Chapter 29: Alpha Bear Showdown [1]

You ever get that weird and awkward silence after a big argument? Yeah. That was me and the Alpha Bear right now.

Except the “argument” was me exploding his friend’s face and the “awkward silence” was him staring at me like he was calculating how many bites it would take to eat my corpse.

His blackish-brown fur didn’t just look intimidating anymore, it was literally radiating with a blinding blue glow, like someone had shoved lightning under his skin.

And those cold brown eyes… they weren’t just looking at me. They were promising me a slow, educational death. The kind where you learn valuable life lessons like how many ribs you actually have and how quickly they can be snapped in half.

I looked around me.

Dense green forest with thick and towering trees that made everything feel smaller… covered us.

And somewhere among them were ten more traps I had set. Beautiful little death machines just waiting for a volunteer.

I could definitely force—ahem—ask the bear politely to volunteer. Most of them promised at least a serious injury.

But really… What’s the fun in that?

I’m a proud martial artist. So how could I possibly use deception to defeat my enemies? It’s totally against my principles.

As for the other bears I may have killed with traps and other “creative” methods… that was on them. If they had just kept things civil and come at me one by one without cursing in their weird cryptic bear growl, I would’ve fought them fair and square. Definitely.

But no, they had to be shitbags.

My body was drenched in sweat, my hair plastered to my forehead—obviously making me as devastatingly charming as ever—my lungs burned from all the running but that wasn’t the point.

The point was, I didn’t have a single scratch on me.

And the Alpha Bear? Yeah, it wasn’t as pristine as me. Its body was riddled in small cuts all over its body.

When that sadistic bastard Razek dumped me near their den, the first thing I did was keep my distance and start hurling cards at them, trying to thin the herd.

And honestly, it worked… sort of. I managed to take out two but the Alpha had one tiny problem: it was built like a damn tank. Every time I aimed for it or its companion, it just blocked my attacks like swatting away flies.

That’s also why I was luring them instead of just sniping from afar—no point throwing my cards at a wall when it didn’t work. It only consumed my mana.

Just then my senses, enhanced passively by [Ember Sense] tingled. Which was kind of pointless, because who needs magical danger instincts when you can literally see an ugly-ass bear lunging straight at you?

Its claws were aimed straight for my face. I dropped my stance immediately, ducking as the claws met the empty air with a swish sound.

Probably just jealous of my looks.

I didn’t give the poor bear the time to launch another one of its deadly attacks and launched an attack of my own at its ribs.

Mana pulsed through my knuckles in short bursts.

This was my martial arts [VoidPulse] —it revolved around timing bursts of mana through my muscles to explode power out in short but lethal pulses.

Because, let’s be real, there’s no way I was going to scratch that walking tank without a little added firepower.

My strike connected in, the burst detonating on contact.

Crack.

The attack from my knuckles hit harder than my punch had any right to.

Hell, it was harder than my current level should’ve even dreamed of. Especially since I reached Two Star Initial Mastery.

The bear staggered back, its fur scorched slightly. My own knuckles buzzed from the impact but damn, it was worth it.

I could see slight fear in its eyes as it looked at me now… and how it didn’t attack me immediately.

I mean it was valid, a few moments ago, it was all hyped up, charging me with confidence, thinking it had found easy prey.

But now? Its buddies were corpses and its “easy prey” was apparently capable of punching shockwaves into existence. The poor guy probably wished he’d stayed home with his girlfriend instead of picking fights with random strangers.

That’ll kill your mood real quick.

Up close, I could tell it was young. Couldn’t tell you how to measure bear years but it didn’t have that seen-it-all vibe of an old pack leader. More like the kind of hotheaded rookie who charges in just because someone looked at him funny.

And now that rookie was realizing he had picked the wrong guy. It jumped back immediately.

But I didn’t have time to hand out redemption arcs.

With a quick burst of mana from my feet, the ground cracked and the world blurred. In the next moment, I was right in front of it.

This little trick was called [VoidPulse Step]—an application of my martial arts where I detonate mana pulses through my feet to propel myself

When I first learned it, I couldn’t control it and kept smashing into trees. Broke a lot of bones back then. But it was all good now.

The bear swiped its claws instinctively.

I was ready.

I ducked, let its claws cut nothing but air and at the same time, pumped mana into my fist.

Before it could pull back, I shot my punch into the same spot as before, my knuckles sinking into its warm fur.

The only way to hurt a tough beast like this was to keep hammering the same spot until its body gave in.

The bear froze, its eyes darkened slightly.

Did it die alrea—?

Before I could celebrate my success, a blinding blue light erupted out of it.

My instincts screamed but I was too slow. A wave of raw energy blasted out, slamming into me like a speeding truck.

My body flew as I crashed into a tree. A few splinters stabbed into my skin. My vision blurred and for a moment I could see three suns in the sky. One of them looked suspiciously like my cloak. Probably mocking me from the afterlife.

My thoughts went blank.

…What was I doing again?

Just then, a system window came into view.

[Passive Effect of Ring of Serenity Activated]

Immediately a cool sensation spread throughout my body, my head was forced steady.

If it wasn’t for the B-Rank artifact I extorted–I mean received from the Valenthrone family, I would have still been seeing stars.

The artifact had a mind calming effect which could neutralise pain for a few moments but that didn’t mean I was healed… my body was still broken.

I spotted the bear a few metres ahead, kneeling.

Then the ground rumbled.

Another shockwave erupted from it but at this distance, it barely moved me.

Its fur darkened, changing into a deep and furious red.

Oh crap, it’s powering up…

… Maybe I was the idiot who picked a fight with the wrong guy.

______

Author’s Note:

Alright, that’s another Chapter done! 🐻💥

I would love to hear what you think.

Was the fight solid? Did the pacing keep you hooked or should I speed things up/slow things down in places?

Your feedback in the comments really helps me fine-tune things (and occasionally slap myself when I miss something obvious).

Also, keep those Power Stones and Golden Tickets coming. They give me the creative chaos spikes I need to keep writing this madness — the more you send, the more fuel I have to throw at the next Chapter.

See you in the next one!

P.S. Sorry for the slow updates the last few days — was caught up with something. I’ll try to update daily starting tomorrow!

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