One thing I had been warned of years ago in one of Gramp’s lessons was that there exist a few rare animals that go beyond the strength normally found in each of the seas. Animals of such strength that even those of lower caliber who make their lives in the New World would struggle to beat them or even outright injure them in some cases. Animals don’t get that strong without also being wise enough to know when to pick battles and what not to do outside of them, like say avoid human population centers. I was not thinking of this when I traveled more than four-hundred miles in that of my werewolf form. I had no idea I was traveling through the territory of a monstrous bear. One that was over one-hundred years old. As I continued howling every few seconds, instincts in control mostly, I heard a growl that shook the very ground I was running across on all fours, almost spilling me to the ground in shock. My human mind made a bit of progress to being the driver for the wagon that was my mind, when I was suddenly chunked through five trees from a shoulder check that I never saw coming, clearly. Most of my human mind had returned to the surface just as this bear lumbered into the other side of the clearing from me where I ended up and then stopped. I had fear in my eyes as I took in this giant among bears. Over five, but closer to six meters tall at the shoulder, and they were still on all-fours, meaning that I would possibly be looking up at almost fifty feet of bear if they stood upright on their hind legs. Heaps of battle scars crisscrossed the silver coat of fur, but they looked like only scratches like what a cat would inflict. The eyes were clear of any issue, which took my chances down even more than they already were, which was damn low to begin with. The option of fleeing in the face of such an overwhelming creature was quickly discarded, for turning my back to such an enemy would almost guarantee my death. So, despite being far from one hundred percent, as I had only been healing for ten days give or take a few hours, I was going to have to take down this giant of a bear. I tried to change back to my human form, but I was stuck for some reason. So, onto offense it was, as I moved to attack the bear when they started moving again. I leapt to strike first and succeeded as I blurred across the clearing, as I was still able to use Geppo despite my change in form. That only won me a thin line of blood despite my claws being razor sharp, crap. My reaction time was top notch thanks to my Observation Haki, meaning the bear’s jaws closed on empty air with an earth-shaking clack of sound. Even though I shouldn’t have with such a challenge before me, I dumped fifteen percent of my mana into doing an experiment here and now. Air-natured mana at the tips of my teeth with earth-natured mana coating the rest. Air for sharpness of my dirk-like teeth, and earth for stability to lessen the chance of this hair-brained stunt tearing my jaw off. I waited patiently this time for them to rush me as I needed all the time I could get; just in case this idea goes south. Their left front leg coming up off the ground, as they prepared to rend me to pieces with the broad sword like claws was the signal for me to make my move. I slid under the swipe and past their hind legs. Just as I finished passing by, I snapped my muzzle out to latch onto their left hind leg. I then used Armament Haki on my teeth to further the chance of this idea working. Ninety percent out of a hundred is still damned good, especially for a plan thought up and implemented in less than two seconds. My jaw rattled from the forces I put it through, and several smaller teeth snapped off, but the next sound the bear made was that of pain as I succeeded in tearing through muscle tougher than corded steel and gouging out chunks out of bone. I still paid for the plan after the fact though, as my left arm was dislocated from an off-center swipe as the bear thrashed around. On one such swing, I let go, tearing furrows in the hard packed dirt as I skidded to a stop with a limp for my troubles. The bear came at me slowly, so that even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to pull the same trick again, which was fine by me and that wasn’t in the cards for me. At this moment as I waited for them to get closed, the clouds moved enough for the moon to shine down into the clearing, and I was suddenly feeling better than good, I was fantastic, except for the arm that was dislocated and even that wasn’t too bad all things considered now. It was like I had a new view of the world. That same view saw me not just winning this fight but lugging the beast’s corpse back in victory. The bear got close and then stood up, no sign of the back leg hindering them despite the damage that I did. I howled and put all my rage and frustration that had been pushed to the side, and the bear flinched. I pounced on the opportunity presented to me, for the bear showed that they were male, meaning vulnerable weaknesses for me to exploit. I did a set of air blades as my claws hummed through the air with the force generated, enough mana infused to tinge the air green as they flew the short distance. For one of the other things that my grandpa taught me was that in a life-or-death battle, if you are not cheating, then you are not trying hard enough to win. Blood started pouring out of the destroyed genital area in a big steady stream, making to now turn this battle to one of attrition. The bear, after taking a second for his body to process what happened, let out such a scream of such volume that I know everyone all the way in Foosha City heard it. I was dazed as the punishing volume rattled my brain in my skull to the point that I was seeing spots in my vision. The scream cut off and I back peddled as well as I could in this unfamiliar form. Kami-E saves me as I tried to process the pain and suppress it enough for me to finish this fight. I drop prone, folding my spine damn near my pelvis as a result. A thud sounding like an earthquake is my reward. While the trees this bear had knocked me through were small and thin, it was different case with this oak tree. A massive three-meter-wide trunk, the impact rattled the skull of this monster who hit it head on, pun intended. I then slide away to the side, just before I would get pinned beneath the bulk. I take a few seconds to breathe, and I see the blood pool continuing to grow from where I fixed him. The bear is still breathing another minute later, so I set about fixing that too. I wind up, swing and even with reinforcing my right foot via earth natured mana along with a coating of Armament Haki, I twist my ankle ninety degrees to the right and I’m debilitated by pain yet again as I try breaking some of the bear’s ribs. I am also pretty sure that stupid move broke most of the bones in said foot. The only good news is that I think he has stopped breathing. The blood pool hasn’t grown much more, but I’m almost sitting in it, there is so much blood, at least forty gallons worth. I do one last thing to make sure of the death of this beast. I channel my weakest element of lightning into an eye the size of my palm, hoping to either finish the job by cooking the brain the rest of the way, since fire wouldn’t do the job, strong and as resistant to damage as this bear probably is, or just committing overkill, at this point I don’t care as the extra strength granted by the moon is leaving me. There are some tremors as the bear’s body shakes and convulses from the current, but thankfully nothing else.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

I hurt all over, and at this point I don’t know where I’m at as I awaken from a short rest, but the moon is still overhead. The fact that I still want to keep my trophy is definitely going to slow me down, that is when I hear howls. Specifically howls that I am so happy to hear.

Another few minutes later and bursting into the clearing are Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss. They mob me and I don’t have the energy to push them away as I’m given a tongue bath. They take a breather to inspect my kill. They communicate their shock, but then their excitement bleeds through. I focus on the corpse with Observation Haki to tell me more about it. Over eight tons is my answer for the weight. With all the training me and the girls have done, this will be no problem to haul back to Foosha City, if I didn’t have so many trees to avoid along the way that is to get to where the plains are. Knowing that I can rest more when I get back though, gives me more encouragement to get this done, even though the four-hundred-plus miles will be a bitch with this much weight.

Two days and some change later

Even with minimal rest stops of an hour or two here and there, it isn’t until the morning of the third day that I see Foosha City in the distance, the werewolf transformation having reverted twelve hours after we started this trek. I decided I needed more rest and sent the girls to get Ace and a huge cart to finish the last five miles of the trip, for exhaustion.

A scream awakens me several hours later with a start. It’s Makino and she is looking at the bear in such shock. I simply nod at her dumbly and off to la la land I go again as I am way too tired after my latest adventure, I’ll deal with the consequences (if any) when I next wake up.