Philo’s bow was in her hands, an arrow already nocked, and Gust cycled sword mana toward his hands. Each used their mana senses to find the source of the noise, but it wasn’t far.

Myles lay on the ground, covering his head with his arms while he cried out for help. There was a set of long gashes running down his back with blood seeping out and covering his robes. He let out a bloodcurdling scream as a black bear the size of a minivan bit into his calf and tore away a chunk of flesh. Blood gushed out and Gust felt his own limbs weakening at the sight. He never considered himself squeamish, but he’d never seen that much blood.

The bear was covered in thick black fur and two symmetrical blue lines curled down toward its front paws, supplying its powerful body with mana.

While Gust took cover behind a tree to consider how they should fight a fucking magical bear, Philo charged right in. She shot several arrows in as many seconds but half of them broke upon the bear’s hide. The few that bit into its skin didn’t puncture far.

With a roar that rattled Gust’s bones, the bear spun and stood over its prey, searching for the source of the arrows. When its eyes landed on Philo, it roared again and charged with more speed than either cultivator expected. Her pointed arrows were used up, so Philo used the blunted ones she shot at Gust.

The first missed as the bear’s moving body rose and lowered with its motion, but even the shots that landed barely seemed to register in the bear’s mind. It didn’t slow in the slightest.

Gust, meanwhile, was circling around to attack from the other side. When he saw Philo in trouble, he tossed out any semblance of a plan. Gust conjured a blue Mage Sword and stabbed it at the bear’s back.

A flash of bright blue light burst as Gust’s Mage Sword collided with, and was turned aside by, the beast’s defenses. There was a spurt of dark blood and a piercing squeal. Through Gust’s mana sense, he saw a streak of blue appear on the bear’s body as mana filled and sealed the wound.

The bear paused to looked back at another new threat and Philo desperately fled behind a thick tree while Gust faced her pursuer.

He called out to Philo, “Take care of your brother!” The girl gave him a slight nod, then Gust glanced at Myles.

The man was sprawled out on the ground, barely conscious. His eyes were falling shut like he had trouble staying awake and he wasn’t even trying to protect himself anymore. Gust quickly used a Mage Hand to carry Myles behind a tree close to his sister.

Then there was a ton of flesh and fur charging at him.

Gust used a Mage Hand to push the bear in one direction as he leapt in another, barely missing the long claws that tore a hole in his robes. Gust ripped a piece of the tattered cloth and raced over to hand it to Philo, who began tying it above Myles’ ruined leg.

“Th-thanks,” she said in a barely intelligible gasp.

“Don’t thank me yet. That fucking thing is still-“ he cut himself off as the bear charged straight at the three of them.

Gust knew that if he tried to lead the bear away, it would just focus on the weaker prey, so he did one the dumbest things he had ever done.

Gust lowered his shoulder the way he remembered from his one year of hockey, and conjured a bulwark of mana in front of himself. Dirt flung up behind his feet as he met the beast’s charge. It reared up and swiped as the two got close.

Gust slammed into the bear’s chest with a bone crunching snap. He shoved the shield of mana forward at the same time. The bear flailed as it crashed to the ground, breaking and cracking yet more bones from its massive weight.

Gust’s right arm was limp, and his shoulder felt wrong. No amount of mana dulled the pain, but Gust knew it would still accelerate the healing process. He’d put all the strength he dared into those few spells and was already running low as a result. If this didn’t end soon, he feared the worst.

Philo dove in and landed a few hard shots with her bow before the bear rose to its feet. It had immense difficulty and was clearly suffering a lot of pain, but this was no longer a hunt. The animal fought for its life.

Philo’s bow smacked into the bear’s head, but it simply swiped out with one massive paw and send the girl flying. While the beast was distracted, Gust took the chance to send a silver Mage Sword flying into its side.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The superior blade sunk in deep, and the bear reared back as it roared louder than ever. It swiped toward Gust, and a burst of blue mana flew out from a dark paw matted in blood. Gust didn’t have time to react as the bear’s spell took him full in the chest.

Gust was sent flying backwards as branches snapped against his back until he slammed into a thick tree and hit the ground. He rolled over and pushed himself up, but a paw slammed into his ribs and cut that idea short.

Every breath sent searing pain through his chest. Both of Gust’s eyes flew open wide and looked up into the bloodthirsty gaze of a predator. Blood and saliva dripped from fangs as sharp as knives as the bear crawled over his body. Its huge mass blocked out the sun and Gust gritted his teeth.

He didn’t have enough sword mana left for a full spell, but he poured all he could into several Mage Swords that sliced at the bear’s sides.

Then a burst of thick blue light erupted from the bear’s body and shattered Gust’s illusory weapons. His heart sunk. The mana he had left was even less than what he’d just wasted on that failed attack.

The bear roared and Gust roared back. “I hope your cubs are wolf food you overgrown koala,” he spat out. “I hope chlamydia rots your dick off and this whole god damn forest burns down!”

Gust knew this was the end. Of course, the bear wouldn’t know what he was saying, but he still felt better for saying it.

Behind the beast, Gust briefly met Philo’s gaze as she cradled her brother behind a tree. She cried and shook her head. She tried to rise with her brother, but he was too weak to walk.

A set of teeth lowered over his face and Gust shuddered with fear. Breath that stunk of rotting flesh and blood washed over his face as he tried anything to fight back. He cycled everything into his hands as he battered at the bear’s iron chest, and when there was no mana left, Gust pulled at his soul all the harder.

Time seemed to slow down, and he already felt like he was being torn apart. His heart ached for the quest and the people he had failed, and pain filled his chest.

Except, it went far deeper than that. Gust felt something burning, bubbling up inside of him. It built to a peak and his black eye flung open as something shot forth.

A thin sliver of a shadow burst out of the center of that black surface and shot straight into the bear’s open maw.

Its fangs were mere inches away from Gust’s skin when they froze. Drool spattered his face when the bear suddenly snapped its jaws over nothing. The animal kept jerking its head back and forth, biting at something unseen. It ambled forward until Gust was able to stand up.

Confusion painted both his and Philo’s faces while they watched.

The bear charged forward, swinging wildly. It suddenly fell back onto its haunches and started scratching at its face while whining desperately. The beast cried and screamed as it tore into its own scalp. Blood poured down its face.

One of Philo’s hands came up to cover her mouth and she looked like she might gag. With some difficulty, she tore her eyes away from the gruesome scene to stare at Gust’s black eye. Dark smoke leaked out.

After all the commotion, his habit of keeping that eye closed wasn’t something Gust could remember. Something had come out of him, out of his eye, and was now causing his enemy great pain.

“What did you do?” Philo whispered.

Gust just shook his head. He’d wanted to do something but his mana was gone. Nonetheless, he tried to reach deep into his soul to force himself into action.

But that didn’t look like mana.

Philo had long gashes along one thigh, but she tended to her brother as if she didn’t notice her own wounds. She spoke to him in a low voice as she bent over his bloody body. “You’re gonna be alright Myles, okay? It’s my turn to save you now.”

While she worked, Gust couldn’t stop watching the suffering bear. It scratched and scratched at the side of its head until finally it collapsed to the ground. Within seconds, its struggling ceased.

Slowly, Gust began walking toward the unmoving creature. When he was close enough to see the gaping wound in its head, he also saw a strange, flickering light. It looked almost like burning embers. The bear’s brain crackled and emitted a dark red light which painted Gust’s face with its glow as he leaned in to inspect it.

Gust couldn’t get over how beautiful it was. A dark maroon flame. Just like the core that had recently formed in his soul.

As he watched, the fire slowly spread. It surged through the bear’s body and several portions of its fur began to burn off from the inside. The corpse collapsed as dark red flames consumed it.

“What’s going on?” Philo barked.

Gust glanced over at her and broke out of his mesmerized state. He started kicking dirt onto the fire, but that only seemed to make it grow. Gust twisted his face up and walked into the forest. He didn’t know where any water was and wouldn’t be able to carry it even if he did. He searched for something to smother the flames and returned with a large rock.

Some of the flames began to spread along the ground. Gust dropped the heavy stone with a loud thump, then stepped on it to grind it into the dirt and extinguish the fire. When he bent down to lift it, however, the rock split in two and revealed a line of smoldering stone that was already beginning to spread.

“What the fuck,” Gust muttered as the fractured rock slipped from his hands.

The bear’s body was hardly recognizable now as its entire surface was smoldering.

“It’s getting dark,” Philo shouted. “We need to find help!”

“It’ll burn down the forest!” Gust shot back. Philo made a confused face but continued working on her brother.

As he thought about what he should do, Gust was at a loss. Everything he had tried only helped the fire grow. Gust gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut in frustration.

When he could still see the maroon flames through his eyelids, Gust opened his mana sense. The fire radiated a huge amount of maroon mana which appeared oddly familiar.

Without a second thought, Gust fell into position and began cultivating Demon Blades in the Void.