Artus observed the Steel stag beast. The huge antlers on its head looked very sturdy. Although they had no sharp edges and were mainly blunt, they could cause significant injury. The beast could kill an adult man by smashing him with them.
Not only that, given the beast's heavy and muscular body, it could run at a fast speed, generating overwhelming momentum. It could even destroy a thick wall by slamming into it.
Artus decided to fight it head-on at close range. His small body would give him an advantage in close combat, as the beast would have a hard time trying to hit him.
Since the Steel stag had a huge and tall body, He could easily evade his attacks by dodging low and crouching down.
The Steel stag was eating grass from the ground. It was not an aggressive beast and would not attack unless it felt danger.
Artus observed the surrounding area for some time. He marked all the trees and rocks, memorizing their places and planning his strategy. He also made sure no other beasts were close to this area.
"All right, Aunt. I will start fighting now. Wish me good luck."
"You can do it, Artus. Don't worry. I will step in immediately if needed."
Artus slowly approached the Steel stag beast from behind. He got as close as possible to the beast without alarming it.
He raised his hand, casting the fireball spell; he aimed at one of its hind legs.
A fireball formed in front of his hand. The moment the fireball left his hand heading toward the beast, he started running toward the beast and did not wait for the spell to hit.
The fireball hit its left hind leg, causing the beast to shout in pain at this surprise attack. Before the beast could regain its composure, he used the dagger to stab its right hind leg.
The attacks were fast; Steel Stag did not have time to understand what happened; he started roaring angrily and turned around and spotted Artus.
He started attacking Artus with his huge antlers, thrusting and slashing around. Artus assumed a defensive stance, lowered his body, and dodged to the sides.
He started looking for an opening while evading the beast's attacks; every time he stabbed or slashed, his dagger would be repelled by the steel antlers. He was not able to cause any more damage to the beast. At this rate, he would lose, and he needed to find a new strategy.
When the Steel stag beast was about to attack, Artus suddenly jumped backward, casting the object levitation on himself to push his body backward further. He used his hand to protect his body. The antlers hit him hard, sending him several meters to the back.
He cast an object levitation spell on himself, directing his body toward a small bush. The bush absorbed most of the impact, and he immediately stood up. Now that he had made enough distance between himself and the beast, he could cast the fireball spell again.
He hit the beast with a fireball on his right front leg. The beast ran again towards Artus, but he was slower than before due to his injured hind leg. Artus was able to cast another fireball, hitting his right front leg again.
He decided to change his strategy, focusing on attacking one leg and causing a severe injury to cripple the beast. Then, he would create some distance and cast fireballs on the beast, repeating the process.
It is the best strategy to kill the Steel stag beast with his current abilities; his close combat power is nowhere near enough to injure it. He can barely protect himself from the antler's attacks, so his best choice is to keep hitting from afar using spells.
The beast closed the distance again and started attacking with its antlers. Artus jumped backward, intending to repeat the same plan.
But this time, instead of hitting Artus with his antlers, the Steel stag raised his body and front legs in the air, jumping with his hind legs forward.
He wanted to crush Artus's body with his front legs using his steel hooves. If he were able to land a hit on Artus's body, he would severely injure him, causing him to be unable to stand from the ground; then he would trample him to death with his hooves.
Artus's train of thought ran fast as the danger approached. Even if he used the object levitation spell and pushed himself backward, he would still be crushed by the steel stag hooves.
When the steel stag hooves were about to hit him, his body suddenly was pushed towards the steel stag.
His eyes flashed with determination. He cast the spell, but instead of pushing his body backward, he forced himself forward. He decided to gamble everything on this one hit.
He hugged the steel stag body from underneath with his arms and legs. The beast started jumping angrily, trying to shake Artus from his body. Artus held tight to the beast's belly.
In this position, the beast could do nothing to attack Artus. Artus grabbed the dagger with his hand and then started stabbing the beast in his belly repeatedly.
He kept stabbing him with the dagger; the beast started roaring in pain and jumping around randomly. He started hitting a tree with his body in order to shake Artus off his body. Alas, he did not succeed. Artus was grabbing his body tightly, as he had iron claws.
The steel stag suddenly jumped high in the air, spreading his legs, intending to land on his belly directly and crush Artus.
Artus had seen through his plan. He stabbed the dagger in his belly and let go of it. Immediately before reaching the ground, Artus climbed on the steel stag and lay on its back.
The steel stag hit the ground directly on its belly, causing the already embedded dagger to penetrate deeper. He started roaring in pain.
Artus took this opportunity and jumped away, creating a distance between himself and the steel stag. Then he started showering the beast with fireballs. The beast was severely injured and had no energy to resist.
Artus kept showering the steel stag with fireballs for a while, burning its whole body. The extreme heat damaged even the antlers, but Artus did not care; after all, his goal was to pass the Seer test, not to gather materials.
*THUD*
Artus stopped casting the fireball spell. The beast's charred body fell to the ground.