Infinite Realm

"Ha!"

*siiw*

With a slash that cut through the air, Sato attacked the target in front of him as he channeled his energy into his attack.

-54 (354/1000 Red-Back Bear's HP)

[[ System interface :

Red-back bear (Elite )

Level : 9

HP : 354/1000

Physical Attack Power : 75

Magical attack power : 0 (15) (AN : Can't use magic.)

Physical Defense : 30

Magical Defense : 10

Attack Speed : 21

Movement Speed : 16

Attributes 

Strength : 25

Endurance : 30

Vitality : 100

Agility : 8

Dexterity : 7

Intelligence : 5

Willpower : 10

Skills :

…

…

]]

"Growl!!!"

Usually, Sato's attacks would cause more damage to a target as his attack power was around 120 points or so, but ever since he began his journey up the mountains his attacks couldn't cause as much damage as they used to. In the case of the Phantasmal Wolves, it was their perverse defense against physical attacks. For the Red-Back Bears, however, it was their thick hide that added to their defensive prowess. Apart from that, battling under the strenuous pressure from the mountain, affected Sato's movements. That amount of force he could galvanize with a swing of his sword was also affected. As a result, the power behind his attacks was smaller than usual. This wasn't just the pressure affecting him though, but also Sato trying to conserve as much energy as possible.

The Red-Back Bear, which was around one and a half the size of a grizzly, growled in pain and anger before bringing a paw down at Sato.

With the weight of its body behind the attack, the force contained within the paw strike was capable of compressing the hood of a truck to scrap much less a human body. Sato had no intention of trying out the effects of such an attack on himself so he jumped to the side and dodged the hit.

*Bang*

The bear's paw landed on the ground and the bear fell from its upright position, down on all fours.

Sato took this opportunity as the monster was still stunned from missing its attack to make his.

-63 (291/1000 Red-Back Bear's HP)

"Growl!"

Reacting to the sudden influx of pain from the attack, the Red-Back Bear released an aggrieved growl as it tossed itself wildly. Sato however, had already retreated just as soon as his attack connected.

After trashing around the place, the bear then glanced towards the side where Sato stood and released a disgruntled roar.

"Growl!!"

[Domineering Roar] [1]

An invisible sound wave erupted from the vocal cords of the bear, bringing with it a devastating force that moved in a fan-shaped direction and created cracks all over the floor.

'It's here.'

While Sato already had some data on the bear's skills, for such an attack like this, dodging it was easier said than done. This was because the Red-Back Bear often released occasional growls and it was very difficult to differentiate these growls from the sonic attack. It was only when the attack was made that one would notice it. However, by then, it would nearly be too late to dodge.

*Thud*

-35 (54/150 Sato's HP)

Sato was tossed backward by the invisible sound wave, landing heavily on the floor and possibly damaging a few bones. He felt an aching pain on his left elbow but Sato didn't bother to check what it was as he hurriedly stood up and extricated himself from his position.

*Bang*

The Red-Back Bear had propelled itself towards Sato's previous position and made a wreck at the place. A large paw print with an indentation that spanned half a metre was left at the site. Without a doubt, if Sato had delayed by even a second, his chest would have collapsed under that assault and he would have been sent on his way to samsara.

'No matter how many times I see it, it has such an immense amount of strength.'

Sato estimated the power of that paw strike to be on par with a fast-moving truck but even more lethal. The reason simply being that all the force was contained within a smaller range, making it even more dangerous. A direct hit was more than enough to wipe out 50% of his HP. Even blocking the paw was a risk not worth taking. 

On a normal occasion on an equal field, Sato's [Strength] -attribute plus equipment boost- was greater than that of the Red-back bear's, but as he was forced to minimize the amount of energy he spent in his attacks, the power behind them was weaker than usual. As a result of this, a part of the force from the bear's paw strike would still be transmitted upon contact with his sword. This in turn would put him off balance, allowing the bear to make a clean hit.

Having dodged the attack and created some space between himself and the beast, Sato glanced at his trembling left hand and realized that he had cracked a bone back there. The injury didn't simply come from the sound attack but also from when Sato had once tried blocking a blow from the bear. With the effects of the two attacks piled up on one arm, it was inevitable that the arm would experience severe injuries.

Originally, in this disadvantageous environment, Sato's chances of beating the Red-Back Bear was less than 60% and with his stamina having depleted thus far and the injuries piling up, it became less than 40%. Luckily for him though, Sato wasn't the only one in a bad form. The opponent was left with less than 30% HP and so long as Sato could persevere for a little while and make some 7 or so strikes, he would come out on top.

Seeing as the Red-Back Bear had yet to make a move, Sato spoke up.

"Little bear. Even if you're a monster, you should pretty much be able to get a bit of what I'm saying here. We're both injured and at our worst. If we go on any longer, you will surely lose while I will get severely injured. I don't want that to happen and would love to avoid an all-out fight right now. All I just want to do is to get through here, so how about it?" 

Of the monsters in the area, the Red-back bear and the Twin Beak hawks were the most dangerous predators not only because of their strength but because they were real. However, one boon of them being real was that players would receive experience points and rewards upon defeating them. Sato had discovered this fact when he defeated his first Twin Beak hawk; though at a great cost. Nonetheless, the idea of rewards and experience points wasn't enough for Sato to face off against these monsters. The only reason why he had to battle this bear was that the path he needed to take up the mountain corresponded to the bear's marked territory. As an alpha male, there was no way the Red-back bear would let another creature saunter into its territory freely.

Sato had his suspicions that the monsters in this trial had a bit of intelligence, though far from making them monsters of intellect like Sygrart or the Kobold Chief. However, this little bit of intelligence had made them much better than the monsters outside. This was especially so for the Red-Back Bear.

Despite having a big frame that made it much slower than Sato, the monster was still capable of causing him a lot of trouble. Its moves had a bit of logic behind them and it seemed as if it didn't attack blindly but did so with a plan in mind. Of course, due to the low degree of intelligence it possessed, its attack patterns weren't that absurd and could easily be determined with enough effort.

The Red-Back Bear didn't react to Sato's words but a glint flashed in its eyes as it hesitated on making a move. Unlike what Sato had previously thought, the monsters on the mountain didn't live in harmony. There was a strict hierarchy that existed between the various species and accompanying this order were inevitable blood feuds between the creatures. For instance, the 'real' monsters like the Red-Back bear and the Twin beak hawk were mortal enemies with the phantasmal creatures. They would often battle each other on sight irrespective of what the other was doing.

Faced with Sato, who seemed to have a similar feeling of being alive like it, the Red-back bear hesitated on attacking. While it wasn't scared of a fight, it didn't want to end up injured and then ambushed by the phantasmal monsters. As a result, seeing Sato not making a move against it, the bear's will to battle slowly began to weaken. 

Seeing as the bear didn't go on a rampage again, Sato slowly began to retreat. While he could indeed defeat the monster, especially as it had a low HP and he only needed 7 attacks or so to finish it off, Sato didn't want to take the risk. The Red-back bear's [Domineering Roar] had a 3-seconds cool-down. Sato had barely a bit above 30% of his HP left. All it would take was one direct hit or 2 blows for him to be a goner. With the pressure force field acting on him, the difficulty of actually defeating the bear was harder than one would think. Unless Sato used a few of his dedicated trump cards, he couldn't defeat the bear unharmed, and using these trump cards was something Sato wanted to avoid if possible.

The Red-back bear stared daggers at Sato but didn't make any move as Sato continuously retreated until he was out of its sight. 

"sighs. Almost there." Sato glanced up the mountain, taking in the view of the red ethereal 'band' that circled around the mountain. 

Sato was currently at the second half of the 1st section; just about 500 metres away. The pressure at this point was becoming unbearable and it made battling even more taxing. This was one of the reasons Sato tried to talk his way out with the Red-back bear. He never expected things to turn out good but it eventually did. Now, so long as Sato tried to avoid battles again, it was only a matter of time for him to reach the end of the road. 

Sadly, fate seems to have a way of playing with people.

Up ahead of him, Sato seemed to overhear the sounds of battle. Normally, he would just ignore it and circle around the site but one of the voices of those participating in the battle sounded very familiar to him.. It was a voice he would never forget; not even in his dream.