23 Steadfast Teamwork

The shadow expanded quickly over Axel's body. A stinky and powerful gust shot down from above. Before Axel could turn his back around, a lightning fast log like object hit the ground where Axel had been sitting.

"Little man, stop spacing out!" Baxtor yelled as he pulled Axel suddenly to the right to duck the blow. When they both gazed at the being before them, a huge Red Grizzly Bear was standing on its feet, but slightly off balance after smacking its paw to the ground.

Axel was slightly spooked. If Baxtor had not pulled him away at the last second, he would have been squashed into a meat blob. Dying was a painful experience but luckily he was able to revive using his powers as a Milletian.

Soon after, Baxtor set his bow in place and had the arrow ready to fire with the bowstring drawn to the maximum.

"Quickly! Pull the bear away from me so I can shoot a head shot on it!" Baxtor exclaimed as he waved his hands at Axel.

Axel shifted his feet like a ice skater and drew his Short Sword in accordance. He swished through the bear's side to make a pass through slash. Its fur was cleanly cut open, with blood spilled out like fireworks. Turning around the bear's back, Axel was in a defensive stance ready for the bear's attacks to come his way.

Right as the bear was about to turn around and pounce at Axel, a solid metal arrow jabbed into the bear's right eye.

"Gggaaaarrrrr!!!!!!!"

The bear was flailing while holding its paws on its head and could not hide the pain inflicted on its eye.

"You have good reflexes Axel! Let's take turns drawing the aggro to defeat it!" Baxtor said as he loaded another arrow in his bow.

Axel nodded and held his Short Sword steadily in front of him. Now that the bear was focused on Baxtor and slowly running towards him, Axel closed te distance and dragged his sword into one of the bear's hind legs and executed the 'Smash' skill. Due to the bear's excessive weight, Axel could not push it back completely, and ejected his sword out of the bear's legs while somewhat losing his footing.

This time, an extremely fast arrow sounding like a whistle hit the bear's left eye, and went through the back of its head. The bear almost froze for a second and then starting sprawling on the ground as if it was doing a yoga pose.

Axel was startled by the special attack Baxtor had unleashed. This was 'Magmum Shot', a special attack for archers in the game of Mabinogi. By pulling back the bowstring beyond its limits, an archer would unlock a lethal shot that could knock back smaller creatures and penetrate the flesh of larger monsters. The impact of the skill would increase exponentially as one's Dexterity stat increased in incremental amounts.

"Alright, this'll be a piece of cake now! Azel, spam "Smash" a few more times!" Baxtor screamed across the field.

Axel did not waste any time and launched another 'Smash' on the bear. The bear almost stood up on its hind legs again, but struggled as one of its tendons had been stabbed open by the initial 'Smash' earlier. Baxtor followed up with another 'Magmum Shot'. In a few more bouts of relentless back and forth combinations betweens Axel and Baxtor, the bear was filled with holes and deep shots throughout its body.

Baxtor tore apart the Red Grizzly Bear's fur neatly and also cut its meat into large chunks for Axel to take for food. They soon lit another campfire and sat down to take another break.

"Mmmmmmm! What a great hunt!" Baxtor cheered. "Azel, I can't believe you're only Iron rank, it seems like you have the coordination and reflexes of a Mythril rank adventurer already!"

"Haha, I had a great Master teaching me!" Axel replied.

"Who's your master?" Baxtor asked.

"He is a Mythril ranked called Max." Axel said.

"The Orge Slayer Max? Wow, your luck is out of the world! I can't believe that aloof and cold-blooded guy took you in as a student!" Max exclaimed.

Aloof and cold-blooded? Although Max had been a quiet and stern master, he did not have qualities matching Baxtor's statement at all. If anything, he was very generous and a show off when teaching Axel the ropes to fighting. Normally, one would have to pay a considerable amount of tuition fees at one of the Swordmanship Schools in Uladh to learn the skills that Axel had attained. Although Max did not think much about passing on skills to Axel, Axel was secretly grateful to his Master as he would not have survived this far without his teachings.

"I guess it's a fateful encounter!" Axel said cheerfully.

"I've only heard of his name in the town office near Bangor. He would single-handedly demolish the Orge Warrior Boss group in Bangor Dungeon to steal for the rewards. A lot of adventurers would never understand why he had stopped at the Mythril-rank for the longest time." Baxtor said.

"Wait, how old is Max then?" Axel asked.

"Oh you're curious about his young looks. Don't let that trick you. He's actually a few hundred years old already." Baxtor said.

"A few hundred years old??" Axel thought as his eyes popped out.

"Haha, don't be surprised. The average human of Parthalonian descent has a lifespan of 1000 years at least. The folks with higher mana pools can live up to 2000-3000 years like the Elves and Giants."

1000 years? This was shocking news to Axel who had only played the game before. If he calculated the number of times he had rebirthed inside the game, it would roughly equal to about 2000-3000 years that had passed within the game. However, this was a completely different experience in this world. If he was immortal as a Milletian, would that mean he would be eternal in the eyes of the dwellers of Erinn?

Axel began to roast another bacon piece over the fire and reflected on the fight just now. He had underestimated his current abilities without his Incubus Overlord abilities. The battle with just one Red Grizzly Bear had taken the combined efforts of Axel and Baxtor, while Baxtor was also a Silver ranked adventurer. Although there were not many apparent dangers in the process, there was also no room to lower your guard or focus in any time at all. It was what could be called a fight between similarly ranked foes. Although the Red Grizzly Bear was the weakest grizzly bear in Sen Mag, it was approximately equal to the strength of a 7-Star Silver ranked adventurer, which was almost near the Mythril rank. Baxtor was most likely a lower star tiered Silver rank adventurer, and Axel had contributed a lot more than expected to the defeat of the bear.

Once Axel finished cooking the bacon piece, he slobbered over it and ate it as if it was the most delicious gourmet meal in the world. He had been drained physically from the fight due to taking most of the aggro while fighting in close-quarters combat.

Baxtor's eardrums almost flicked together when he heard a thunder like crashing sound emitted in the distance. When he looked in the direction north of where they had camped, his face made a octopus shaped mouth as the chewed up bread in his mouth fell out. Baxtor stood up and exclaimed,

"Oh sh*t, a Field Boss is here!" This would be the second Field Boss Axel had experienced since coming to this world.