"Why is there a polar bear here?" Jessica was speaking rhetorically. Not expecting a reply. To her surprise, one was given.

"There is a very large lake on the edge of the Elven Forest. It runs from the bottom of the forest to the outside. It breaks down into many smaller rivers that flow from the ocean to the lake."

"Why would a lake attract polar bears?"

"Food scarcity. The population of polar bears became too high, other predators moved in, etcetera. Take your pick. The ocean is too dangerous to know for sure. All we know is, every so often, creatures will migrate from the ocean."

"If that is true, why is it here?" By this point, the polar bear was very close, looking for an opening.

"Either pushed out or lost." Saleh didn't speak anymore.

Having gotten into striking range, the polar bear went to swipe at Jessica, who moved back to dodge.

Saleh, seeing an opening, tried to take advantage, only to be slammed into by a side step.

Because of its size, his attack had trouble penetrating its skin. While he was sent sliding back before falling into a hill of snow about his height.

They were in a wooded area. Most of the trees were spread out with patches of densely packed trees.

These patches created bare branch canopies that created snow shelves. Once they became overweight, the snow would fall. This created a number of hills of considerable sizes.

Jessica couldn't bother with Saleh. The rebound of his attack and the weight from the bear wasn't enough to harm him.

At best, he was jarred while being sent away by the sheer amount of pressure of the two combined.

Growling a bit, clearly upset. Having swiped at Jessica a few times, none of its attacks had been able to land. Making it worse was that each was closer than the last. Adding insult to injury, Saleh who had been sent flying was back completely uninjured.

“Is it just me or does this thing not have any mana?” Jessica was a bit doubtful, she had only come close to being in contact without having made any direct contact. She couldn’t find an opening large enough to get a hit that was worth taking.

Ultimately, their job was to protect Cassie, who was in the carriage. With Saleh having been sent flying, she couldn’t afford to risk being pushed back, opening up the carriage for a frontal attack.

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“Unless it has the ability to hide it. I am not familiar with polar bears, outside of knowing from time to time they wander into our territory. I have never seen any on patrols, just dead one’s brought back.”

With Saleh back, Jessica took a step back as a claw moved past her face, needing to twist her head away as snow and dirt were being flung at her face. Spinning in the same direction as the claw, she brought her arm up to slice the pads of the paw.

However, she ended up missing as her back was turned towards her target. Having moved in the same direction, the polar bear tunneled on her, bringing its paw back towards her to try and smash her away with its massive weight.

Taking a risk, she jumped lightly as she infused her daggers with mana as she stabbed into the paw under her. Trying to leverage her weight with added penetration power from her mana.

This both worked, and failed. She was able to time it correctly. Her jump was high enough not to get hit. She was also able to make contact, however the thickness of its skin was a problem. She had underestimated the raw protective layer of fur and skin.

Jessica’s daggers cut in a fifth or sixth of the blade. As the paw was in motion, she was jolted to the side as her daggers were pulled out as it failed to cut open its thick skin. Causing her to fall and roll on the ground.

If not for Saleh, she was in a very compromising position. Having recovered in a second, there had been enough time for the beast to follow up.

Saleh, taking that moment to release a large amount of mana as he finished chanting in a cryptic language. It was difficult, at the moment it was winter. With a very large amount of snow and water in the area.

His choices were limited. Even still, the polar bear was used to winter weather. Even without mana, it was naturally resistant to such magic. Making his final decision an obvious choice.

Winds blew as a thin layer of snow was pulled from the tops of the ground and tree tops. Everything was compressed into a thin layer of snow spinning into a spiral. As he finished chanting, the spiral gave birth to three sharp needles made of snow and ice.

Letting out a threatening growl, the bear took a step back as the three needles flew towards its face. Being so large, that meant its facial features were larger than a normal beast. Making critical targets like the eyes a bigger target.

Having been hovering slowly, these needles sped up to astonishing speeds, at the same time the polar bear turned its head. In attempt to run away as it tried to turn around. In doing so, half of its face turned away, making hitting it impossible.

Which also meant that the other side of its face was completely exposed. One needle missed, while the other two hit. One sliced into the snout, creating a large cut that hid the tiny scratch that was created when the two had first come into contact.

The last stabbed directly into its eye. Having been in motion, part of the needle wasn’t able to keep its integrity. Which caused it to snap in half, ramming a part of the forehead before flying off. An earth-shattering roar filled the air as a cry of pain and panic could be felt from anyone hearing it.

Continuing to run a few feet, the polar bear fell to the ground as it slid slightly. A deep groan could be heard as it was possible to see it was still breathing. Without getting too close, Jessica moved with Saleh to the front of the beast.

Covering him, Jessica watched as Saleh chanted one more time. His voice was speaking in a cryptic language, however she could hear it was very fast-paced. Soon, another stalagmite shaped piece of snow and ice appeared.

Without a delay, the magic pierced its other eye, stabbing deeply into the skull as the polar bear breathed its last.