504 We're Having Bear Stew

Well… In the end we chose to hunt for our supplies anyway since I'm here to train and it would be meaningless if I didn't need to put in any effort for this.

As we had discussed earlier, Groelle was tracking a monster through the snow while Seraphine was picking up any wild vegetables we found on the way.

In the meantime, I was in charge of looking out for any surprises that might impede us, including other groups of servants.

"What are we hunting, exactly?" I asked, still watching our surroundings for any signs of movement.

Groelle grunted while looking at the tracks in the snow, "I'm not exactly sure what it is but I believe it's a bear."

Oh, just a bear? This shouldn't be too hard of a hunt then. I was thinking that Groelle might stick to her earlier idea about hunting a Wyvern.

Groelle looked up, "We're getting closer, we should get ready for a fight."

Even though I felt that it shouldn't be that big of a deal since it was just a mountain bear, I still got ready my magic and my summons in case the bear was bigger than I thought it was.

…

And the bear was bigger than I thought it was.

It was a good two to three times bigger than Groelle and it had a mane of fire around its neck. Additionally, lightning could be seen coursing along its arms while its eyes seemed to glow a misty blue hue.

Waddafak is that thing?

[Name: Frostfire Thunder Bear

Race: Monster

Stats:

350 Strength

80 Dexterity

500 Endurance

250 Magic

Magic Skills:

Cryomancy (Tier 2), Pyromancy (Tier 2) Electromancy (Tier 2)]

Ok… I guess Groelle neglected to mention the fact that the bears we were hunting weren't normal bears but monster bears…

The monster spotted us and turned to face us, rising up to its hind legs and doubling its height.

It almost felt like we were looking at a small hill now…

Groelle pulled out the greatsword on her back while Seraphine nocked an arrow on her bow, neither of them looking intimidated by the giant monster in front of them.

Groelle was even grinning at the monster, "Alright~ We can have bear stew today! Let's go! Please support us, Aster!"

The Wrunch maid charged ahead with her greatsword raised while Seraphine shot an arrow at the bear with blinding speed.

The arrow struck the bear right in the centre of the head but rather than piercing through its skin, it merely impacted it and bounced off.

That's not to say the bear did not receive any damage though, as the force of the blow caused the bear to throw its head back slightly from the impact.

It tried to turn towards Seraphine but it had made the mistake of ignoring Groelle. The Wrunch had stopped herself in front of it and swung her greatsword at the bear's hind leg from her right without hesitation.

The giant sword sliced into the bear's hind leg, cutting all the way to the bone before it stopped.

The monster let out a roar of pain and stumbled back on its injured foot, giving the Wrunch maid the opportunity to pull out her greatsword and use the momentum to swing the sword to the other side, aiming at the bear's other leg.

Unfortunately, the bear saw it coming and raised its arm to catch the blade in its palm, stopping it mid swing.

The lightning on its arm then travelled through the blade and Groelle roared out in pain as an electrical explosion blasted her back.

I immediately moved to catch her, already casting my healing magic to soothe her wounds.

Seraphine covered for us by shooting several more arrows at the bear, moving to the side to direct its attention away from us.

It worked, though a little too well…

The bear got quite pissed at the arrows she was shooting and threw the greatsword at the Trasif, the blade shooting towards her like a comet.

She managed to avoid being impaled by it but the impact of the sword caused a shockwave that threw her off her feet.

It then started advancing towards the Trasif, obviously planning on finishing her off.

Obviously I wasn't going to just let the bear do what it wants.

I shot a [Spark Strike] at it, the lightning impacting its back and causing it to turn its attention back to me.

Groelle was already back up on her feet and ready to continue the fight, though she was still unarmed at the moment.

Unperturbed, the Wrunch charged forward again while letting out a roar, taking the bear's aggro away from me.

The bear opened its mouth and I saw several sparks of embers inside it, prompting me to shoot a torrent of [Aqua Ball] towards its mouth right before a blast of fire was shot out.

Fire clashed against water, resulting in an explosion of steam that hid Groelle who charged right into the mist without a care.

There was the sound of something being picked up from the snow before being followed by the sound of something fleshy being cut.

A split second later, another roar of pain could be heard coming from the bear from within the steam.

There was another blast of fire and the steam dispersed, revealing Groelle had leapt onto the bear's back and impaled her sword in it.

The bear's eyes lit up and the fire around its neck flared, causing embers to start gathering around its body.

"... unyielding stone to yield to my form! [Earth Ball]!"

A slab of earth was hurled towards the bear from Seraphine's direction, the slab crashing straight into the bear's head and forcing it to take a step to steady itself and interrupt its magic casting.

Groelle pulled her sword out of the bear's back and lifted it up into the air again, preparing to strike it at the top of its head.

I assisted her by casting [Body Current] on Groelle to increase her strength while a [Static Bolt] was shot at the Bear simultaneously to paralyse it for a moment.

Groelle did not waste the chance she received and smashed her sword down on top of the bear's head, her blade cutting through its skin and hitting its skull with a loud bang.

Unfortunately, it seemed like its bones were simply too hard for her to break as the sword did not sink any in further than that.

The Wrunch let out a curse before leaping off the bear's back, right before the embers gathered again and engulfed the bear in a storm of fire.

"Stand back! I'm shooting a [Laser]!" I warned.

I prepared my next spell while waiting for the fire to die down, my other two companions also returning back to my side to group up.

As soon as the fire diminished, I fired my [Laser] at the bear, aiming to kill it with that one shot.

Unfortunately, it seemed like I was a little bit too quick to fire the [Laser] since I expected the bear to remain in the same position as before it engulfed itself with flames.

My beam of light missed its head entirely but it did cut off its left forearm at least.

The dismembered limb plopped onto the snow and quickly stained it crimson, the bear needing a moment more to process what had happened before roaring at me.

Groelle and Seraphina took that as a challenge and began their attacks again.

While Groelle charged straight at it, Seraphina moved to the side to start shooting arrows at its flank.

She seemed to have done something to her bow since her arrows actually pierced the bear's skin now, peppering the monster with various small arrow wounds.

The wounds were not debilitating in any way but it still irritated the bear enough to draw its attention away from Groelle.

Of course, the Wrunch did not let the opportunity slide and slammed her sword against the monster's side, cutting another gash along its skin that stained its fur with blood.

The bear tried to raise its right forearm to try and attack Groelle but it forgot that it no longer had a left arm and fell flat on its face when it tried to do that.

Grolle stabbed her sword through the back of the bear's palm, which would have normally pinned the monster to the ground but that didn't work so well since there was snow underneath it.

Groelle threw her weight onto her sword to stop the bear from rising while turning to face me, "Aster! Now!"

I shot the second [Laser] I had been charging, this time the beam of light piercing straight through the bear's head in between its eyes.

The bear's mouth had been opened mid-roar but the sound never managed to come out from its throat.

It held that pose for a moment before collapsing onto the snow, the flames around its neck burning out.

Seraphina relaxed slightly, "Good work team. That was a good hunt."

Groelle chuckled as she pulled out her sword, "Hahaha! I knew we couldn't lose with Aster here! We're all having bear stew tonight!!"

Well… That was a fruitful hunt at least.