Flexibility

Bears were among the fiercest creatures in Fiji. Before the terraformation, only a few bears could be seen in this part of the world and none were present in Fiji itself. Since then, a few species have begun to colonise these lands after the reunification of certain islands.

Radioactive fallout has accelerated genetic mutations in them, making them quite different. They are generally larger than their European cousins, and above all, they are more aggressive. But what really sets them apart from other animals is their exceptional resilience. It was not wrong to say that they were the true kings of a forest.

Sora and the rest of the group had difficulty crossing the forest during this violent storm. Unfortunately, this was the least of their worries. Although they did not know it, they had entered the territory of one of these bears.

Only a few seconds after entering the bear's territory, its howl spread over an area of several hundred metres.

Destabilised, the whole group stood on guard. Each one of them drew his weapon. Loki guarded the front, Lily and Sora the flanks, while Lei covered their backs.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to spot a threat in this fog and through the heavy rain. They watched for every movement in the shadows, but these could also be caused by twigs or small animals.

The lightning that sometimes lit up the sky added a certain dramatic atmosphere to the scene. The sound of thunder resounded between the mountains.

There, between two trees, a gigantic dark mass was moving. More than two and a half metres high, this dark mass was slowly moving towards the group.

Although Xenia's pupils were trained in combat from the moment they joined the group and it was common for civilians to be trained to use a weapon from an early age, no one could be ready to fight a bear for the first time.

The three girls naturally began to panic. Loki, on the other hand, was able to remain calm.

"Listen to me. Bears may be impressive, but they are not much more dangerous than a pack of wolves. Their main weakness is that they are lone predators. If we act as a team, we will be able to hunt him. "

Lei took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Ok, Loki, you're in charge of maintaining the forehead. I'll limit her movements. Lily, you block his attacks if necessary. Sora, look for a way to hinder his movements. Above all, don't let anyone separate from the group."

Each member of the team acquiesced to their captain's orders. Each member of the group stayed next to another. Lily and Sora remained in the back, while Loki and Lei were slightly in front. The bear soon charged. The bears weighed several hundred kilograms, and most of them were able to charge at almost 40 km/h. It was therefore impossible for a human being to block this.

Loki and Lei were thus forced to dodge the bear's first attack. Although the bear was fast in a straight line, it took a while for it to turn around. Loki took advantage of this and brought his claymore down on him. Unfortunately, it was difficult to reach precisely one leg, so he just struck its body.

Despite the heavy weight of the claymore and Loki's skilful handling of it, he couldn't even force the bear to move back. This weapon was more designed to break and crush than to slice, so it was of little use against such a colossal animal. Moreover, the little sharpness it possessed as a sword was rendered useless by the animal's thick fur.

Loki, slightly unsettled after the assault, tried to take a step back. Unfortunately he was not fast enough and the bear was able to hit him. More precisely, the bear tried to rip his leg off. Fortunately, Lily's barrier was already protecting his leg, but it was not enough to stop such a strike. Although Lily was quick in her reaction times and defensive summoning, it was difficult for her to instantly create barriers strong enough to stop such assaults. She was therefore only able to slow down the bear's paw, which then only scratched Loki's leg. Despite all this, a spray of blood spurted out of Loki's leg.

Loki let out a small cry of pain, but quickly recovered. Sora and Lei were not standing still during this time. Lei was concentrating more on the bear's hind legs. Her weapon was much lighter, so it was easier for her to strike with precision. She easily sliced off the flesh of the animal's left hind leg. However, this was not enough to destabilise the bear, let alone to bring him down.

As for Sora, she manipulated the surrounding roots to try to hinder her opponent's movements, unfortunately, these were too fragile, the surrounding trees being smaller and younger than those present at lower altitudes. Its usefulness was therefore reduced.

As time went by, exchanges followed one after the other. Loki dodged most of the bear's blows, but this worked on the other way aswell. The only blows that hurt the bear were those of Lei, but unfortunately these wounds were too shallow. She was therefore forced to hit the same spot several times in order to have a real impact on the animal's movements.

However, it was complicated to hit the same areas with surgical precision, not to say impossible for someone as inexperienced as Lei. Although she had been following the art of the sword for almost ten years, she could still be considered a beginner by the true masters of this art.

The fight went on and on. Everyone began to exhaust themselves. Loki was finding it harder and harder to dodge the blows, but on the other hand, it was getting harder and harder for the bear to use its paws. Little by little he began to throw himself at Loki and Lei.

By damaging its legs, the bear collapsed. Unable to get up, he simply stopped moving on the ground. He had finally exhausted all his strength after an intense fight lasting more than fifteen minutes.

Although the bear collapsed, he wasn't the only one who was tired. Loki collapsed shortly after. It was therefore Lei who dealt the final blow to the animal, with a simple jab.

After having checked that the bear was indeed dead. The four members of the group sat down.

"Raah... That bear. I have never seen such a tenacious animal! "said Lei.

Loki wanted to reply, but unfortunately he was too wounded for that. Although all the wounds were superficial, it was still painful. The biggest issue here was the risk of infection.

Lily, seeing him like this, stood up and approached him giggling slightly:

"Tss, it's pathetic to see you like this. "

She brought her hand towards her face and then closed her eyes. She quickly entered a state of deep concentration.

Quickly, a flow of energy circulated around Loki. Little by little, this flow accelerated and spread throughout her body. Her wounds gradually healed and even began to heal. Although the process did not continue to the end, the pain Loki felt disappeared and he recovered some energy. Above all, the risk of infection had disappeared.

What Lily did was relatively simple: she accelerated the process of blood renewal under the wounds, which in turn supplied the areas in question with platelets in large quantities. Although this caused a momentary loss of the number of platelets in the blood, it allowed minor wounds to heal quickly. In addition, rehydration of the body allowed some of the lost energy to be regained, even if it wasn't worth a good night's sleep.

---

A man hidden in the branches of a tree was watching the scene from the very beginning:

"Interesting group of youths. I was ready to intervene to help them, but in the end they managed to get away with it. Not just any teenager can boast of defeating a bear and getting away with it without much inconvenience. In any case, it's an incredibly flexible team, one can almost play the role of another, and each one complements the other. It seems that my mission will be more relaxing than any of my colleagues "

If anyone were to take a closer look, they would recognise one of the adults accompanying 1C on their bus trip. He had already been following Sora's group for a week. Of course, the school could not afford to send young teenagers out into the wilderness without someone to protect them. Even in these troubled times, it was hardly acceptable to see a student die. It was therefore natural that each group had a guard so they didn't know of the existence, ready to intervene in case of danger or before a fatal or problematic mistake was made by one of the members of the group.