Leon and Dean continued their journey deeper into the forest, and even after encountering three more beasts, Dean still wasn't able to kill any, he didn't even start a battle with any of them.
They were currently resting under a big pike tree, and Julius was standing a little further away from the duo.
'Why's this happening?' Dean asked himself while staring at the sky through the tree canopy, although he could barely see through it.
He didn't know what was so hard about killing these beasts, had it been humans, then he would have said it was his humanity that was stopping him from killing them. But in the case of the beasts, he didn't know how to explain it.
"No need to think too much about it, you're just scared." Leon's apathetic voice resounded in Dean's ears.
Leon stared at him and it was like he could see through him, although it was strange, he didn't find it unacceptable that Dean was scared of engaging in a life and death battle, after all, there's a slight chance of dying if he were to make any mistakes.
But if one wants to make it to the top in this world, then they would not just have to fight, but they would also have to kill. It's kill or be killed, there's no other way around it.
Dean shifted his gaze to Leon, but he didn't reply, rather, he took out his sword and stared at it.
He was good with it, and always felt safe once he's holding his sword, yet, why isn't he able to fight against these beasts that were clearly weaker than him?
Of the three beasts they've encountered, he tried fighting against one, but he surprisingly froze when he was supposed to attack. Luckily, Leon was there, and he quickly dealt with it before it could cause him any harm.
"We should continue." Dean said with a little change in his eyes. A glint of determination flashing through his eyes.
He had concluded that he must fight against the next beast, even if it meant getting injured!
"Hm." Leon nodded before signaling Julius that they wanted to continue the journey.
Although the change was small, Leon was able to sense it in his voice, it was like when a person resolved himself to doing something.
Ten minutes later.
"No matter what happens, do not intervene." Dean said to Leon as he took out his sword and approached the beast that was resting underneath the shade of a tree.
"Unless, you know, I'm about to die, then you can intervene." He turned around to add.
Even though he wanted to fight against the beast alone, it didn't mean he would stop Leon from saving him if he was about to die. Not letting Leon intervene when things were difficult for him was nothing more than stupidity.
While heading toward the beast, Dean didn't bother to hide his presence, he just walked closer to it with a straight face. No matter what, he had to get rid of this fear in him.
He had read too many novels to know that if he didn't fight now, he would be at the bottom of the world. No matter how high his stage gets, if he doesn't have any fighting experience, then he wouldn't amount to much in this life.
The sleeping beast was a two-and-a-half-meter bear. This beast is known for its strong defense, as well as its powerful attacks. Although it was large, it was by no means slow.
The bear opened its eyes vigilantly when it heard Dean's footsteps, on seeing the approaching human, it quickly got up, and stood on its hind legs, trying to intimidate him with its size.
Huuu...
Dean slowly breathed out, and it was like the stress and nervousness he was feeling about fighting was gone.
'I can do this.' He encouraged himself.
Holding onto the sword with both hands, he swung it forcefully at the bear.
Clang!
A ringing sound reverberated in the area as the bear's almost three inches long claws deflected the sword away from its body.
The force sent the sword back, and Dean nearly let go of it, but thinking about being a swordsman, he knew he should never let go of his sword, so he held tightly onto it and retreated a few steps back before the force faded off.
The bear was a peak Early Rank One beast, while Dean was a Fourth layered Body Tempering realm Warrior. Dean should naturally have the advantage in that clash, but because he didn't use his full strength, he was pushed back along with his sword.
Dean felt a little sour on his palm because of it, but he didn't have the time to think since the bear immediately launched an assault on him after he stopped.
'Shit! I can't do this, it's harder than I thought.' Dean almost gave up right there and then, but since he had already attacked, the die was cast, and there was no turning back.
Clang! Clang!
Dean repeatedly had to rely on his sword to block the claw strikes of the bear, while also dodging to the side from time to time.
Clang!
He blocked another attack, but the sword vibrated in his hand from the aftershock, making it numb.
Because of that, he lost focus in the battle and the bear instantly tried to capitalize on it as it pounced at him, opening its mouth wide, aiming for his neck.
If this strike connects, then even though Dean was stronger than it, he would most likely die from it given the force the bear could generate for each bite.
But just as the bear was about to reach its target.
Pu-chi!
An arrow came from behind Dean, piercing into the eyes of the bear, straight to the brain.
Thud!
The bear fell straight to the ground, dead.
Dean on the other hand felt a chill run down his spine from the thought of what would have happened had Leon not been there.
"Thank you." He turned around and thanked Leon who was still in the same position after releasing the arrow.
Leon nodded before keeping his bow. Although he didn't want to say it, he was impressed by Dean's battle just now. He didn't think Dean would be able to put up a fight, much less survive for almost three minutes against the constant attack of the bear.
From Dean's previous disposition, he shouldn't have been able to even lift a finger against the bear, much less his sword.