Chương 30: Solo Mission - Theo (5)

A horde of blood bears. That was something Theo had gotten used to seeing whilst exploring the cave. Their eyes faintly lit up the cave in front of him. Their fur was as red as blood, earning them the name 'blood bears'. Their faces were painted with an expression which signalled that they were ready to kill. Yet Theo wasn't fazed at all. In fact, he was never more ready to kill mana beasts than he was when he looked at the closest one straight in the eye.

"Blood bears my ass," Theo declared.

"This is gonna be an easy seventeen kills." In the space of just a few weeks, Theo had killed countless mana beasts on three different planets: the mana lions back on Earth, the jaguars and the rhinos on Planet 501 and the blood bears on Planet 502. Oh yeah, he had also contributed to the defeat of the big Boss on Planet 501. The one that was deemed half in the legendary level. So there was no excuse for Theo to be scared of seventeen blood bears when he had defeated beasts that were way harder to kill in the past.

"The easiest seventeen kills of my life." Theo was getting arrogant. Roar! Yes, think like that, Theo. This is going to be the easiest seventeen kills of my life. They have one foot in the basic stage. There's nothing to be scared of. Without warning, Theo charged towards the stampeding seventeen blood bears and thrust his sword into the nearest one. Stab! A clean stab.

"Easy kill." However, the blood bear continued running despite having a sword in its body. It wasn't fazed. But Theo didn't care. He released his weapon from the bear's body, used his teleportation skill and stabbed the bear again, this time on its side. Stab! The bear still didn't go down.

"This is taking up too much of my time," Theo grumbled. Frustration was building up in his brain, making him gradually lose his sanity.

"I have sixteen more of these bloody blood bears to defeat!" [Skill, 'Enhanced Strength (basic)', has been activated]. Bam! And what was the best way to release that frustration? To use brute force. The bear that Theo had stabbed several times, the bear that still put up a fight even after being stabbed, was sent careening towards the nearest wall of the cave. A faint cracking sound resonated as all of its bones broke on impact. Theo stretched his arms wide and nodded his head.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, he rehearsed inside his head. The other sixteen blood bears didn't care that their comrade had just been launched into the wall like a rocket. All they cared about was their own safety. Something which they were definitely going to lose. There was no need for them to get revenge on their fallen comrades when they couldn't guarantee that they would make it out of this fight alive.

"Don't you dare mess with me!" Theo hollered at the top of his voice. The sword moves Theo had in his arsenal were graceful and refined; it was like he had taken over the body of an experienced swordsman. With those moves, Theo managed to deliver satisfying stabs to two of the blood bears. Stab! Stab! Little volcanoes of blood erupted from the bears' wounds, but they continued to attack Theo like the wounds were nothing.

"These bears are definitely stronger than the ones I just fought," Theo thought to himself.

"They're not going down after single stabs." Roar! In fact, they seemed to match the level of confidence Theo was proudly exuding.

"Now we're talking," Theo said proudly.

"This is my type of fight." Even though they were in the middle of a fight, Theo still had a few hidden tricks up his sleeve, and those tricks started with reaching into his pocket for a few basic mana crystals and breaking them in front of the bears. You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 1. Trait, 'Strength', has been upgraded by 3 points.

Strength: 55 → 58 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 3. Trait, 'Stamina', has been upgraded by 3 points. Stamina: 40 → 43 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 4. Trait, 'Intelligence', has been upgraded by 3 points.

Intelligence: 10 → 13 Theo must have done that at least five times, upgrading his traits mid-fight. It was because he knew straight away in his head which trait he wanted to increase, and he didn't need the system message to tell him what he should increase. He even upgraded his intelligence trait by a few points, which was a trait he had neglected since progressing to stage 4. All of his traits had increased during the fight.

He didn't care if this was a fair fight or not; he was going to do everything in his power to secure the win. In the eyes of the bears, this was total humiliation.

"Too bad beasts like you can't use mana crystals," Theo teased.

"Looks like I'll overpower you no matter what at the end of the day." He pounced. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Stab! Slash! All the bears at the back were cut in different ways, but none of them fell. In fact, teleporting to the middle of the horde of bears wasn't even the best move. It was one of the worst moves. Theo found himself surrounded by blood bears with nowhere to move. The bears had read his move perfectly.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. It was like they had been watching his previous fights.

"Crap, I should've put more points into intelligence." That was a regret Theo ended up suppressing.

"I just have to improvise. Bet they didn't see this coming." [Skill, 'Enhanced Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Wham! One punch. Just one punch. That one punch had enough force to send multiple bears flying. That was what it meant to have strength. This was what it meant to hunt down mana beasts. Three bears were down after just one seemingly basic punch. This was something never seen before. [Blood Bear (17/30)] Just thirteen more to go. Slash! Slash! Slash! Theo's sword was cutting through slices of cake.

The elegance of the moves were on full display. If one bear was still standing after a stab, Theo would punch the other healthy bears around him and then continue stabbing the wounded one until it died. It was a form of improvisation, but it was also such an ingenious solution. One that Theo would never have thought of in a regular situation.

"You are all meeting your demise today!" Theo boomed. Slash! Stab! A wave of moves followed, with each move seamlessly transitioning into the next. It was the most proficient modern swordsmanship one will ever see. Theo was on top of the world. Stab! Punch! Bam! After around twenty minutes, all seventeen blood bears were down on the floor, bleeding and on the verge of dying. Stab! Theo delivered one final blow to every bear. Stab! He mutilated each corpse to look for mana crystals. Slash!

The tearing of the flesh was oddly satisfying, and soon, Theo was addicted to it. Slash! Eventually, Theo collected all of the mana crystals the blood bears had to offer. He stood up, his arms dipped in the blood bears' blood as well as his own. [You have gained 900 XP for defeating 30 'Blood Bear (basic/advanced)'.] [Total XP: 1235/2000] [You have completed Mission 2/4: defeat the beasts.] He was halfway there. Two more missions left, and then he could leave this wretched place disguised as Planet Earth.

This place deserved to be left in its natural condition.

"How far does this cave go?" Theo wondered. He couldn't fathom such a large natural structure to be present in the middle of a forest. After walking for what felt like an hour, Theo stumbled upon a door on the left side of the cave.

"A door?" Although it seemed to blend in well with the stone walls, there was definitely a door where he had been staring. It was a wooden door which was the same colour as the stone surrounding it. Although the door itself looked like it had been installed just recently, the door handle had definitely seen better days; its once shiny surface was blanketed by a coat of fine rust. Theo's curiosity took over at that moment.

He wanted to see what was beyond that door; whether it was a vein of mana crystals or more mana beasts, he didn't care. Although the door handle was rusty, Theo put a hand on the handle and pushed open the door discreetly.

"What the hell am I looking at?" The scene in front of him once he pushed the door open didn't seem real. Simultaneously, a system message appeared. You have two new missions: • Mission 3/4: defeat the Boss • Mission 4/4: claim the item Theo didn't care about what the system window was telling him. First, he was going to have to get used to what he was seeing. Firstly, there was water inside the cave which formed a moat. Secondly, behind the moat was a ring of advanced mana crystals that hadn't been mined yet.

Thirdly, inside the moat, sat on a monstrous golden throne which was the perfect representation of a king, was a blood bear wearing a crown as gold as the throne itself. Light seemed to emanate from both the crown and the throne.

"How is this possible?" Theo whispered to himself. The bear was sitting nonchalantly like it was a human. And also, how could he not take his eyes away from the millions of advanced mana crystals Theo was going to get from this planet? Reluctantly, Theo turned his attention back to the blood bear sitting on the throne. It was wearing what looked like a designer necklace and it glared at Theo with threatening, portentous eyes.

"I have to defeat that thing?" Without saying a word, the bear got off the throne and began to walk towards Theo ominously on its hind legs. That was something Theo would never see every day. Do bears even walk on their hind legs? Theo was shuddering. This blood bear was significantly larger in size compared to the ones he had just fought. He couldn't grip his sword tightly enough to showcase his extravagant moves. All of his prior arrogance had disappeared as if it had run away from his brain on foot.

"S-Sorry for intruding," Theo stuttered. He read the details for the third mission in front of the bear whilst trembling uncontrollably. [Mission 3/4: defeat the Boss] Description: defeat the boss of this planet, the Ruler of the Blood Bears. Time limit: none Reward: the vein of advanced mana crystals in the throne room. Failure: death Surely the bear in front of him wasn't the Ruler of the Blood Bears but just a regular blood bear, right? [Ruler of the Blood Bears (advanced)] Shit.

How could that menacing, pompous mana beast with a condescending countenance that towered over Theo's six-foot-two athletic body be just at the advanced level?

"Get it together, Theo," Theo whispered to himself.

"It is just an ordinary advanced level mana beast. The boss back on Planet 501 was stronger than this, so just take it easy." One punch. Just one punch. Send this boss flying. Get it together and land a punch on this bear. It's just an ordinary blood bear who happens to be the king. Theo made up his mind. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.]"It's not going to suspect this." [Skill, 'Enhanced Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Just one punch! Bang! What? Theo looked up.

He was sure he had sent the blood bear flying, but then the shocking reality hit. Effortlessly and nonchalantly, and with just one hand, the blood bear had blocked Theo's monster superhuman punch haphazardly like it was nothing.

"I was sure I caught him off-guard! This was supposed to be an ambush!" Theo shouted out loud for the blood bear to hear.

"How the hell did it manage to block me like that? Has it been watching all of my previous fights on this planet?" This was probably the biggest reality check Theo was going to get as a skill user. He had been too arrogant. Too cold. Too bold. He had been overpowered by the Ruler of the Blood Bears. But that wasn't all. The blood bear had blocked Theo's punch with its right hand. With its left hand, the blood bear gave Theo a taste of his own medicine by sending its own superhuman punch Theo's way.

Theo, just like the blood bears he had sent flying and crashing into the cave walls, was sent airborne, crashing into the door of the throne room at breakneck speed. Bang!

"Kuack!" Theo coughed up a pool of blood as he hit the wall. It stained the floor of the throne room an awful red colour. It was like molten advanced-level mana crystals. An overwhelming pain seared through his body. Theo wasn't able to name a single body part that wasn't in pain. He had to have some internal injuries. That impact looked like it was enough to break every bone in his body from his shoulder down.

"No…" Theo couldn't let it all come crashing down here. [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Healing (basic)', has been activated.] Slowly but surely, mana began to heal Theo's wounds. However, since he had just been hit by an advanced-level punch and all of his skills were only at the basic level, it was going to take ages and a lot of mana for him to be fully healed.

"Shit." Theo couldn't say any more. Although he had both the recovery and healing skills active, he vomited out another pool of blood to add to the blood rain puddle already on the floor.

"Kuack!"

"Argh!" I can still fight. I can still get up and defeat that thing. I just have to believe! As long as I don't die, I can win. As long as I don't die. But the behemoth in front of him wasn't going to show him any mercy. It continued to stomp towards Theo, creating mini earthquakes in the throne room. Clop! Clop! It was coming closer. Clop! Clop! And it had more attacks up its sleeve. Its goal was simple: kill Theo and restore peace in the throne room.

In the bear's eyes, Theo was nothing more than a petty intruder. I can still do this, Theo thought to himself. It's not as strong as that thing back on Planet 501! I'm going to catch it off guard again! But his teleportation skill wasn't activating.

"What?" Theo was extremely puzzled.

"Why isn't my skill activating?" That was when he realised that the wounds he sustained were not closing up, and his breathing rate wasn't slowing down. The disheartening reality soon hit. [You have run out of mana.]