Comprehending

Chapter 3                                                        Comprehending

He runs as fast as he could. Branches cracked behind him, and the sound of hooves tearing through underbrush came fast. Too fast. It was like being chased by a motorcycle wrapped in armor.

He didn’t waste time looking back. He immediately runs as fast as he can.

"Ghh.....What the hell is going on right now? Seriously, I'm being chased by a boar that is as big as a tank!! moreover it didn't make a noise that fits its size. It is like encountering a tank that moves with a magnet levitation!"

"There is a running water over there, I could use that for my advantage."

His boots slammed through the grass, leaping over a low root, sliding slightly down a slope, and he reached the water’s edge just as the thundering sound behind him peaked. The stream located roughly 300 meters from him is quite wide and carry a strong current.

He spun mid-step, heels skidding in the dirt, Φ pulsing sharply behind his eye.

The boar didn’t pause.

"Alright... I hope it is quite dull, as dull as a bull that used for matador show."

Then it launched straight at him. "Hufft.... "—He jumped and ducking left at the last second, letting it tear past.

The creature slammed into the water full-force, momentum carrying it halfway across the deep stream. Mud and spray erupted everywhere. Its hooves scrambled for traction. He didn’t wait to see if it recovered.

He turned and ran again—back up the hill, faster this time, lungs burning from adrenaline.

By the time he crested the rise and saw the soft glow of his stash, he slowed, breath ragged, eyes scanning the dark.

No sound behind him. He waited, crouched low, vision active.

He stayed still a little longer, eyes glowing faintly with Φ, watching the energy ripples in the distance gradually settle like dust after a tremor. The silence returned—but it wasn’t comforting. It felt earned. Tense.

He exhaled slowly and sat down near his fire pit, using a smooth stone to sketch symbols and diagrams in the dirt as he recalled the boar’s features from memory. Transparent tusks.

“Huft.. Huft.. Huft.. Right. Because normal boars with regular face-knives weren’t terrifying enough, Heh.” he muttered.

Not fully invisible—just almost. Glasslike. Their refractive index had been low, bending moonlight instead of reflecting it. That meant the tusks weren’t bone or keratin. Possibly crystalized mana structure? Organic silica?

He tapped the ground twice. “Which means if it doesn’t gore you, it blinds you by being a walking optical illusion. Great. Love that.”

Then there was the hide—dark, bark-like, with subtle ridges that pulsed under movement. Not just camouflage. He was sure of it now.

“It looked like a tree that decided to cosplay as a tank.”

He groaned, leaning back on his elbows, still catching his breath.

“And it didn’t even grunt before charging. Who does that? No dramatic roar, no ‘get off my lawn’ squeal. Just... professional assassination energy.”

He gestured vaguely toward the forest.

“Like, what is this? Fantasy Skyrim or Dark Souls DLC? Silent boss encounter at level one? I don’t even have a sword. What kind of world setting that i got into? surely this isn't easy mode. Would my luck be bad enough to experience a looping death like a certain character? nah, screw it".

Still… his grin widened, just a bit. He couldn't help it.

He leaned forward again, sketching the stream in the dirt, plotting out how the boar’s weight had worked against it when charging downhill into shallow water.

He raised one hand, drawing invisible equations in the air.

“Let’s see. Estimated mass—judging by those footprints… at least 400 kilograms. Maybe more.”

"I must be stupid, to come back to where the boar attacked me only to satisfy my curiosity, Hah!. But, it must be swept by the current so the chance of it coming back here is slim"

He glanced to the side, toward the path the boar had stormed through. The ground there looked like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. One of the stones near the stream’s edge had a fresh gouge in it—long, shallow, with flecks of silvery residue.

He pointed at it. “That impact? Clean slice. Didn’t crack the stone—sheared it. Which means those tusks aren’t just sharp. They’re monomolecular bullsht*.”

He crouched by one of the deeper hoof marks, running his fingers along the edge.

“Depth’s almost nine centimeters. Soil’s compacted. No slippage. Full weight behind each step. That charge wasn’t a bluff—it was a missile locked on target.”

He stood up and dusted his hands. “Charging speed—call it 40, maybe 45 km/h downhill. And I was standing there like a free sample at a meat buffet.”

He exhaled hard. “My survival odds? Somewhere between ‘statistically unlikely’ and ‘you died lol.’”

He glanced back toward the water, where muddy ripples were still settling. A crooked smile formed.

“And I survived by baiting it into a stream. Like some low-budget action movie. Great. I’m officially Kevin Bacon in mystical Tremors.”

He turned to his dirt diagram again, tapping it with the same stick he’d used earlier.

“Note to self: boar physics are exploitable. That charge couldn’t adjust once it committed. Direction locked. Acceleration locked. It’s fast, but it handles like a runaway shopping cart on an oil slick.”

He paused, gaze sharpening.

“And maybe…”

His voice dropped slightly.

“Maybe it learns. That look it gave me before the charge? That wasn’t blind aggression. It was assessing me. Head tilt, step pattern, trajectory curve. That boar ran diagnostics before the hit.”

He stood, brushing off his tunic.

“Oh good. So it’s a stealthy, armored, murder-pig with basic calculus skills. I feel so blessed.”

He looked up at the night sky, stars twinkling like uncaring pixels.

“I’m naming it. That’s it. It’s official. You’re Glassy now.”

He pointed toward the woods dramatically. “You come back, and I’m feeding you a banquet of glitterfruit, rope traps, and concentrated vengeance.”

Still, he couldn’t deny the data was good. Every encounter added layers to the map forming in his head.

And the more he learned, the more confident he became.

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