The Mountain Goat lowered its horns as it charged toward Zed, ready to send him flying with the powerful blow.

Zed jumped to the side at the last second but was forced to guard with his spear as the goat threw its head sideways. Even with only the strength of its neck, the power behind the attack was enough to knock him back several feet.

Zed maintained his footing as he slid to a stop, knowing he couldn’t afford to give the monster even a single opening. He gripped his spear tighter, the weapon was undamaged but would certainly snap if kept blocking attacks like that.

‘I need to dodge faster,’ he thought as the Mountain Goat came around for another attack. This time he gave himself a larger window of space between his dodge and the attack. The horns came within inches of his body when the goat thrashed its head to the side, but Zed was untouched and was able to step in closer to the goat’s flank.

Spinning his spear, Zed dragged the blade across the beast’s shoulder, creating a deep bloody gash.

Or at least that’s what Zed expected to happen.

Halfway through his attack, Zed felt the blade of his spear catch on something, almost pulling it out of his grip. Before he could figure out the problem, the Mountain Goat began thrashing again, forcing Zed to let go of his weapon and retreat.

He continued to evade backward as the goat continued its assault, during which Zed finally got a look at his weapon dangling from the goat’s side.

‘The fur! The serrated edge of the blade got tangled before it could cut through!’ Zed scowled as he watched his spear flop around. He needed to get it back before the goat broke it against something.

Activating [SPRINT] Zed dashed around another attack before jumping to grab his spear. Not wanting to be too close to the Mountain Goat for too long, he planted his feet against the beast’s side for extra leverage. The goat began thrashing about on instinct and the increased force let Zed pull the spear free.

As he landed he had to dodge quickly as the Mountain Goat swung around at him. Ducking under the goat’s head, Zed noticed a few extra arrows in the beast’s side.

‘I need to hurry, or he’ll kill it before I can do a damn thing.’

Unfortunately, that was more easily said than done. Zed knew that if he attacked recklessly again he was going to get his weapon caught again.

‘Should I try to attack from above again? It seemed to work before,’ but the more he looked at the situation, the more he knew that wouldn’t work right now.

Unlike before Zed was the one managing the aggro, and he really couldn’t afford to stop that. Attempting to jump it while being focused on was also out of the question. Not only would he need to jump higher to get over its horns, but he would be completely unable to dodge if the goat was able to react in time.

Not seeing any other immediate option, Zed flipped his spear around and began attacking with the bludgeoning side of his War Spear.

Ducking under the goat’s horns again, he swung his spear towards the goat’s legs. The attack connected, but there was no visible effect.

The goat stomped at him, forcing Zed to dodge as he let out another attack at the goat’s stomach. Again, no effect.

Zed retreated, cursing the uselessness of his weapon as the Mountain Goat lashed out wildly.

Bludgeoning weapons weren’t dangerous because they bruised the target’s flesh, but because they crushed a target’s bones and armor. It’s why the Bone Picks were so effective against the Iron Ants, or why maces made quick work of an armored opponent in most RPG’s.

The stat differences between Zed and the Mountain Goat were too great. It was simply too big, strong, and durable for Zed’s blunt strikes to do much more than bruise it. Humans didn’t hunt mammoths to extinction with clubs, but with spears.

‘Can I even hurt this thing anymore?’ Zed couldn’t help but wonder. ‘If I can find a weak point I could deal a little more damage… but where?’

Ordinarily, he would have tried to strike at the goat’s face, but since it had the [HARDENED SKULL] Skill that would just render his weapon completely useless. It could potentially blind the beast, but that was too much risk for too little reward.

Zed’s eyes ran up and down the goat as he dodged another attack, searching for somewhere to strike. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and a thin smile spread across his face.

‘I’m an idiot,’ he berated himself, ‘that’s a massive weak point right there!’

Zed charged directly at the Mountain Goat’s face, throwing himself to the ground as the beast threw its head down in a quick [SKULL BASH] attack. Quickly coming to his feet while beneath the goat, he thrust upwards at its throat while activating both [POWER ATTACK] and [CRITICAL STRIKE].

The goat let out a shriek of pain, slightly muffled by the damage to its throat.

Zed grinned viciously. ‘I can’t break a bone, but I can sure as hell crush a windpipe.’

Rolling out of the way of the goat’s next frantic attack, Zed struck at its neck again as he came to his feet.

The Mountain Goat shifted its weight, blocking the attack with its shoulder, before turning to flee.

‘Damn, Taunt wore off!’ Zed quickly reactivated the Skill with a wordless shout as he chased after the beast.

The goat paused for a brief moment as the [ENRAGED] debuff was reapplied. Seeing the opening, Zed leapt to the goat’s back to strike with the blade of his spear again. As he did so, he noticed that the fur on the goat’s back was being pulled taut by its own weight.

‘That’s why my spear worked up here,’ he realized. ‘The fur on it’s sides is too loose and can clump up in the notches of the blade!’

Putting that information aside for the moment, Zed slashed at the Mountain Goat’s neck, hoping to hinder the beast’s ability to attack.

As the blade tore through the thick muscles, the goat reared back with a furious shriek, knocking Zed out of the air. Unable to straighten himself while airborne, Zed fell ungracefully, the wind almost knocked out of him as he hit the ground.

Suddenly a deep, instinctual fear gripped him. Zed did not bother looking up, that would cost him the precious milliseconds he needed to get away from the attack he knew was coming.

The one that he saw play out just moments before.

Zed activated [SPRINT] and dashed forward, tossing his weapon aside to gain every bit of speed he could.

He needed to move.

NOW!

At the last second, he jumped forward.

*BOOM*

The sound of the Mountain Goat’s [SKULL BASH] was so much louder now that he was right next to it. Zed could feel the shockwaves even without touching the ground, the air itself trembled from the impact.

He hit the ground hard before scrambling to his feet. He then realized that he still had his feet, in one piece and not flattened like a styrofoam cup beneath a truck tire.

‘That was too close,’ Zed thought, feeling cold sweat running down his back.

Zed was certain that this was the closest he had come to death since becoming trapped in New Eden Online.

Perhaps he was more helpless in those early days at level 0.

Perhaps that horde of Moss Wolves caused him more pain.

But none of that meant anything compared to this goat. He didn’t have the armor or the HP to defend against it. Even letting the attack graze him was certain to deal massive damage, and a direct attack would mean death.

Instant, unavoidable death.

Zed narrowed his eyes at the Mountain Goat as it pulled its head from the crater in the dirt.

‘We’re still in the early game. You don’t get to make me scared yet.’

Zed’s eyes scanned the battlefield for his spear, unsure of where he threw it in his haste. It only took him a second to find it.

It was beneath the goat.

‘...At least it’s still in one piece.’

Zed dashed for his weapon as the goat swung its horns at him. The wound on the beast’s neck did its job, and the attack was much less precise compared to before. Zed easily ducked under the giant horns, grabbing his spear just before the goat accidentally crushed it with its hooves.

Wanting to end this quickly, Zed swung the blade of his spear at the Mountain Goat’s throat, not caring if it gets tangled up again.

The spear did indeed get stuck in the goat's long fur, but not before tearing through the beast’s tough flesh, ripping open an artery and dousing Zed in blood.

The goat shrieked and began flailing about, stomping randomly in a desperate bid to crush Zed under its hooves.

Letting go of his spear again, Zed backed away from the frantic beast, keeping his distance as more blood poured from the huge wound.

Zed used [ANALYSE] and saw exactly what he expected.

[FATAL BLEEDING]

Remaining Duration: 57 Seconds

Lose 1% of Maximum HP per second

It was the most deadly debuff ever witnessed by a player, it was impossible for the beast to survive.

The bleeding began to slow after a moment but it was too late. The Mountain Goat had taken too much damage from the battle, and this debuff was the death blow.

In less than a minute, the monstrously strong Mountain Goat finally fell.