6 The First Mission In This New Life (1/2)

”So, where are you from?” Viscerin asked as they walked along the road. Her bobbed brown hair swayed as the wind swept past them. She seemed energetic. The midday sun forced a sweat to emerge from Jin's brow. Behind them, Thompson and Goljin bickered amongst themselves.

”I was born in the forest, west of here.” Jin replied. He tried to remain as calm as he could, but uncertainty was present within his heart. How should he articulate his thoughts? What attitude is considered normal for outsiders?

”But, doesn't that place have a ton of monsters?” Viscerin asked.

”It does.”

”I can't imagine growing up in a place like that.” Thompson added from behind. ”I'll take warm beds and cold drinks over rippers and ice-wolves any day of the week.”

”Rippers?” Jin asked.

”You never saw any?” Viscerin asked.

”No, what are those?”

”A legend.” Thompson said. ”My dad used to tell me about them. Big, black beasts with claws the size of children.”

”… No, I can't say I've seen anything like that.” Jin replied.

”What have you seen?” Viscerin asked.

”Well, ice-wolves are all over the place, those were mainly the things we had to deal with. Thunder-bears, halanxes and the like.”

”You've killed thunder-bears?” Viscerin asked.

”Yeah, a few times.” Jin replied. ”Is that unusual?”

”A twig like you killed a thunder-bear? You expect us to believe that?” Goljin said.

”Hey, Goljin, be nice!” Viscerin reprimanded.

”He's lying. Just trying to impress ya. You'd have better luck tellin' us you killed a dragon” He added.

Jin was slighted, but he kept his mouth shut. Was this also common? He didn't like it, but until he was sure of outsider's intentions when they spoke, he'd have to learn first and respond later.

Eventually, they came across a few guards standing by the side of the road. There was dried blood just up ahead. He heard Thompson gag behind him, but the sight left Jin unperturbed. He'd seen dried blood many times before. His own blood, of course.

”Are you here for the thunder-bear?” One guard asked.

”H-How'd you know?” Jin replied.

”You've all got weapons on ya. You're young. Either you're adventurers, or you're bandits. I'm sure it's the former, right?”

”Right!” Viscerin said, anxiety in her voice.

”Good. The thunder-bear is somewhere to the east of here. Good luck with that.” Something about the way the guard spoke told Jin he didn't expect them to succeed. Why? It was just a thunder-bear. He remembered how, in the conversation he just had a few minutes ago, Viscerin's group didn't believe him when he said he hunted them. Do outsiders fear them?

Jin began walking towards the trees to the east. His mind slowly slipped into the space it occupied just a day ago, when he called nature his home. Do we bait it out? No, nothing to do it with. No time. How to find it? Track it, of course. It took no time at all to find the indented spots on the ground where the bear had gone through.

”Let's go.” Jin said.

”Shouldn't we wait for it to come to us?” Viscerin asked.

”No need.” Jin shrugged. I guess hunting isn't as common around here. He started following the patterns on the ground. Viscerin and the others walked behind him.

”He doesn't even know where he's going…” Goljin whispered.

”Shut up.” Thompson replied.

”There.” Jin announced. His eyes squinted as he kept his sight locked on the distance ahead.

”I don't see anything.” Viscerin said.

”Let's go back, this is stupid, we should…” Goljin began, when suddenly, a roar sounded in the air, far away. Jin looked back, just in time to see everyone with him turn pale. They were afraid now. It was like they didn't actually expect to find this thing. He saw how Viscerin's bottom lip quivered. If they're going to be here, I can't just go wild like I always do. I'm going to have to play this how me and Elizabeth hunted. He remembered the first time he hunted alongside his aunt. He was so excited he could barely contain himself. What did she say again? Right. When you're hunting with others, it's best to see what each of you can do and formulate a strategy where everyone can apply their strengths, and make up for their weaknesses.

He looked at each of the three outsiders behind him. Viscerin was an archer, Thompson was a ”healer” whatever that was, and Goljin carried an axe. The problem was, he didn't know how skilled they were respectively. For now, he'd just have to trust them. That was strange to him, having to trust an outsider. Would this happen often?

”Thunder-bears can cast lightning magic on any ranged threat. It's best if you keep yourself hidden.” He told Viscerin. ”Same goes for you.” He told Thompson. He was carrying a staff, what was that even for? He only knew magic from what he'd seen animals use, and from his own [Fireball] spell, but none of them needed a staff for that. Did he plan on fighting with that thing? That just seemed impractical. ”You,” he started telling Goljin.

”Don't try to tell me what to do.” Goljin snapped out of his fear just long enough to say. Fine then. Jin brushed his comment off and turned back towards the bear in the distance.

”Let's go.” Before he could even finish his sentence, Goljin had ran off. He was charging at the thing. Jin wondered what was happening. He was clearly scared to death, so why did he feel the need to do this?

It didn't take long for the thunder-bear to notice them. It sat up, ripping it's claws away from the careth it had just preyed on, and roared at them. The threat caused Goljin to freeze. Jin hadn't gone after him, he wanted to wait to see if Goljin knew what he was doing. The answer was clear now, as indicated by the stain, forming and growing from between his legs. Jin looked to his side and saw Viscerin nervously nocking an arrow. She shot it with her eyes closed, and the arrow flew straight into Goljin's calf. What the hell is going on? Jin asked himself as he ran out.

The bear was just about to land on top of the freshly wounded Goljin, when Jin launched a [Fireball] at it. This is bad. He thought. Like, really bad.

The projectile did nothing to actually hurt the beast, but as its eyes fell on Jin, its purpose was fulfilled. Jin began running to the left, trying to strafe away from Goljin, to keep the thunder-bear away from him. Of course, he had forgotten why thunder was a part of that animal's name.

As he continued, a bolt of lightning surged just past his head. If he had been moving just a tad slower, his body would have become a few pounds lighter. The beast didn't let up, and one by one, Jin just barely managed to evade several yellow lightning bolts headed his way.

Viscerin watched as Jin attempted to dodge the bear's spells. She realized that she and her friends had led Jin to this precarious position, and she had to make up for it. She nocked another arrow, and breathed, trying to calm herself. Narrowing her eyes, she fired. The arrow found the bear's neck.

Jin turned when he noticed the lack of danger coming his way. He saw that the thunder-bear had staggered back a few steps. There was an arrow protruding from its neck. He looked in Viscerin's direction, and saw her baffled expression, as if she wasn't convinced herself that she had done this. That surprise turned into panic as the bear began casting magic in her direction. She hid behind a tree that was subsequently blown away. He couldn't see her anymore, as the debris fell around where she had been.

He ran forwards, his sword aimed at his enemy. The bear had turned away from him, he had an opening.

Viscerin got up and looked around. Her ears rang for just a second. The space around her looked utterly destroyed. Where was she? It didn't take long for her to hear the growls and snarls behind her. She turned, and her eyes widened when they met the scene in front of her.

Jin rolled to the side, the bear descended on the spot where he had been not a second earlier. It grunted as it swiped a claw-ridden paw towards Jin. He stabbed through its arm as it swung in his way. The bear let out a large roar and tried to charge Jin. He backed away for a moment, and launched another [Fireball] at it, that caught its eyes. The bear flailed its head, but still charged, as Jin thought it would. However, the magic he had used was starting to strain his body. Indeed, two [Fireballs] was all it took to tire him. He noticed Thompson in the distance, kneeled beside Goljin, casting something, aiming the tip of his wooden staff at Goljin's calf.

As the beast hurled itself forwards, Jin snapped back and ran to the side. The bear had its eyes closed and couldn't see that Jin had evaded him. Instead, it ran straight into a tree. The tree shook, and the bear clumsily stepped back, shaking its head. Jin ran up to it. This was the best chance he was going to get to end this fight.

He ran up, and jumped on top of it, straddling the beast. It began swiping wildly due to his foreign presence, but Jin would not relent. He pulled his arm back and plunged the sword into its neck once more. Again, and again, he stabbed the thing. At a point, the bear stopped struggling, and fell to the side, causing Jin to fall as well. He rolled and ended up lying face up. The fight was over. He had won.

Yet, his arms still shook. He had gotten dangerously close to dying. If he had been told a day ago that he'd have this much trouble dealing with a thunder-bear, he would have laughed. Luckily, he hadn't gotten injured. Then he remembered the ones he had come here with.