double pov

The sanctuary (6)

"Shall we bet on it?" said the human child, rising determinedly to his feet despite the blow he'd just received.

Amazing!

Gall thought the child would immediately give up and hand over the core after taking such a fatal blow.

However, the child stood erect, armed with his sharp stone. His golden eyes seemed to shine for a moment through the dust rising from the ground, revealing his eagerness to continue fighting.

"It's a real shame, but I've got no time to lose," thought Gall.

Despite his admiration for the young human, Gall knew it was imperative to finish the fight and retrieve the core as quickly as possible. The monsters would soon make their presence felt.

Ignoring the wound on his forearm, Gall threw himself without hesitation at the human child, who had not yet recovered from his injury.

"Sorry, kid," he said before bringing down his axe.

"Hm?"

However, as with all previous attacks, the human dodged again.

"How does he manage to move? I'm sure I broke one of his ribs," Gall thought.

Trying to organize his thoughts, Gall again felt a tingling sensation near his wound.

"He even had a chance to hit back," he realized.

Ignoring his wound, Gall turned and hurled a barrage of axe blows at him.

*Dodge

*Dodge

However, the child easily avoided all his attacks, letting the axe strike into the void.

"It's strange, the human's moving differently than before," Gall observed.

He noticed that the human was more reactive, more cautious, and made no futile movements. As if he were used to fighting.

"But the worst thing..."

With each missed blow, the human inflicted an attack on a part of his body or on an already wounded spot.

At this rate, the human would eventually hit one of his blood vessels and cause a hemorrhage.

"Hey, kid, do you really think I'm going to let you do this!?" shouted Gall.

"Of course," replied the child, sitting on a tree branch, before adding, "otherwise you wouldn't have received all these wounds from me."

Annoyed by this reply, Gall threw himself straight at the tree and chopped it in two with his axe.

Naturally, the child moved to another branch, trying to jump to a nearby tree.

Gall took advantage of the child's inability to dodge in mid-air and decided to attack him.

But just as he was about to bring his axe down on the child, the latter spilled sand that he had intentionally hidden.

Blinded by the situation, Gall suffered a barrage of attacks.

He tried to defend himself, but to no avail, until he regained his sight.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the child juggling the stone that had been his weapon until now.

"You bastard!" exclaimed Gall.

"First human, then kid, now bastard... I have a name, mind you," retorted the child.

"That's your problem," growled Gall.

The child sighed, apparently tired of the situation.

"Gall, is it? Let me give you some advice."

His tone, initially mocking and childish, turned sinister.