"I'm preparing my shots, Lunar. Give me a signal when you're ready."
Looks like Lyco is also ready. I can imagine how much he wants me to back out of this. But I didn't expect him to stand his ground as well. I guess despite his justified fears, he's not ready to act like Savior's and run away. But he knows I will get into this battle anyway and is willing to risk his levels and EXP for me. That's something Savior wouldn't learn as a "hero".
"Right. Let's not give it a chance to strike." I take a deep breath as I assume my position. "[Taunt]!"
With a booming shout coming out from my mouth, it creates a soundwave enough to hit the [Mad Bear] as it emerges from the shadow. It doesn't damage the monster, but it does its job to catch its attention on me.
I was expecting that debuff price from my skill. But in exchange, not only did I switch its aggro target to me, but its [Evasion] is decreased by 10% for 1 minute. This gives me enough time to run away from Lyco to lure him to the specific spot. While he needs a signal, he needs more time to make the final adjustments. In the meantime, I have to use it to make my own moves.
“Spirits of flames, heed my call! Engulf me with flames to burn my enemies with my own hands!” Red aura began to envelop my hands before I bared my claws. "[Blazing Touch]!"
I jump up in the air and let both of my hands engulf in embers. And just as the bear roared at me, I raised one of them at its face. "[Twin Swipes]!"
With several swipes of my claws, I managed to scratch its cheek and chip off its [HP]. And with my [Blazing Touch] still active, it took additional damage despite the lack of [Burn] status added. However, I know it's not enough. This guy's [HP] and [DEF] are ridiculously high compared to the other monsters I've faced. My attacks weren't enough to bring heavy damage as it is. But that's why Lyco is here with me for a reason.
"Now!"
I quickly kick the bear's face to give myself momentum to jump away from it. When I did, I saw him aiming his rifle at the [Mad Bear] with his large shield serving as a stabilizer to straighten its position.
"Spirit of Sylph, hear my call. Create the wind that is gathering all around me. Help me release the gale to push back my foes!" A large gust of wind started to gather around the area while I started running away from the bear. "[Gale Force]!"
With that last line, the wind erupts into a large tornado that causes some of the bushes and rocks to fly out of the ground. Luckily, Lyco and I aren't affected by the spell as we watch the bear's fur cut and scratched from the sharp wind blowing against it. It should have been enough, but Lyco isn't done with his moves yet.
"[Static Break]!"
I watched Lyco fire an electric bullet from his rifle, and it quickly hit the bear's wrist, causing it to roar as it sheathed its claws in pain.
"[Freeze Burst]!"
After a few seconds, another was fired towards the bear's legs. This time, it was a frost-covered bullet, and when hit, it exploded into ice enough to immobilize the bear for a few seconds.
"Now for the last bullet... [Stone Burst]!"
He fires another bullet covered in sharp stones, and once it hits, it explodes into stone splinters that scatter around its body. It roared in pain once more as another window popped up in our feeds.
"I give every debuff I can! Kick its butt, Lunar!"
Debuffs... If the monsters use a skill to decrease your stats or put a negative status condition, it's your worst nightmare. But when you have a party member who can use them, it's a godsend. And Lyco did his assignment well when he got [Magic Artillery]. Because it's not only a [Mastery] made for players who wanted to live out their gunslinger or gun akimbo dreams, it acts as a debuff [Mastery]. Combined with the crowd control aspect of [Wind Mastery] and you will get a versatile debuffer in Lyco.
With that said, I quickly rush towards the bear again and start giving it basic jabs at its chest with a grin. Thanks to Lyco's debuffs along with my buff spells and potions, I managed to chip off its [HP] a lot more than before. Along with his shots and my skills, we managed to take down 2/4 of its [HP]. And when it tried to counter, I simply jumped away and let Lyco continue attacking it with some debuff extensions once they were about to expire. This plan actually came from whenever the Vipers had to face a boss with ridiculous [HP] and [DEF], and it usually requires a ranged attacker with a variety of debuffs. While it's much weaker due to Lyco's low levels, we managed to pull it off with ease once I dealt another [Power Attack] on its muzzle.
"Dude, we're on a roll here!" Lyco shouted. "I haven't dealt as much damage as when I did it alone, and you barely had your new abilities for a week."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," I said. "But we're getting to the hard part of this fight right now. We're heading into unknown territory with this phase."
I don't need to clarify more about it since he's also in the same boat as me. As we back away, the bear's red eyes glow more intensely, and its fur grows spikier. Then, with a loud roar echoing around the forest, a new window popped up.
"30%?! Is that a bit overkill?! And it removed all of my debuffs, too!" Lyco exclaimed. "Maybe we're a bit over our heads."
"If we run now, my chances of joining this arena event will be 0. Unless you want to end up being Savior's punching bag again," I said. "I already vowed not to run away from my own battles unless it's necessary. If I don't finish this fight, then what's the point of me getting this [Sub-Race] at all?!"
It sounds a bit exaggerated, but I'm sick of running away without trying my best at everything. Because of everyone looking down at me... How Savior treated me like dirt...
I won't leave once I face the unknown!
"Lyco, set up the debuffs as usual! This time, I..."
But before I could finish, I saw a shadow covering us, and when we looked up, we gasped to see the bear was already above us. Without letting us see it, the bear slammed its claws on the ground, causing us to fly off from it and grab onto its arms.
"GRAAGGGHHH! WTF?!" Lyco screamed and tried to struggle out of its grip. "How did this guy learn a grapple attack?!"
"N-No one able to reach the [Berserk] phase from the [Mad Bear]! I did say we're heading into unknown territory with this guy!"
Lyco grumbled. "Well, if you're done complimenting, how about you try figuring out how the hell we're getting out of here?!"
I also grumbled as I tried to struggle in vain. "I-I'm working on it! This guy is bound to have a weakness!"
And those words alone were enough to give me an idea.
“Spirits of flames, show yourselves! Engulf me with flames to protect myself from danger!”
"W-Wait, what are yo-"
"[Coat of Flames]!"
Flames suddenly envelop my whole body. It doesn't damage me enough to chip my [HP] and detect my pain detection, but I can feel the heat permeating from my spell.
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"Are you serious?! We're in a forest and you suddenly want to burn this guy in a crisp?! Cause I don't think it's working!"
As much as I want that to happen, Lyco's right. It can only give a [Burn] status when this guy grabs us, and it only deals little damage. But there is another purpose behind this spell.
[GRRR?!]
And that is to force this guy to let us go.
[GRAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!]
The bear quickly released its grip from us as it howled in pain. It works, but we lost a lot of [HP] from its surprise attack.
That really is a dangerous monster. It managed to halve almost all of our [HP] with 2 attacks, and if it tried to interrupt my spell and attack us there, I might lose a level from one of my [Masteries]. Lyco is right. Maybe we might be over our heads here. I can't afford to get reckless now.
"Can you still fight, Ly?" I asked while rubbing the back of my head.
"Barely... I hope you have other ideas than the first one."
Good question. Looking at the monster closely, it seemed like its ambush attack had a cooldown of sorts. You need to have good timing if you want to find an opening. However, the cooldown time itself is difficult to determine. Since we're too busy recovering from the attack, I couldn't tell when it started or when it ended. I don't know when it will use that attack again.
"Keep your distance and set up the usual debuffs," I ordered.
"Again?! Did that bear hit your head so hard that you forgot?! That guy can move as fast as a tiger, and I don't know if you can outrun it with your wolf form."
"Trust me. This time, I will be helping out with the debuffs. Just make sure you start running when the bear starts grabbing you again."
"How's that supposed to make me feel better?!"
It's not. But it's better than nothing. As Lyco said, it's [Berserk] state allows it to move faster and hit harder. Plus, it has new attack patterns that we have never seen before in a bear monster. I mostly got the info from the players who encountered this jerk before. But again, not all of them could pass the [Berserk] phase. So we're mostly getting through this stitch by trial-and-error just like the
Looks like Fenrir's teachings about hunting might be just the trick to turn this crisis around.
[GRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!]
"Lyco, [Gale Force] and [Stone Burst] debuff now!"
"Geez... I'm already working on it!"
And while he does that, I set up my own debuffs of my own.
“Spirits of flames, heed my call! Burn the fields around my enemies! [Scorched Earth]!"
I wave my hands around to let the flames envelop the field around the [Mad Bear], but not enough to spread throughout the trees and bushes to catch on fire. I watched it roar as it stepped onto the burning field, yet it had enough strength to endure the tornado and shots from Lyco. Well, it wasn't much of a debuff than a distraction. Instead, my key skill lies within my [Hunting Mastery].
"[Wolf's Eye]!"
This was originally a skill called [Eagle Eye], but it was automatically renamed after I was transformed into a [Lycan]. The effects remained the same, as I can still locate items within the vicinity of the area, but there is one bonus effect if you complete a certain [Hidden Quest] from the village.
It worked. I can see holographic targets appearing around the bear's body. Looks like the hidden effect of detecting weak spots is in full effect. I barely got the chance to use it back at the [Kobold] fight in my wolf form, but this is perfect for fighting against large monsters and bosses like this guy. If I found out about this [Sub-Race] or chose the [Beast Folk], I would have an easier time with strategizing in my fights. That said, I only have 20 seconds to see them before they disappear, and the cooldown of the effect is a bit longer than its usual effect.
"[Twin Swipes]!"
I swung my claws on the [Mad Bear's] shoulder blades. Then I followed up with two basic kicks on its back before I struck its nape with a [Power Attack] punch.
"Whoa... I don't know what skill you're using, but it's working!"
Lyco's words were enough to regain my confidence in the fight. I only used a few low-level [Martial Arts] and [Claws] skills, but my buffs and Lyco's debuffs were enough to deal more damage than I expected.
It's not much, but at least we're making progress. I quickly resume my attacks after seeing the [HP] with a few more skills free from cooldown. Avoiding its grapple attacks was much easier than before as I jumped and sidestepped out of the way as soon as its eye glowed again and raised its arms towards me. Even when they got too close to me, Lyco kept using [Static Break] to stop its advances on me. When it happened and he got aggro by accident, I just had to use [Taunt] to divert its attention to me. So far, this strategy loop is working in our favor.
Eventually, the [Mad Bear's] [HP] is now on red, and I quickly back away as I see the once fierce bear now covered in cuts and ruffled red fur around its body.
"D*mmit... That guy let me use up almost all of my [MP]," Lyco groaned. "Why can't you go over there and finish it already? I'm ready to take a bath after this."
He's right. I would have gone there and finished that guy off with one last [Power Attack]. But once it went red, its grapple and claw attacks stopped even when it broke out of its [Incapacitate] state. This battle would have been over with my final attack. But why do I have a feeling something worse is yet to come? In all of the bosses I fought with the [Viper Fangs], I concluded that most bosses often have 2 phases depending on their current state, and the usual last phase was their [Berserk] state that boosts some of their stats in their last-ditch attempt to survive. But we're fighting against a dangerous monster with unknown variables. There should be a good reason why this bear is feared in the forums.
And as if fate had heard my fears, its eyes suddenly turned yellow.
"Lyco, set up a [Mana Shield]."
I can hear him gasping in shock. "Dude, are you seriously gonna keep bossing me around in this state?! What are you, Sa-"
"NOW!!!" I quickly raised my arms to prepare a quick spell. "Spirits of flames, show yourselves! Erect the shield of flames to deter my enemies! [Fire Wall]!"
A wall of flame quickly emerged from my palms as Lyco finished setting up his [Mana Shield]. I feel like I'm being a bit mean to Lyco right now. But a bear-type monster suddenly having its eyes glowing yellow is out of my expectations. I have to be quick. This guy is going to unleash something deadly, and I don't want him to end up taking the brunt of the attack. I just hope I can...
[GRRRROOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!!!]
[Bloodlust]?! Isn't it a bit too much?! Either way, my suspicions are confirmed. This guy has 3 phases, and it's true final phase is this strange condition. What's worse is that its stats are completely buffed enough to be on par with the [Dungeon Boss]. Are the devs seriously trying to become sadistic creators in [Isekai]?! At this rate, we would end up penalized down by 2 levels if we can't beat this guy. I would try to prepare myself for the worst...
But then, it turns its yellow eyes on Lyco.
[GROOOOOOWWWWLLL!!!]
It started charging at my partner with its fangs bared and claws out. This is really bad. If he takes the brunt of the attack, he will get penalized at this rate! I've already used the last of my [MP] to set up my [Fire Wall] for nothing, but if I don't do something...
[GRRROOOOWWWWLLLL!!]
Oh, to hell with consequences!
"LY!!!"
Without reconsidering my next actions, I step in front of my friend and let the [Mad Bear] bite and slash me instead.