Chapter 55 - Into the Wild IV

As Luca and Daniel circled the arcane bear, Lysander used earth magic to create a chair for him to sit down.

"Luca, don't underestimate the creature. It is much stronger than your last encounter."

Hearing one of his mentors slightly nodding down, Luca renewed his grip on the swords.

A smile appeared on his face once the eyes of the creature shone both green and blue. He had been expecting to see what it would do when facing more attackers.

The mixture of earth and water spells started to form around the bear, its eyes still glued to Luca. It took more than a second for the skills to form, but Luca sped up his movements to the side.

Look here, stupid bear… Thought Luca as his legs worked tirelessly to prepare for the sequence of evasions necessary to survive the incoming volley.

Daniel was still waiting, and he had to be sure Luca had gotten the bear's attention enough for him to attack it from its back. His entire body was waiting for the cue to run at the animal. Daniel dashed at the creature as the spells formed, and one after the other flew toward Luca. He improved his speed, acceleration, and strength by using his physical activation skills.

To their surprise, the bear started running in Luca's direction, and its speed was absurd. It closed the distance in a flash. Happly Luca had begun to increase the gap between them.

With his skills buffs, Daniel can reach it. Thought Kwame.

Happily, the bear had facilitated by compressing the ground, giving Daniel enough grip and few obstacles to deal with. His weight was much less than the bear's, making running on top of the compressed snow much easier for him than for the creature.

Daniel tried using everything he could to mask his presence on the approach. He aimed for a blind spot on the bear's back, constantly looking at Luca to time his attack. The kid was running, dashing, jumping, and freerunning around the area, doing all he could to avoid the projectiles created by their enemy. From time to time, Luca even used magic to help counter some of the creature's attacks. Evading every single spell would be simple if the casting spell of the bear was the same from the beginning, but the magical beast had adapted the spell's strength, reducing it so the casting time would be faster. Spell after spell made Luca use all his focus to avoid them, preventing him from finding a moment to turn the tables on the bear.

The three were almost at each other's throats; the bear had almost reached Luca, and Daniel was about to reach it. As Luca avoided another round of spells, he had to jump, turning his body upside down and twisting it around using a bit of air magic to help with the maneuverability. Luca had never tried it, but his capabilities improved with each passing second as he got used to the bear attacks. Amid the maneuver, he saw a flash of Kwame's skill approaching them. Finally! He thought.

A wind blade the size of a human was sent flying by Kwame, and it was much faster than any of the running targets. Daniel had fought with Kwame many times and knew the blade was coming soon. A bird called into the forest, and Daniel was the first one to react at that moment. He sidestepped, clearing the path of the windblade. Luca had prepared in his mind to evade the skill, but the speed was higher than expected. He calculated the minimal necessary movement not to be damaged but to prepare for a strike.

The wind blade gained momentum, and the bear finally acknowledged it as a threat. It stopped, raising its front legs, facing the blade head-on. The shine on its eyes expanded to his entire body. The skills running wild lost their strength as the creature covered its body with earth and snow, consolidating an armor of avalanche debris.

Each, in their way, dealt with the blade. Daniel evaded it from below and to the side. The bear, able to finish his armor, prepared for a direct hit. Luca readied his blades to counter it with a spell but positioned himself just behind the magical beast. He created a situation where he would deal only with the strength left after the spell encountered it.

Passing millimeters from Daniel's left shoulder, the blade shuffled his hair on the way toward their enemy. He tried to do minimal movement so his following attack would be compromised, but the fear of messing up and losing an arm to the spell made him evade more than necessary. Still, as the blade passed, he went for the beast's right leg.

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Luca charged a large earth spine to be sent together with his wind-covered blades.

The instant Kwame's spell hit the arcane bear; it was as if an invisible wall had run through it for those without mana in their eyes. There were sounds similar to a wind storm, but the result was visible even to the naked eye. Portions of the armor created with magic were slashed and sent flying away. The bear roared, but the wind storm muffled its rage. Cuts started to appear all over the bear's body, but the armor had taken care of the most powerful ones.

As it realized the imminent danger had eased, a claw attacked the incoming stone spike aimed at its back. Unlike the invisible wind spell, the bear could focus his defenses only on the claw about to challenge the stone. To its surprise, the stone disintegrated as the claw struck the tip of Luca's spell. Shocked by the situation and the lack of resistance, the bear stumbled from the strength behind his claw attack.

At that moment, one from each side, both tendons from the bear's back leg were slashed near the hills. Luca saw Daniel coming with everything he had after the right leg, so he aimed his attack on the back of the left leg. The success of their attack hinged on two factors: the strength of Kwame's spell and the time until the bear regained its focus on them.

Luca's attack was successful in cutting the entire tendon from the left leg, but Daniel's fell a bit short.

The creature growled in pain as the attacks finished its stumble to a fall.

Luca and Daniel used their momentum to escape any counter from the beast, but nothing came their way. On the contrary, the Arcane bear stood there. Luca and Daniel exchanged glances with each other and Kwame before starting to circle the animal once again.

The bear moved its back legs to comprehend the pain radiating from them. Looking at his back paws without much movement, it roared as a mana surge exploded from within. Earth and stones surrounding it amassed as if a black hole had been created at the bear’s position.

Unlike the previous one, this time, the mana emanating from the bear was at the highest it had ever been. Luca, Kwame, and Daniel could barely believe their eyes. The creature was already an entire person higher than any of them. Now that the stones formed another layer of armor, it reached almost four meters. The creature had no sense of functionality with the armor, simply amplifying its size and protecting the vital parts of its body. The back legs had been reinforced and accumulated the most mana. While the armor finished forming, it decided to eliminate the one responsible for the situation, the mage who created that annoying spell that opened his defenses.

Using all four legs, the arcane bear dashed even faster than before. With magic pouring from its pores and emanating through its armor, the creature went berserk in Kwame’s direction.

All of them reacted instantly, but the bear's speed was unmatched. In the blink of an eye, Kwame and the bear were face to face. From Luca’s and Daniel’s perspective, Kwame had disappeared behind the gigantic earth and stone bear golem. Both hearts skipped a beat in that moment, using everything they had inside to reach and help him.

The bear's deep bellow shook Kwame's clothes as the man watched his life coming to an end. As a mage, he could not evade, much less defend against the incoming grizzly’s frenzy. He had no spatial ring, no special armor to be used, and no spell he could cast in the fraction of a second he had left. His mind recorded all the memories from his life as if a movie had passed in the blink of an eye. A genuine smile formed in his expression, followed by two teardrops in his eyes. Realizing one had no regrets was liberating. At the same time, only noticing this at one’s end was sad. Because of the Grizzly's posture to perform a bear hug as it bit Kwame’s head, Luca could see Kwame’s face and resolve.

Luca had never seen a person die. It awakens something profound inside. He blazed all his mana in a flash. His senses, speed, and strength jumped similarly to the bears'. Still, his reaction was too late. Even dumping all his mana into a single attack, he could not save Kwame, but his mind had already been filled with anger and rage. If saving him was out of the question, revenge would suffice.

Daniel remembered the pain he felt when losing his family. Kwame was the closest thing he had compared to his past. The idea of losing his brother also made him go beyond his limits. Recognizing his agony again, the heavens bestowed upon him the skill Berserker’s Frenzy.

All statuses double for thirty seconds. Your body cannot handle the stress. No magic can heal your wounds; only time. What is pain for some time compared to losing my brother?! Thought Daniel as he instantly used the skill.

He and Luca gained distance on the bear as it was now inches from Kwame.

Thrain glared at Lysander, waiting for the man to save his friend. Nothing happened.

Looking from afar, Lysander was evaluating everyone’s choice. He had nothing against Kwame, but at the same time, his task was to teach everyone about the world. The battlefield is not where you can expect to be saved by those more powerful than you. If you underestimate your opponents, you die. If you miscalculate your power, you die. The faster one learned that or realized they couldn’t handle it, the more lives he would save. It may seem harsh for others, but he truly believed only those prepared to die should step foot in combat. Still, at that moment, he wasn’t sad, nor was he worried.

A loud cry pierced everyone’s ear. Louder than the avalanche, louder than the bighorn explosions, the sound resonated in everyone's mind, even the grizzly. It instantly tried changing position mid-air, but its efforts were meaningless without the ground to push against.

Thrain was still looking at Lysander as the man’s eyes sparkled with joy and a sincere smile. He had no time to look toward the sound, but Lysander’s face calmed him senselessly.

Kwame, Daniel, and Luca heard the same crying sound. The first two had no idea what it was, but the raging Daniel kept his goal in mind, tearing his muscles on the way to a final attack. Kwame woke from his acceptance and prepared the quickest wind spell he could to increase his speed of backway.

Luca was the only one to increase his mana output even further, ignoring any defensive capabilities he had previously prepared. His muscles now shined from pure mana. His blade raged as yellow as the sun from the air elemental magic surrounding it.

Lysander observed the magical beast. At that moment, he was the only one functioning faster than anyone could realize. You did everything you could, but this is nature. The strong conquer—the weak become prey and fuel to the strong. I’m proud of you kids… He thought as his eyes moved, dead set on the origin of that cry.