Chapter 174: Slaughtering the Bear

The strength of an adult brown bear was not to be underestimated, even in this world. Though Ron had cast some Protective Magic on Constance beforehand, the Half-Elf was still severely wounded. She collapsed limply at the base of a tree, her lips parting as she coughed up a mouthful of dark red blood.

"You need immediate treatment in a situation like this," Victoria said, rushing to Constance’s side. She held her shield up to face the brown bear while casting a Healing Spell on the Half-Elf. "Whether it’s with Magic, a Potion, or a Scroll. Or, if you were like Ron or Lavinia, you could use your knowledge of Herbalism for emergency first aid. The point is, when you’re attacked in the wild, it’s essential to maintain your physical condition."

"Actually, you could also—" Sera started to say, but Victoria immediately cut her off.

"Don’t copy her. You don’t have Sera’s physique or strength. The only outcome of fighting recklessly like that would be getting yourself killed."

That barbarian’s fighting style was only suited for her. If anyone else tried it, even ten Aives or Victorias might not be enough to save them.

"Alright, you know its attack pattern now, don’t you? Be smart. Let’s go again."

The Priest didn’t linger. After confirming that Constance was about seventy or eighty percent healed, she stepped aside, leaving the injured Half-Elf helplessly exposed to the brown bear once more.

"I..." Even though she could move freely again, the phantom pain lingered and wouldn’t fade anytime soon. Constance struggled to her feet, forced herself into a ready stance, and faced the brown bear once more.

"In a real fight, no enemy will give you a chance to fully recover. Not even a wild beast," Victoria said, showing no intention of intervening again. "You have to get used to fighting when you’re not at your best."

As a former town guard, most of Victoria’s early combat experience had been against beasts. The difference was, back then she hadn’t fought alone, and she certainly hadn’t had two Mages and a Priest—three Casters in total—backing her up from the sidelines.

"Keep your feet moving, remember?" Silvia drew a dagger from her boot and, along with her Walking Stick, mirrored Constance’s stance. "You’re not holding a shield, and all you have is Mage Armor. You don’t seriously think you can just tank a hit from a huge bear, do you?"

"Light, nimble, swift! Move!"

"Should I cast a few more spells on her?" Ron asked, growing worried as he watched the brown bear close in on Constance again.

The various unique fantasy creatures of this world didn’t unnerve him nearly as much as the oppressive presence of creatures that existed in both his old world and this one. Even though he had faced a massive True Dragon, he couldn’t help but feel anxious watching someone else in danger.

"What are you going to use? Mirror Image Magic? Foggy Magic?" Silvia scoffed. "If she needs spells like that just to fight a wild animal, she’ll never become a real Adventurer."

"Don’t worry," Aive said in a low voice. "We’re not planning to make her kill the bear all by herself. We’ll step in when the time is right."

Even though Constance’s cousin said that, Ron wasn’t convinced. ’Can weapons that short really even wound a brown bear?’

The others seemed relaxed as they watched from the sidelines, but for Constance, this was nothing short of a life-or-death struggle.

The brown bear’s attacks were fast and fierce, not at all the clumsy oaf from a Bard’s tale. She dodged and weaved between the gusts from its paws and its foul breath. The slightest mistake would mean another round of snapped tendons and broken bones.

"BAM!"

The Mage Armor over Constance’s head flared brightly under the bear’s strike. If it hadn’t been there, her head might have been sheared clean off!

But she used that opening. Constance ducked low, finally getting underneath the brown bear. By the time she rolled out the other side, two bloody gashes had appeared on the beast’s belly and ribs.

The brown bear’s hide was so tough, and she couldn’t get any leverage. As a result, when she rolled back to her feet, she was left holding only the broken hilt of her Swift Sword; the dagger was buried to the pommel in the bear’s hide.

"ROAR—" Wounded, the brown bear flew into a rage. It lunged madly at Constance, trying to devour the prey that dared to fight back. But it had forgotten that she hadn’t come to challenge it alone.

At some point, Sera had drawn her greatsword. She didn’t use the sharp edge. Instead, she reversed her Grip of the Vast Wave and, as if wielding a warhammer, viciously slammed the heavy pommel into the brown bear’s skull!

The poor brown bear didn’t even know what was happening. It was still dizzy from the blow when another solid strike landed on its head. Then, a sudden, sharp pain lanced through its left eye. An arrow, fired from an impossibly clever angle, had pierced its eye socket. The impact was enough to scramble its brain, and the massive beast finally collapsed into a pool of its own blood.

"Incredible..." Watching the beast that had nearly killed her moments ago be dispatched so brutally, Constance subconsciously touched her own eye socket and head.

’That looked like it hurt...’

"See? That’s another way to use a Two-Handed Giant Sword," Sera said, setting down the Grip of the Vast Wave. She and Delaford began the familiar work of draining the blood, skinning the carcass, butchering the meat, and cutting off the paws. "In Rose City, I saw another style of greatsword with a hand guard fitted to the tip. That part wasn’t sharpened, which makes it better for use as a blunt weapon."

"That technique is normally used because of space constraints during a fight," Delaford added. "But this time, it was because we wanted to preserve the pelt. The wounds from your sword and dagger didn’t do much damage to the hide, so it’ll be useful for just about anything."

"A complete, high-quality bear pelt can sell for two or three hundred Gold Coins," Aive said, more concerned with its price than with Delaford’s Goblin Hunter-like pragmatism. "Though this one probably won’t fetch that much. After all, you chopped the claws off, and your skinning technique is..."

"You don’t expect us to haul the whole thing back just for that, do you?" Sera scoffed. "This is good enough. It’s not like we’re professional Hunters."

"Besides, we’ve got these two with us," she added, nodding toward Constance and Yelena. "We’re heading to the ruins of Green Swamp Town anyway, right? We might as well just bring it to Aiksuuri."

It wasn’t that the Young Black Dragon was short on food, but given his personality, he would definitely be delighted to find that Ron and the others were thinking of him.