Chapter 20: "Smart" Bear

Wolves are incredibly intelligent animals. In my previous life, within human cities, there were only two types of animals that were most numerous: one was the wolf's close relative, the dog, and the other was the cat.

On Earth, among all animals, only these two have thrived most successfully. Unlike cats, which rely on their looks and cuteness to survive, most dogs win humans' affection through their abilities and loyalty.

"This attitude, I really can't bring myself to do anything to you." Muria rubbed his forehead, looking at these nine wolves that forcibly transformed themselves from ferocious wolves into ferocious "Huskies."

"You really are smart." Muria squatted down, touching the nearly seven-meter-long dark blue giant wolf in front of him. Its fur was very smooth to the touch and most importantly, these intelligent ferocious wolves kept their fur exceptionally clean.

Anyone would be tempted to touch clean, fluffy, and obedient animals. Moreover, these were nine very sensible wolves, almost indistinguishable from their domesticated counterparts except for being "a bit bigger" and wilder.

"Get up!" Muria stood up and kicked the wolf king, which was obviously larger than the other eight wolves, and said in Dragon Tongue.

"Woof!" The wolf king understood the Dragon Tongue, got up obediently with its tail wagging non-stop, and barked at the other eight wolves, looking completely sycophantic.

"Commander Albert, Commander Bolton, order your subordinates to spread out and find some Silver-ranked ferocious beasts. Don't choose too intelligent beasts. Try to find bears or wild boars with lower intelligence."

Muria instructed the two commanders. He had realized that he could no longer view Erathia with the same perspective from his previous life. Here, humans were not the only intelligent species; many races had intelligence comparable to or even surpassing that of humans. Even some powerful beasts had intelligence comparable to humans.

For example, the ferocious wolf king at his feet, which chose to submit rather than resist when surrounded by Cloud Giants.

And this was just a Silver-ranked ferocious wolf. Above it, there were even smarter and more powerful beasts.

Before long, a Cloud Giant came to report that they had found a ferocious bear sleeping in a tree hollow. This proved that there were indeed a lot of ferocious beasts here.

"Take me there." Muria commanded.

"Right this way, Prince Muria." The Cloud Giant guard pointed Muria in a direction.

"Is this the ferocious bear you found?" Muria stood far away under a thick ancient tree with the two giant commanders, looking at an exceptionally thick ancient tree in the distance.

At the base of the ancient tree, the roots exposed on the ground were twisted together, forming a not-small elongated tree hollow where one could clearly see a robust, brown-black bear lying inside, sound asleep.

"This tree is really big." Muria looked at the large tree where the ferocious bear was nesting and couldn't help but exclaim. It was a huge ancient tree about twenty meters in diameter. Under the dense leaves, it was impossible to know how tall the tree was.

On the Titan Islands, both plants and animals are much larger than those in the outside world. Of course, Muria hasn't realized this yet. He thought it was normal for the forests of Erathia to have hundred-meter ancient trees as a standard feature.

Only at this moment, seeing this ancient tree several times thicker than other trees, did Muria marvel a bit, but that was it. After all, such gigantic trees weren't rare. With a serious search in the dense forest, one could still find many.

"Alright, Commander Albert, Commander Bolton, I'm going to challenge that ferocious bear now." Muria took a deep breath and then exhaled, "You're not allowed to follow me. When I fight, don't interfere unless I'm in mortal danger. Understand?"

"Understood, Prince Muria. Rest assured and hone your martial skills. I guarantee no animal will disturb your battle," Bolton promised, thumping his chest.

"Prince, just focus on the battle; leave the rest to us," Albert, holding a staff, saluted Muria.

"You really have a lot of confidence in me." Muria smirked, his point being about preserving his life in case of defeat, but the two commanders had entirely different thoughts.

"Well, if I really lose, they will definitely help me." Muria shook his head and walked alone towards the bear cave.

First-level spell, Lesser Fireball.

A basin-sized crimson fireball, guided by Muria's mental power, shot into the bear cave and hit the ferocious bear directly. A loud explosion echoed, and broken wood chips along with smoke and flames gushed out from the tree hollow.

"This power isn't bad, but it probably won't hurt this big bear. But it's more than enough to wake it up." Just as Muria thought this.

"Roar!" An angry roar came from the tree hollow, and then an eight-meter-tall giant brown bear, with bloodshot eyes, charged out of the tree hollow. Seeing Muria, it launched an attack without hesitation.

Muria was momentarily stunned by the bear's fierce momentum as it emerged from the tree hollow. When the bear swung its huge paws at him.

Muria belatedly reacted, but his body instinctively responded before his mind, blocking the bear's paws with his hands.

However, Muria was stunned again, because the force transmitted through his arms was less than expected: "Such little force, I hardly felt anything."

"Roar!" Seeing its attack blocked, the ferocious bear roared again, lifted its paws, and clawed fiercely at Muria. Muria squinted, instinctively exerting all his strength and pushing against the ferocious bear.

"Thud, thud, thud." Under Muria's force, the ferocious bear's body uncontrollably retreated several steps, its bulky paws thudding on the ground until it finally sat down on its buttocks.

"Uh!" Muria looked at the dazed bear sitting on the ground, beginning to doubt its bear life, and fell into thought.

"Is this ferocious bear too weak? Judging by the aura it emits, it's only Silver III rank, the same level as me. Has it weakened for some reason?"

Muria eyed the bear's charred fur on its chest and abdomen. Clearly, such wounds wouldn't decrease the ferocious bear's combat strength. Instead, being awakened from sleep by an explosion should have enhanced its combat power.

Therefore, there was only one explanation, "My strength is far greater than I imagined, or I severely underestimated the Titan and Golden Dragon bloodlines in me." Muria murmured, "No wonder those two commanders thought I had a sure win and weren't worried about me failing."

"This overwhelming power makes it hard for me to lose. I don't even need any Titan combat skills." Muria mused.

"Roar!" The furious bear, only dazed for a moment, was blinded by rage and lost that bit of rationality. Without thinking much, it stood up again, baring its pale claws.

"Swish!" The bear charged, its paws aiming for Muria.

Instinctively, Muria began to dodge. His identity and memories from

 his previous life as a human always influenced him; his impression of bears remained from his previous life: a powerful and fierce wild beast that humans could only escape from or play dead when encountered in the wild.

Constant dodging brought Muria trouble as the bear's claws grazed his unprotected arm. A slight pain transmitted to Muria's brain, like scratching his skin with a fingernail.

Muria instinctively looked at his arm, expecting a bloody scene, but only saw four long red marks; the bear's claws hadn't even pierced his skin.

"These scratches." Muria scoffed at himself, "I still haven't adapted to my non-human identity. I'm now a monster among monsters!"

"My skin can't even be scratched; what am I afraid of?" Muria stopped dodging and attacked the ferocious bear, the slight pain in his arm igniting a bit of anger.

Muria no longer cared about the bear's attack and punched the bear's nose directly.

"Ow!" The bear howled in pain, blood spurting from its nose. It had sensed something was wrong when its claws didn't achieve the expected result, and this punch to its nose confirmed what kind of creature had awoken it: a monster it couldn't afford to provoke.

Thus, its rage quickly subsided, and that bit of rationality returned. The bear sensed the aura of dominance from Muria, belonging only to the rulers of this land.

Then, it saw the frenzied wolf pack nearby, wagging their tails at Muria. It recognized its neighbors at a glance. Of course, it also saw several tall Cloud Giants.

Next, the seemingly simple-minded ferocious bear exceeded its own intelligence. Before Muria could kick it, it quickly lay down, placed its furry paws over its head, and looked at Muria with teary, aggrieved eyes.

The ferocious bear had every reason to feel aggrieved. It was sleeping soundly in its den when, out of nowhere, a fireball hit it. It rushed out in a rage, ready to "reason" with someone, only to be brutally punched.

"Uh!" Muria's raised foot hung in midair, looking somewhat helplessly at the ferocious bear that had already admitted defeat. He couldn't bring himself to kick it; after all, he was the one at fault to begin with.

Dear readers, if there's anything in my writing that seems off or illogical, please point it out. I will strive to correct it.