Chương 68: Chapter 67. Chipping away bears

Rayne found it easier to think when he walked. Maybe it was just a way to distract himself from the upcoming battle. The forest stretched wide as they moved westward, the trees thinning and growing taller in strange, uneven clusters. The Pascar Plains didn't end cleanly here. They frayed. Grass gave way to knotted roots and rocky soil, and beyond the treeline, the land slowly rose toward the distant mountains. He glanced up through the canopy.

Far beyond the western forest, jagged silhouettes cut against the pale sky—mountains so high they tore clouds apart. Old ranges, older than the kingdom, where flying beasts nested and, in a different season, storms could be seen forming out there. No one climbed those peaks. Mostly because all sorts of flying monsters lived there. The type that could easily take out entire warbands. Storm wyverns, sky serpents, and what not.

According to Bran, a nobleman had once tried to climb the peaks and hunt those creatures, but he had never come back. Not even his body was found. Fortunately, the stonefur bears didn't live that far out. They lived in the jungle below, and signs of their habitation could clearly be seen as they walked. Damaged trees, flattened bushes, and large prints were all clear signs that a strong monster lived around these parts. On two occasions, Rayne had also seen dried monster blood on the ground.

Stonefur bears ate their prey whole and left behind only blood that soaked the grass and bushes. He really hoped he didn't have to see something—"You reckon we will see a man get eaten alive today?" Nate asked, getting stinging looks from the others.

"What? I heard their stomachs could even store a whole wolf."

"Why do you think it won't be you that gets eaten alive?" Kesh shot back, walking next to him.

"I don't know," Nate replied.

"I've survived till now. I thought the warlord was going to be the end of me, then the deserters, then the chimera. But I survived all that. And if the stonefur bears have to eat someone, it would be Heins." The quiet man immediately looked up.

"Why me?" Nate chuckled.

"You're short. Easy to digest. But don't worry, I'm sure the others will take that distraction to kill the monster. Sacrifices are important." Rayne frowned, shooting the man a sharp look.

"Stop scaring others. No one is going to be eaten alive. Captain Edran sent Mage Casper on top of the two squads for a reason." He looked up ahead. Axel, Rancour, and Casper led the two squads that moved in a combined formation. He had no idea about the relationship between the two squad leaders, but they seemed amiable enough that he had seen no open conflicts. Or maybe it was just the presence of Casper that was letting them act more like soldiers than leaders.

With the two squads, there were more than fifty soldiers here, with the majority being Axel's, since Rancour had apparently lost more than a few soldiers—most of them forsaken—in the dungeons. And among his men, Jason stood out immediately. The burly man walked right beside Hobbs at the front, while Rayne and his party were in the middle. The weaker soldiers were given the rear, where they didn't have to worry about much.

Fredrick was also there in the back, but not once had the man looked in his direction, and Rayne was thankful for that. As Rayne stared ahead, Jason glanced back and gave him a smile. Apart from him, Rayne only knew Quinn from Rancour's squad, who was walking ahead with a small scouting party led by Bran. He also knew Welix, but the man had died in one of the dungeons. Maybe sensing his train of thought, Kesh spoke.

"I can't believe Welix died from friendly fire." He glanced at Rayne.

"No offence—the man was an asshole. Was rude to me quite a few times. But I still can't imagine putting it on record that he died from a misfired arrow that hit him instead of the boss." John nodded, speaking in a low voice. He looked in good health, but kept his eyes on the trees as if waiting for a monster to jump down.

"Yeah, at least getting crushed by a monster sounds like you went out fighting."

"That's why we get training in working together," Rayne replied.

"Just make sure you have your helmets on." All of them nodded, and the march continued. It briefly reminded Rayne of the first time he had marched like this to kill goblins. That seemed like a lifetime ago now, and the stonefur bears were going to be far harder opponents to deal with than goblins or trolls. The surroundings spoke of that. The forest opened into a wide stretch of broken terrain. Not a clearing exactly—more like the land had been clawed open.

Fallen trees lay shattered, trunks split cleanly as if struck by massive blows. Boulders jutted out of the ground at odd angles, some half-buried, others smeared with old scratch marks. They had also seen no other monsters around. Rayne had seen some monkeys in the trees an hour back; the closer they got, the quieter it became. Another sign they were getting closer. Territorial monsters never let other monsters live close by, and these bears loved their space.

And after some time, Rayne heard branches shifting up ahead as the whole group stalled. Some soldiers moved their hands to their hilts, only for Bran and the scout party to come back. Two men followed after him, one of them being Quinn. All of them seemed to have gone through bushes, leaves stuck to their helmets. They paused before the squad leaders, and Rayne immediately looked back at his party and said, "I will go see what Bran found." Then he moved ahead, joining the leadership.

Bran was already giving his report.

"I saw the pair. They are just outside the nest and match the description of stonefur bears. One of them is eight feet tall, and the other stands at six feet. On all fours""Not sleeping?" Rancour asked, frowning.

"I was hoping we would catch them by surprise." Bran shook his head.

"The female was scratching trees while the male was resting just outside the nest. I'm a bit surprised too, since stonefur bears sleep for at least sixteen hours a day in this season, but the female looked energetic, and pairs are known to sleep together." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Any chance they will go to sleep soon?" Casper asked.

"No, I don't think so. Not for the next few hours, and by then it will be dusk." Axel nodded, then his eyes raked across the path the scouts had come from.

"How far is it?"

"About two hundred paces from here," Bran replied, pointing vaguely westward.

"The nest itself is set under a rocky rise. Natural stone shelves, thick roots, and there's a large clearing out in the front. Plenty of cover too in the trees." Rancour exhaled and rolled his shoulders.

"Perfect for an ambush."

"If we don't fuck it up, that is," Axel muttered, and Bran stepped back, his report over. The next twenty minutes went by discussing their plan of action. Quinn made a sketch of the nest area on the ground with a stick, and they discussed flanking and ambush spots while the rest of the soldiers got a much-needed break before the battle. Axel and Rancour were surprisingly aligned on where to place the men.

Casper's position was set behind a small group of soldiers who would protect her, so she could hurl her spells toward the bears. But the place where the two squad leaders disagreed was which soldiers to assign where. Rancour wanted his best men on the high points, probably to protect them, while Axel kept reminding him that none of them were archers or high-leveled enough to justify that. Even Jason, who was Rancour's toughest fighter, was probably best on the ground, fighting the bears head-on.

That took most of the time, and in the end, Casper interjected, unwilling to waste more of it. She divided the positions herself, giving both squads equal men on the higher ground while both squad leaders would assist the force on the ground. As for Rayne, his party was given both the easiest and toughest job.

"You and your party will take the high ground," Casper said, looking directly at him. She pointed toward the sketch of a cluster of thick-limbed trees growing out of a sloped stone shelf overlooking the clearing. From there, one could see nearly everything and have the best view of the fight.

"We are going to kill the female bear first. Once she's dead, the male will surely be enraged. That will be when you and your party come in. If you jump in and strike from behind when it's in a berserk state, we can kill it quickly." Rancour grunted.

"You are giving away an important position to him." Casper stared at him blankly.

"He and his party have proven themselves. You don't have to worry. I know the risks, and he will do a good job." Axel exhaled, then put a hand on Rayne's shoulder.

"No heroics. Make sure your blade finds the gap between the bear's stone armour." Rayne nodded, and without wasting any time, every soldier was readily told to prepare and given their positions. His party looked happy when he told them about their role, but he poured water over them before they could get too excited.

"Just because we are going to be entering the battle late doesn't mean we would stay completely out of it," he said as they moved through the forest again.

"I want you all to be completely prepared for anything and be battle-ready."

"You have become more and more like Bran after getting the party leader position," Nate muttered, and Bran grunted, now walking with them. Rayne wondered if that was true. He had indeed tried to project a more serious tone, at least when giving orders, but it wasn't like he could joke around when they would be fighting monsters that could crush them in one swing. They reached the edge of the clearing gradually, the forest thinning just enough to open into a wide bowl-shaped space.

The air smelled of wet stone and sap, with an undercurrent of something musky and animal. Everything was quiet. Too quiet, as if even the insects seemed reluctant to buzz too loudly.

"Here," Axel whispered, lifting a clenched fist. The squads slowed to a halt. Around him, movement flickered as soldiers took their positions. Rancour's squad fanned out along the left side of the clearing, slipping between rocks and fallen logs. Jason moved with them, expression tight but focused, Quinn close behind him, leading a small squad of archers that would be moving to higher ground. Axel gestured sharply, and Rayne's party peeled away to the right. They steadily climbed the thickest of the trees.

Natural steps were formed by knotted bark and old growth, and he took full advantage of them. Rayne hauled himself up first as he found a perch high enough to give him a clear view of the clearing without breaking the canopy line. Kesh followed, grunting softly as he settled beside him, while Nate took a position slightly lower, crossbow braced against a forked branch. Bran moved farther back, already nocking arrows, his eyes never leaving the bears. John and Heins settled around him.

From here, he could see the clearing clearly, and it was exactly as Bran had described. Wide open, with logs put together to make a resting spot under a rocky rise. But that didn't take his attention. The stonefur bears did. They looked far bigger than what he had imagined. The female sat near a tree, its massive body curled slightly inward. The fur was a dull gray-brown, thick and coarse, but beneath it, veins of stone-like plating jutted through in overlapping ridges.

But it was the male that drew Rayne's full attention. It lay farther out in the nest, half in the open, one foreleg stretched forward like a fallen tree trunk, eyes closed—but it was clearly awake and kept shifting. It was larger than the female by a clear margin, its shoulders humped with muscle and stone plating that caught the light like rough granite. Its fur darkened toward his spine, almost black there, and his claws—gods, his claws—were long, curved, and chipped.

They could cut a man in half with a lazy swing. Even Rayne, with his inflated stats and trollskin armour, might not survive that. He knew that his stats would put him closer to the bears if they were around level 60, but monsters always had high base stats and mana fueling them. Their levels were hardly ever a true indication of their strength. Around him, all his party members took in a sharp breath, staring at the bears, and Rayne looked down. Most of the men had already taken their positions around the clearing.

Below them, Casper stepped into position near a cluster of boulders. She crouched low, a group of soldiers around her flanking her. The ambush would start with her spell. Once she injured the female enough, they would take her down fast while Axel and Rancour held off the male. Rayne watched with rapt attention as Casper straightened slightly. Mana immediately gathered around her hand, her spell matrix appearing in the air.

He couldn't tell what spell it was, but he knew it would be enough to break through the female's armour. Rayne held his breath. But then— The male's nose twitched. For a second, he thought his eyes were making things up before its eyes snapped open. The clearing froze in an instant, and Casper widened her eyes. The next second, the stonefur bear sucked in a massive breath and roared. The sound exploded outward—raw and thunderous—shaking leaves from branches and sending a shockwave through the ground.

Birds burst from the trees in a frenzy as the bear surged to its feet, head immediately snapping towards Casper. Then, it charged.

A/N - Also, the quest terminology is because of the history of the world. It should be explained sometime in Volume 2. Read 50 chapters ahead Join the discord server HERE.