Attash Shamshir or Flame Sword was self explanatory.

It was fire taking the shape of a sword. But what exactly were its properties?

Firstly, its sword shape allowed for a higher range than a fireball. Secondly, it had more firepower, burning everything it touched in an instant. And last but not the least, it could be sustained as long as you poured mana into it.

Emil's offense was sure to strengthen with this spell added to his arsenal.

But he still had a problem, and that was his mastery over the spell.

As of now he had trouble maintaining it despite putting all his concentration into it.

Not to mention the ridiculous amount of mana it was consuming, which was partially due to the spell's nature but mostly Emil's mastery over it.

If he wanted to use it in battle without it being a liability, a source that did nothing but drain his mana, he had to learn how to control it.

And that's exactly what he was planning to do before his hunt began.

Emil spent the rest of that day, the next day and the better half of the third day practicing with the spell alone.

Whenever he ran out of mana and couldn't cultivate anymore, he'd do low rank missions to grind points for pills.

After three days, he decided to head back to the forest and claim the Earth Bear's life.

He couldn't allow himself to sit around anymore, in fear of the beast recovering to its original power.

***

Emil was hanging from a tree branch and observing the Earth Bear's cave.

He'd been sitting there for about an hour now, waiting for the bear to come out so he could check its condition.

Finally, the Bear walked out and started heading towards the river, allowing Emil to take a good look at it.

The wound on its back was still there, its appearance having barely changed from three days ago.

The beast's aura was much sharper than before, but still far weaker than what it originally was.

If Emil were to guess, it'd be somewhere at the beginning of the second stage.

However, considering the opponent was an Earth Bear, one of the storngest species of Magical Beasts in terms of physical strength, it'd be foolish to measure its power through normal standards.

Whatever the creature's aura was showing was probably one level lower than its actual strength.

Emil watched as the Earth Bear bent down on all fours to drink from the river.

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This was a good opportunity for a sneak attack, which was Emil's original intention.

However, after feeling the enemy's aura alone, he could tell a sneak attack would be ineffective and would only put him in danger.

He had to get a feel around the opponent's strength before deciding how to approach it.

There was no better way of doing so beside confronting it.

Emil's eyes, still locked on the opponent, started wavering little by little. his breathing became unsteady and slowly but surely, his hands began shaking as he brought three pills up to his mouth. his will was wavering.

He didn't take the pills. his hands stopped before his lips as he second guessed his decisions.

The opponent was strong, much more powerful than him.

Even if he took the pills, in addition to his elemental advantage, he would still not have half the thing's power.

What he was trying to do here required courage, and stupidity to a certain degree.

"Stop shaking dammit."

Emil took a deep breath and tried to compose himself as his left hand struggled to stop his right hand's shaking.

His eyes caught wind of his ring at this moment.

A pitch black ring, reflecting not a hint of the sunlight hitting it. The only thing emitting from it was the glowing eyes of the creature carved into it.

It looked ferocious, it looked mighty, a symbol of strength.

To Emil though, it held a different meaning.

It was there as a reminder, that he wasn't alone.

That every moment of his life, no matter the odds, no matter how hard, there were people who had faith in him.

People who believed in him, who were sure he would surmount any challenge he came across and come out victorious.

They were his parents, his mother and father, his uncles, Arne and Piers, and her, too.

After gazing at the ring, Emil calmed down and his hands stopped shaking.

A calm glint flashed past his eyes as he downed the three Pellets and summoned Emerald Reflection, before heading towards the enemy.

A Strength Pellet, a Defense Pellet,, and an Earth Resistance Pellet.

Three was the safe limit to consuming Pellets, anymore than that and his body wouldn't be able to take it.

The Earth Bear was instantly alerted of Emil's presence and turned around to face him.

It raised its left claw to meet Emil's sword.

*Clang*

The sound of two metals connecting sounded out as Emil's arms shook with pain, almost letting go of the weapon.

Soon, his hands started turning numb, loosening his grip around the sword's hilt.

Emil didn't even remotely come close to the bear's physical strength even after enhancing himself with Pellets.

It was no surprise, he couldn't augmentate and his body was barely stronger than a normal boy his age.

He was betting on the sharpness of his sword and the power of his spells to win this fight.

Making distance between himself and the beast, mana started pumping into Emil's mana pathways before a fiery sword formed in his hand.

"Attash Shamshir."

He met the bear's claw with the fiery sword.

*Sizzle*

The sword burned through the beast's paw but failed to stop its attack.

All Emil could do was roll to the side to dodge, and he did, but not before the claw connected to his collar and ripped his shirt in half.

Emil, right after dodging the attack, felt the ground shaking and started moving again.

A trail of earth spikes followed him around as he ran, he'd be skewered by them if he stopped or slowed down.

Emil couldn't outrun the spikes, they were catching up to him quickly so he had to do something.

Deciding to retreat, he ran towards the closest tree and jumped on top of it, barely dodging a spike in the process.

His dodge wasn't complete however, as a small trail of blood trickled down his left left. He was grazed by a spike, and if not for the Defense and Earth Resistance Pill, the spike would've probably penetrated him bone deep.

Paying no mind to the bleeding, he started scaling the tree as soon as he latched on to it.

The Earth Bear didn't sit around. It rammed the tree with all its power, shaking it violently and almost knocking him over a few times.

It wouldn't take long before the tree was felled.

Emil, looking down at the bear from a branch, made up his mind.

He took out two Potions and gulped them down one by one while the bear was busy attacking.

Mana Amplification Elixir and Body Strengthening Elixir.

For five, just five minutes, Emil was gonna wield power far beyond his capabilities.

His chances of taking the beast down were still low, but there was no turning back anymore.

It was either him, or it.