Grrr!
Fighting a snow bear isn’t that hard. Just remember two things.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
First, don’t take a hit. Didn’t I say before that bears are stronger than humans? Better to take a sword hit than a bear’s punch—being hit by a bear’s fist is something you must absolutely avoid.
They can send a human flying clear across the world with just a light punch!
A bear’s paw swipe is powerful enough to seriously injure even a knight in full armor. If you get hit on the head, armor or not, it’s instant death.
In other words, going toe-to-toe with a bear is pretty much like wrapping yourself up nicely and offering yourself to the bear as a meal.
Even in my original world, and especially in this world where even tougher things are everywhere, a bear is just one of many.
This world allows you to become strong enough to break steel just by training through repeated battles, so isn’t it surprisingly doable compared to Earth?
That’s like knowing one thing and ignoring two.
It’s not just humans who can endlessly become stronger through training, you know. Bears also get stronger the more they fight!
Unlike humans who can heal wounds with potions or miracles, bears can only rely on natural recovery after getting injured, so usually, they end up dead before getting stronger…
Grrr!
The snow bear is a beast that can smash ordinary foes with a single blow to the head or torso.
If you’re a human well-equipped, that’s one thing, but being hurt by other animals? Not an option!
… Well, to put it another way, against humans who are thoroughly prepared, getting injured and dying is the usual outcome.
Grrr!
“Slow!”
I dodge the paw of the snow bear aiming for my head while crouching low to the ground.
Whoosh! The claws sweep through the air, missing me. If they had hit, my head would’ve flown off… but missing means nothing.
“Haah!”
I push off the ground with my left hand, springing up and swinging my sword down like a lightning bolt at the lower jaw of the roaring snow bear.
Thwack!
The dark iron blade drives right through the bear’s jaw and into its skull.
Holding tight to the hilt with both hands, I twist the blade and wrench it around, causing the bear’s brain to be turned into mush. The bear spews blood and froths from its mouth, rolling its eyes back and convulsing in a fit.
Remember the second point: Aim for the vital spots to kill in one strike.
A wounded beast is the most dangerous prey.
If you foolishly aim for its legs or torso and don’t deliver a killing blow, you’ll have to deal with a wounded beast in a frenzied rage.
You might make a mistake under that pressure and end up taking a hit, sending you to the afterlife. So, when hunting a snow bear, try to end it in one strike and give it no chance to retaliate.
You’d be surprised how many rookie adventurers who don’t know this become companions of the dead from a raging beast’s last grasp.
Seeing someone get stabbed in the heart or guts, only to embrace the bear and die while puking out their own innards? I’ve seen that happen more than once!
The bear hug? That’s a literal murder hug! Once you’re enveloped, you’re guaranteed to die.
Even if you muster all your strength to prevent being crushed, you could still end up bitten in the head and die in a far more gruesome way.
It’s like offering yourself up as the last supper before being nailed to a cross.
Instead of bread and wine, you’re serving up real flesh and blood—but from the bear’s perspective, it’s just a proper feast.
Grr…
The snow bear stumbles weakly and falls forward.
Whether it’s a counterattack or a final act of rage, it’s not even worth trying if your head isn’t intact. With its brain all smashed up like stewed meat, there’s no way it could do anything.
I quickly pull out my sword and leap back to avoid being crushed, boldly calling out, “That makes two for me!”
I’ve already taken down two of them, so what’s Friede up to?
“Um, right…?”
Friede glances my way and replies.
She’s pointing the tip of her large sword at the dismembered snow bear corpses.
…Wait a second, three corpses?
She already killed three snow bears? Just like that?
’No way, I’m not losing here…’
Cold sweat runs down my spine.
◆◆
After thirty minutes of tracking, we found the cave. Inside was unexpectedly long and massive, with a whopping ten snow bears occupying it.
Did the whole family move in here? Their sizes varied a lot, from a full-grown one standing at 3m tall down to cubs the size of me.
If they had all charged at once, I would’ve been in trouble—but luckily, they were scattered around the cave, allowing us to take them down quickly.
“Three bears…!”
“Haah!”
I fought with quick movements, narrowly dodging the bear’s claws and fangs while jabbing my sword in its head whenever I saw an opening. Friede just chopped everything in sight with her greatsword.
“You fight dangerously.”
“Strong people get special rights. But if you die, you look like a fool.”
As Friede and I competed in bear hunting, Amy and Kikel supported each other and fought calmly.
“Mordax Lapis!”
Amy unleashed a new binding magic she just learned: biting rocks.
As she aimed her staff at the snow bear and shouted the incantation, the cave floor cracked open, creating a hole the size of the bear’s head right in front of its feet.
Then, just as the snow bear stumbled, caught by surprise when its ankle fell into the hole—
Snap!
“Grrr!”
Like a hunting saw, the trap snapped shut tightly on its ankle!
Not a magical binding, but a physical one.
The trap was made of rock, so it could easily break free with enough strength, but for now, it was enough.
“Help is good!”
Just that short moment of creating an opening allowed Kikel’s explosive lance to pierce through the bear’s head or torso and trigger a fiery explosion.
BOOM!
No matter how tough the beast is, it can’t withstand the shock of its skull or abdomen bursting and being roasted inside out. The bear, its belly burst, shrieked in a desperate howl before collapsing.
Yep, I’m glad I lent him that spear.
Killing a snow bear with one strike? At this point, it’s fair to say it’s a warrior of complete competence, not just the rating of the spear.
Isn’t that just thanks to the explosive spear?
Well, sure, but so what?
In the old world, those who thrived thanks to their gear would be belittled as being just “gear-powered,” but that’s only because it was a game.
What does that even mean for adventurers in this world who fight for their lives every day?
Relying on strong gear here isn’t something to mock but an expected virtue.
Even if you win because of the gear, it’s still a win. In this world, where losing means you’re meat, all that matters is whether you can win, whatever the means!
If you lost because of your gear, you should blame yourself for not having good gear and not sulk over it. You’ll be half-eaten meat in no time.
◆◆
After wiping out the snow bear family loitering in the cave, we stayed inside for some time, not wanting to leave too quickly.
We dealt with all the snow bears in the cave, but there might still be other ones that went out hunting.
So, we decided to wait around for about two hours.
While doing that, we rummaged through the cave to gather items of value and stacked up the snow bear skins neatly.
“Nothing much here. All the rings and necklaces are just cheap junk.”
Sadly, all the loot we found were just the snow bear corpses.
In a space that looked like a banquet hall for them, we found about six corpses of humans and animals, but they didn’t leave behind any valuable relics.
Only some seriously rusty and broken farming tools or cheap rings and necklaces that wouldn’t even sell for a few copper coins.
No real money-making gems, armor, or pouches were to be found.
Then again, those eaten by bears must’ve been villagers from down below or wandering homeless folks.
Those types aren’t really the ones to carry valuables, are they?
“Let’s bury them decently. Looking at those corpses, it feels like bringing them back to town wouldn’t yield any good.”
The terrible bodies, with decaying flesh entwined with bone and infested with maggots—
The remaining shape of their former selves made their corpses even more gruesome.
If I delivered this news saying, “Here’s your family,” it’d be shocking enough for the relatives to fall over dead as well.
“…Yeah, sounds good. Leaving them like this isn’t quite right.”
Friede nodded in agreement like it was a good idea. Then suddenly, as if just recalling something, she turned to me and added,
“Oh, by the way, you do know I killed one more, right?”
“…Yeah, I know.”
I sighed deeply and answered reluctantly.
I ended up taking down three snow bears in total. Friede got four.
The remaining three were taken down by Kikel and Amy together.
…In other words, that means I lost by just one bear.
Damn it. Did I really think ten would be the limit?
If Amy and Kikel had only handed one last bear over to me, I could have at least ended it in a draw…
“I clearly warned you, right? So don’t blame me.”
“…I know.”
No way in hell.
Amy had almost passed the last one to me, but amidst the excitement of battle, Kikel mercilessly pierced it and blew it up.
Krak! “You’ve invited disaster upon yourself!”
Isn’t that you inviting disaster upon yourself?
I want to say something, but Kikel only fought his hardest as a party member, so there’s no way I can blame him for that.
“Haah….”
A sigh escapes my lips.
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