"Let's do this." Rex assumed a battle stance as he honed all of his attention on his body and the spear. He had a skill, that he was currently able to use, 'Rage Borne'. He could observe different stages of its application, the skill seemed to be most effective when it manifested as a purplish flame and was related to how much of the cool energy he reinforced his fist with.
He could feel his control of the cool energy much better than when he fought the wolf, it must be related to the increase in mastery that had occurred when he drank the Coconut-nectar sweet wine.
Rex avoided swipes of the Bear effortlessly as he rained blows upon blows on it. Sometimes his fist was brimming in purplish flame as it landed, some other times it had a purplish glow about it and some times it was simply covered in ink-like marking. Rex was trying his best to improve his control of the cool energy that flowed within him. But it felt very unstable, sometimes his grip on it was strong, and some other times it was as light as air.
But whenever it was strong, his control of it was much much better. His fists were beginning to ache, and he was beginning to feel tired. He had held his fort against the bear for more than seven minutes. His advantage in speed had been the only reason why he had held on this long as the Bear was yet to land any strike on him.
"Get ready to switch" He yelled to the young guy, he needed to recuperate a bit. And he wanted the guy to take over immediately so that they could further wear the bear down.
"To hold back a Tier V Chaos Bear without his Arma, his fame is well deserved." The older guy spoke to Luna under the shade of a tree, where they were currently stationed, observing the fight like a movie.
"Is he stronger than my father?"
"I can't tell, I haven't seen your father fight without his Arma, but he is already a 'Tier III Prime', he should be able to hold his own against him"
"But to defeat him, I doubt it would be easy"
"Boom",
A deafening sound broke their gist as Rex shattered a tree stem as he was sent shuttling backward, from a hit by the Chaos bear. He had made a miscalculation as he and the Armed guy tried to switch. The bear had landed a very heavy strike on him, he had managed to bring up a block before the strike landed but the impact was so strong he could barely appreciate his brief flight before he made a soul-crushing impact with a tree
He could feel pain spread from his back to every single part of his body, his legs felt numb. "Crap, did I break my spine" Rex though inbetween crushing and numbing pain. He felt a calm soothing energy flow through his body as he pulsed green. Luna had used her Arma art on him.
The older guy was already at his side. "That was a brutal hit you took there prime," He studied his body not waiting for any reply from him. "You sustained a fracture, but our lady healed it, that's unexpected. I did not expect her spell to be that effective on you".
He looked at Rex with Amazement, "For her spell to affect you that much, you should be only an awakened like her, but that makes no sense".
He looked at Rex and then glanced at Luna, "Is her abilities that exceptional?" He wondered. "This means you are still able to fight, Prime" he spoke with admiration. I think this bear is not any ordinary Tier V beast, it's already half a step into Primehood. With that level of physical ability. You should be careful.
Luna casted another of her heal spell on him, he could feel all of his cells revitalized. The prior fatigue and exhaustion disappearing.
He stood and smiled at her flawless face, "Thank you, Luna".
They had completely ignored the younger guy, who was receiving blows on blows on his shield, that had been brutally dismantled from the strikes it had received from the Chaos Bear. He was purely on the defensive.
Rex, recalling the mind-wrenching pain of shattering a tree stem with his back, could feel a deep-seated annoyance and anger aimed at the Chaos bear, being borne in his heart.
"Payback Time"
With those two words, he could feel the sensation of the cool energy coming stronger than ever.
"Rageborne I guess" he spoke as a certain realization dawned on him. His skill was something related to his rage and seemed to be directly linked to his state of mind.
As his rage increased, its efficacy improved.
"Rageborne Mastery Increased"
The feminine voice, that had been silent for the longest of time announced.
A grin appeared on Rex's face as he dashed forward. The moment the young guy spotted him, he hastily dashed backward in his direction. Once Rex shot past him, drawing the Chaos Bear's attention, He fell limply on the floor, his Arma disintegrating. The older guy dashed forward and dragged him backward to safety as the Chaos bear was completely engaged with Rex.
This time, their exchange was very much different. All of Rex's strikes were delivered with purple-lit fist, the flames on his fist were not disintegrating as before but were instead increasing in intensity with each strike.
The Chaos Bear could barely land a strike on Rex's figure as he nimbly avoided its strikes. His feet were lit in purplish flame as he literally phased in between strikes.
"WarGods be Praised!" the older guy did not know when he exclaimed, "How is he doing that?". Humans battled with their Arma, and not fists. That was the norm. But the Prime that stood before him, was battling with a beast purely with his physical abilities. The chaos bear was a unique beast among beasts. Its physical capabilities as an unawakened was comparable to that of a low-tier prime. As an awakened, its physical abilities were at the level of a mid to high tier prime. And this Chaos Bear in particular had physical abilities that were definitely at the level of a high-tier prime,
Yet, it was being held back by a single prime who had not even summoned his Arma.
"Aarghh" Luna groaned as she used 'Heal' her Arma spell on the younger guy.
"Are you that exhausted, My lady?" the older guy studied her with concern.
"No, its just that his healing is putting a lot of strain on me."
"But, the prime had an actual fracture and his, is only physical exhaustion and minor hits, how come his demanding more from you?"
"..." Luna had no reply to give; she had no idea why. But the older guy was beginning to have an idea.
He turned back to observe the fight in a new light.
Outwardly, the only tell to the Chaos bear's suffering was the blood that was slowly flowing from its eyes, nose and mouth. It had sustained several internal injuries from the blows. It had received from Rex's onslaught. But Rex was not spared, the continuous burst of actions was exhausting. His fists were numb with pain and every single one of his joints were aching badly.
The Older man turned to the young guy, "You need to end this now, the Chaos Bear is already severely injured". The younger guy looked at him with confusion but still stood up and summoned his Arma, but only the sword.
He recited a chant that made the sword take a yellowish glow, as he dashed toward the Chaos Bear.
It's movement were sluggish compared to what it was before. But it's assilant, did not relent in his blow. He nimbly flanked the Bear, dashed to it's back side, and in one swift movement ended the brawl between the boy and bear.