Chapter 173: The Beast of Delusional Land

As someone who got in through connections and lacked even the experience of a street brawl, Constance undoubtedly received special treatment. But she was very determined to prove her worth. To catch up to her cousin sooner, while Ron and the others were away at the waterfall for a few days, the Half-Elf had volunteered to go into the village and hone her skills by hunting nearby beasts.

It’s just that the results... were perhaps less than satisfactory.

It was morning in the village, which now had quite a few new residents who had migrated there. Ron and the others found Constance, who had just returned from hunting in the wilds just outside the village. She was ecstatic when she saw Aive. As if showing off, she fanned out a handful of feathers and waved them in front of Aive’s face.

"Stop it," the Warrior said, slapping her hand away. "You’re going to make me sneeze!"

"Where’d you pick up these feathers?"

"Picked up? I didn’t pick these up!" Constance said proudly. "These are the spoils of my hunt this morning!"

"A huge improvement over the last couple of days!"

"Spoils of a hunt, these?" Sera couldn’t hold back a laugh. "Girl, don’t tell me you climbed a tree and raided a bird’s nest. You can’t call that hunting!"

"That’s gathering, at best," Delaford chimed in.

"Raided a nest? Of course not!" Constance’s face flushed red. "I discovered a giant, strange bird in the wild these past few days! It was always ambushing the children here from the tall grass! I stepped in to save them, and then I waged a long and drawn-out war against that bird!"

"At first, I kept getting slashed by its huge beak, but now I can pluck its feathers and escape completely unscathed!"

"So... Miss Constance, why are you so focused on plucking its feathers?" Aive asked, putting a hand to her forehead. "If you can already get close enough to touch it, why not be more direct and just kill it?"

From Constance’s description of being "slashed by its large beak," Aive guessed her cousin was facing a type of large, flightless bird called an Axebill. The creature’s habit of attacking any unfamiliar being was what made it so annoying.

One theory suggested this was due to the Axebill’s visual system: in their eyes, all other creatures appeared short and skinny—undoubtedly, easy prey.

"Kill it?" Constance was stunned for a moment. "No, I’m dueling it! We’re supposed to stop before anyone gets seriously hurt..."

"I’ve seen it in plays at the theater square and read it in novels—virtuoso heroes don’t kill their enemies. Instead, they slash their clothes or take their accessories as a way to humiliate and mock them."

"Didn’t Seymour ever teach you the difference between plays and reality?" Silvia was speechless. She certainly hadn’t held back that day. ’How is this girl’s brain still wired this way?’

Constance shook her head. "No, Seymour said he’s never seen a play or read a novel."

"That makes sense," Silvia muttered. "His and his family’s status in the Dark Territory probably isn’t very high, or else he wouldn’t have come to the surface world."

"Obviously, the Axebill isn’t enough of a challenge for you," Sera concluded. "As it happens, we’re planning to head deeper into the Delusional Land. Want to come along? Maybe if you face a sufficiently dangerous challenge, you’ll stop thinking like that."

This was a small custom from Sera’s tribe: if a Hunter boasted about being invincible, others would goad them into challenging stronger prey or another Hunter. Such a challenge was slightly punitive but carried more of an admonitory intent. Therefore, no one would laugh at a Hunter, no matter how pathetic they looked fleeing back. And if they were unfortunate enough to die in the challenge, the others would consider them the finest Hunter and the bravest Warrior.

However, most people failed to achieve either victory or death. Sera was the most recent person to succeed in a challenge, which was how she became the Chieftain of the Ocher Tribe.

"Don’t worry, we’ll definitely step in if we need to," Aive said, patting Constance’s shoulder with her heavy Hand Armor. "You don’t have to look so agonized..."

"That’s because the plates of your armor are pinching my hair!"

The Delusional Land was never short on challenging beasts and monsters, and as for those that were both challenging *and* dangerous, they were simply countless. By afternoon, a brown bear chasing a great-horned deer had caught their attention.

"See that?" Sera nudged Constance’s shoulder. "Go chop off its paw."

"Me?" Constance’s mouth fell open. Staring at the massive bear, which would be three meters tall standing upright, her heart began to pound. ’Isn’t this... a bit *too* challenging?’

"This hardly counts as a challenge," Aive said, giving her a push from behind. "Go on, go on. Don’t worry, even if you can’t beat it, we’re here!"

"I’ll give you a little help," Ron said, unable to bear watching any longer. He opened his *Weaving Introduction* and began Casting. Constance immediately felt her body fill with a power completely different from usual. "Jumping Technique, your jumping ability is tripled. Big Step Running, you can run much faster. Mage Armor, a protective Magic Force Field will now surround you."

"Alright, now go!"

The brown bear was at least two tiers stronger than an Axebill, its power comparable to that of the Fearsome Wolves, though it didn’t hunt in a pack. For Sera to send Constance charging in directly was perhaps a bit thoughtless.

Just then, the brown bear finally lost its prey. It let out a roar and turned its malevolent gaze toward them.

Beasts may not be highly intelligent, but they possess an instinct for self-preservation. If these people were all one group, it would have definitely turned and fled.

But now, a small one had been pushed out and was approaching it all alone? The brown bear was puzzled. ’Is food delivering itself to my doorstep these days?’

’Well, who am I to refuse?’

"ROAR!"

The brown bear let out a low roar, its massive, lumbering body charging at Constance like a war chariot. As it reached her, it opened its gaping maw and lunged, aiming to bite down on her head!

"You won’t catch me that easily!" Constance clearly had gained some actual combat experience. She had already started to dodge even before the bear initiated its attack, slipping away from its jaws just in time.

However, before she had a chance to counterattack, Sera’s voice rang out from behind her. "Watch out—the paw!"

"Wha—" Constance instinctively turned her head just as a massive dark shadow swiped at her from the side. The Half-Elf felt as if she’d been hit by a carriage. In an instant, her entire body went flying, slamming violently against a nearby tree!