Up on its hind legs, the bear in front of Timothy looked to be at least five meters tall, and maybe half as wide. It had bark brown fur and limbs as thick around as his torso for their entire length. When it plopped back onto its front legs the ground trembled for a moment. This was the sort of thing that could wipe out Thuston all on its own. A nebulous energy surrounded it, and though its size was likely a bigger factor the energy couldn’t be ignored. If Timothy was careless, he might find his attacks not being as effective as he intended at a critical moment, or not defending himself adequately because he didn’t consider the augmentation energy could provide to a magical beast.

It was fortunate that the bear’s arrival sent most of the nearby beasts scattering away as it charged. Timothy was hoping to get some support from Anton up above, but a quick glance showed the old man was dealing with his own troubles, large taloned birds attacking him atop the silo. At least there were villagers available to support him, though Timothy didn’t want to risk their lives if possible. He would have to bear the brunt of the danger.

The great bear charged forward almost ponderously. It almost looked like it was moving through molasses… except for the fact that it was rapidly growing closer. Each giant step it took was several meters of distance despite the small number of actual paces. A moment later it arrived in front of the ‘wall’ that had been set up, sweeping a great paw and shattering the crates and barrels into pieces. Timothy blocked the splinters flying towards his face as he tried to figure out how to fight the creature.

The only thing he knew for sure is he couldn’t let it get into the village. Without thinking, his legs carried him forward towards the bear. He ducked under its other paw which was sweeping back across the same area, swinging his sword outward as he circled around the beast. He thought he had a pretty good hit, but as his sword raked along the beast’s fur he realized he probably didn’t even get through to the flesh.

At least he succeeded in drawing its attention. It quickly turned and swept down towards him with its paws. The speed at which it moved was deceptive because of its size. Timothy wanted to keep circling around the creature, but through the bear’s legs he saw villagers approaching it from behind. If he dodged around it, he’d lead it to attack them.

Timothy thrust his sword in its lower belly, piercing through the fur into the fat, and when it flattened itself to try to crush him he dove away. A dozen weapons stabbed into the creature’s rear, though without the power of a fourth star cultivator their effects were limited. Timothy moved back in towards the creature’s lowered face, slashing across its nose. In return, the bear swiped at him. Though he dodged away, five gashes were torn across his chest from the creature’s claws, as if he had no armor at all. Of course, without the armor and his energy he would instead have half of his chest torn away. Timothy knew he was riding the line, but he had managed to keep its focus on him.

He stepped forward in a feint, pulling away as the creature swiped back in the other direction. He swung his sword between the claws, hoping to slice through the forearm lengthwise but instead settling for a bleeding gash. With every move it was stabbed in the rear, but it focused its gaze on him as the target in front.

Timothy attempted another feint, but in his peripheral vision he caught the movement of both paws at once, slightly offset. The beast was stepping forward as well, so if he retreated he would be caught and torn apart regardless. That left him with the only option to move forward. It was terrifying to get closer to the massive beast, but he gathered his energy and thrust his sword deep into its belly. Deep enough he couldn’t pull it out, and he didn’t roll away fast enough when it flopped down on him.

It was close. It was just a single foot that didn’t make it out. The ‘softness’ of the creature’s fur and flesh mean his foot wasn’t completely crushed, but it was definitely broken. Timothy yanked his foot out from under the creature. He could stand on it, but he certainly couldn’t dodge well.

While turning its ponderous mass to face him, the bear twisted its upper body and neck so it could bite at him. The jaws were large enough to fit him entirely inside, widthwise at least. Timothy had to think fast, unstrapping his shield and throwing it at the bear’s nose where he had previously cut. It wasn’t real damage, but the creature flinched in pain. That allowed him just a single moment to grab fistfuls of fur around its upper jaw and pull himself upward. He flipped himself over and found himself astride the bear’s snout, his legs barely able to split wide enough to fit around. He’d ridden a horse in the past, back in his hometown of Carran. He squeezed with his thighs… and with nothing else he could do he punched out with a gauntleted fist towards the creature’s eye. It closed a massive eyelid and his fist rebounded, but he reached out towards with both hands, tearing at the eyelid where it closed together.

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It was like trying to tear apart a canvas tent, except even more difficult. His tempered muscles and energy were barely enough… but he revealed a few centimeters of bare eyeball. He stabbed out with his fingers and as much energy as he could, piercing into it… as a paw batted him away.

One claw tore into his shoulder, but he was mostly hit by the pad. Even so, it felt like everything broke as he slammed through a nearby wall and into the floor. So much for protecting the structures, he could barely even protect himself. If he hadn’t tempered his bones, would he just be a pile of mush?

Somehow he managed to sit up, and looked straight into the eye of the bear. The one he’d pierced was closed and bleeding… but was it enough blood? He couldn’t say. The creature likely had enough to fill an entire well. If only he could stand up...

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Though only a small portion of the beasts moved around to alternate entrances to the village, they were the more clever ones. Catarina found herself fully occupied scurrying around fending off the strongest beasts. She was barely able to keep up. It almost seemed like her formation wasn’t working, but she knew what the real issue was. She just wasn’t strong enough. She said she knew formations… and she did. Like a young child might know how to speak. She could do it… but she was certainly no master yet. She’d barely been able to understand the barrier around the forest, just enough to know it was broken. Covering an entire village in enhancements was difficult. And it might not be enough.

All around her Catarina saw villagers injured by the beasts she couldn’t reach in time. They were fighting, slaying the creatures as well… but none of them were really prepared for what they were facing. Maybe they should have just told them to abandon everything. They could have at least saved their lives.

Catarina first noticed a new threat by sensing its energy. A magical beast- her eyes flickered to it and saw a large, black furred cat. The panther had led at least a dozen mismatched beasts into the village.

As if they had agreed upon a match, both Catarina and the panther moved towards each other. She darted past it, slashing with her sword. She thought she would avoid its swiping claws, but she felt traces of blood on her upper arm… and then the pain a moment later. It was fast. Too fast, and much too strong to face alone. Catarina changed her tactics. She moved at a different angle, focusing more on her defense as she passed the creature back and forth. Her sword might not even find purchase with each pass, but the same was true for the panther.

However, Catarina was consuming her energy rapidly… and the panther mostly relied on its body. Catarina had five stars of body tempering, but muscle wasn’t one of them… she needed energy to swiftly kill creatures as well as to defend herself.

The pair continued to pass each other seemingly at random, but Catarina was leading the panther towards a particular point. She was glad to see that none of the villagers were along the path to be collateral damage. There was a fountain at the center of the village, and Catarina leapt up to stand atop it.

The panther wriggled, preparing to pounce… but Catarina didn’t move. She was concentrating on gathering energy, what she had inside of herself and everything swirling about the village. This was the central point of the formation she’d set up, and the best point for her to empower herself.

The panther leaped, jaws open and claws ready to latch onto her, as if having her head crushed in the jaws wouldn’t be enough. Catarina could dodge, but she wouldn’t keep control of the energy if she did so. She thrust her sword in front of her, right into the open jaw, through the roof of the mouth, and into the creature’s brain. Her sword, her arm, the fountain and everything around trembled as the energy of the formation collided with the creature, stopping its momentum and killing it. Her entire arm suffered cuts and she knew there was internal damage. Her meridians were strained, and the fountain was cracked… but she pulled her sword out of the creature’s mouth. She looked around… but wasn’t ready to see another creature, a wolf half again bigger than the panther. Another magical beast. What had they gotten themselves into?