Chương 13: Firebear

CH 13 - Firebear

"Jim!" Grey shouted. His buddy strutted down a stairway from the second level of Prometheus' City, fitted in new fancy gear.

"Lookin' good, bud'." said Grey, giving his friend a light punch on the arm. Tight leather gloves gripped his fists. Subtle runes glowed along the knuckles. His clothes were different, too. Now, he had on only boxer shorts. Colorful patterns adorned its stitching. Grey's (Sense Mana) told him that whatever material made up the stitching was empowering the shorts.

"Thanks!" Jim said.

"Are you going to buy gear?" Grey thought about it. After the books he'd bought, he didn't have too many Wishing Coins left.

"Maybe. I'll look before we go. I don't think we should stay at the hostel tonight. I don't think we'll gain much from it. We should just save our coins," Grey said.

"Good idea. I'm going to stock up on camping supplies before we go. Meet at the door in about an hour." Jim said, dancing away towards the boxing sects with a smile on his face. Grey stopped by the dwarf's workshop. The clothes he bought last time were still fine. Grey looked at what the shop offered for a while before the dwarf spoke up, offering advice.

"Speed, strength, or wisdom?" The dwarf asked.

"Wisdom." The dwarf stared for a moment.

"I didn't fancy you a spellcaster." Grey smiled meekly.

"I'm new to it." Ryzen explained to Grey that mages like having high WIS, since it makes spellcasting easier.

"Close combat or ranged?" The dwarf asked, looking through shelves and cabinets at the back of his store.

"Both. I have a talent for alteration magic. My elemental affinities are shadow, bone, and blood… I have a lot of close-combat body transformations for battle."

"Hmm.. Wait.. Huh?" the dwarf said to himself.

"Three elemental affinities?" he asked.

"Yeah… I-""Keep that to yourself! Don't run around makin' yourself a target. That's a big deal." The shopkeeper hurried his search as he flipped through the countless items he had in stock. The tip of his red hair stuck out from the low shelves as he shouted, "Ahah!" He returned quickly to Grey with three items. The first was a cloak. It was black as night, mysteriously darker than the color black. The inside subtly sparkled the longer Grey stared at it.

"Night Cloak." The dwarf held up the equipment to model it.

"Shadows cling to it. With shadow magic, you should be able to conceal yourself with it." He swung the cloak into the dark corner of the desk, and as he pulled it free, shadows stuck to it like a spiderweb, making it harder to see. Pretty cool.

"Second," the dwarf pulled a bone staff up from a chest. About as long as a walking stick, it was clearly designed to be relatively comfortable to move about with. That being said, it was long and could be cumbersome.

"A typical magic staff aimed at enhancing magic, this one is made from wyvern bone. Very rare. I can't get rid of it because bone mages hardly exist anymore, so it's on sale." Grey looked at it. He knew little about staves, but it looked impressive.

"Why do bone mages not exist?" Grey asked. The dwarf looked through his things to find the final object for Grey to choose from.

"Well, I'm not sure. I think all the deities that mastered bone manipulation are in hiding or something. It's just not something commonly specialized in. Not many resources." He shifted through a few more things before revealing something striking.

"This." The final item was a hat. Dark red, like blood, its crimson tone held a regal beauty about itself.

"Quite a scary piece of armor, but blood mages manipulate this hardened raptor blood to defend themselves during battle. It's a common piece of equipment for a blood mage, but essential for a beginner."

"Why not just use my own blood?" Grey asked. The dwarf held up the hat. It was big; the front and back hung off it intentionally, with a tall brim maximizing the volume.

"Pfffft… You want to remove this much blood from yourself, harden it, then use that to defend yourself?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yeah right."

"Yeah… right." Grey said to himself. Not sure why I didn't come up with that myself. I guess for most people it would be dangerous to do that, but I should be able to do it with my ability and enough mana. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Grey pondered the practicality of each item before him. Ultimately, he decided on the Night Cloak (E) for its usefulness to him.

Currently, Grey didn't have any bone spells to utilize the staff, and he might be able to emulate the hat through the safety of (Shapeshifting), and (Regenerative Cells). Also, it looked the coolest. When Grey said goodbye, the dwarf looked sad but pretended not to care. He was a weird guy; at least he was honest. As soon as he was out of sight from the arms-dealer, he opened a small cut on his finger and used (Blood Manipulation) to draw out blood. Then, he hardened it.

On the tip of Grey's pointer was a miniature shield. Now, if he could just 10x its size without passing out from blood loss, he'd basically have the defense buff the hat would have given him. [New Skill: Blood Shield (F): Manipulate and harden blood to create shields against attacks.] —— Once again, and for the final time, Grey and Jim looked back on Prometheus City. It's strange, tower-like design perplexed Grey, yet he didn't question it much.

When the two stepped through the doors and back into Earth, light shimmered and broke until reality twisted back to the house he and Jim were hiding in. Grey left the bedroom he had been cultivating in before travelling to the City and found Jim outside, where he had been practicing footwork drills.

"I feel pretty good about what's ahead." Jim said. Knocking a fist into his palm.

"Yeah. I think we're pretty strong, but who knows what's out there." Silence fell over them both as they looked around the deserted streets of Minneapolis. Off in the distance, a loud screech could be heard. Perhaps the giant crow or another beast.

"What happened to Kenny was fucked up, man. I can't stop thinking about it…" Jim said. Grey looked at his face. His eyes looked weak. The strong and happy demeanor Jim always showed was gone.

"All we can to is get stronger. Let's not lose anyone else. And besides, we don't know if Kenny is dead. The gnomes took him." Grey's ears pricked up as they caught a sound from his right. He turned to see a familiar person running down an alley. Jim must have seen him too, because even before Grey could speak, both of them took off running. The crazy guy who stabbed Kenny! The bum who infiltrated Grey's apartment and ate all his pie! The same bum that stabbed an innocent kid he had just met!

Grey's legs couldn't move fast enough to catch the rat bastard. Jim ran off faster than Grey could keep up with. Even with (Boost) activated, Grey's top speed wouldn't match the martial artist's agility. Swift steps between rubble and obstacles closed the distance between the evil bum and Jim. They turned a corner, leaving Grey's sight. He continued on, pushing as fast as he could manage. After turning right, Grey lost sight of them. His ears told him they were ahead, then left; and so he kept running.

As he followed his ears through the alley, Grey turned a corner to face a massive obstacle. A giant red-haired beast stood on its hind legs, clearly upset by the sudden commotion. [Quest - Defeat Firebear (E)] [Reward: Wishing Coins,???] Shit. Grey looked for a way around the bear in order to keep up with Jim. Unfortunately, the bear didn't like the idea of that. It charged Grey with powerful speed. The Firebear reared upwards, roaring out a blast of fire in a cone.

Grey dodged swiftly, but the bear pushed forward, slashing giant claws at his chest. Grey summoned a chestplate of bone at the last moment to soften the blow, but it knocked him back. From his palm, Grey formed a bone sword, slashing at the bear as it attacked. His bone sword did little against the durable frame of the monster-sized bear. The firebear was nearly double the size of a normal grizzly bear. Which meant that it was huge, bigger than a polar bear.

A sphere of domination filled the air, burning the grass all around them; the bear's aura was fiery, and without fear. This aura is more powerful than mine, Grey thought, a scary thing to consider. Grey sized up the monster and activated (Boost). Immediately, he felt full of energy. Mana fueled his muscles, making him feel like he could run a few marathons without breaking a sweat. The only issue with (Boost) is that it ran on his mana; as soon as his mana ran out, it would deactivate.

Not only that, if he pushed his body past its limits, he would get a backlash of fatigue after it's effects ran out. This meant he would have to end the fight quickly. Grey concentrated mana into his legs and launched towards the bear at 120% power. Using speed as his advantage, he slashed towards the bear with his sword, hoping to land the first strike. The firebear's fur let out puffs of smoke as it lashed out at Grey with razor-sharp claws. Streaks of flame trailed behind the claws as they cut through the air.

BOOM. Grey's sword collided with a claw, and an explosion sent him flipping backwards. Landing as gracefully as he could, Grey kept pressing the attack, taking advantage of his superior speed. The bear's attacks had serious strength behind them, and its flames burned hot enough to make Grey keep his distance. But the bear was slow. Grey relentlessly attacked at 120% strength. Slash after slash of his sword lashed at his foe, building up a rhythm of offense.

He landed a few cuts on the bear's arms before he backed off in retreat. The bear responded by throwing balls of fire at him. His armor could only defend him so much, and an explosion burnt all the hair off his legs. A cut on his hand leaked blood. Using (Blood Manipulation), Grey drew more from his body, hardening it into a shield he could levitate with magic. My mana is at half now. I need to keep some in reserve. Who knows what Jim is dealing with alone right now?

Grey deactivated (Boost) and felt a flood of tiredness. Pushing his muscles at 120% tore apart his tissues and muscles. Fireballs continued coming at him, but his blood shield protected him. Feels like I've been in the gym for a few days straight. Normally, a person would be out of a fight from a backlash like this. But Grey just smiled and activated (Shapeshifting). Using mana as energy for his regeneration, he repaired his muscles quickly before the bear could retaliate. Healing cost him a good chunk of mana.

Left with a quarter of a tank, he decided to save the rest for an emergency. The bear was bleeding all over its arms, but its flames cauterized the wounds. From its hind legs, it moved onto all fours and charged at Grey. Puffs of smoke came from its fur before it erupted in flames, boosting the animal's speed significantly. Looks like he's got a boosting skill too… Grey poised his sword. I should really learn how to actually use this weapon, he thought.

Finding a swordmaster or martial arts school would really help me get stronger. He liked swords; he always thought they were cool. The problem was that he had never wielded one before the integration. The bear charged forward in a fury and met Grey's strike head-on. Through delicate patience, Grey found an opening. (Boost) charged his muscles at 150% for a lethal strike. Using up the rest of his mana reserves, Grey swung the sword down on the bear's head and sliced halfway through its face.

The bear must have thought that Grey's boost ability had a cooldown, or that he was out of mana, leaving itself exposed that way. The bear dropped to the floor, dead. Its body burnt away, leaving a pile of ash Grey collected swiftly, running to catch up with Jim and the maniac who stabbed Kenny. (Firebear slain): +15 exp.