Chapter 33 – Leading the charge

The next moment, Captain Austin went out of his position and instructed the guide and the others, relaying specific instructions of an attack. He relayed instructions to everyone except the guide.

The guide doesn't seem to be a fighting asset; they didn't even need his opinion on the battle so he wasn't good at strategy too.

"You don't need to worry about me." Said the guide then.

Carl just nodded. He really wasn't worried of him. But he accepted the gesture.

"Bring out your weapons, we're going out in ten seconds. That thing's going down." A veteran then said.

The veteran hunter was called Jill, the archer of the front group, so Alex couldn't but get pissed. But what pissed him the most was that they weren't escaping. Everything was going as Captain Austin Marshalls wanted.

"Let's go, Alex." Carl said to the spacing Alex, who reluctantly got up.

All the hunters grabbed their weapons. And before they got out, the Captain said one more thing.

"Before you go, there is one more thing. Whoever deals the finishing blow will get that thing's mana stone."

Hearing Captain's declaration, the hunters smiled. Even Carl felt the anticipation in his bones.

Unlike the monsters' body parts and items, the mana stone was the most coveted. It could sell at a higher price than a monster's part if you don't want to consume it. But if you consume it, you could skip weeks and months of cultivation and improve instantly!

Carl was also very happy to know this. They hadn't discussed that at all until now, so he always thought the mana stone was going to the Captain since he's the one who persuaded them in the first place, but it looked like he wanted something else.

In ten seconds, they all went outside, jumping out of the windows and doors.

Mason led a trio of hunters on the first attack.

"AH!" Mason carried his huge axe and crazily jumped onto the air, sending a vicious slash at the bear's back with a sadistic smile on his face.

The bear roared in pain and rage.

Violently fuming in anger, it tried to shake off the human at his back.

It advertently destroyed the trees in the area but to no avail. Mason had rank 2 body in the middle tier, and he had years of experience in the battlefield. Mason grinned appearing to have gotten a grip on the enemy. He pinned his axe even more, until it slipped through the bear's tough hide.

The bear continued to roar, as it felt the pressure of the heavy iron slicing through its skin. The three other hunters then took the opportunity and climbed at the bear's back, striking their weapons with their weapons.

The bear growled in pain, and continued to disrupt the terrain.

_Bang, bang, bang, Crash_

Its heavy limbs stomped on the floor, swung its claws and destroyed the trees in the area. The humans on its back felt like they were in a rollercoaster and their cursing were put into display.

Coming out with Alex and three other hunters, Carl could not blame them. Not only were they being challenged physically, having the monster roar and roar was putting off a pressure on their mental sphere, the closer they were, the stronger it was.

Carl was still near the door's house, but he could even hear his ears almost vibrating. He could feel in the airwaves the bear's rage and pain.

The bear violently roared again and tried to scrap off the source of its pain but the four cultivators on its back was no joke. Their strength was two times, three times, or more, stronger than a regular human.

Seeing that he could do nothing, the bear's eyes slowly lit up even redder and its body noticeably got stronger. Suddenly, a shockwave hit their minds, causing the humans at the bear's back to retreat.

But the veteran hunters weren't shocked at all. Mason jumped onto the air and landed on the ground with a smile. Then he signaled for the hunters on the roof.

Captain Austin, Jill and the two archers in the group were on the roof.

_Swish, Swish_

They pulled their bows and started spamming arrows hitting the bear's head. The arrows weren't ordinary too. It cut through the air and shot up like a bullet, injuring the bear.

Then the arrows stopped.

But the Captain jumped from the roof, and swung his large sword down, hitting the bear's head, injuring it and drawing its blood for the first time.

"Ahhhh!"

Captain Marshall shouted fiercely.

His big muscular arms pushed the big sword even further to its skin, cutting deeper and stronger until the bear started to lose it balance.

But the bear wasn't going down.

Suddenly, the shockwaves hitting their mental spheres came out again, and this time it was stronger. Everyone started to get dizzy.

The bear's blood sprayed onto the air, but it regained its balance and stood its ground. Its glare and body more intimidating than ever. For some reason, it also began to emit stronger airwaves and its attacks became even more vicious, destroying trees ten meters away from its claws with one swipe.

Cursing, the Captain jumped down.

The hunters all backed off to the circle house, but they did not go in, but went behind Alex.

Alex planted his feet to the ground and concentrated mana to his limbs. Then after collecting a tremendous amount of mana to his hand, he crouched and pushed his palms to the ground, shooting up a gigantic block of midnight blue crystals to shield and strike the incoming bear!

The bear leaked out a roar as it was sent backwards off-balance. It turned dizzy. His Blood started to leak out of his chest.

_Crash, Crash, Crash_

The bear viciously swung its newly superior strength, sending pebbles and rigdes of the crystals on the air, but it was not going as easy as before. The crystals were even tougher to crack open than stone!

The giant bear was intelligent, so tried to maneuver around the crystal, but the formation of crystals suddenly shot up spikes onto its head, successfully hitting his right eye and causing his body to be off-balance.

The bear screamed in pain. The hunters saw what happened and roared in excitement. Having someone blessed with an element was really a huge advantage.

"Attack!"

"HAAA!"

Using the crystal as foothold, the hunters rushed forward and started to attack again.

Alex at this time removed the serious expression on his face and changed to usual as he glanced behind him.

"I told I'm strong," he said smiling, but his eyes opened wide.

Carl was no longer there. Alex's pupils started shaking to look for him and he found Carl leading the charge, right at the front!