CLAP! As the girls were arguing mid-fight they hear a loud bang coming from the forest.
“What was that? Lightning?” Mary said looking at the sky, It was a bit cloudy but she couldn’t expect thunder. The could weren’t dark or anything, she could even doubt it will rain.
“That must be Cain, it’s that spell of his!” Sofia said as she finished her slime off with [Firebolt] “I don’t remember it being this loud though.”
“This is a spell? But if it can be heard from here it must be a strong one.” Mary asked as she looked toward the forest, would Cain be okay inside the forest?
“It’s supposed to be third-tier and it’s quite impressive,” Sofia said as she collected the core. since she used magic the core wasn’t damaged.
‘How was it? A week, two? How did he get this strong quickly, and where did he buy the spells? Don’t tell me it’s the black market again.’ Mary swore to question Cain when he returns, it was strange that someone like him wasn’t known. In her eyes this is a rare chance, she could be dealing with either a criminal or a new S-rank adventurer. She was hoping it was the latter.
“I’m starting to get mad, be out to rest!” Alice finally gathered her courage and plunged her hand into the slime’s body, [Cursed Decay] The monster’s core quickly rotted away like a shriveling potato. Mary got distracted by her sudden scream that she forgot what she was thinking.
“Finally done, hurry and heal Gracie’s hand. That wound looks painful!” Sofia teased the still exhausted Alice.
“Fine, bring it on!” Alice had killed a monster on her own for the first time. Slimes are composed of goo so they were quite resistant to her decay magic from the outside. They could also regenerate by eating the grass and snow under them.
As Alice healed Gracie, the girls looked around for more monsters to slay. It proved hard to find monsters when searching for them.
“Why they can’t appear when looking for them?” They found a nice rock where they sat to rest for a bit. “Monsters are usually carnivores, they actively avoid people looking for them while chasing their prey.” Said Mary the only one standing, Unlike her look, she was the fittest of them.
“How do you say we find them then? We’re already exhausted, does it matter?” Alice said not knowing what her words could bring, she was spot on, they were getting exhausted.
“It’s cold and snowing so there is one type of monster that we can find easily, he should appear by now.” As Mary said that, a quiet growl was heard. The girls quickly turned toward the thicket of the forest to see the trees wiggle.
They immediately stood up, the monsters that appeared sent chills down their spines. A massive bear-like creature with thick fur and empty black eyes. Walking on four legs it was almost twice as tall as Sofia.
“Giant bear, it’s just a really big bear. It’s known for stalking its prey until they get exhausted and then attacking them!” Mary said with a smile, slightly backing down to let the girls handle the thing. “Don’t damage the fur, it’s quite pricey!”
Sofia looked at the monster, its hide resembled the bear hide in the dragon’s fang living room. ‘Did they hunt this thing?’ She thought. Her legs started to shake just like that day.
Cain wasn’t here, and neither did Selena. There was no way the three of them could stop such a monstrosity. “We have to run!” She screamed but immediately she saw something. A knife flew and stuck to the bear’s forehead, and blood sprouted up. “It isn’t working,” Gracie said nonchalantly as stared at the monster.
GROOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! The bear roared as it stood on its back legs towering over 20 feet tall, it was massive.
“H-how could you do such a thing!” Alice cried her eyes out as she saw Gracie enrage the monster. “We’re killing it, aren’t we?” Gracie replied as she threw another knife, this time hitting the monster in its chest.
“Run!” Sofia grabbed Gracie’s hand and started to run away, Alice followed them as fast as she could. “We need to call Cain or Zaleria, we’re no match for such a thing!” She said.
“Are you sure you want to run away? It’s just B-rank.” Mary who was jogging by their side said, “It’s quite weak for its size, slow as well.”
“How could you be calm? Look at it, none of us will survive a single claw strike from such a thing!” Sofia replied, the monster’s paw was almost as big as her. “Cain! Selena! Zaleria!” She screamed.
The bear was considered a B-rank because it has a major weakness, for some reason it could only track one prey and it was slow! The bear wasn’t chasing the four of them, it was chasing only one. What they should do now is split to discover which of them the bear is hunting. And then as that person run ahead, the rest will attack the bear from behind killing it. The only one who know this was Mary and she was a bit reluctant to tell them, she wanted to know if they are really on the same level as Cain, and where Cobra’s fang power lies.
Suddenly, Gracie shook her hand from Sofia and turned around quickly. “GRACIE!” Sofia screamed as she saw the maid brandish her dagger and charge at the massive beast, did she has no fear? Unknown to them, she couldn’t comprehend such feelings.
Gracie took quick steps and quick was under the monster’s maw, THUD! Its massive paw smashed to the ground leaving a hole but It missed Gracie. With a left swing, the maid left a small scar on the monster’s arm. Its back legs quickly reached her and she swung another time tracing a red tray on the monster’s belly and back legs.
“Wait, she could dodge such attacks?” Alice but after a moment it was apparent, that the monster didn’t even care about Gracie and was still chasing them.
“Does it want us? I will let him have it. I’M GONNA ROAST YOU TO CINDER!” Sofia screamed using her attempting to use her charisma as Cain had shown her at the goblin and basilisk’s fight, The massive bear flinched for a moment and it was all she needed.
[Scorching rays] Aiming one at the bear’s head, head, and head. “Gracie, move away!” She screamed as she took another step [Firelance] The bear easily deflected the spell with its massive claw and pounced At Sofia.
[Burning feet] Sofia used her modified burning hand to propel herself to the side dodging the massive beast, the earth shattered from the weight of such an attack.
ROAR! The bear growled as it kept charging toward Alice and Mary. Sofia wasn’t going to let it go easily. [Bonfire] She ignited some things that were stuck to the monster’s hide. causing its backside to burst in flames. As the monster rolled in the snow to put out the flames. [Firelance] Sofia tried to shove a spear in the monster’s back end. She had to get beyond the thick hide after all. Unfortunately, the monster’s violent rolling made her miss.
ROAR! As the flames faded, the bear pounced again at Alice and Mary. Being scarred, Alice almost pulled her wings in front of Mary. “Alice let’s split!” Mary said at the last moment and they both went to their sides and the bear landed in the middle.
GROWL! The bear slowly turned toward Mary, he was hunting her.
Mary sighed as she stopped running, it was quite a bummer that the bear was after her. She was feeling that Alice was about to do something but now she had to end this mess.
Mary reached into her pocket, as their representative, she had the responsibility of testing and making sure they won’t get killed. She slowly turned toward the bear with a small glass bottle in her hand, “Thanks for your corporation, Mr bear!” She said with a smile. opening the lid.