Sarah and the bear management team found the bear pretty quickly.
I mean, they were headed in the opposite direction the entire time, so if they turn around, it's not like the bear would disappear.
But that fact felt weird to her.
Why is it chasing us in such a linear path, why is it so slow now?
The bears movements were robotic, it's footsteps no longer made the earth shake.
When we ran, it followed close behind, but that would mean leaving Mike to chase us..
Did the bear make the desicion to attack the group and not just Mike? Did it know we were going to be far gone had it killed Mike?
"Boys, we are going to put a theory to the test..."
The main group has now split into 9-9-8, and our group of 9 has split into scattered groups of 2 and 3.
How many people lumped together does it take to get that freaks attention?
2 of the boys stood on the side of the path the bear was going to cross, if they caught the bears attention, its angle would change and it would move off course.
But it's path remained true and unbroken. What a noble bear.
Two is a couple, three is a crowd?
"Marie! Join them!" Sarah was in the bushes of one side of this path, Marie and the other members of the group were scattered to avoid getting targeted.
A short girl, Marie, joined the two boys and the three of them anxiously stared at the bear.
It's gaze shifted. A new target has been marked.
So size matters huh? Who would have thought.
The jokes are my thing, dipshit.
"GET OUTTA THERE, SCRAM! SPLIT!" and they instantaneously broke apart.
A moment ago, the three of them actually called dibs on which direction to run into to avoid confusion.
The bear changed its view back to the original and continued in its straight path.
Like a robot, considering cases and weighing numbers. This thing is alive?
At that moment, yet another idea popped up.
If the 9 of us went behind the bear, would it's gaze would shift? Does proximity play a part too?
There's three groups, if the two groups up the path interacted then they temporarily merge to form a group of 17. That means the bear would have to weigh a distant 17 against a close 9.
And considering how close we can get without being too close, it's safe to say even if those two groups up the path merged, the bear would follow our group of 9.
But even if the bear picks 9 over 17, risking the lives of 9 for the sake of 17 sounds more dangerous than helpful.
But that also means being able to search for Mike without danger of the bear.
That also means the bear will always target the majority.
This is one of many behaviours the bear uniquely exhibits. Sarah called it:
"The Bear's formula"
"What did you say?" Marie, who hid beside her asked.
"Well it's obviously behaving like a machine, chasing after groups of people. So there's a formula to it." Sarah explained what she had thought of moments ago.
"Then that means Mike is safe right?" Maria really wanted to hear yes.
Imagine if she said Mike was dead, or something distressing, like 'no but he's bleeding out so he'll be there soon'.
Why do people place their comforts in others?
"Yes, that bear chased us in the morning without much delay, if he killed or hurt Mike he would have been further behind."
Party pooper.
Maria's eyes lit up and she hugged Sarah.
I forget that they are people too, like me, they want to know if they can chase after Mike, like he did for Tyson, and still be safe.
Safety, I want safety.
And this bear is the only thing standing between me and safety as of right now.
Sarah slowly broke off the hug.
"Let's go find him" and Marie nodded.
James was sure he'd find a snake or something.
But the forest was empty.
Logically speaking, if a forest is healthy with fruit and water, shouldn't it be filled with life?
There were no flies, spiders or insects either.
He warned the other girls and boys to be careful but it's seemed so... Safe.
"It makes you think doesn't it?" Tom spoke to him out of the blue, an ear to ear smile creeping up as usual.
"This place is empty, yet thriving. So why is the only creature alive here a predatory bear?" Tom asked rather excitedly.
James was patient with him, even during a time of grief and confusion, Tom acted a bit weird. Mainly because he's on the spectrum.
"Not what we were expecting huh? With all that Isekai stuff that 'goddess' told us about." James replied, he never disliked a conversation with Tom.
"I think she was lying, I just don't know why yet. Maybe she's feeding us to that bear."
"Maybe that bear should learn to go fuck itself, and then we can all go home." And the two shared a small laugh as they waded through some surprisingly friendly environment.
If the only thing in this forest is a giant bear and absolutely nothing else, who's to say there isn't more giant animals?
James logically cautioned himself.
"Everyone slow down!" And he explained his logic.
"We must rendezvous with the others and share our reports, we need to come back ready for an encounter with a giant beast again"
A few of them were a bit confused, I understand though. Totally.
"I thought we were the exploration team?"
"We are, but if only giant bears are around, whos to say there isn't a giant monkey lying around?" Tom intervened.
"That makes sense.."
And they headed back to prepare as if they were the bear management team.
If exploring is as dangerous as fighting the bear then why don't we all just switch to fighting the bear instead? James thought to himself