Chapter 323 - Day MXCIII, Part II

The first part of the cave we cleared very easily, using fire. The second was a bit harder, but the flames also made it a walk in the park. For the third, I just used my skills and got rid of the bears relatively quickly.

Then we made it to the door. Silver, like the ones to the werewolf chamber. There was a spheric shape on them, that resembled a moon. At least for me, it did. We took a short break there, to make sure we are in perfect condition before facing the boss.

I sat next to Will on the ground, turning my magic off. The darkness surrounded us.

- One day I want to take my son to a place like this. I want to show him how cool his father became - he started.

- You asshole, you want me to feel guilty don't you?

- No. I get the task is hard, and everything. You will do it eventually. I believe you, Peter. And I don't want you to rush things. I'm just saying... Wouldn't it be cool to teach him how to hunt?

- Yeah... It definitely would.

- Right now he probably thinks his looser father is hiding somewhere, drunk or high, or maybe even dead.

- One day, you asshole, one day... Not now though, and stop talking.

He chuckled.

- Damn, Peter. We made it so far. Do you ever think about it? We got rid of those who wanted to enslave people here, we build a better environment for others, we survived an invasion of monsters, and got rid of aliens trying to kill us. Well... It was mostly you when I think about it.

- It's because you assholes are lazy. I'm breaking my back, while you are sunbathing, and drinking cocktails.

Will laughed.

- Lt's kill the bear, or whatever it is behind those doors - he said after a moment and picked himself up.

I lighted up the fire again and approached the door. Then I pushed it, revealing a giant, oval space brightly showered in white light coming from the ceiling, very high up. If I had to guess I would say it was at least two hundred meters in diameter. In the middle was a simple throne, made out of stone, with rather a small, light brown bear sleeping on it.

The animal woke up, as we entered the chamber, and slowly got up, then jumped down, and started transforming. I immediately activated all the necessary skills, making the void essence slip through the floor. This caught Will's attention as he started circling around the boss, with a freshly summoned claymore in his hands.

The bones cracked, and popped out of the sockets, as the animal bulked up, growing and growing in volume. It became obvious very soon that it will have a monstrous size. The fur got darker and darker, until the creature finally stretched out, revealing its final form. Five meters tall, a humanoid-looking cluster of muscle with a bear head. 

The roar let out by the boss shook the ground, and the beast immediately leaped forward at me. I dodged using the shadow walk. The impact created a small earthquake, and splinters of rock flew all around with the sonic wave that almost got me deaf.

In terms of brutal power, I never faced anything like that thing. In terms of speed too, as I had to dodge its claws almost immediately.

It tried to butcher me swinging those thick as log arms, and bite my head off. Thanks to the shadow walk, I repositioned several times, dancing around it, and delivering strong cuts that penetrated the fur and flesh, but not bones.

The werewolf level of regeneration was nothing compared to the werebear, as the blood couldn't even leave the wound before it was closed.

- Fuck - escaped my mouth, as I was battling that thing.

- Need any help?! - asked will from a safe distance.

- Don't get anywhere near! If you can do something from a distance, go for it!

And a sword came flying. It sunk deep into the back of the boss.

- I'm out of ammo! - shouted Will.

I almost facepalmed. Only the claws coming my way stopped me. The situation wasn't looking good.

I summoned the shadows to distract the enemy, and quickly created some inconvenient barriers around, to interrupt the boss's movement. Then used created in this way openings, to deliver as much damage as I could. It looked promising for a moment but quickly became obvious that this won't work either.

I needed something better, but I still had one trick up my sleeve. Fire.

Using shadow walk, I kept circling around the beast, and with the left hand, I sprayed flames all over it, cutting mercilessly with my pudao. The tempo of the fight changed, as the boss went full berserk, and started trashing everything in the vicinity.

I easily extended and shortened the distance to avoid any damage, while nonstop throwing the flames at him. He even tried to escape, at some point, but I had no problem by sticking close enough.

The heat was immense, but since I wasn't the one burning, I could withstand it. This plus several cuts added here and there eventually brought the boss down. It didn't die though. The skin was boiling on its back, as the whole body hit the ground groaning quietly in pain.

Some parts turned straight to charcoal, others actually started to turn back to the original form. I realized that I don't have much time, and immediately cut the head off in few powerful swings.

- Well fuck me - said Will, coming closer. - That was a very nasty fight.

- Yeah. I feel kinda bad, but I couldn't take him down in another way. This regeneration was insane.

- I saw.

- You can pick your sword. Although It might be a bit hot.

- Nah. I'll live it here. We are going back, so I won't need it anyway. We should start picking up the crystals.

After that comment, I shadow walked back to the city to get us some backpacks. Then returned, and used my shadows and 'Telekinesis' to make the process faster. We ended up collecting 664 crystals, plus the boss one, which I took.

Back in the city we sold what we earned, and then went our separate ways, both tired by the travel we made in a single day.

The day came to an end with 15 604 489 points remaining on my account, and thirty-eight class points.