*Bam!*
With that sound, Vedran was pushed into another tree, his body sliding to sit on the ground, his back covered in bruises that apart from aggravating the pain he felt, made it clear that this was not the first time it had happened.
However, that was not the only change that had happened to Vedran's body in the time this battle had been going on.
While he had been badly injured from the moment the rock the chimera had thrown hit him, new wounds had appeared on his body, mainly in the form of bruises and cuts all around his body.
Normally, this would cause the esper to at least let out a small groan of pain, but as if his body was in perfect condition, Vedran simply stood up and started walking in the direction of the chimera.
As for his opponent, unlike the beginning, when the chimera had been in perfect condition, there were also noticeable changes in its body, mainly focused on his front paws.
Thanks to the impromptu contest of strength with Vedran and the fact that the chimera had underestimated him, not using enough strength to successfully resist Vedran's grip, his front paws had been mangled,
Of course, although this had caused the chimera great pain as well as preventing it from using its forelegs, it didn't mean that it was out of combat, what it was, however, was extremely angry.
And now that the latter was approaching again, the chimera knew exactly what it had to do.
*Swoosh!*
Quickly moving its arm to intercept Vedran, the chimera had put more force than before into this attack, forgetting the idea of devouring Vedran and just wanting to kill him.
*BAM!*
Its arm connected with Vedran's body, but unlike before, when his body went flying, this time the esper had changed his stance and grabbed the chimera's arm.
Even though his mind was foggy, his body tired and his energy being quickly depleted by using his ability to be able to keep moving his body, Vedran was still conscious.
"Haa..."
Then, after taking a big gulp of air, Vedran began to squeeze the chimera's arm tightly, the muscles in his body inflating as his arms changed tone to a blood red color.
"ROOOAHHHHH!!!!"
Knowing what Vedran planned to do, the chimera tried to lift its arm, but the esper simply had too strong a grip, so the chimera then decided to use its other arm to shake him off.
"ARGHHHHHHH!!!!"
However, at the same time the chimera attempted this, Vedran let out a thunderous scream.
"!"
Although at first glance, one might not be able to notice what was happening and they might think that Vedran was trying to crush the chimera's arm just as he did with its frontal paws, they would be wrong, not completely, but still wrong.
The chimera was the first to notice, that Vedran wasn't actually trying to crush its arm, he was trying to move its entire body!
*CRACK!*
The ground where Vedran was standing then began to show signs of cracking, proof of the force he was using to be able to move the chimera.
Slowly, the chimera felt its body beginning to move, forcing it to use its own hind legs to stop this.
This action was successful... but only for a short time.
At this point, although Vedran's scream had already subsided, the power of his body had only been increasing.
Before, only his arms were red in color, but at this moment, almost as if it was a fire proliferating in a forest, the blood-colored mark had expanded until it reached his shoulders, an indication that he was using his esper ability to the fullest!
*Trssssss*
The sound of a heavy object being dragged on the ground then began to sound, the chimera being moved slowly against its will.
Until finally, the chimera's heavy body lifted off the ground and Vedran then started to spun it around.
Again, and again, and again.
In just a few seconds, the chimera had spun around Vedran a dozen times, the speed at which he spun it increasing by the second.
"Urgh!" Cried Vedran as blood spurted from the corner of his lips, and this time, it was not the product of his skill.
Unfortunately, though he wanted to continue to keep up this pace until he reached the speed he desired, his body, though it was being boosted to the maximum by his skill, had clearly reached its limit.
Unable to do anything else, Vedran then released his grip on the chimera, which took off hurtling towards the forest.
*CRASH!!!*
Its body slammed into several trees, instantly breaking them and moving on to the next.
After a couple of seconds, and having broken over a dozen trees in the process, the chimera's body finally stopped after crashing into a particularly thick tree.
"RAAGH!"
Although the chimera hadn't died with that, it was easy to tell from its weak, short roar, in addition to its difficulty in moving its body, that it had suffered considerable damage
*Tap, tap.*
The footsteps of Vedran, who was approaching the chimera, then sounded.
Even though he had reached his limit, he knew that the battle was not over, since the chimera was still alive, he had to keep fighting.
*Chak!*
However, with that sound, a large amount of blood then ejected from Vedran's body, falling to the ground.
"Ack!!!"
At the same time, Vedran had no choice but to kneel on the ground while holding his chest with one hand.
Although it might seem somewhat sudden, Vedran better than anyone else knew exactly what had happened.
This was a warning from his body, telling him that he could not go on.
"I...I can't...die here...!" Vedran said amidst apparent extreme exhaustion and pain.
Sadly, as reluctant as he was to let exhaustion take over his body, as eager as he was to keep fighting, his body had simply already reached its limit.
"Please... j-just... a bit more...!"
Immediately after, he fell to the ground, simultaneously, his consciousness faded away.
After having pushed both his body and his ability to the extreme, Vedran had completely drained his energy reserves.
*Crash!*
On the other hand, the chimera, which had been thrown into the forest, had taken advantage while Vedran had been struggling to stay conscious to stand up, crushing a tree that had been knocked down earlier.
"..."
However, there was one noticeable change to its body, and that was aside from the multiple cuts and internal damage it had suffered when it had been sent flying, and this was none other than its right arm having a visible mark of having been crushed.
And although this wound was not to the point where it rendered its arm unusable, it would undoubtedly give it trouble to perform any kind of action.
"...RUOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
At once, the chimera began to run with its four legs, in its eyes an incredible bloodlust for the fact that it had been wounded to such a degree by what it thought would be an easy prey.
In a matter of seconds, it reached Vedran's body, and with a nimble movement of its head, it grabbed Vedran and threw him into the air while opening its jaws, waiting for him to fall so it could devour him in one bite.
*SWOOSH!*
*BOOM!*
"!!!"
With a loud sound which was preceded by a huge wind current, the chimera received a kick that sent it flying a dozen meters back into the forest, although compared to what Vedran did, this time it was noticeable that the force behind the kick was on a completely different level.
"Where the hell did all these damn things come from...?" Said the high, vibrant voice of a woman.
Of a prominent height, wearing sportswear that showed off her physique which had been trained for both the use of brute strength and tremendous agility, a woman with a straight blonde hair appeared on the scene.
Elaina, the one in charge of protecting the training grounds, had arrived.
Gently catching Vedran, Elaina then spoke in a tone that had mostly traces of pride but also regret in her voice, "You did a great job in taking on that thing, but it's time for you to rest now."
With those words as her last, Elaina left Vedran leaning against a tree before handing him a golden circular pill and heading in the direction she had sent the chimera flying.
***
A couple of hours had passed, and both Vedran and the other students, after having explained the situation to Elaine, were already back in the city, or rather, in the city hospital.
And it was at that moment that they realized how fortunate they had been in their encounter with the chimera.
Having been one of the biggest priorities of the city and the academy itself, the hospital possessed not only numerous floors, but an even more substantial amount of rooms to accommodate dozens and dozens of students simultaneously.
But even with those features, today, for the first time in a long time, every single room was full, causing certain students to be forced to wait in the hallways.
Considering that each of the students waiting in the hallways needed medical attention in one way or another, one could only imagine what kind of damage the students in the rooms had suffered to be such a high priority.
The atmosphere was heavy, and the occasional groan of pain coming from one room or another didn't help at all.
As for what had caused such a scene in the hospital, it wasn't hard to figure out.
The students who had been working in the fields had originally thought that what they had suffered had been a simple unfortunate occurrence, but as they were seeing from the others injured students, this was far from the truth.
On the outskirts of the bronze city, specifically in places with relatively high numbers of students, such as the farm fields, the training fields, and even those who were doing research work in the forests, each of them had encountered at least one chimera.
Although the academy realized this soon after it happened, they could not act immediately to find the students in danger for one reason, and that was that the chimeras not only appeared near students, but also in front of the teachers who were sent to find the students.
What was more, the chimeras that the teachers encountered were all of grade (B-), and although of course, this ended in the imminent defeat of most chimeras, unfortunately, they had wasted valuable time, which the other chimeras took advantage of to attack the other students.
As a result, the hospital... and very unfortunately, the academy's morgue, had received students this day.
However, there was a certain group of students who were the exception to this rule, only presenting an injured student as the only damage their group had suffered.
And of course, this group was none other than the one Jay belonged to.
This obviously caught the attention of the academy, who, desperate for any information about this fatal incident, immediately began questioning the entire group.
To their misfortune, although the group in the fields had survived the chimera attack virtually unscathed, similarly to other students, they did not remember anything else apart from the initial appearance of the chimera.
And as for the only student who had faced a chimera and survived according to Elaine's testimony, Vedran, because he was currently in a state of rest due to his delicate health, they could only wait for him to wake up.
However, that did not mean that the academy was sitting idly by, but apart from starting an extensive investigation, an emergency meeting was also held among the executives and head teachers, or at least those who were present.
Although normally such meetings would not be held without the Vice Director in the academy, the situation was simply that urgent.
