Chapter 8

As the bear stared them down emitting unimaginable pressure towards the children. 24 and 18's scalp went numb. They feel fear, fear of dying. They just recently got their freedom then what? Dying at the moment they got it? Does that mean that escape is futile and their fate has been sealed once they got out? Institution is much safer than the wild wilderness no lying about that. But how can they become stronger and more independent if they will stay in that hellish place. Not to mention that the institution is also one of the places you wouldn't want to come in the first place.

Then suddenly, 24 recalled her mission, her breaking body, her deal to God, and her comrades. Her comrades who is willing to help her to complete the mission given. No. She cannot lose hope. This monster in front of her is just one of the obstacles she needed to pass in order to grow stronger. To survive this harsh world. To protect the ones she loved.

The future will hold hardships the moment she changed her and her comrades fate. She must not falter and cower in fear against death. She needed to be strong.

She slowly went and grabbed 18's hands and squeezed it. 18 looked at their holding hands and towards 24's face. He saw her eyes filled with determination, and resolve. Realization hit him hard. He gulped a big amount of his saliva to swallow down the fear he is feeling. They needed to survive. Their teammates are waiting for them. They needed to keep this huge bear out of their comrades sight and range. They need to lose the bear in the forest. They can't afford to fight it head on.

"Run!", said the running 24. They both run ahead of them. Opposite direction from where their comrades is.

They both separated from holding each other's hands. While the bear started to run, chasing them to its full speed. Her baby needs the meal. Her baby needs to eat to survive. Such as the mother bear will do it.

The ground produced a quake and shakes every time the bear steps on the ground to run and leap. 24 used her ability to enhance her stamina and her speed while 18 used his wind magic to propel himself forward. They needed to create a distance from the bear. They needed something as a force of distraction to lose the bear's trailing on them. They both keep scanning for their surroundings as they run for their lives.

Suddenly, both children's hair on their nape stood up. They immediately separated and got unto their sides as a huge wind claw pass through them hitting on the ground where they stood. The impact from the the magic produced a shockwave in the air pushing both 24 and 18 towards the trees hitting their backs. 24 stood up from the shock she received from being pushed back and looked at her huge opponent standing between her and 18. They know they couldn't defeat it, but they have no choice but to face it. She healed herself while preparing for any incoming attack.

As 24 readied her attacks, the bear look at either side of it to see who received more damage and weakened from her attack. Her baby is hungry and needs food so she needed to get her baby's snacks. She needed to do it quickly and go home to protect her child from other predators.

24 started to channel her mana towards the bear to inflict wounds. As much as she can heal, she also can hurt by inflicting a wound. She can also cause a plague if she wanted to, but her current stage will not allow her. She is only at stage 3 warrior healer mage. For her to create a plague, she must be at stage 5 and up. Also because of her body's condition which is currently deteriorating, she needed to hurry things up and find a suitable host or else everything will be nothing.

All of a sudden the mother bear started to loudly roar from the pain she received from 24. The bear looked at 24's eyes and it started to glow. 24's knees started to shake from the pressure she is experiencing right now. She can't move her feet as the bear's claw is. moving at an incredible speed descending towards her neck. 'Come on move!', 24 encourages herself and urging her body to move and dodge the deadly attack from the bear. But 24 can't move out of fear and shock. The bear's eyes seems to have a paralyzing effect which causes fear and numbness to its targets. Making them unable to move, and made the hunting easy. The bear have an affinity towards the dark and wind elements.

24 closes her eyes from the incoming claw. She cannot accept death upon her. She cannot die. But her body does not listen to her brain because of the bear's ability. Her current stage cannot match her opponent making her defenseless and easy prey.

Then suddenly, three huge wind slashes came crashing towards the bear's claws cutting it from its arms. The big lump of flesh fell to the ground while its blood started to pour out.

The bear stopped from its tracks and screamed from the pain from her missing paws. 24 opened her eyes only to see the bear's struggling to stop the bleeding from its chopped paws. She saw 18 from the opposite direction. 18 is standing sluggishly and is pale while leaning from the tree. The huge wind slashes took a toll on his body. Nearly draining his mana. 18 cannot use his fire magic as it would cause a huge forest fire and will get attention from the nearby town. And getting attention is something they could not afford to get. Because there is a probability that the institution might find them, capturing them and dragging them back to the hell hole. So his only option is to use his wind magic to defend both him and 24.

24 used the distracted bear a chance to run towards 18 who now have a half closed eyes. She knew that 18 must be exhausted and almost used up his magic reserves to produce such damage from the bear. 24 used her ability to ran faster and drag 18 away from the fight. She needed to at least save 18 while she distracts the bear.

As 24 think of getting 18 to safety, the bear roared giving a loud spiral wind beam heading towards 24's direction. 24 was caught in surprise on the incoming attack. The howl will probably kill her if she got caught. As she was about to dodge, she saw 18 by the tree looking at her with concerned eyes.

'Dammit! 18 still can't move that fast. If I dodge the attack he will be killed for sure. But if I don't I will be the ones who is going to be critically injured. What to do?'. 24 debated on what is going to be the best option for the both of them. The attack will either get them killed or gravely injured which will make them an easy capture to the bear. 24 is torn between saving herself and her comrade. She doesn't want to lose her comrades life. Even if they did not have a deep bonding like a sister or brother, the only one who got their backs is each one of them. They have worked together from the past years of their lives. They know that to themselves. But 24 also does not want to lose her life. She just barely make out of the institution's hands and now another monster wants them dead.

'What should I do?!', 24 screamed at herself the question. Suddenly a huge lance made of fire shot out from 18 heading towards the wind howl off the bear. The lance and the howl met and made a huge impact causing the ground to shake and the surrounding atmosphere to blew away the wind from the collision. The trees surrounding the area got torn into pieces while some was burnt to the ground. The birds around the area started to fly out and spread. A loud 'Boom' resonated to the whole forest. The impact of the two attacks is so powerful that it send the huge bear flying backwards as well as 24 and 18. The area where the attacks collided looked wasted and burnt. The soil turned into black, the area got deforested from the process leaving a huge dig up hole on the ground.

The bear stood up after recovering from the impact. The bear now had sustained serious injuries just from capturing two little children as a snack for her hungry baby. The lost paw from the bear's right hand, three deep cut from the earlier attack of 24, and many bruises and new wounds produced from the impact. The bear was so angry that she wanted to rip her opponents into pieces and making their bones her puppet for luring in new targets. As the bear's thoughts lead into this ideas, a group of hunters can be heard from the distance.

"Hello! is anybody there!", shouted one of them. The bear could sense that one of the group is of stage 6. The bear shook her head and looked towards where her opponents lies. Then the bear turned away from the scene and ran as fast as it could. As much as she wants to rip them apart she must escape. She is currently in a critical condition that she cannot fight a stage 6 magician. With one last look, the bear ran away burying the faces of the two children in its heart who turned her in that state.