Instead of aiming at the bear, he pointed his bow skyward.

Not one, not two. But three arrows launched straight up, disappearing into the night sky.

The bear tilted its massive head, momentarily confused by this strange prey.

“That’s right, big guy. Watch the shiny distraction.” Ethan abandoned his cover, stepping into the clearing. No more ranged attacks. He needed to get close, to test his theory.

The bear’s roar shook leaves from branches as it charged towards him.

Ethan activated Enhanced Speed, darting to the side at the last possible moment.

The beast’s momentum carried it forward, crashing through the space he’d occupied.

“Too slow!” Ethan taunted, circling around.

The bear spun with surprising agility, one massive paw swiping a deadly arc.

Ethan ducked, but not quite fast enough.

The bear’s claws grazed his shoulder, tearing through flesh.

‘Hisss’

“Damn, he hits like a truck!”

Blood welled from the fresh wound, but Ethan kept moving.

He countered with a lightning-fast jab to the bear’s flank, his fist enhanced with metal. The impact would have shattered stone, but the bear barely flinched.

“Seriously?” Ethan backpedaled as another paw swipe nearly took his head off. “What does it take to hurt you?”

The dance continued.

Ethan striking, testing, probing for weakness.

Each attack targeting a different area.

Heart. Throat. Joints. Head.

The bear shrugged off most blows, but something interesting happened when Ethan landed a hit to its abdomen.

‘He flinched?’

It was the same flinch that humans exuded when you would target their weakness. A priority in defense that wasn’t present elsewhere.

“Interesting.”

Ethan narrowly avoided being crushed, rolling between the bear’s legs. “Most cores are near the heart, but you’re guarding your belly pretty carefully.”

After another exchange, Ethan scored a solid hit to the bear’s sternum.

‘Nothing.’ He thought, as the attack barely fazed the bear.

But when his next strike grazed its lower abdomen, the bear went berserk.

“That’s it!”

Ethan muttered, as he dodged a furious counterattack from the bear.

“Your core isn’t by your heart like other monsters. It’s in your abdomen!”

ROAR!

The bear roared, angry at the pest that had taken its prey.

Ethan needed an opening.

‘I need one clean shot at the abdomen. But the bastard is protecting it fiercely.’

“It should be time.”

His eyes flicked upward, tracking his falling arrows.

He moved carefully, herding the bear toward the right position.

The massive beast followed his movements, trying to rip Ethan apart.

“Come on, just a little more…” Ethan backed up slowly.

‘There. Perfect position.’

He stopped moving completely.

The bear, surprised by this sudden stillness, hesitated for just a heartbeat before launching a devastating strike.

Sweat beaded on Ethan’s forehead as the massive paw descended toward his face. Every instinct screamed at him to move, to dodge, to do anything but stand there.

‘Wait. Wait.’ He forced himself to remain still. The timing had to be perfect.

The bear’s paw was inches from his face when it happened.

Three arrows plummeted from the night sky, gaining lethal velocity from their fall.

They struck the bear’s head simultaneously, burying deep into its skull.

The beast roared in pain and confusion, its attack faltering as it reared back.

“Now!” Ethan shouted, pumping himself up for the decisive strike.

He activated all three talents at once.

His iron-hard hand plunged into the bear’s exposed abdomen. Flesh parted. Blood sprayed. His fingers pushed deeper, searching, until they connected with something solid and warm.

The core.

The bear, despite its agony, wasn’t finished. Its massive paw swung around, aiming to crush the human attached to its belly.

Ethan’s fingers closed around the core, yanking with all his Bronze-rank strength. Tissue tore. The core came free in a spray of blood.

He ducked away at the last possible second, the bear’s claws whistling through the air where his head had been moments before.

The massive beast staggered, its regeneration talent suddenly offline. Without its core, it was no longer as invincible as before.

Ethan didn’t waste the opportunity. He launched a flurry of strikes, each one enhanced with metallic density, targeting joints and vital spots.

The bear tried to defend, but its movements grew sluggish without its core powering its abilities.

One final blow to the temple dropped the massive creature. It crashed to the forest floor with a ground-shaking impact, dark eyes clouding over.

Silence fell over the clearing.

Ethan stood panting, covered in blood.

His shoulder throbbed where the beast’s claws had caught him. His muscles screamed from the strain of fighting at maximum output.

But in his hand, he held his prize.

A gleaming Mid-Bronze core.

“Worth every scratch,” he muttered, examining the core. It was larger than any he’d seen before.

<Ferocious Beast: Brown Bear>

<Regeneration Talent: E Grade><Devour>

<Rank: Mid-Bronze>

<Mid-Bronze Rank Core> <Devour>

Ethan didn’t hesitate. He activated devour, the core dissolving into pure energy. The same feeling of overwhelming energy overtook his body.

He felt as if a dam inside his body broke and energy kept flowing.

<Ding! Your Vitality has advanced to Low-Bronze Rank>

<+5 Vitality>

“Nice!” Ethan softly exasperated, the mid-bronze core had allowed his vitality to advance to low-bronze and had enough left to give him 5 attribute points.

‘I would have loved to exchange the bronze core with three low-bronze cores.’ He thought, sighing in regret.

The reason Ethan devoured the bronze core was because he wanted to devour the bear after. Had he not devoured the core before devouring the bear, he would have missed out on the attribute points he could get from the bear.

<You have devoured the Brown Bear>

<You have gained the F+ Talent: Regeneration>

<You have gained +5 Vitality>

<Brown Bear is available for transformation>

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep