Brown bear! I came to hunt beasts yet a beast is trying to hunt me now?
Frankly speaking, Lu Chen was shocked to find himself becoming a beast's target. However, his reactions were quick.
In the Wilderness, the role of hunter and prey were fluid, they could switch at a moment's notice. While humans are hunting beasts, the stronger beasts would also hunt humans.
Every year, a large number of barbarians are killed by them.
In an odd but powerful stance, Lu Chen raised the metal sword high up before him.
[Critical Strike]
He was intending to use the skill to slay the incoming bear.
Critical Strike was a powerful skill that would boost his strength to twice as strong and launch it out as an attack. Despite this, there was a delay in casting the skill, thus, it wasn't all that useful in a battle.
But if he was ready beforehand, he could easily use it on his target.
That being said, his enemy surely wouldn't sit by and watch as Lu Chen got ready to slay it. But right now, his target wasn't any human but a beast, specifically, a bear renowned for its strength.
Brown bears lunge straight at its target, it surely won't take any evasive maneuvers.
Just as he expected, the brown bear had no idea what Lu Chen was up to with his odd stance. Therefore, it didn't even try to evade it at all. In fact, it was probably more concerned about its prey running away rather than evading.
Because it was in a rush, the brown bear was sprinting down. At the same time, Lu Chen's skill was also ready to be cast.
When the [Critical Strike] was ready, Lu Chen could feel himself gaining full control over every muscle fiber within his body.
Lu Chen, reveling in this sensation, abruptly swung his sword and smashed it at the brown bear.
As the sword cut through the air, he felt his strength originating from his legs and traveling up his waist and arms before finally gathering in his wrists. All of it gave him a sense of "critical" in his attack.
While Lu Chen smashed his metal sword at it, the brown bear's instincts made it stand up at the last second to slam its paws back toward Lu Chen.
Slamming paws was its normal means of assault. Once hit, any ordinary barbarian or beast would suffer fractured bones and die from it.
But sadly, its target this time was Lu Chen.
Although the brown bear was strong, Lu Chen was stronger.
His heavy sword smashed down heavily and clashed right with the bear's meaty paws.
Bang—
As his sword's edges were not sharpened, it didn't cut through the bear's paws. Instead, it slammed its paws to the sides and came right down at its head.
Bang—
Another loud boom and Lu Chen cracked opened the brown bear's head.
Surely, my strength is now beyond the ordinary beasts.
On top of that, the [Critical Strike] was really strong. What a shame it's level is too low, I need one second to get ready in position. It's effective against bears and the like, but not against faster beasts.
One could only say that the brown bear had run out of luck to bump into Lu Chen. Compared to the other beasts, the brown bear had thick skin, a strong body, and incredible strength. But those were also Lu Chen's strengths.
More importantly, Lu Chen was stronger than the brown bear in those aspects. Hence, it couldn't even show its power before Lu Chen took it down.
In turn, if it were a tiger or jaguar instead, Lu Chen would've definitely had a tough time taking them down.
If only I have speed too.
Lu Chen thought to himself greedily, but soon, he recalled something in his mind and his eyes brightened up.
Wait, even though I don't have speed like the tigers or jaguars, I can make them slow as me. That way, all my problems are solved.
Then, he looked in his skill page and focused on one particular skill. Right away, his worries of facing speedy opponents were cleared.
Of course, this wasn't the time to think too much just yet.
He turned around to look at the brown bear and a smile radiated across his face. The smile turned even brighter especially when he checked the system log and read the message.
[System Message: Host has killed a Brown Bear and earned 100 Mastery Points.]
Whether it was the 100 Mastery Points rewarded for killing the brown bear or its dead body on the ground, both were good news to Lu Chen. But what excited him most was that he found a way to hunt and so he wouldn't have to worry about food anymore.
I am slow and lack hunting skills. Hence, it's impossible for me to catch up to the beasts.
Then, I will stop chasing them and let them chase me instead. There are many carnivores in the forest, they surely won't resist when they see me alone.
That's right, Lu Chen was planning to use himself as bait to hunt, especially the bigger and stronger beasts. These beasts were more likely to approach Lu Chen when they find him alone in the forest instead of running away.
This gave Lu Chen a chance to use it to his advantage.
Of course, it was a risky decision to make. In the forest, the roles of hunter and prey could switch anytime. If a dangerous beast were to find him, it would be him that would have to run for his life.
Lu Chen knew this very well himself, but it still didn't stop him from trying it.
Hunting the beasts was not just for food, it's also for the Mastery Points. This is the same as hunting Evils in the night time. If I can handle even the Evils, how can I be afraid of beasts?
Feeling the strength flowing in his body and seeing the brown bear on the ground, Lu Chen made up his mind.
But it wasn't a good time to reflect now. He didn't stay for long and carried the brown bear on his shoulder. Then, he strode back toward the village.
The west mountain was close to the village and was a frequent hunting ground for the village's hunters, on top of that, it was still day time now. Hence, Lu Chen wasn't held up by anything in his return journey.
Soon, he returned back to the village with the brown bear on his shoulder.
…
In the Wild Bull Village, Lu Chen's home.
Xiao Wei was finally able to take a break after cleaning and tidying the whole place.
But quickly, she took a look at the chopping board in the kitchen. In just two days' time, they had already eaten a few dozen kilograms of wild boar meat.
Seeing how fast their food was depleting, Xiao Wei grew worried.
Ah'Chen's appetite is too big. If this goes on, we will soon run out of food.
If there's nothing more to eat, I'll definitely be chased out.
Yi Nianwei had been living in the village for several years, she knew well about their culture. If they ran out of food, the village would definitely help Ah'Chen out and supply him food, but there would definitely be nothing for her.
To think that she would have no food and warm clothes, she knew she wouldn't be able to make it through the upcoming winter and fear slowly crept into her heart.
No, I need to do something.
She didn't want to die just like that. Hence, she didn't dare to waste any time after cleaning up the house and headed out to find some work that could earn them some food.
However, when she stepped out of the doorsteps, she realized she couldn't do anything at all in the village.
As the number of Evils has had sharply these days, a lot of the male barbarians had already died out there. This left a lot of females and widows in the village.
Fortunately, female barbarians were also strong. They could handle most of the tasks in the village and keep the village going on without any problems.
But that was because the female barbarians were tall and strong. In stark contrast, Xiao Wei was not even 150cm tall, she wasn't even in the same league as the female barbarians.
Which was why she knew she wouldn't be able to make it through the winter without the village's help.
That being said, Xiao Wei who came from the Central Plains wasn't all that useless. She was good at embroidery and was literate.
But these abilities had little use in the Wilderness.
The barbarians wear skin hides, so there was no need for any needlework. Other than that, most of the barbarians were illiterate, the best they could do was learn how to count.
Therefore, Yi Nianwei was considered useless in the village.
Food was running out and she had nothing to offer to the village in exchange for any food. Despair slowly consumed her as she thought of her tragic demise in the upcoming winter.
The more she thought about it, the deeper she sunk into her despair. Eventually, she leaned on the door and started crying.
With Ah'Chen's appetite, our food will only last four days, five max. Without a source for food, I will be chased out and die in the winter. Father, mother, I'm coming to join you in the afterlife.
She couldn't see a way out.