'And here I thought that they weren't able to initiate aggression!'
According to what he knew about bears, they weren't very confrontational and would only attack in in self-defense. However, this time around it had struck out simply because Myeonghu had gotten in an attacking stance.
'Was it because it felt threatened? How could a mere monster be built so well?'
It sounded impossible, regardless of how far along AI had come, was it truly able to sense danger?
Kuoong!
He had just hit the ground, and no longer had the luxury to entertain such thoughts as the bear was coming for a second pass. He quickly rolled to the side and jumped up to his feet. He felt the bears' weight hit the ground were he had just been, and knew that he had just dodged its second body slam by mere inches.
Kuoong!
It roared loudly, no doubt angry and having missed its prey.
'That took away 700 HP!'
He swallowed nervously as he watched the bear roar from the corner of his eye and checked his health bar. It's body slam had dealt him 500 damage and he had lost an additional 200 from the fall. Considering that he only had a total of 3800 health, that was far too much to lose from a single strike.
Kuoong!
It once again roared loudly as it charged towards Myeonghu, who waited until the last minute before dodging to the side, just like a Spanish matador he had seen on TV. He then used this opening to swing down hard with his sword.
Skuk!
He landed a direct hit, but unlike on TV, this was a bear and not just some bull.
It only flinched for a second before counterattacking with a swing of its paw. Myeonghu was once again sent flying, and only managed to stabilize himself after rolling a few times on the ground.
'300….'
He checked his HP and noticed the 300 more health was lost due to the last paw strike.
'This is a bit dangerous….'
The first bear he killed had taken him 10 hits to finish off. If this one was anything like the last one, he would die well before putting down if he continued trading blow for blow.
Kuoong!
Clenching his teeth, he hardened his resolved as the bear charged at him once more.
" Harden Body! Rage!"
[Defense has increased.]
[Attack speed and Movement speed have increased.]
Perhaps it was due to the small boost in movement speed, but this time around he able to dodge both its rush and the subsequent paw strike, using the opening to slash down heavily on the bear's front paws.
Kuoong!
It roared in pain and it's anger seemed to grow as it sent out a flurry on paw strikes.
Although Myeonghu was able to evade most of them, it was impossible to dodge them all. He had no choice but to endure some hits as he counterattacked with his sword.
He was sent back a couple feet after being hit by the bear's paw, but this time around he had managed to trade one hit for two of his own.
'Things are looking up.'
He noticed that this time around he had only lost 200 HP. Whether it was due to his increased defense or the fact that the bear had suffered a painful strike on its paws was unknown, but he was just glad to no longer be losing 300 health each time.
'If I can just keep this up….'
He continued to dodge as many attacks as possible, while also slashing down with his sword. As time passed, the wounds on the bear began multiplied. He had just slashed it with his sword for the tenth time and although it roared out in pain, it was still alive and kicking. Worriedly , Myeonghu checked his on health.
'This is a bit dangerous….'
He had done his best to dodge as many of the bear's attacks as he could, but his health has still fallen under 1000. It wasn't only the paw strikes which he had to be wary of, just a couple of body slams could now end his life.
'Here it comes!'
Kuoong!
He looked up to see the bear charging forth once again, this time it seemed even faster than in the past, as if it had put its everything into one last hurrah. No matter how he thought about it, he wouldn't be able to dodge this one.
"Power Strike!"
Having no other choice, he decided on this skill as his last stand.
Skuk!
With the reach advantage provided by the sword, his strike was able to land first and the bear stumbled momentarily, before continuing with its forward momentum.
'Ugh!'
As the bear was about to make contact, Myeonghu closed his eyes, fully expecting to be sent flying through the air once again. It was only when the two actually collided that he realised the the bear had lost all its strength.
As he took a couple steps back, the bear's body collapsed on the ground with a loud thud. Myeonghu then check his remaining HP and let out a sigh of relief, it had truly been a close one. He sat down on the ground and muttered to himself.
"Too exhausting…."
Hunting bears was completely different that rabbits or even foxes.
– Bear Pelt has been acquired.
-Bear Gallbladder had been acquired.
As he collected his loot, he thought to himself.
'This bear was stronger than the other one.'
Despite him being level 8 and having better Defense, he still took 1000 points of damage from just two body slams. At first he thought that it was the same as what had happened with the foxes, with the stronger one being a Large fox, but judging by the items it was not the case. Perhaps it was just that this bear was indeed just stronger.
"At least it dropped this time as well."
Myeonghu smiled to himself. Although it took a lot of effort to kill a single bear and he had been tasked to collect 60 of them, at least the drop rate of their Gallbladder was much better than with the rabbits.
"Alright!"
He had just finished recovering some of his health, so he jumped up energetically and began looking for more bears. After all he still only had 2 Gallbladders in his possession.
****
Thud!
[Level up!]
Following the collapse of yet another bear, a message signaling his level up had appeared, causing Myeonghu to take a break in hunting.
– Bear Pelt has been acquired.
-Bear Gallbladder had been acquired.
"They really do have a decent drop rate."
He spoke to himself as he stored the dropped elt and gallbladder. It would seem that the Bear's Gallbladder would roughly dropped 9 out of 10 times.
"Let's see… I have 32 of them."
After confirming the number of gallbladders in his inventory, he checked his Quest window.
✿Hamuru, the village's best hunter has collapsed due to a certain disease. Ga Dogu, who is not only the village's Chief but also its doctor, needs your help to concoct Hamuru's cure. The second ingredient required is Bear Gallbladder! Collect 60 Bear Gallbladders and take them to Ga Dogu!
Difficulty: F
Quest Reward: Leather Gloves, Leather Boots
Quest Restriction: Myeonghu
Rejection will result in a loss in Intimacy with Ga Dogu and Hamuru.
Although you don't know the circumstances, Pelun requires the Pelt of a Great King Fox. Provide the Pelt of the king of foxes, a Great King Fox, to Pelun!
Difficulty: F+
Quest Reward: Increase in Intimacy with Pelun and monetary compensation depending on the quality of the leather.
Rejection will result in a slight loss in Intimacy with Pelun.
"At least the Gallbladders won't be a problem."
However the Great King Fox would be tricky. Prior to arriving in this area which was home to numerous bears, he had investigated the foxes' habitat but found no signs of the Great King Fox. Although it was possible that they had simply missed each other due to bad luck, it could mean that this quest was much harder than it first appeared.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Myeonghu then brought an end to his short little break as he headed to another bear, the quest was not yet complete and there were more Gallbladders to be harvested.
Swish!
He slashed down with his sword as he initiate the hunt. He then continued the process of dodging the bear's attacks to the best of his abilities, all the while counter attacking with his sword. Although he wasn't able to perfectly dodge all of its attacks, it was miles apart from his first encounter with a bear.
Kuoong…
Thud!
– Bear Pelt has been acquired.
-Bear Gallbladder had been acquired.
The bear let out a pitiful roar just before collapsing on the ground. Myeonghu expertly retrieved his items before moving on to the next prey. Kill, loot, then kill some more, repeating the cycle until he managed to collect all 60 Gallbladders.
"I still have a bit of space."
The couple of empty slots in his inventory were the source of his current dilemma. Should he immediately return to town to hand in the quest, or first completely fill up his inventory with loot?
"Let's fill her up."
After just a short moment of indecision, he chose to get more loot as he began searching for more bears.
****
Kuoong…
[Level up!]
– Bear Pelt has been acquired.
-Bear Gallbladder had been acquired.
A grin plastered over his face as he took a look at his inventory. He now had 140 gallbladders, which were worth 10 silvers apiece. Even if he excluded the 60 which he needed for the Quest, that was still 80 that would bring him a decent sum, not to mention all the Bear pelts he had which were also one of the village's specialties, well the only specialty in fact.
"…"
At first, Myeonghu had only thought about the Gallbladders, but was rendered speechless when he saw the 150 Bear Pelts in his inventory.
"Time to get a new weapon!"
He shouted excitedly, before opening his Status page to have a look.
Name: Myeonghu
Nationality: Helioka [Empire]
Age: 22
Class: Warrior
Level: 17
HP: 4010
MP: 420
Strength: 158(+25) Agility: 22(+10) Stamina: 17 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 11
Bonus Stats: 60
Due to his actions over the course of his last hunt, his Strength, Agility and Stamina had all seen slight improvements, while his six level ups had provided him with 60 Bonus Status. At first he planned on spending most of them to improve his Stamina, but finally decided otherwise, thinking it would be better to first see what the item requirements were.
"Alright!"
He shouted excitedly as he casually made his way back to town, his mind completely focused of the new weapons. Before he new it he had left the bear's territory and entered the area teeming with foxes.
"What should I wield this time?"
His mind was still occupied with the thought of new weapons, but was forced back to reality due to a large monster appearing before him.
"…"
Myeonghu looked at the fox before him, and the only word he could use to describe it was, enormous. It certainly wasn't one of those Large Foxes, it was entirely in a league of its own.
"Great King Fox…."
It couldn't be anything but the Quest monster which had eluded him all this time.