Chapter 004: The Furious Fire Bear

As soon as they entered the forest, the scorching sunlight dimmed instantly. The oppressive heat dissipated, replaced by a humid and muggy feeling, like being in a sauna.

Richard remained unfazed, his expression unchanged, simply following the team as they advanced.

Time passed bit by bit, and the team delved deeper into the forest. Apart from encountering two gray rabbits and an old, sick wolf, they found nothing else.

Richard didn't feel much boring, but he noticed that Tuku's expression grew increasingly irritated. Tuku's gaze towards the hunter became more hostile, a sign of his patience wearing thin. Richard guessed that if they still couldn't find the fire bear soon, Tuku would likely be the first to lose it—brutally teaching the hunter a lesson.

Another hour passed without any discoveries, and Tuku's impatience finally snapped. Without warning, he kicked the guide hunter to the ground and began beating him while loudly questioning, "Where's the fire bear? Where is it?! How come we haven't seen it yet?! If you dare deceive Young Master Richard and me, I won't just kill you; I'll crush your skull bit by bit!"

The hunter, curled up in a ball under the assault, dared not resist and looked to Richard for help.

At that moment, Richard was too engrossed in observing a plant by the roadside to pay attention. It was a newly sprouted tree, resembling ordinary trees but with slightly wrinkled bark and leaves emitting a faint fragrance.

Richard recognized it as "Murraya" from Earth, known for its pain-relieving and hemostatic effects. On Earth, it was quite common, but in this world, with its poor medical conditions, it was an extremely precious medicinal plant. Without hesitation, Richard carefully picked all the parts with medicinal value and then turned his attention to the hunter.

The hunter, now bruised and swollen from Tuku's beating, received a brief glance from Richard, who said directly, "Don't look at me. If you still can't find the fire bear by dusk, I won't stop Tuku from doing everything he said. Maybe, I'll make your end even worse. So... leading us to the fire bear is your only way to survive."

Hearing this, the hunter trembled and abandoned his last bit of hope. Struggling to stand up from under Tuku's feet, he quickly ran ahead to lead the way, repeatedly pleading, "Don't kill me, don't kill me. Young Master Richard, I will definitely lead you to the fire bear, definitely..."

"Let's hope so," Richard commented simply, saying no more.

Another hour passed quickly. It was now afternoon, and still, there was no sign of the fire bear. The hunter was on the verge of despair. Tuku glanced at him malevolently, making the hunter stagger in fear. Just then, a roar echoed from the distance.

"Roar!"

"What's that sound?" All the guard members, including Tuku, immediately gathered around, protecting Richard at the center, ready to fend off attacks from any direction.

The hunter, left alone outside the protective circle, was initially stunned but then showed an expression of wild joy. Turning his head sharply, he cried out, tears of relief streaming down his face, "Young Master Richard, it's the fire bear! I swear, it's the fire bear's roar! The same roar I heard when I first saw it several days ago."

"Really?" Tuku's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Richard's eyes gleamed slightly but he decisively said, "Let's go check it out."

"Yes, sir." Tuku immediately led the team toward the direction of the roar.

As they got closer, the roar grew louder.

After a while, a massive figure appeared on a hill a hundred meters away.

"That's a bear," was Richard's first thought upon seeing it. Based on its appearance, it seemed to be just a bear.

However, the air around it seemed slightly distorted...

Richard squinted, looking carefully at the bear. His eyes lit up as he confirmed it wasn't an ordinary bear but a genuine fire bear—its entire body was burning with flames. The distorted air around it was due to the high temperature of the flames causing light refraction.

But others didn't understand this.

Tuku was the most reactive, his gaze sharp. He drew his knight's sword and placed it against the hunter's neck, pointing at the distant bear with a cold voice, "Is this the 'fire bear' you wasted half a day of Young Master Richard's time to find? Where are the flames you spoke of? Why don't I see them?!"

"It really is a fire bear," the hunter trembled violently with the blade at his throat, stuttering, "Its whole body is indeed on fire, but usually the flames are small, so unless you get close, you can't see them..."

"Liar!" Tuku didn't believe him at all.

Richard sighed softly and spoke to Tuku, "He's not lying. The fire bear does have flames."

"Ah!"

Richard pointed to the fire bear on the hill a hundred meters away, "If you look carefully, you'll see the air around the bear is slightly distorted. This is caused by the flames burning. In more technical terms, it's because light paths change when they pass through different mediums. You don't need to understand that; just know we've indeed found the fire bear."

"Oh, I see." Since Richard had spoken, Tuku had nothing more to say. He looked back at the fire bear and asked, "Young Master Richard, should we start the hunt now?"

"Get ready, and let him go. No need to waste manpower watching him." Richard pointed at the hunter.

"Yes, sir." Without hesitation, Tuku kicked the hunter's butt, shouting disdainfully, "Get lost!"

The hunter, feeling as if he had been granted amnesty, repeatedly said, "I'm going, I'm going," and ran off into the forest, disappearing into the distance.

Everyone then turned their attention to the fire bear a hundred meters away.

The capture operation officially began!

Tuku waved his hand, leading the guards to quickly surround the fire bear on the hill, while Richard stayed in place.

Everything proceeded according to plan.

The first step of the plan was to use hand crossbows and crossbows to harass the fire bear, making it angry but not berserk, and quickly depleting its strength until the flames on its body were extinguished.

The second step was to shoot rope arrows using powerful crossbows to pierce through the fire bear's body, controlling its movements.

The third step was to kill the fire bear.

Soon, Tuku and his team reached the area around the fire bear and started shooting arrows at it from three directions.

The fire bear, not very intelligent, couldn't decide which side to attack first and kept changing directions. It would head left when arrows came from the left, but after a few steps, arrows would come from the right, making it change direction again.

After several rounds, the fire bear became furious. The flames on its body, initially barely noticeable, grew over ten centimeters high and turned bright red.

Richard raised an eyebrow.

Tuku and his team continued their attacks, further enraging the fire bear. The flames on its body grew larger, eventually reaching half a meter high and turning blue.

Standing at a distance, observing, Richard frowned slightly.