he had landed after jumping from a height of 50 to 100 meters.
The force pushed him away from the lake's surface.
BANG!
Kyle's right arm and leg hit the wall, which collapsed inward a bit.
He wasn't injured since his landing had been controlled.
During this entire time, he didn't let the spear leave his vision, and he saw how the spear retracted.
The spear straightened and pulled back until it went around the corner of the stalactite.
At this moment, there were around 70 meters between Kyle and the stalactite.
Kyle's instincts had calmed down a bit. The danger was still present, but it wasn't as strong anymore.
That was when he saw something crawling around the stalactite.
It was something that looked like a mix between a lizard and a chameleon.
Its tail wasn't as curly as the tail of a chameleon, but its eyes were definitely ones that a chameleon would have.
Its round and bulging eyes quickly darted around the entire cave, but at least one of them was always looking at Kyle.
For several seconds, the two of them just looked at each other from a distance.
Then, the strange beast crawled down the stalactite and looked at the lake.
BANG!
Its mouth opened, and the spear from earlier shot out.
It was its tongue!
Kyle could see the back of its tongue chaotically moving around.
He couldn't see the end, but it was clear that the beast was searching for something in the water.
After some seconds, its tongue moved back, and Kyle could see a skewered Arrowana at its end.
He had just seen it for a moment before it was pulled back into the chameleon's mouth.
The next moment, the chameleon moved around the stalactite again, vanishing from Kyle's vision.
He took a deep breath.
"Well, at least we know what happened to the Arrowanas and why they are so careful," Kyle commented.
"That's a Peak Ferocious Beast," Theodor said.
"I thought as much," Kyle answered, glancing at the cracks in his hammer.
Kyle's hammer could take a lot of punishment, but this was too much for it.
Its core was at the peak of the Second Realm, which meant that it should be able to withstand any kind of attack anyone in the Second Realm could launch, including powerful Spells.
However, the material it was made of was not as hard.
After all, if Kyle upgraded it, the hammer would become even heavier, making it harder to swing.
This thing was dangerous.
Its physical power alone was four times higher than Kyle's, and the force it could unleash was 16 times higher due to how the growth of force worked.
The tongue had moved at speeds approaching the speed of sound on Earth.
This tongue was almost three times as fast as Kyle could sprint.
If he hadn't been warned by his instincts, and if the chameleon hadn't needed to shoot its tongue around a bend, he wouldn't have been able to react in time.
Peak Ferocious Beasts needed a team of five Late Fighters to kill.
Some Late Fighters could kill Late Ferocious Beasts on their own, but Late Fighters who could kill a Peak Ferocious Beast on their own were exceedingly rare.
They were in the top 1,000 of all Fighters.
Meanwhile, Kyle was in the Early Second Realm.
With his Aristocrat's Body and his Enchantments, he was a bit stronger than a Mid Fighter on a baseline.
However, if he wanted to win against a Late Fighter, he would have to make up for the lacking power with experience and skill.
Killing this beast would represent a jump of three real levels or 1.5 theoretical ones when considering Kyle's Aristocrat's Body and Enchantments.
Kyle looked at the stalactite for a while.
The beast had lost interest in him.
The reason for that was simple.
Kyle's Ether density was too low.
He was not worth the effort.
It would much rather hunt the Arrowanas.
As Kyle looked at the stalactite, his mind was going wild.
He remembered what he had thought about shortly before entering the cave.
Experience.
True battles.
'I have to catch up with the Chief.'
'A true battle.'
"Boss," Kyle said after several seconds, "what are my chances?"
"Low," Theodor answered. "It is amongst the weaker half of Peak Beasts since it's an ambush predator, but it's also not harmless. "
Kyle remained silent for a while.
"I should undergo more true battles, right?" he asked.
"If you want to catch up with your Chief, yes," Theodor said.
"Should I fight this thing?"
"That's your decision," Theodor answered.
Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
For once, he wished that Theodor would just order him.
It would make things so much easier.
The next moment, Kyle released his breath.
Then, he took his hammer…
And walked out of the cave.
Silence.
The lake was silent.
Finally, five minutes later, Kyle entered the cave again.
He was carrying his hammer with both of his hands.
There were no longer any cracks on it.
He had left the cave to get some ore to repair and upgrade it.
Swinging his hammer would be harder now, but not too hard.
His hammer had still been on an upgrade level that didn't take his Enchantments into account.
After reaching the lake, Kyle stopped for a moment.
"This is a stupid idea," Kyle commented.
Theodor didn't say anything.
"But this entire thing about true battles is already stupid."
Kyle pulled his hammer over his shoulder.
"Can't climb Mount Stupid without being stupid."
Then, he narrowed his eyes and charged onto the lake.
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