Chapter 14: Stone Mount Bear

"How long do you think it will be until we reach Spring Berry Town?"

"Don't get impatient Fernando, we've only just started walking yesterday."

"Yeah I know, it's just that it's a bit boring, we have yet to encounter a strong beast to test our skills and we can't even train effectively since we don't have a good supply of blood."

'Uhhh.'

Michael rubbed his temples, as the sackcloth on his shoulder moved around with every step.

Fernando had gotten on his nerves a bit, he had not expected this resilient fella to suddenly get so impatient.

Michael was in a better state as he had already expected this. They were still in the territory of the Wild Stone Mountain Range so both plant and animal life would be scarce. Their eyes had already adapted to the dark surroundings, save for the fluorescent fauna and minerals, everything else was covered in a dark abyss.

As they wandered through the rocky, mountainous terrain, Michael was suddenly on tenterhooks. In his vision, a red dot appeared on the small floating map. It was on the other side of some large rocks up ahead.

The Mother Box could scan anything 100 meters from Michael's body, and swiftly the lifeform's information appeared next to the map.

Bloodline/Race: Stone Mount Bear (Cub)

Strength: 3.5

Agility: 2.67

Vitality: 3.3

Spiritual Force: 1.03

'A cub huh, it won't be a difficult one. Its agility is pretty low and its strength is about mine. It's a good thing its mother is not nearby.'

"Fernando, up ahead is a Stone Mount Bear cub and it's about our level. I'll be going at it first and then I'll hand it off to you to finish it off, alright?"

"Yeah, alright."

Spotting such a perfect opponent was rare and they both needed some experience.

Michael stepped ahead, while Fernando followed him cautiously. They went around the large stones and spotted the bear. It was about 2 meters tall on its hind legs, its body was bulky and it was covered in a light gray coat. These bears were known not only for their strength, but for their amazing defense as well, their skin was rough and easily resisted the slashing of iron swords.

Michael stepped ahead, while Fernando followed him cautiously. They went around the large stones and spotted the bear. It was about 2 meters tall on its hind legs, its body was bulky and it was covered in a light gray coat. These bears were known not only for their strength, but for their amazing defense as well, their skin was rough and easily resisted the slashing of iron swords.

Michael looked into the eyes of the beast, it had noticed them long ago. It got down from its hind legs and sprinted towards him wanting to crush Michael's small body. Food was hard to come by in these parts, both Michael and Fernando were some morsels that walked directly into his plate.

Michael leapt toward the side and avoided the surprise attack. He swiftly jumped around the bear's attack range and equipped the gauntlets. He waited until the bear ran towards him, he sidestepped and let the bear slam itself into a large stone.

He then twisted his upper body and twisted his punch like a vortex. The hand landed firmly against the bear's stomach. The bear keeled over, its actions very human like. Michael gave it a second to recover and the bear's eyes reddened, it rushed towards Michael as it growled in anger.

Michael stepped to the side awkwardly, as the stone ground was uneven it had twisted his ankle. The bear's shoulder was able to scrape against his body, the force throwing his body two meters to the side.

"Hoooh, that was pretty good, let us continue."

Michael got up and dusted himself. He stepped quickly, aware of the uneven ground. He arrived by the bear's side and punched into its face, this time with less force. The bear was discombobulated as it looked around dazedly. Michael took the chance and kicked its stomach, sending it flying 2 meters aside.

"How do you like it!? Alright Fernando you can take over, it doesn't seem that it will last long."

The bear looked out of breath and seemed dazed, it seemed they had to give it some time to recover.

Michael stepped to the side and let Fernando near the beast. They waited to the side until the bear looked aware. And then it continued. Fernando got beat up a bit more as his fighting style was a bit more immature, still the cub lay on the ground panting, some bones broken here and there in the end.

Since they were done here, they dragged the bear along as they searched for a cave nearby to train. This outing was not only for adventure, but for cultivation. Michael approximated that it would be about a year long, but the fruits of it should be quite good.

Michael and Fernando sparred and sparred. Their bodies would be damaged and then recover, stronger than before. When they had begun this injury-healing training they had been able to notice great results, comparable to lifting and training with weights. Since they were away from base and didn't have access to their equipment, this would be their body cultivation method throughout the excursion.

They didn't train their bodies non stop though, they also made time to cultivate their meditation technique as it was explicitly connected to their cultivation in the Runic Blood Warrior path.

"Alright the Stone Mount Bear is dead, let's drain its remaining blood and continue on our way."

It had been two days and they had already sucked the bear dry. They would have to hunt a new prey if they didn't want to dip into their supply.

And so they set off once more, they wandered through the mountain range before they got back on the right path. Next up would be the desolate plains. They spread horizontally throughout the whole Twilight Zone, so although its width was not that large, its length spanned for hundreds of miles.

Their hopeful thinking was cut short, as though they were on the Wild Stone Mountain Range's periphery, a large beast was making its way swiftly towards them. Like a mad bull, it could only move linearly, though its speed in this form was nothing to scoff at.

Michael spotted its blaring form through the Mother Box. He quickly moved Fernando and himself to the side, right as the figure passed by them. The figure stopped itself emergently, its body flew forward a bit crashing into a large stone.

As Michael looked at its figure he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"Fuck! It's the cub's mother."

Stone Mount Bear's were rather odd. The mother bears would leave their cubs at a random time, as it could be affected by many factors. So then, it was difficult to measure whether a cub still had a mother protecting it, if the mother was not directly by it.

Bloodline/Race: Stone Mount Bear (Adult)

Strength: 4.1

Agility: 3.03

Vitality: 4.5

Spiritual Force: 1.56

The bear had reddened eyes, its massive 3 meter body catapulted itself towards Michael. Michael shifted his body as far as he could, yet he couldn't avoid a portion of the force, he flew to the side and took Fernando along with him. They rolled a bit and got up swiftly, the beast's onslaught wouldn't stop anytime soon.

The bear ran at them, its paw swiping down at Michael. Instead of stepping backwards, as he didn't have enough time to escape its range, he stepped forwards and collided against its hefty body.

Michael's veins surfaced as he hugged and pushed the bear's body towards the floor. Fernando reached to Michael's waist and pulled his dagger. He ran towards the bear which was being held down and stabbed the dagger directly into its neck with all his strength. The bear panicked and began to strike with its palms haphazardly. Both Michael and Fernando were stricken and were sent tumbling. Michael had a broken shoulder and Fernando had a shattered diaphragm.

They stepped back while the bear struggled to reach for the dagger in its throat, it could only move it around, exacerbating the injury.

"Fernando sit back and heal, I'll finish it off."

Fernando could only nod and rest his body where he had landed.

Michael looked at the bear. If it wasn't a savage creature, with those stats the bear could have slain the both of them. Even then, it wasn't easy. It was fast though, as most fights are. It only takes one good attack to kill someone as battles of attrition are incredibly rare.

Michael circled around the bear, a dagger resting in the palm of his right hand. As soon as he saw that it rested a paw at its side he rushed at it. In that position the bear would have the least amount of force in its attack.

Michael reached its head and stabbed the iron dagger into its left eye, the dagger went in smoothly as it split its brain. The Stone Mount Bear began to seize as its life was hanging by a thread. Michael moved the dagger deeper and mixed the brain matter around for good measure.

Drip. Drip.

Droplets of blood fell onto the bear's face from Michael's nose. It seemed he had overexerted himself a bit. He motioned the vitality in his body to heal his capillary vessels and his shattered shoulder as he sat on the ground. He looked into the dark 'sky', he longed for the real sun.