Du Claw Wag's POV:
— –I could feel the horrible stench of the blood of the secarebear. They were already in our village and we wouldn't be able to arrive in time to save them. It would be too late by the time we got there– It's over, there's nothing we can do. –I said falling to my knees and hitting the ground in frustration–
— It can't be… — My brother said with a trembling voice. —
— There's still time. — Adam said materializing a large long bow that was made of what looked like wood, steel or scales. Its design was disturbing and macabre, full of spikes that rotated like the horns of a goat. —Run, I'll give you 5 minutes at most, but then you'll have to hold on until I arrive. — He said, drawing the bow as all the mana began to swirl towards him. - Already! —He shouted when I jumped up and started running towards the village, dragging my brother along. —
— Brother, will we make it?
— I hope so. –I said when I saw how several flaming and icy arrows flew through the sky in the direction of our village at incredible speed, and in the distance I could hear explosions and feel the ground shake–
— That was…?
—Yes, it was definitely him. –I said recognizing that he had not thought that he was so strong–
— Brother! You can see the village! —He said, pointing to the burning huts in the distance and accelerating his pace even more. —
—Gather as many warriors as you can and evacuate the rest! –I screamed as he saw how the village had been filled with small craters like the one Adam had made when attacking the ghost snake the first time we met. Most likely, he burned the village while he attacked the scarebear. There were also large icicles embedded in the ground that rose up to two meters high, and as I approached the source of conflict I found the corpse of one of the scarebear with a charred hole in his shoulder. He would surely have been a victim of the first arrows fired by Adam. But I couldn't get too distracted since the next moment I could see how a small group of no more than 4 warriors faced two scarebear. These damned black bears with white, bloodthirsty eyes that always had a macabre smile when killing their prey– Stand back and take up a defensive formation while I distract you! –I screamed, jumping and cutting the face of one of the scarebear with my mana claws, but when I looked at his face I noticed that I hadn't even scratched him. But without wasting time I took a big breath of air to shout – We have to hold on for 5 minutes until the human arrives! He'll take care of the scarebear! –I said, noticing how the rain of arrows had stopped and listening to the war cry of all my comrades–
Adam Hope's point of view:
—The 5 minutes have already passed. –I said, putting away the bow to materialize the daggers that now shone brilliantly due to the addition of sacred wood as hard as steel and the fangs of a ghost snake that, despite not making them more resistant, made them twice as sharp. – I hope they last until I arrived. –I said running at full speed towards the village while I felt how some mana signatures were fading as the minutes passed–
***
— –When I got close enough I could see how my arrows had burned a large part of the village, but running towards the two scarebear I could see that one of them had been successfully eliminated. But something worried me, and that was that despite having fired several arrows, only one of them had fallen, but I stopped thinking about it when I saw two bears about 5 meters high with a whitish and macabre face, almost as if it were a smiling mask, they smiled as they randomly clawed towards the group of kobolds that were being led by Du. Seeing it, I used "Transfer" to appear right over the head of one of the bears and spun like a whirlwind to give strength to a cut I made on the back of its neck, but despite feeling the impact I didn't see any apparent wounds, so I moved back towards the group and erected a large stone wall – Gather up with the group that is fighting the other two secarebear and lure them towards me! Then evacuate everyone! –I shouted looking at Du, who lowered his head as a sign that he would make all the other kobolds do what he had said– Icelyn Why does that thing still have its head attached to its body? –I asked him mentally as I pointed my right dagger towards the damn smiling beast that was looking at me like a cat that is simply playing with its food –
—I was able to scan the mana beast. Indeed, they are scarebear, these are macabre bears that live in the depths of some forests that like to slowly kill their prey. The bear survived thanks to its innate ability "Void Fur" whose effect is to turn its fur into a kind of void dimension in which attacks never connect with their bodies.
—So no matter how much I tried to cut him up or cremate him, I will never hurt him. And the bear I killed back there was probably caught off guard, which is why they have their ability constantly active now.
Is there no way to damage them?
— If the ability prevented the passage of temperature, the bears would not be able to keep it constantly active without risking dying from the cold, so it is very likely that despite not being able to hit them, they could be killed by hypothermia or hyperthermia.
— Ice magic it will be then. –I said, freezing my daggers to the point that the air around them condensed– Come to me! –I screamed as one of the bears lunged at me with its jaws open, to which I leaned slightly to the right, striking my left dagger with my right right in front of its snout when it was close enough, making a chain effect that would freeze everything within a meter radius, and then I set off a small pressurized air bomb under my feet to blow away its jaws and the ice icicle that was forming inside its mouth– What do you think?! If my attacks don't work when hitting you, I just need to hit something close enough to you that you can't move out of range! –I said, returning the superior smile to the bear who was shaking his head while using both paws to try to get the ice off his face. And when it stood on its hind legs and left its belly exposed, I rushed at full speed to repeat the process, but the other bear appeared from the right, launching a well-aimed paw at my body, so I had to contort my body to be able to look back and move to a safe distance – These things are no longer taking me as their toy. –I said touching my chest that was slightly cut– They already see me as something to get rid of quickly.
—Gwyn! —I heard Du shout a few meters behind me, so I turned around and could see how the group that was attracting the other two scarebear was losing formation to be able to rescue Gwyn, who had been hit by the claws of one of the bears and its chest was now open— Don't die! —I scream desperately and discovering his weak points, making him easy to attack by the scarebear—
— Shit! –I cursed moving towards Du and kicking him so that one of the bears wouldn't kill him with one blow, covering my body with a layer of ice that was destroyed, sending me flying towards one of the nearby trees– Ugh, damn. –I cursed coughing up blood–
— One of the User's ribs was fractured, but it is possible to heal it during the fight.
—Thank you Icelyn. –I said mentally with a comforting tone as I remembered that my strongest ally was always by my side–Du! Reaction to! –I shouted loudly to make him see reason–Take your brother and get out of here! And don't let them kill you! –I ordered him euphorically while I threw a "Drop of Life" at him to try to heal him while they took him away from here–
— Gwyn's lungs were torn open, her stomach punctured, and several arteries destroyed. The "Life Drop" will only gain him a few minutes of life, it is impossible to completely heal him while he defends the village from the scarebear. — Icelyn said to make sure he didn't do anything crazy like heal him and fight at the same time. —
— I know, I just wanted to give you enough time to say goodbye to your brother. –I said, standing up in front of the 4 scarebear– You did something you shouldn't have done. –I said, remembering what it felt like to lose a family member– So they will pay the consequences. –I said with a cold and emotionless tone–
— The "Wrath" skill has been activated, the User's mana reserves will be doubled. An error was detected. The ability "Wrath has been superimposed on "Machine Brain". The anointings are inevitably turning off. Let the User take care of himself until the functions are reactivated. — She said with her voice losing itself in nothingness. —
—The skill "Wrath" was successfully activated. —Said another female voice, different from Icelyn's, but it didn't seem to worry me. I even started talking to her naturally, as if she were normal. —
— I want to freeze them. Will you help me do it? –I asked with a tone that rather indicated that it was an order–
— The "Wrath" skill will help the User in everything that involves killing. —He said with what I could feel was a "smile" despite not having a physical or mental form. —
— In that case, hurry up and give me the strength to freeze these damn shits that look at me as if I were nothing. –I said, letting out an icy breath that indicated that my temperature and that of everything around me was beginning to drop drastically–
— As the User wishes. —He said, making large amounts of mana flow throughout my body, making me feel great pain since it was as if they connected a hose to my veins and began to fill me with blood until I doubled the amounts I already had, only instead it was It was about mana. —The killing can now begin.
— –I moved over the head of the bear whose face I had previously frozen to repeat the process, but one of its companions swung its paw while I was in the air, so I contorted my body to avoid it and clashed my daggers to freeze his paw That made a large icicle of ice that, due to its weight, made it fall on the head of the bear it was protecting, making it fall due to the weight – Oh, the attacks don't hurt them, but if it's big enough its weight does affect them. In that case, what do you think of this? –I said, raising a large stone pillar under the belly of the bear that was on the ground, sending it flying upwards where I froze its head without the rest being able to intervene, but not content with that I froze its back and one of its legs until before we crashed on the ground I moved once again in front of them – Wasn't that a good surprise? –I said smiling as I watched how the bear began to roll from one side to the other while trying to get rid of all the layers of ice. But I couldn't continue enjoying the view as two of them rushed towards me from my left and right, to which I reacted by imbuing my daggers with immense amounts of mana to make them collide and freeze everything within a 10 meter radius including me. myself, but then making me vibrate to break it and free myself, although freeing them too–
— You can see them shivering. — "Wrath" said, making me notice that everything in an area of 50 meters was nothing more than a winter landscape. —
—It's time to end this. –I said when out of nowhere one of the bears materialized next to me giving a strong paw that sent me flying to a nearby tree, breaking several ribs and my left arm– Ugh! What was that?! –I demanded to know, but got no response– Allow Icelyn to work again! –I ordered in a hurry when I saw another paw materialize in front of me, to which I exploded an air bomb that I had prepared seconds after crashing to fly away from danger and force my sore body to land on my knees since I had a hard time staying up. standing-
— Anger and calm should not mix. —She said in a refusal that made my blood boil—
—Hey, if I give an order you must follow it to the letter, even if that means your destruction. Is that clear? –I said releasing a strong thirst for blood–
—…Allowing reactivation of the functions of the "Machine Brain" skill
— Reactivating functions. Serious wounds were detected on the User's body, they will be treated urgently.
— No! Before that…! –I said when I suddenly felt a strong headache that made me feel like my brain would split in two, but I bit my lip to stay conscious and force myself to finish the sentence– Before that I want you to look for a countermeasure to the ability of these unfortunates. –I said feeling how the headache did not stop, but at the same time I recovered some sanity and reason and stopped letting myself be carried away by my impulses to kill–
— This is the "Shadow Step" skill, it makes their bodies merge with the shadows, making them invisible, undetectable and intangible until the moment of attacking.
—Another damn invisibility skill! –I shouted in frustration– It is impossible to become completely invisible without leaving traces! Search the entire damn spectrum of light! –I ordered while I lowered my head to avoid being decapitated by a paw that had appeared out of nowhere and then moved a few meters to where I had been before being taken by surprise by his skill –
— It is possible to detect bears with ultraviolet light. This is absorbed by their bodies and returned in the form of infrared.
—Icelyn! Expand my range of vision to the infrared and mix "Blast" with the most powerful ice magic you can! ¡Wrath! You redirect all the mana you can towards my next spell even if it leaves me without reserves! –I ordered them, preparing my plan to finish off the bears once and for all–
— Simulations are being made to mix ice and fire magic without canceling each other. The User must wait around 5 minutes until then.
— Redirecting large amounts of mana to the User's right arm. Other spells will be affected by lack of mana.
—As always we are against the clock. –I said using some weak threads of mana to move my broken arm and use it to defend myself while I cast a new spell on my right hand– "Crystal wall" –I cast a spell to create a circular ice barrier that would protect me for at least 5 seconds until they destroyed it while I put away one of my daggers and prepared to fight. When they broke the ice wall they merged into the shadows again, but this time it would be more complicated since we were inside an ice cage 50 meters in diameter from which no one had an escape except for the small opening through which they had entered. To avoid being taken by surprise, I compressed all my senses to just 50 centimeters from me, further reducing my reaction time and I began to jump from one side to the other, avoiding claws and jaws that materialized out of nowhere without giving me time to rest. and I could notice how they were slowly surrounding me, as evading them became increasingly difficult, to the point that they began to graze me and then give me deep cuts that were not fatal by just a few centimeters. But I was with my attention divided between evading and casting the new spell, which was none other than "Blast", but I was charging it with large amounts of argon within the mass of condensed liquid and electrically charged copper powder in the cloak. of fire that covered her, which was consuming immense amounts of mana since it did not stop increasing its quantities–
— A way was found to mix both types of magic successfully. The User's spell is being altered to create "icy fire".
— –The thin layer of fire that always surrounds my "Explosion" spell, causing the air around it to become agitated due to the high temperatures, began to cause the air around it to condense due to the cold—You bastards. I know that they don't activate their absorption ability while they are intangible since they must be very sure that I can't attack them in the meantime, but guess what? If I can. –I said casting the new "Flashing Frost Blast" spell under my feet and moving towards the opening through which the bears entered. The layer of electrically charged fire made the argon glow, causing it to emit a large flash of ultraviolet light, stripping the bears of their intangibility and then exploding with a force like never before, disintegrating and freezing everything in a diameter of 50 meters. . Which sent me flying through the air while I lost consciousness due to the lack of mana and the pain of my wounds that I could no longer bear–
Author's words:
This chapter was a little longer than normal. I would say like chapter 0, but I hope you liked it and look forward to next week.
Best regards, Don_Miseria.