Brown Bear

Loren Forest

Rick, Leon, and Carla were on the second layer of the village to hunt for Magical Beasts as part of their combat training.

At this time, the trio stood with their knees slightly bent and their arms forward. In front of them is a mighty brown bear.. cub as it cutely roared, trying to scare the trio.

However, the trio appeared to be intimidated. They weren't intimidated by the cub but because the cub was here. It means that its parent must be somewhere nearby. The moment the cub roared, its parent must have heard it and must be rushing towards here.

"Let's run. We don't want to hurt this cub and we certainly don't want to face off with its parents right off the bat" Rick said as he urged both Leon and Carla to run as soon as possible.

"Alright, let's go" Carla replied as she nodded her head. The trio was just about to run away when suddenly, they heard a loud roar from behind.

"Roar!"

The roar shook the entire forest as birds nearby flew away in fear while other weaker magical beasts ran away from the area.

Sweat covered their faces as they turned around to look at the imposing figure of a brown bear.

"I told you we shouldn't have come this way!" Carla complained as she looked at the brown bear in fear.

"C-c-c.. Calm down g-g-g-guys... Let's think of a s-s-s-solution" Leon said with a stutter as he almost wet his pants.

Rick just flashed out a grin as he looked at the bear with fear on his eyes and sweat covering his face.

Meanwhile, not far from the trio is Narlie who appeared to be sitting on a branch of a tree nearby.

"Now, I hope you don't disappoint me, kids" Narlie muttered with a low voice as she smirked.

Back to the trio, Rick grabbed a fist-sized crumpled paper with a strange symbol from his back pocket.

"There's no other choice now. Either we die fighting it, or die trying to flee" Rick said with a solemn tone.

"E-eeeh? So we're dying either way?" Leon said as the corners of his eyes widened when he heard Rick's words. He suddenly slapped both his cheeks so hard that even the brown bear looked at him as if he was an idiot.

Rick and Carla were taken aback by Leon's actions and looked at him in confusion.

"Since we're gonna die anyway, we might as well die fighting" Leon said as he furrowed his brow while trying to think of a plan. After his self-slap, he was strangely calm as he looked at the surroundings. His mind quickly thought of ways to survive.

'Wow, that was an instant character development. And he didn't even have to see someone almost dying' Rick thought to himself as he looked at Rick in a new light.

"Roar!"

"Alright, I've got a risky plan. See that cub from behind? One of us has got to take that cub hostage while the other two engage with the brown bear for distraction" Leon said as he pointed at the cub.

"So.. who's going for the cub?" Carla asked as she looked at Leon.

"You are the one with the best combination of spells for capturing. Rick is the most agile among us while my fire spells are flashy enough to catch that bear's attention" Leon said as he looked at Carla.

"So, I'm going to be the one to capture that cub, huh. Alright. Leave it to me. Be careful you two" Carla said as she patted their shoulders.

"The moment you capture the cub, make a run as fast as you can since it wouldn't hesitate to rush towards the cub to save it. Good luck!" Leon added as she patted her shoulder.

"Oh, by the way, put these in your pockets" Rick said as he gave each of them crumpled papers with a strange symbol. Carla and Leon looked at the crumpled papers with a baffled expression.

"There's not much time to explain. Just do it" Rick urged them.

"Roar!"

The brown bear approached the trio with a threatening gaze. The trio then spread out in a triangle formation and surrounded the brown bear, ignoring the bear cub. Rick and Leon were at the flanks of the brown bear while Carla stayed on her position.

"Not bad" Narlie praised as she looked at the trio with a relaxed smile.

"[Wind Slash]!"

"[Water Blades]!"

"[Fireball]!"

The three of them cast their spells at the same time in three different directions. The brown bear then swiped their spells in a circular motion to defend itself. Rick and Leon continued to rush at the back of the brown bear.

They suddenly stopped and cast their spells once again.

"[Wind Rush]!"

"[Fireball]!"

The two continued their barrage on the brown bear without letting it get close to them. They don't want it to notice Carla before she captured the cub as it might just go mad and rush at Carla's figure without trying to defend itself.

Meanwhile, Carla sneaked to the sides and approached the cub under the cover of the nearby bush

The cub didn't participate in the fight and just looked at its mother with pride on its eyes. However, it didn't notice that Chelsea disappeared from its sight.

Suddenly, a voice came out from the bush.

"[Whirlpool]!" Carla cast her spell as a vortex of water appeared out of nowhere from below the cub, swallowing it inside the whirlpool.

"Roar!"

The cub weakly roared, trying to get the attention of its mother. Carla then shouted "Hey Brown bear, look at your cub".

The brown bear then turned to look at her cub in trouble.

"Roar!"

The brown bear then rushed towards the direction of the cub to save it. Carla then rushed to the sides and sneaked out under the cover of the bush.

"Let's make a run for it, now!" Leon exclaimed as he ran away as fast as possible. Rick just smiled as he followed him from behind.

The brown bear was able to save its cub on time but the trio already escaped from its noses. It then remembered their figures and inwardly swore to itself to take revenge the next time it sees them as it loudly roared.

"Roaaar!"