Having finally engaged the Hand-Hand Bear in combat, Law realized how troublesome and dangerous it truly was. Yet, retreat was never an option in his mind.
If he backed down here, where else could he go?
As he looked at the bear, his mind raced.
The chop just now only cut one-third of the bear's right ankle. He estimated that two more strikes would be enough to sever it completely.
If he could take out one of its ankles, the bear's massive body would become a burden, severely limiting its mobility. From there, he could gain the upper hand and slowly wear it down.
As long as God Hand's power is activated, even if the bear has the ability to regenerate, it will not be able to heal the wound, so Law has plenty of time to strategize.
What needs to be paid attention to is the power of the bear. Law must deal with it with caution and avoid being hit head-on, whether from its paw or foot.
'I can try long-range attacks, but I can't open my domain. It's too risky.'
The radius of his domain was 20 meters. Such a distance might seem significant for humans, but it amounted to just a step or two for the bear. Therefore, using the domain will only put himself in danger.
After all, expanding the domain requires the support of most of the Aura, which reduces his own defense to the minimum. It is not a wise move to use it to deal with the bear.
If ranged attacks are too ineffective, then he'll just keep getting close, and focused on severing the ankle, which is the key to victory.
With his plan set, Law launched into action. A basketball-sized Nen Sphere condensed on his dominant right hand, and then he compressed it into a thin, disc-shaped projectile.
The disc, formed entirely of aura, was designed to enhance cutting power through its shape and high-speed rotation. He would call it, Aura Slash Disc!
Law flung the disc with a sharp motion, aiming it at the bear's right ankle. The projectile spun through the air at high speed.
However, the bear wasn't a stationary target. It shifted its body slightly, causing the disc to miss and crash into the ground harmlessly.
Seeing that the Aura Slash Disc missed, Law remained calm. After dodging another powerful swipe from the bear, he darted toward an open space on the other side of the lake.
When the woman hiding in the woods saw this scene, she immediately cursed Law in her heart, 'He is really an idiot! He didn't learn his lesson after being kicked away and insisted on fighting to the death with that bear!'
Since this woman didn't know Nen, she only thought that the bear was not something that a normal person could deal with. At least, she thought that Law's strength was not enough to deal with the bear.
Even though Law was safe and sound after being kicked away, it did not change the woman's opinion. The reason was simply because of his age.
After barely creating some distance, Law turned around and hurled another Aura Slash Disc at the bear. However, the bear seemed to be able to sense the Aura Slash Disc, or it seemed to be aware of the dangerous momentum emitted by the Aura Slash Disc, so it moved its right foot again to avoid the Aura Slash Disc.
Though it couldn't see Nen, the bear's instincts allowed it to avoid the attacks effortlessly.
If Law could master the advanced technique, In, he would be able to conceal the presence of Aura to the greatest extent possible, rendering the Aura Slash Disc completely undetectable to the bear.
Unfortunately, Law doesn't know how to use In, and judging from the results of his two attempts, he knew long-range attacks wouldn't work against this opponent.
'It would be great if I could freely control the flight path of the Aura Slash Disc after throwing it.'
Law sighed softly.
His idea was fantastic. While other Nen Users might not be able to do it, he, who had already jumped out of the framework, could do it.
However, with his current ability, he still could not do it.
After all, his awakening level is only 20%, and there is still a lot of rooms for improvement.
The bear roared in frustration, as its inability to crush Law driving it into a frenzy. It began to swing its paws faster and more frequently, forcing Law to narrowly avoid each blow.
The wind pressure generated by each paw strike has been disrupting Law's balance. Fortunately, after gathering some Aura in his feet, Law can increase his grip so that his body will not be blown off balance by the wind pressure.
As the bear slapped at him again and again, Law closed the distance between himself and the bear, and circled around the bear's feet again.
Slash!
Law chopped at the wound on the bear's right ankle again, then immediately moved to avoid the bear's left foot.
'One more!'
At this time, Law thought of Shin. If he had that sword, he might have been able to cut off the bear's ankle with one strike.
Seeing its right ankle was attacked twice in succession, although the bear did not feel any pain, it sensed something was wrong and began to guard against Law's close-range attacks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The lakeside clearing became riddled with craters from the bear's powerful strikes.
The woman in the helmet was still hiding behind the trees, as she couldn't bring herself to leave. Watching the battle unfold had completely overturned her cognition.
Law finally created some distance, and the bear seemed to become alert and did not dare to attack Law rashly again.
"Sigh... it's just a B-level ingredient and it's already so difficult to deal with."
There was only one final strike needed. If not for the bear's large and cumbersome size, landing the second hit might have been impossible.
The bear stopped where it was, and suddenly thrust its hands into the ground. With a deafening roar, it dug up a chunk of sand and rock nearly half its size and held it aloft.
Seeing the bear's actions, Law's eyelids twitched slightly.
Since it sensed a potential threat at close range, it switched to long-range attack?'
'This bear is only a B-level creature... so how terrifying would an A-rank creature be?'
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the bear tossed the massive chunk of earth forward. Then, with both paws, it slammed into the airborne boulder.
Seeing this, Law's eyes widened in astonishment, 'Are you kidding me? Did you just evolve into some kind of spirit?!'
The force from the bear's double slam shattered the boulder into countless fragments, creating a wide scatter-shot barrage that spread out towards Law.
Faced with this all-encompassing shotgun-like attack, Law felt a mixture of shock and delight. Without hesitation, he charged straight into it.
If the bear had focused all its power into a single strike, Law wouldn't dare risk taking it head-on. But with the force dispersed, his Aura defense could easily block it.
Each piece of flying debris was as big as a head. It would be okay if he was hit by just one, but if he was hit by dozens or hundreds of pieces, he would still be doomed.
As Law dashed forward, the Aura around him formed into a swirling planetary ring. The incoming fragments were drawn into the ring's orbit, following its trajectory.
The debris followed the trajectory of the planetary ring, circling around Law from both sides, and then collided with each other behind Law, turning into powder and kicking up a massive cloud.
While the bear's slam attack filled the area with dust and obscured its vision, it let out another furious roar, unable to see the outcome of its attack. What it didn't realize was that Law had already closed the distance and was now at its feet.
As the bear sensed the dangerous aura returning, it hurriedly tried to lift its right foot.
However, it was too late. Law's third chop had already struck its right ankle, severing it completely.
Since it didn't feel any pain and its limbs were still connected, the bear was unaware of this and, covered in dust and fog, it raised its foot and stomped down heavily.
Boom!
Without its right foot to stabilize its massive body, the bear lost its balance and toppled heavily onto the lakeside. The impact shook the ground and sent another wave of dust into the air.
The fall left the bear disoriented.
'It's over!'
Seeing his prey fall according to plan, Law smiled softly. He rushed into the cloud of dust and climbed onto the bear's body, aiming directly for its heart.
Placing his hand on the target, he activated his ability and absorbed the heart into his book for the final blow!
After its heart vanished, the bear's eyes filled with confusion. Feeling his vitality draining rapidly, it let out an unwilling roar and then died quietly.
At this time, a large amount of blood suddenly gushed out from the severed ankle.
After destroying the bear's heart, Law put away the book and exhaled slightly. Given the bear's defense and size, if Law didn't take out its heart to deal a fatal blow, he probably wouldn't be able to kill it even after his Aura was used up.
The ability displayed by the Hand-Hand Bear made Law realize that the ingredients in this vast world is not something that can be obtained just by wanting it. At least, with his current ability, Law is not qualified to roam freely without restraint.
"B-level ingredients… I wonder how much this will increase the upper limit of my Aura."
Walking across the bear's massive corpse, Law stepped through the lingering dust and moved toward its arm.
But he didn't notice that large bubbles started rising from the lake behind him.