First Battle

Vincent followed the thrown core with his eyes.

After a few bounces from the ground, It finally dropped near a bunch of other normal stones not too far from the feasting bear.

"Please eat it faster…" Vincent muttered as he watches the bear slowly eat. He no longer felt surprised that a bear would carry out cannibalism. He at least recalls that bears in his previous life would similarly do this.

Although this bear is quite weird with its bronze-like fur, it is probably just because of Mana's mutation making it a Savage Beast. Its natural instinct is still a bear but it had just gotten several times stronger.

Anyway, he really wanted to take the core which seems to be larger than the other four he collected today.

Perhaps, he would have a higher chance of using better Cores when trying to enhance an item to +8.

After all, it requires 2 Beast Cores to enhance for a +7 item while 4 Beast Cores if he wanted to enhance to +8.

Apparently, each core contains about 60 to 80 units of mana. He's unable to exactly calculate it since he can't appraise an item considered as 'Enhancement Stone'.

He also tried another method by measuring how much mana he can absorb from it, but unfortunately, he can't perfectly absorb the mana as well. There would always be some streams of mana that he's unable to absorb which would just dissipate in the air.

Since he was able to absorb 40 to 50 units of mana from a single core, he guessed that the Mana he was wasting was about 20 to 40 units based on his observation.

It was very inefficient so he decided to just save the cores as Enhancement Stone or for an emergency.

Vincent waited for more than 15 minutes before the bronze bear finally decided to leave… Actually, he was also impressed how no other Savage Beasts passed around this area. Perhaps this is the bear's territory and they are afraid of entering this place or this bear itself is the strongest in the forest and no one is capable of contesting against it.

But whatever the reason was, Vincent was glad that he'll be able to get the core without any issues…

Step… Step… Step…

Vincent used his Shrouded Steps but because the ground was a bit moist, he was unable to fully hide the sound of his steps. Nevertheless, it shouldn't cause too much of a problem.

"Hmm… It's really bigger than the others."

After he picked up the core from the ground, he immediately felt the difference between the first three cores that he found.

"Shit!"

As he was about to put the core inside his bag, he was suddenly covered by a huge shadow and he didn't have to think about which creature was behind him.

He immediately leaped forward as he avoided the creature's attack!

Bang!

The bronze bear returned as if he just baited Vincent to come down here!

"Hmph! Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Vincent smiled as he swiftly kept the core inside his bag.

Although he was a bit surprised that the Bear unknowingly returned here, he already knows that this area doesn't have any other Savage Beast aside from this bear.

It means that this is the perfect target for him to try all his Mana Arts or combat techniques.

Roar!

The bear probably realized that his prey wasn't afraid at all as it charged toward Vincent.

Without any more hesitation, Vincent raised his cane ready to smash the bear with his full might.

He suddenly burst with power as the cane resonated with his Aura creating an intimidating force.

"Haa!"

As the bear was trying to bite him, it was a lot easier for the small Vincent to target its head with his cane!

Bang!

The bear's skull and his cane clashed as they created a small shockwave that had even swayed the nearby trees.

Splat!

"Eh?"

As Vincent pulled back the cane to ready himself for the second round of exchange, he heard a splattering sound from the bear!

Soon, he realized that although he didn't manage to crush the skull of the bronze bear, its brain or its internal organs seemed to have suffered tremendously!

The bear's eyes suddenly gushed out followed by some white matters!

Thud!

The previously vigorous bear finally dropped to the ground completely dead!

"This…"

He was surprised by the power of his Aura attack added by his +7 weapon!

Although the +100 Crush didn't destroy the sturdy skull it has, it definitely has enough force to crush anything past that!

"Ughhh…"

Vincent suddenly felt a bit of pain in his right shoulder which he used to hold the cane.

"No way… Was my body not strong enough to handle that impact?" The young man grimaced in pain as soon as he retracted the Aura around his body.

"Tsk… This is painful… I forgot about the third law."

Vincent muttered recalling Newton's third law.

"I need to hurry…"

He suddenly felt that there were creatures watching their fight just now.

Now that the bear was dead, they might think of coming here to finish him off while he's injured!

Using his left hand, he pulled out his Silver Ruin Dagger to cut open the chest of the bear and took the core with his hands.

He no longer cares whether he gets covered with blood as he doesn't have a lot of time to linger here.

As soon as he took out the core, he immediately flee using the Shrouded Steps repeatedly to ensure that no one could follow him even if they can smell the scent of blood from him.

Anyway, once he arrives at the river, he can easily remove this pungent smell.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

"Crap!"

Vincent looked at the sky and noticed the dozens of red crows suddenly started following him! Even if he hides under the canopy of the trees, they seem to be capable of detecting him and he just won't lose them even after several minutes!