4/9
.....
In the evening, Aria looked down languidly at the embers that remained after being used to cook their dinner.
He had changed into clean clothes. The wounds on his skin had been treated. Only a few were exposed outside the cover of his clothes.
The guard who helped treat him was astonished, did not expect that not a single wound reached a deeper layer of his skin, not to mention his flesh.
Even though the blood on Aria's clothes looked a bit excessive compared to such light injuries. The helper could only attribute it to Aria's ingenuity in dodging.
When the guards saw the gloomy clouds that surrounded the boy, they would have thought that he had still not fully recovered from the afternoon's exhaustion.
But if that was the case, then what happened to the person beside Aria?
Goto sat down as well besides the boy, just staring blankly at the embers in front of him. Did the captain get tired too? But they didn't see him do anything excessive. Could fatigue also be contagious? They really doubt it.
"Hahhhh…" "Hahhhh…"
"?????"
'The captain acts weird…'
The guards became even more confused by the two's simultaneous sighs. Did something happen between the two that they didn't know about?!
…..
"Why are you moping around like that? It's not you who will get into trouble with all this…"
Goto was still in a gloomy mood, glancing at the boy beside him, the trouble maker of all this. However, he couldn't bear to scold him either after seeing the aura around the boy that was not less dark compared to him.
"Hahh…" Aria sighed again, "You don't understand how I feel, uncle."
"Huh?! How could your problem be bigger than the one I'm going to face later."
Goto looked too emotional and accidentally said that in a loud voice, thus attracting the attention of several guards who were still not resting, looking at the two of them questioningly.
Goto coughed awkwardly, realizing he was overreacting. He gave each of the guards a 'mind your own business' warning glare.
'Why are you, a grown man, so afraid of being kicked out of your own house? It's disgraceful...'
Aria gave his uncle a stink eye. He couldn't bother to explain his predicament when he got home later.
'Damn, I shouldn't have made that evil pact with mother. I'm done for!'
Aria couldn't understand what kind of evil spirit he was possessed at that time until his eyes were blinded by making such a contract with his mother.
His hands held his head down between his knees, pondering if there was still a way out so he wouldn't have to fulfill his promise before he left this forest.
'Or… should I just run away?'
…..
The night was getting darker as everyone had retreated to their respective tents, leaving only a few people who had their turn to guard the night.
Aria was already in his personal tent. Not sleeping right away. He was meditating, struggling to fill his spiritual space with energy.
"Hmm?!"
Aria suddenly opened his eyes. He furrowed his brows, not sure why. He felt a breezy wind blowing. It was unclear where it came from, or if it was really the wind that blowing.
The tent was tightly closed so there was no way he could feel a gust of wind from outside. He glanced around his tent, nothing strange.
"What is it? Or…"
Just as his instinct told him there was something wrong outside, his face drastically changed. Very quickly, he grabbed the broadsword that was always stayed at his side and swung it with all his might on his left side.
He didn't know what was aiming at him, but he knew it was dangerous. When his sword touched that mysterious thing, Aria's face drained from all its blood, turning deathly pale.
The power from the swing of his sword was incomparable to the intensity of the lightning-fast strike that struck him.
The vibration of the impact traveled from his sword to his hand, causing him to lose his grip. His sword flew away, tearing the tent into a big hole.
Aria, who at first could not see what or who, only a fleeting shadow moving quickly, could take a little glimpse at what touched his sword.
It was something long and big with lots of dark hair covering it. Perhaps something hard like metal or carapace. Which was definitely much more powerful than Aria.
Even though he was still in a state of shock from the sudden attack, he had a split second to react after repelling the sneak attack just now.
He pushed the ground with his feet with all his might, out of his tent through the big hole, out of reach of any object or creature before it launched a second attack.
He rolled on the ground. No matter how pathetic his posture was, he still didn't dare to take his eyes off the tent in the slightest.
"ATTACK!!"
A very loud cry came out from his throat. A lot of movements were heard from the other tents. Of course, the swiftest one was Goto.
He came out with a sword in his hand as he found Aria kneeling on the ground, staring closely at his collapsed tent.
A moment later…
ROAARRRRRR!!!
Aria reflexively bent down, covering his ears in pain.
"This roar… A bear again?!"
The sonic strike that was only a few meters away was enough to pierce his eardrums. He could clearly remember this kind of roar.
"But it's much more powerful, its mother?!"
"Kid, back off! You're not its opponent this time."
Goto was already standing in front of Aria, with a very solemn face blocking the view of the beast that towered over him, three meters in height from the boy behind him.
"Can you deal with it?"
"Don't underestimate me, brat! This beast is only a tier-1 spiritual beast. Even though it's relatively strong, I won't face it alone."
After Aria heard Goto's words, his ears caught the movements from both sides of him. Several senior guards who were also iron-tier rankers began to take their respective positions. No less than nine people, including Goto, surrounded the beast.
Seeing all their expressions getting dead serious, without a trace of terror in their eyes, allowed Aria to breathe a sigh of relief.
He got up, about to take his broadsword not far from him. But apparently, his movement caught the attention of the bear who immediately leaped at Aria, ignoring Goto and the others who were closer.
"Damn, beast! I am not your opponent!"
Aria immediately cursed this bear who was so determined to attack him time and time again. He picked up his broadsword amid the run, avoiding the assault of the bear.
Goto and the others did not standstill. They simultaneously launched attacks, blocking the bear's movement. The bear was so infuriated and kept roaring while warding various attacks into its body.
"Is there anything special about his roar other than being louder?"
Aria, who was already standing far from the battlefield, thought about the roars earlier. He had been hit several times, and he could clearly make a comparison between this roar and the one in his memory.
There was an effect that caused his mind to go numb a bit, making him a little sluggish. Perhaps this was one of the spiritual skills of this bear? Moreover…
"I believe this bear is the mother of the little one. There was no reason for it to keep attacking me while there are people nearer. If the reason is that I'm the weakest, I really don't buy it…"
"I guess the bear can smell its cub on this sword even though it's been cleaned."
At such times Aria yearned for detergent. If he had it now, this problem would not come to him. Should he start making it? But where would he get the caustic soda here?
Aria kept pondering as he observed the increasingly intense battle. So far, it still looked balanced.
Goto and the others were unable to land a fatal hit on the bear's body, while the bear could only dance around amid the siege.
"This will take quite some time. I better check the other's conditions."
Aria hurriedly left the place, going to check on the other guards, especially the ones on duty.
He was quite surprised that a bear of that size could approach his tent which was almost in the middle of the camp. He hoped nothing bad happened to the guards.
…..
"Fortunately no one was killed, but..."
Aria was a little relieved to find that none of the five people on duty that night were dead, only unconscious.
They had several fractures but no external injuries, like bleeding. The way that bear was able to incapacitate these people so silently was quite a mystery. He was curious, but none of them was awake for questioning. Moreover…
"I guess this hunting will end sooner than planned..."
Aria watched the five people lying down who were now being handled by several other guards. He could only helplessly accept it. It's just that he was not given enough time to prepare his mind and plans when he returned home.
"What bad luck! All because of that damn bear…"
Aria looked towards the battle full of hatred. If only he was stronger, he wanted to jump into the fight and slammed his broadsword into the bear's head time and time again.
…..
"The defense's too thick!"
Goto grumbled after successfully landing three consecutive strikes towards his opponent's arm and left side of the abdomen before dodging the sweep of its claw.
The mother-bear, who was about to continue, had to stop to avoid the arrows that were aimed at its face. It let out an annoyed roar, showing its fierce fangs at several people in the distance who were always ready to take advantage of the slightest opening.
"Tch, in the end, the adult has to wipe the younger one's ass."
Goto took a deep breath. His eyes were twinkling brighter than before, very clear under the slightly dimmed moonlight. The aura around his body changed drastically. Out of nowhere, there was a wind blowing from him outwardly.
'Wind Armament: Sword Enhancement'
'Wind Armament: Speed Enhancement'
Although the weapon he used was a sword, Goto was not a master in swordsmanship. His skills were mediocre, acceptable at most for a soldier level, but that's all.
He was an Elementalist, wind Elementalist. It's just that his talent was not as good as expected, so he couldn't develop a more complex technique. But good enough for ordinary people.
He couldn't use more flashy techniques with his limited spiritual energy and abilities. So, like the majority of people's choices, something easy and practical, especially for a squad army like him… a former squad army.
"Oh? Has Uncle Goto started to get serious?"
Aria watched the change in expression and aura around Goto. A moment later, Goto moved much faster than before. Launching a sporadic chain of attacks on the bear's body.
Now the bear could no longer keep up with Goto's speed. Its claws could no longer find their target, not even touching the hem of his shirt.
Goto showed a very agile movement as he was clinging to the bear's body. Slithering like a snake, causing the bear to look frustrated.
It couldn't find the shadow of the mouse around its body.
"However, the attacks are too sporadic, only manage to break through a thick layer of fur."
Aria muttered slowly as he watched the two creatures struggle with a strange look. In his eyes, Goto looked like he was trimming the hairs on the bear's body, with more and more hairs piling up on the ground.
"Does he want to make the beast bald like him? I didn't know Uncle Goto had such a strange hobby."
The bear that seemed to be extremely frustrated immediately let out a roar, which, according to Aria's prediction, contained spiritual energy within it.
Goto who was affected the most paused for a moment, dizzy from the effect of the roar, which this time was much more intense than before.
"Danger!!"
Aria who saw that was about to jump into the fight, saving Goto without a second thought. However, he quickly stopped after several arrows shot towards the bear's eyes, causing the beast had to stop its attacks again and again midway.
Goto retreated very quickly after getting rid of the dizziness.
"Really troublesome."
Aria thought hard about how to immobilize this bear. Without a melee fighter, it would be difficult to beat it.
However, the risk was so great with the bear's roar that didn't have a very wide range, at least Aria who stood a distance away was not affected, but would greatly paralyze an opponent who was too close to it.
A moment later he looked at the remnants of the still-burning embers. His eyes were wide open, twinkling as he let out a very sly smile.
'I guess I have to show these people the path of enlightenment, how to be a modern scholar.'
…..
"UNCLE, do you still have the energy to move?"
Goto who was regulating his breathing glanced to the side. Dozens of meters away, Aria still with his broadsword behind waving his hand. Seeing the boy who looked still energetic in this situation, for some reason, Goto felt irritated inside.
"Not bad. Don't make trouble, stay where you are!"
Goto waved his arm, not wanting to have his concentration broken by Aria joining the fight.
'Looks pretty good. Yup, my plan works.'
Aria turned to the archers who were already prepared in the distance and gave a hand sign. Before this, he had approached them, briefed them with his plan, and given something for them to use.
The archers could only stare at each other strangely but didn't reject the extremely absurd plan. Brilliant, but absurd.
'How can this weird boy become the son of such a valiant father?'
Aria didn't know the thoughts of these people, and again he wouldn't care. The only person kept in the dark was his uncle. Besides, he considered it unnecessary to tell him, so he couldn't bother to tell the man.
Goto tried his luck again as before. There wasn't much he could do. He hoped this stalemate would end soon and the beast would realize it. There's no point in continuing this skirmish, he thought.
Unfortunately, not so with the bears. How could a human be able to understand the feelings of a bear? Since there was no understanding between them, let this pointless fight go on.
Goto was still with his wind enhancement which raised his speed and flexibility to a new level, making the mother-bear still hadn't found a way to deal with it. Inevitably, its roar became the ultimate weapon.
Goto, who was already used to this fight pattern, was already prepared. Just when he's about to retreat…
"NOW!!"
Aria's shout caught his attention, but it didn't stop the movement in the slightest. Still the same as before, along with the bear's roar, several arrows quickly flew into the air, aiming at the same target.
It's just…
"What is that thing attached to the arrow?"
Goto found something unusual with the arrows this time. Unfortunately, not so with bears. It was still responding as before, easily deflecting all the attacks that were aimed at its face. Suddenly…
*Buss**Crattt*
Aria's concoction bomb exploded covering the bear's face. The mixture of leftover spices from their dinner, along with bags of dust, sands, and other things that mixed together, caused the bear's face to be covered with weird paste, covering its eyes, nose, and mouth.
Reflexively, the bear roared in surprise. Perhaps its eye was hurt from the spicy ingredients in the paste, no one knew.
As a result, it couldn't see that there was a sword that had been hurled with great force by Aria, who had been taking a stance from the very beginning since the arrows had left the bow.
ROAAARRRR!!!
"Eat that!"
Aria cheered at his successful attack. Although the sword didn't stab anywhere on its body, it managed to injure the bear's left eye.
It was clear from the blood that flew, mixed with the cooking spices. Uhh… that would be nasty...
Goto was stunned at what he saw, realizing his chance came. However, just as he was about to launch the attack, the bear turned berserk. It didn't care about anything and dashed with all its might towards the forest.
Even though several attacks reached its body, it ignored them and continued to run away from that cursed place.
"Ah… I thought we'd get some new bear meat to take home. And here I have chosen the right spice mix for roasting it. What a shame!"
Aria was regretting they couldn't keep the bear in this place. It could have a reunion with its cub on the other side.
Goto looked at this boy strangely.
'There's something wrong with this kid's head!'