Fang Toothed Bear

Ellis looked around the area, making sure there were no other monsters around. To his surprise, the fight with the Rock Golem hadn't drawn in any more monsters.

Good. Now I know I can beat these Rock Golems easily as long I attack the orb in their stomach.

Ellis looked over at the pile of rocks that used to be the Rock Golem. The orb that had been inside of it was shattered and the inside was hollowed out with strange markings similar to the markings he saw on the monolith. Inside the hollowed-out orb was an anima gem unlike any he had seen before so far. The anima gem was cut and shaped into a circle like what you would see on a diamond ring but a hundred times larger. All the other anima gems he had seen were all rough and uncut in various shapes. It was clear that this gem had been shaped intentionally and put into the orb.

These golems were definitely made by someone or something, but what was the purpose of making various sized Rock Golems around a mountain? And what else can these gems be used for?

Ellis looked over the sparking anima gem in his hand as he wondered what all the uses of them could be. He knew they contained pure anima that could be used to replenish one's own anima by crushing and absorbing it. It also seemed like they could be used to make golems.

The gems come from monsters but how do they get inside them in the first place? Do monsters form anima gems? Or do anima gems form monsters? This sounds like something for Droven's research team.

Many questions piled up in Ellis's head as he thought. Finally, he pushed all the thoughts aside since he could only speculate and had no way of finding out the answer anytime soon. Ellis quickly crushed the gem in his hand and absorbed the anima within it. The anima in the cut gem was far more concentrated than any gem he had absorbed so far. Just the one gem was able to restore is anima more than halfway back up.

Although I do feel bad for using this cut anima gem in this way, as of right now I have no other use for them. I'll be sure to grab a couple before I leave the mountain area for Droven to experiment on though.

Ellis sighed as he sat down on one of the large rocks that had come from the golem. He meditated for a couple of hours to restore the rest of his anima as well as let his natural fast healing kick in and restore his health. After eating his last strip of monster jerky that Droven had prepared for him, he was back at full power and ready to get going again.

Now that I am out of jerky I'm going to have to rely on hunting and cooking for all my food. I could just smoke some meat and make more jerky since it lasts a while. And I still need to find a monster with a thick fur coat so I can make my armor more appropriate for the cold weather farther up the mountain. My goal now is to find a large furry monster so I can kill two birds with one stone and get fur as well as meat.

Ellis kept scouting the base of the mountain but could only find golems. A Rock Golem appeared in front of him with large claw marks running down its chest area.

Does this area really only have golems? I've been looking for hours and have just found tons of Rock Golems.

Ellis quickly dispatched the low-level golem in front of him before he continued on his journey around the base of the mountain. Just when he was about to give up and head back into the meadow to gather some Horned Rabbit fur, he noticed the entrance to a cave. Ellis entered the cave quietly with his halberd at the ready. The cave's entrance was fairly big, but the inside was pretty shallow. As he crept inside, he noticed a large bear-like creature sleeping in the back of the cave.

[Fang Toothed Bear Lvl. 52]

[HP: 8900]

What the hell! This bear is an even higher level than the Rock Golem. I've only just hit level 40! At this rate, the boss is going to be like level 70 or something. Luckily, this is a bear and not a magic moving rock so my Lightning Weapon skill should work on it.

Ellis snuck up on the Fang Toothed Bear quietly and as soon as he was in attacking range, he activated his Lightning Weapon. He wanted to make this a quick clean kill as he needed the pelt from the monster and the meat. He had the advantage since the monster was still asleep. As soon as Ellis raised his weapon into the air the bear suddenly woke up and jumped back as Ellis swung his halberd down toward the monster's neck. The attack missed and instead grazed the Fang Toothed Bear's shoulder, shocking it and causing it to howl in pain. Ellis cursed as he missed the monster's neck and damaged part of the pelt.

This monster must have some sort of danger sense skill otherwise it shouldn't have been able to notice me until it was too late.

ROAR!

The bear screamed in anger as its eyes began to glow red and it grew bigger.

It just powered up! Damn, I didn't want to have to use Partial Lightning State but now it seems like I'm going have to have to use it. I don't have enough anima to use it for very long, so I'll have to activate it at the last second. In order to kill it cleanly, I'm going to have to wait for it to attack and then I take its head off in one quick attack.

Ellis stood his ground away from the Fang Toothed Bear and waited for it to attack. The bear only had one choice, it had to come at him and attack… or so he thought. The bear stood up on its hind legs and swept its paws at Ellis. Suddenly, there were three cuts materialized in the air flying at Ellis rapidly.

It can shoot air claws at me?!

Ellis quickly dove out of the way as the flying claw attack ripped into the cave wall behind him leaving three long gashes in the wall.

I can't make this a long-range fight!

Ellis ran at the monster as it swiped its claw attack at him again. He swiftly sidestepped the attack before jumping into the air above the monster. He only had enough anima for half a second of Partial Lightning State, so he was going to have to finish it with this one attack. The bear clawed at him again cutting his forearm open. Ellis still continued forward and waited until the last second before he activated Partial Lightning State. He swung his halberd straight across the monster's neck cutting it clean off.

Plop!

The Fang Toothed Bear's head hit the ground as Ellis landed on the ground exhausted as he had used up the majority of his anima.

"Ahh damn, you bear. Making me go all out!"