CH2.2

"Why must I dress in these revealing leaves?" Windy asked.

He was finishing up on a few photos to earn more stylish points. They had stayed in the trees for most of their travels. Stopping was a bad idea, and they had more than enough meat. It was close to sunrise when Vincent closed his eyes and slept for a few hours. A shaking woke him up. Then he heard bellowing.

Current Balance 980

Debt 10,000

"Is it the same bear?" Vincent asked.

"She will follow you anywhere except behind the walls of Bronze Mountain City. Do you see where the sun rises? My City sits below those frosted peaks where a bounty of plenty is plucked from below like earthen fruit. Do you see the city below the clouds? Gird your loins with metal to turn claws and make it a suit. Only then will we reach safety?" Windy said.

"Or I could kill the bear from above.

He chopped off a branch and used his ax to quickly shave it into a 30ft spear shaft. The system sold barbed spear tips perfect for what he needed. They were 50 stylish points each, so he bought plenty of them and a saw to help with the delimbing. Vincent cut away a few more long virgin forest limbs and prepared 10 barbed spears in a little under 8hrs while the monster bear beat at the tree. Vincent bought some chains and attached them to the spear and tree.

"What can one man do with 10 spears? You have only two arms and will need both to maneuver one?" Windy said.

Vincent wanted to tell her off, but her language was complex in varying tones and tongue twisters. He decided to name the language obnoxious. Windy spoke it fluently; she was a native, after all.

"Watch," Vincent said. He hopped down to a lower branch and stabbed down. The steel barbed tip plunged into the bear's hide. There was resistance, like her body was trying to heal his spear out of her. The barbs didn't care and remained embedded in the monster. It shook and tried to pull away, but the same healing factor plugging its wounds kept the barbs firmly inside the bear. "It can't be killed or escaped but chains might work."

It only cost him a little over half his stylish points. He fought more with his wallet than skill or strength. The wound on his back was sore after sleeping in a tree.

Vincent went to another massive hardwood and wrapped another expensive line of chain around it. Then he dropped to a lower branch, charged down its length, and chucked his spear at the bear's gut. Blood splattered the ground while the spear's barbed tip settled into place. After another three, the bear was forced to pull in 5 different directions. The barbed spears were far more effective than his arrows. To add insult to injury, he fired three arrows, impaling one of the monster's eyes and butchering its nose. He hoped it hurt the monster.

Even if it managed to yank the barbs out, it would rip massive hunks out of its flesh. Vincent smacked a bug biting him, hoping it didn't carry some new, horrible disease.

"The pills have greatly increased your resistance to diseases. Don't you want to finish off your quarry?" Message asked.

"Bears are good at preserving energy. So while it appears to be on its last legs, it's saving energy to act out its revenge." Vincent said.

He felt his throat healing from his latest batch of elven tongue twisters, and it felt easier to speak.

"How many of your warriors manage to kill one of those?" Vincent asked.

"There are tales of great and mighty heroes braving the wilds to slay a monster that took a lover in the night. Only the great hero Spinning Typhoon Quakes the World managed to return alive. Monsters are treacherous; even that one isn't really beaten, it will escape." Windy said.

It was as he thought those bears were stupidly powerful; its familiar status said a lot. What creature healed quickly and attacked at night?

"Do people transform into them?" Vincent asked.

Windy laughed so loud she nearly fell out of the tree. Only her supernatural tree-walking ability saved her. It appeared there were no legends about werewolves, or it was the language barrier.