Chapter 182 Frenzy!
It wasn't too hard to find information on the bears. What surprised Jack was the type of bear they were up against.
According to the farmers and the hunters, culprits of the missing animals and the dead hunters were Flat-nosed Bears. Known as one of the few types of bears to form a pride, Flat-nose Bears were giant, five-meter tall bears. They would dominate a region of wildlife all their own and had average levels ranging between lv. 28 to lv. 32.
Mentioning this to Rydel, the hunter shook his head. "I'm not sure if they've formed a pride, though. From the tracks, only one or two have come around the village."
"But if they really are frenzied, then they might be in the middle of migrating," reasoned Jack.
Everyone smiled, happy that they might finally find some good fodder for their EXP grind.
After thanking the farmers and hunters, the party left for the forest. It was still morning and they had Rydel lead them, that way not a single bear could escape. When a half an hour of walking passed, Rydel suddenly stopped.
"Look, there it is."
They all glanced through the trees, following the trail of a dragged animal. Hiding behind a small gathering of trees, Jack and the others saw a huge, furry creature slouching over a cow that it had dragged into the woods.
Seeing its round face, Jack was certain that it was a Flat-nose Bear, confirming that there should be more in the area. Also, his system verified that the Flat-nose Bear was definitely frenzied.
"It's true, they are frenzied." Rydel could also tell thanks to his Eagle Eye. "This one's only lv. 30 though."
"No, it should normally be lv. 28, meaning its one of the weaker bears. And with frenzy, it should be a great test of strength," Jack reasoned as he looked to Maura. "Do you want to test it out first?"
Two shortswords appeared in Maura's hands, one giving off a frosty aura. "Just surround it and let me test a few new skills."
"You all heard her. Let's surround the bear and see just how strong it is."
They all took their time to surround it. Thanks to Jack's passive lv. 2 stealth skill and the bear being distracted with its meal, the party successfully cut off all means of escape.
Taking the lead, Maura gave a battle cry and charged through the trees to take on the hulking beast.
The bear quickly noticed Maura and growled angrily at her, raging that its meal had been interrupted. It lunged forward, swiping its giant claws at Maura.
Without hesitation, Maura sidestepped and slashed the bear's arm with her frost sword. As the bear's flesh was torn open, the freezing of its body was audible to the entire party as the shards of ice crackled.
That frost sword was powerful, enough to make even Maynard jealous that he couldn't use it himself.
"ROOOOOOAAAARR!!"
Angry and in pain, the Flat-nose bear kept swiping its long arms at Maura. However, even though the giant bear was strong enough to crush boulders and trees with a single swipe of its paw, it wasn't fast enough to catch the light-footed Maura.
"Die!"
Taking advantage of her dual-wielding, Maura evaded the blows while slashing each arm that neared her. Very quickly, she was almost under the large beast.
First, Maura thrust her sword into the bear's chest and then she thrust her frost sword into the bear's armpit, making sure that it was a killing blow.
"Roar! Rooooaaaa…"
As the bear toppled over, Maura pulled out her blades and smiled at the others. Some of the bear's blood had splashed onto her outfit and face, but she didn't seem to care.
In a way, it added to hear tranquil beauty, but mainly it sent a shiver down Jack's spine. It became clear that he would never want to get on Maura's bad side.
"Well, that was easier than I thought," shouted Eliza, somewhat disappointed.
Maura laughed, "Maybe, but I got a ton of EXP! A few more and I'll reach lv. 33."
"Then it's a good thing that they form prides," Jack joked with them, forgetting Maura's moment of brutality. "Rydel, do you think you can take us to the rest of them? If they're all like this, then just make sure to hit them through the armpit. That should be their weak spots."
Rydel chuckled as he let Maura store the large bear's corpse. "If there really is a pride of these things, then I can definitely find it."
Taking Rydel's word for it, the party started to wander deeper into the forest. This time, they weren't too worried about being secretive since they now knew they could handle the bears without much trouble.
For hours, they wandered the forest, following Rydel through creeks, over hills, and across fields. With only four bear corpses to show for their time, the party was getting a little restless.
Just then, Rydel signaled for them all to stop.
There were no signs of any bears near them, but Rydel had found not one set of tracks, but the tracks of almost a dozen Flat-nose bears. He turned to Jack and asked, "About how many bears are usually in a pride?"
Thinking back to some early game events, Jack came up with an average. "I'd say maybe two or three dozen."
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, these tracks are from a dozen bears and they were probably a scouting party."
Everyone paid close attention to Rydel as he said that. They all had the same thought. If the scouting party had a dozen bears, then how big was the pride?
"That's perfect! We need enough fodder for both us and our beasts, so this will work perfectly," reasoned Jack. "Any guess as to how far away the pride is?"
"If they're migrating and the scouting party was here not too long ago, then we should almost be on top of them."
"What do ya want to do now, Jack?" asked Maynard, hoping their tactic would focus on frontal assault instead of stealth.
Jack looked around at everyone, sensing everyone's anxiousness. "Let's get closer. Once the entire pride is in view, we'll split up and work in tandem with our beasts. But don't spread out too far, only enough to make sure you've got your own opponent but close enough to help others if they need."
"Eliza, Keela, since Bowzer's out of commission for the time being, I'll be sticking close to you for support."
"Alright!"
"We've got your back!"
Both girls were happy to see that Jack would finally need them for something. Since Daliea and Maura would be busy attacking, it made them happy to have an important role in helping Jack personally.
"Good. As soon as the pride is in view, bring out your companions. Also, keep in mind that a pridelord may also be leading them. If that's the case, no one should attack the pridelord alone. At the very least, two groups of two should work together, if not all of us. Does everyone understand?" asked Jack.
When everyone gave a silent nod, Jack smiled and let Rydel lead the way.
Another half an hour passed, but no one complained. They had finally found the pride, and it was way too big. Altogether, Rydel had counted over fifty Flat-nose bears.
The good news was that if there was a pridelord, it wasn't currently with them. Taking on the entire pride and a pridelord together would have been incredibly difficult.
Jack couldn't help but wonder how such a strong pride of Flat-nose Bears suddenly appeared in the South Forest. They weren't natural predators there and there were way too many bears for it to be a natural cause. Something or someone should be behind such a thing.
Not having much time to waste before they were spotted, Jack quickly opened his skill list. After reaching lv. 30, Jack gained another thirty skill points, giving him forty in total.
All forty will then spent, twenty to upgrade companion telepathy to lv. 2 and twenty to upgrade his sword skill to lv. 3.
After mentally telling everyone that they could now telepathically speak with their beast companions, they spread out. Once everyone was ready, Jack yelled, "Now!"
At that moment, six different beasts appeared from various bestial rings and filled the forest with their roars.
The nearby bears growled and turned to see seven humans and six beasts charging toward them at full speed. Before the bears could do anything, two of the large beasts were killed in surprise.
Both the Thunder Cat and the Wind Roc took advantage of their speed, instantly killing one bear each.
Maynard quickly appeared beside his Thunder Cat, using the same tactic to slay his first Flat-nose Bear. Relishing in the slaughter that was about to happen, adrenaline was pumping through his body at full speed.
Rydel too a different approach, sitting on top of his Wind Roc and working together with it. While Rydel would weaken any bears that dared approach them, the roc would go in for the kill.
Maura and Daliea weren't far behind, joining the slaughter with the cetus and the Flame Tiger.
To the rear, Eliza and Keela supported the party with aid from their Forest Dryad and the small Light Fairy.
Alone but not too far from Eliza or Keela, Jack held the center position of the party, keeping them all in formation.