Xane was fine. He had it handled. After he shot his first volley, all 18 bullets in total he turned tail and ran. His higher stats than before letting him zoom through the rocky tree riddled landscape. He ran and fired, not needing to care about aiming. Due to the thing being so large.

Out in the sunlight it was practically a mountain if it wanted to be. There was also a presence of terror that tried to invade his mind. His high will stat and blessing from Yug so long ago let him power through. It was another thing he was warned about. Higher level creatures just exuded a paralyzing fear. He would too at higher levels.

A heavy swipe was dodged as he slid on the ground spinning to fire more rounds. He hadn’t been idle while Lyenn was in control. Xane had her find a rune called flame burst. It made any projectile have fire damage added to its attacks. And Xane used it to full affect each round wreathed in fire.

Another swipe meant to turn him into paste was dodged as his worm dance kicked in. The attack slamming into the ground he couldn’t dodge the shockwave it created. Xane was lifted off the ground.

Another swipe already going for him. Xane put his guns away instead of taking out his rapier. As the attack came he twisted in the air and stuck the blade into flesh. It was pre loaded with an item he got after his second run in the first dungeon he had went into. Well it was Lyenn that time but she had found a one use application of it.

Sludge Lord’s Damnation

Single use application to a weapon. Every hit reduces speed of creature struck

-.1% speed(Stackable)

Time before stack wears off: 5 minutes

It truly wasn’t an insane item coming from a weak dungeon. Even so it was perfect for drawn out battles. Every hit slowing the beast. And Xane could dish out rapid slices.

Xane struck 10 times before he landed. Out his revolver came and fire spewed forth. He ran into the cover of trees, a roar of anger stunned him for a few seconds.

You have been stunned.

Time remaining: 1 second

When it warred off he found himself almost splattered into mist. He pulled out a boulder he had stored in his ring. The creature was mid-slam with both paws as the rock appeared taking the attack. It did shatter crumbling from the pressure. It did give Xane enough time to move to the side, taking another 15 swipes before running and shooting.

They danced for 30 minutes before Xane was forced to drink a stamina potion. His other pools were still doing well. Xane wasn’t invulnerable, taking near missed cuts, wood and rocks slamming into him as the beast rampaged through the region.

Nothing attacked the duo as they fought knowing they wouldn’t last a second.

Xane took out and threw multiple spears made of steel and all runed with combustion and enchanted with his frost enchantment. The trigger being sealed in a weak tip. As the spear penetrated skin the tips would explode inside the creature. The bear’s tough skin and thick fur blocked most of the spears from getting through. However, only a few needed to as the damage was done.

The bleak bear stumbled as 5 of the 14 thrown exploded shrapnel in the beast. Xane ran in to deliver multiple attacks swinging and firing in a staccato. The bear roared activated one of its special abilities. Every creature that can hear it stumbled as exhaustion overtook them. Bear’s Slumber.

Xane barely had the mind to take the bottle and dump the contents down his throat.

Tired be Gone:

This potion reduces the need for sleep.

-50% to sleep requirements.

It helped but the bear’s ability was potent and the potion just made him awake as he was launched 200 ft across the now open field. His health immediately dropped 60%, his protection runes having failed nanoseconds from the strike though taking a huge portion of the damage. Xane took another potion, this time a Great healing potion, his health going almost all the way back up. It was his only one.

The Bleak Bear must have thought Xane would die from the single strike for it slowly moved towards him. What it didn’t expect was the pest to get back up and speedily throw more of the obnoxious spears at it. One lucky strike went up the nostril of the bear exploding inside. Unlucky for Xane bear sneezes. Especially large bears. Was very messy.

A pond of snot shot forth. Xane pulled out a literal wall he stole using it as a shield. It was enchanted with the protection and durability rune as well as the durability enchantment. The fountain of snot splattered against the wall as another force slammed into from a mid sprint.

The metal and magically reinforced wall groaned and snapped. Xane took more swipes with his blade needing to slow it down more. Xane seeing things bleak pulled out another ace. A rope that would bind around a creature attempting to restrain it. He doubted it would do much but was a powerful object. He ran towards the mountain side and waited for the charge he knew was coming.

The bleak bear charged and gained speed rapidly. Before he used the rope Xane let loose gallons upon gallons of water drenching the area hopefully forcing it to slip up. This did a bit. The steady steps turned into a scramble. Xane dodged out of the way watching the mass of fur and flesh slam into the rocks. This caused cracks to run up the cliff side.

Xane took the opportunity to throw the rope while it was momentarily stunned. The magic rope was only long enough to wrap one leg up a bit. “Well shit.” Xane poured in more mana to create more ammo.

Getting distance Xane started his rain of bullets again. Both weapons out again. The bleak bear could barely react in time as the wall of bullets slammed into it. Tired of this fight the bear reared up and slammed into the ground sending a shockwave that could be felt miles away.

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“You felt that right?” Asked Calrin. Huntress gave a nod.

“Should we go help Xane?” Hatchet said without his normal jest.

Huntress shook her head and Calrin spoke,”I think we should just wait.” However Calrin had a potion of haste in his hand ready to down it if need be.

Xane didn’t see the attack doing so much until it happend. The shock wave something much more powerful than what should have been possible. “An ability that wasn’t in the missive?”

The bear had many abilities to stun combatants. This one however did something different.

Tremble

You have been inflicted with Tremble. Movement speed reduced by 35% You have dropped your held items.

Time Remaining: 2 minutes

This wasn’t good. Xane used another new ability he had gotten. The power that came from the intelligence feat reaching 200. He lifted both his guns with his mind bringing them to him as he tried to run. What he didn’t expect was the beast to throw a rock at him. The rock was a large boulder that slammed into him right before he could get his items back.

He was bowled over. His luck stat came into play as his worm dance dodge chance kicked in. He couldn’t dodge the entire thing but instead his left shoulder was shattered. The rock nicked his head bone splintering. Xane was thrown into a spin as he tumbled to the ground. He laid there unconscious from the pain.

“Xane. I know you are still alive, get up.” She screamed into his mind over and over. “Get up. Get UP.”

Xane though couldn’t. He just couldn’t bring himself to do anything. The bear was just too powerful. Why did he even think he could do such a thing as defeat it? He was flush with power and like the bleak bear blindly ran into danger for even more power.

Huge steps slowly walked towards Xane. The glee of finally ending this pest gives the bear a sense of pride. It was powerful. It would rule this land. It would devour this land. It watched the pitiful movements of the pest. The gaul that it thought it would survive this fuelling the slow pondering steps. It would enjoy this like any other meal.

Xane moved his one good arm towards his mouth, a weaker healing potion but a good one nonetheless. His health was down to 9% left and rocketed up to 52%.

“Fine I’ll do it myself, you're not the only one in control anymore.” Xane’s mind could barely register the voice he was hearing.

Xane was awake in moments feeling the healing energy surge through him. He erected his last wall he had made. This one a dome shape. It was barely big enough to fit him lying down. Similar to the last it was enchanted and runed to. This one meant to give him time to heal more than anything else. “Thank you Lyenn.” Xane whispered, still not feeling alright. He didn’t fully like the idea that she could just take control like that but was glad for it.

Xane wouldn’t have long so he immediately started cultivating to regenerate his pools.

The Bleak Bear was too dumb to understand what had happened. What was this? It wasn’t dumb enough to not attack the threat. A heavy slam attack sending dirt and debris into the air. As it settled in furry it saw the dome still intact, heavy cracks forming. Another slam, And one last one, this heavy attack had even more power, shattering the offending thing. However the sense of power it felt while killing something never came. Clouds of dust made it hard for the beast to see.

Xane had run after the first slam seeing the air filled with concealing dust. His weapons were dragged along with him. And then stored away. “Ok that was cool.” He heard another heavier hit and shattering of wood and creacking of metal as the bear destroyed his hard work.

Xane got a distance away and erected another thing he made. It was just sticks, twigs and other stuff. A hidy place. Sitting inside he started to cultivate his pools inching their way up. Xane knew that the bear would probably be searching or healing itself but didn’t care. If he was to fight it he would need to win the war of attrition.

Xane fully maxed out 30 minutes later he started to sneak around. It wasn’t hard to find the bear. It hadn’t rested as it searched for Xane. Luckily it started looking the wrong way. How something that large couldn’t just sniff him out was a mystery to Xane. It was like all that size and power made its senses dull.

That wasn’t to say there weren’t close calls Xane had moved many times which is why it took so long. The bear sadly had its wounds also starting to close. Burnt flesh turning pink. Xane though was in a better state. On a hill up higher Xane waited ready. He had 3 spears left and threw them all in quick succession. All puncturing skin. And then exploding.

With that first attack actually from stealth all that damage was increased. Xane didn’t waste time celebrating. He unloaded his ammo. As he sprinted away.

The bear didn’t like this and the fight was back on. That it liked.

Guerrilla tactics were in full swing as Xane kited the bear back to its own lair. He didn’t get anywhere near it since he was out of tricks to survive. Instead he made sure he was far away.

This went on for an hour. He was never hit once. Xane had focused fire on the bleak bear’s legs in attempts to slow it. The actions seemed to work but he wasn’t dealing nearly enough damage to end it anytime soon.

Xane had a plan though. Inside the massive cave was where he found himself tired. He chugged another mana potion, his pool rising. He also had one of his few energy drinks, his stamina going up too.

Xane waited for the bear. It barreled inside the cave a toothy grin and snarl. It was heavily damaged but all in all it was nothing the beast couldn’t handle. Again the bear charged thinking the puny human was trapped. Xane waited for the last second to roll under. The bear with its full weight hit the wall. Cracks spreading up it.

The only reason his weakened and tired body was even able to do such a thing was that he used his stats for all feat. Gaining 25% increase in all his stats. The boost didn’t feel like when he gained the mass amount before. It felt more integrated. He could handle the surge of strength better. Either because it came from the system directly or that his soul was hardened from the last ordeal.

As it hit Xane used one of his other long cooldown tricks. He activated Gretti’s Pain. The necklace shot out rings of visible sound. It compounded with the stun of the bear hitting the wall. Shots from his gun broke through the tough flank of the bear as it slowly reared around an ineffective strike aiming to end Xane. He backed up quickly with nothing but air buffeting Xane back.

Xane did the same thing, firing again and dodged again. More cracks spread up the wall and stones started to fall in different parts of the cave. The true reason he used the necklace wasn’t to stun the bear. But to enrage it. Make it blind with rage to not realize the trap it was setting up for itself. And it seemed to be working.

Xane waited near the entrance for one last go. Xane fired into the left leg of the bleak bear and it stumbled ever so slightly. Even with the massive boost in stats Xane wasn’t undamaged as a wild claw strike sliced his right leg clean off from the knee. He and the leg with the inertia of his jump tumbled out of the now crumbling lair.

Xane screamed in pain, blood pouring from the wound. “Xane don’t take a potion-” He didn’t listen as he chugged a weak healing potion and the wound closed. “You could have put your leg on first.” She seemed more disappointed than angry.

The entire cliffside tumbled like a jenga tower on the bear as it tried to get up. Massive rocks pushing it down. Breaking of bones and tearing of flesh could be audibly heard. Xane crawled up and put his severed leg in his ring. He started crawling away again as he still knew the bear wasn’t dead. “How is it not dead yet?” He complained, not enough energy to do anything more.

“It has a lot of health. You think a few rocks could kill it. Now crawl faster please.” She begged.

Xane did as asked as he crawled away. A loud crash of stone on stone erupted from behind. Xane turned to see a snout peer through the rocks. Then eyes that locked on Xane. He sat up and started bumping mana rounds into the head as the bear started to reveal itself. It wasn’t enough. The bear started getting up.

Xane wasn’t alone. As the head peaked through a snake struck for the neck and curled around it like a choker. This entire time waiting for his moment was Garry. “Hell yeah bud.” The weakened bear couldn’t get the snake off of it as it slowly started choking. Xane didn’t do nothing and started shooting well placed shots in the face of the Bleak Bear.

This took longer than he had hoped, but in the end a flood of messages and power flowed through him.