41 41: The Strongest

"Not good." Jin squinted his eyes as the Octavian Bear ignored the pain and now its head became closer in an attempt to bite him.

He knew that he couldn't dodge in time since he had just attacked and even if he managed to reposition himself, it would be too late. Jin gritted his teeth and tried to retract his arms forcefully.

If the Octavian Bear's attack succeeds. It would chunk a part of his meat for sure, and he might become disabled if the bitten part was huge.

'Damn it!'

Suddenly, before the Octavian Bear could even bite, Rina and Athena were already on its rear. They have been prepared to engage right at the start.

Athena's spear didn't pierce the four-meter bear's neck. Instead, it deflected it, giving Jin a second of a breather. However, that second was enough for Jin to retreat.

While Rina took the opportunity to slash the almost severed arm of the bear. The sword accurately landed on the spot where Jin's dagger caused damage.

Unfortunately, Rina wasn't as strong as Jin. But still, her attack was like pouring salt into a wound. The cut in the arm deepened a little.

*HOWL!!*

Furious, the Octavian Bear disregarded anything. It raised its paw and swatted Rina as if she were a fly.

Rina flew away, and her back hit a tree. Blood seeped out from the corner of her mouth and she felt that some of the bones on her ribcage where the paw landed broke.

"Ughhh..."

"Bastard!" Enraged, Athena thrust her spear. She engaged all the muscles on her back.

This time, the bear overbearingly caught the spear in its mouth and crushed it.

The sound of metal being ground into pieces caused a shiver in the members of the hunting party who heard it.

What if it's not the spear? But their arms? They would become disabled for a lifetime.

"Athena, step back. Let me." Fushigiro commanded with an unquestionable tone. Then he looked at Caleb and said. "Go, take care of Rina."

'Will I finally see how powerful Fushigiro is?' Caleb thought with anticipation and clenched his fist.

The members described Fushigiro, who was the third strongest in the group in terms of physical strength. However, in a fight or combat, he was the strongest. Why is that so? Caleb was about to find out.

"Are you okay?" Caleb went beside Rina while examining her state.

'Well, it seems it broke some of her bones. I hope it didn't cause any damage to his organs or else it would be dangerous.'

Rina wiped the blood from her mouth with a smile on her face. Then she saw Caleb offered his shoulders, which she accepted. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to support herself to stand up.

"Do I look okay to you? That bear broke at least three bones in my body. Fortunately, it didn't use its claws or else you'll be seeing my dead body by now."

Caleb felt how big Rina's was. Such proximity made him aware of how blessed the girl was.

'*Coughed!* Caleb, you must focus on the goal!' Caleb berated himself.

"Well, it's also thanks to your silver armor. It managed to brace some of the damage."

Caleb pointed at the dent of the silver armor. On the sides of the armor, one would see the dented metal in the armor in the shape of the paw of the bear.

'Damn... That big guy was packing some strength.'

Just like that, Caleb and Rina went to the area where Jin, Dunn, Athena, and Miles gathered. As they spotted Rina, the members showed concern one by one and asked Rina questions if she was feeling something wrong with her body, which Rina answered one by one to ease their worry.

"Rina, you overextended this time. Next time, don't do that again. That was too dangerous." Miles sighed.

Rina shrugged.

"Who would expect the bear to be that wild? Who could guess? At least, not me..."

"Well, stop bickering. What's important is that Rina is okay. Alive and breathing, that could have been worse. Still, this Octavian Bear was surely crazy. It disregarded the pain we inflicted."

Caleb watched as the members talked with each other. Then he looked at Tamasai, who doing the same, except for his bored, deadpan expression.

'This guy... He didn't even contribute to the fight.'

He hopes to see Tamasai's combat power. But it only disappointed him, as it looked like he wasn't interested in joining.

Luckily, he was about to witness their captain fight. Thinking of this, Caleb shifted his attention to Fushigiro and Octavian Bear in the open area of the forest.

...

"Well, not so brave anymore, aren't you? Why don't you attack big guy?" Fushigiro said teasingly as the Octavian Bear gave him a look of apprehension. "...You're a smart one, huh?"

The Octavian Bear's bloodshot eyes faded, and it returned to its previous dark green pupils. When Fushigiro stepped forward to confront it, its madness vanished, replaced by wariness.

Strangely, it didn't get angry even with Fushigiro's deliberate teasing. Then a strange scene happened that made all the members wide-eyed. The fierce Octavian Bear ran opposite Fushigiro like a raging bull. However, it wasn't attacking; it was escaping, like a mouse with its tail tucked between its legs.

'What the spell!?'

Caleb rubbed his eyes twice to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. The mighty, prideful bastard actually ran for its life? For a while, Caleb was at a loss. He turned around in hopes of resolving his doubt. But... The others were also equally confused as him.

'Who can tell me what the fuck is happening!?'

"Smart move, but you think you could escape me?" Fushigiro, who was still a distance from the bear, vanished. Only to appear on top of the bear's head with a lazy smile.

'So fast! How did he do that?'

Caleb doubted that he could run at such speed even with his current stats. Isn't Fushigiro supposed to be the third strongest in terms of physique, then why is he so fast? Faster than Jin, who was supposed to be the strongest in terms of body?

There's only one answer. A footwork technique that allowed him to move at extremely high speed. After all, all of them had reached the highest prerequisite. Now Caleb finally understood. Fushigiro became the strongest in the group due to his techniques and battle IQ.