The Awakened Ox was too fast for Nick to outrun, so he had to try and time his dodge perfectly.
But even then, he had underestimated the speed and prowess of the White Ox, failing to react in time before it was already upon him.
He subconsciously stepped back in shock, pointing his dagger at the beast as he fell down backwards. Still, his involuntary act of falling somehow managed to work in his favour.
The Ox was a big target itself, and so it was aiming to take Nick down with the pair of long and terrifyingly sharp horns on its head. But Nick had miraculously dodged the horns, and lying down on the ground, he passed through the Ox's legs and it's charge continued right over him, stopping a few feet behind his back.
"…Did I just survive that?" he muttered.
Ecstatic that his rotten luck had somehow worked in his favour for once, Nick quickly pushed himself back to his feet, and decided to take advantage of the situation while he still had the chance.
He wasn't about to let his dumb luck go to waste.
The Ox was huge, which made for quite a deadly force it it came crashing right into him, but it also made it much more demanding to lug around such a heavy body.
Thanks to this aspect of the beast, Nick was able to sprint up right behind it, despite only being a Mundane human.
With adrenaline rushing through his veins, he jumped nearly one and a half times his height and grabbed his blade in both hands above his head, planning to use both his strength and falling momentum together in the hopes of dealing some damage to the beast's hind.
He was aiming to hit it right where it would hurt the most…
'Say goodbye to your chances of having any children in the future, damned Ox!'
Barely half a second passed and Nick was just a few inches from his target, and he could almost taste the sweet chance of escape already. All he had to do was just strike it where it would hurt any man the most, and the beast would be too incapacitated with pain to give chase, allowing him to make a dash into the plains in the direction of War Beast Sanctuary.
But Nick was never good at aiming.
Or jumping…
Or landing…
His foot caught on a loose bit of rock that was sent flying upwards with him, twisting his momentum. He flailed uncontrollably a gravity took the lead away from him.
'Please, no…'
But as expected, nothing ever seemed to go his way.
Instead of driving his dagger where he meant to, he ended up swinging wildly as he fell.
Half a second later, Nick's dagger finally reached the Ox's hind… only the target of his blade had changed.
Instead of ruining the beast's chances at a future family of little White Ox, Nick's dagger sliced at its tail and sliced it clean off.
Normally, he would be happy that he could even draw some blood from an Awakened beast, let alone cut an entire appendage off!
…But this was no normal scenario. His life had depended on his dagger reaching his intended target, and as it had failed…
"Pwuehh!!"
Nick spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying backwards from a kick to the stomach the formidable beast had given him. If he hadn't foreseen this happening after realising his useless ability was going to mess up his plans, he never would have raised his dagger in time to take the brunt of the attack.
If it weren't for his swift thinking, the Ox might have kicked a hole straight through Nick's stomach and impaled him!
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
He was still left with some major internal bleeding though.
'Damn, how in hell am I supposed to make my way out of this situation!?'
Things seemed to only get direr and direr for Nick. Instead of incapacitating the beast, he'd sent it into a rampage instead, making it even more deadly.
He looked down at the blade of his dagger, and noticed it bent acutely, practically perpendicular to its original position now.
'Fuck! I'm seriously going to die to a giant cow…'
With his only weapon practically useless, the realisation finally started to settle in that this might really be it. It might really be the end of his life.
…And he might only have a few seconds left to live it.
The huge Awakened Ox had turned around at this point, facing Nick with unbridled rage littered across its face.
Its breath was so hot now that it even heat up the air, sending steam flying out of its nostrils with every exhalation.
'Any moment now…'
Knowing he'd certainly be dead in a few moments time, Nick at least wanted to go out standing on his own two feet, facing his opponent head on, rather than lying down and taking it like a coward.
"Come at me then you fat oaf!"
He shouted across to the rampaged beast ahead of him.
Whether it could understand him or not, it responded to his taunt by kicking the ground, sending tufts of dirt and earth flying into the air.
And then it charged in.
Now that he knew the true speed and terror of the Awakened Ox, Nick wouldn't make the same mistake of underestimating it twice. He concentrated as much as he could through his fear, and timed his dodge as best as he could.
'Now!'
Right at the moment the ferocious Ox was about to pierce his chest with its incredibly sharp horns, Nick stepped aside to dodge, like a seasoned bull fighter.
…Or at least he tried to.
'This shitty goddamned luck!'
He tried to dodge — he really did.
But his foot slipped on a clump of wet mossy rock, and instead of leaping to the side with the grace and precision he had envisioned, he fell sideways like a sack of potatoes.
Enough for its horn to pierce his shoulder…
'I can't believe I'm going to die because of this divinely shit luck.'
As he fell, he felt his body rag doll and his shoulder smacked against a jagged rock, and he twisted again. His legs kicked up instinctively.
Nick had resigned himself to death after feeling his shoulder become impaled on the beast's horn, and it dragged his body with it as it… slammed into the ground?
'Wait…?'
Utterly confused, Nick landed on his back and felt the wind rush out of his lungs, but that was the least of his concerns.
He watched with rapt awe as somehow… somehow… in the middle of his fall, he collided awkwardly with his dagger, and the twisted blade was sent flying — upward.
'What…?'
[Awakened Beast White Ox killed.]
[Beast Armament of the Awakened White Ox acquired.]
[Consume the beast core to gain up to 50 Soul Seeds.]
Nick rubbed his eyes, refusing to believe what he was seeing.
His dagger, which looked more like a right angled piece of steal by now, had somehow found itself lodged in the eye of the White Ox…
The huge White Ox, a mighty and powerful Awakened Beast, was dead…
And Nick… had somehow killed it?
That wasn't the end of his shocks, though, as he soon felt a mysterious force enter his body.