Alright, how do I deal with this without anyone dying?

Before Zane could react the dire bear charged at Xavier. One of the guards ran up to him and pulled him away just in time. Xavier avoided the attack but the guard wasn't so lucky. The large paw of the dire bear with claws long enough to be swords hit him, throwing him against the closest tree, breaking it. The guard's lifeless body landed somewhere in the snow.

Well so much for that.

Zane drew both guns and squeezed the trigger, aiming at the bear's eyes. But at that moment it roared loudly, raising its head in the process, both bullets grazed its head but didn't go inside. A nervous smile crept across Zane's face as the bear lowered its head and stared at him with pure rage in its eyes.

Well shit.

Zane shot again but the dire bear began charging at the same moment, causing both bullets to graze its head again. He jumped to the side to dodge the dire bear's paw attack. Its large claws cut deep into the tree behind Zane, nearly causing it to fall over.

Alright, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do? . . . If I still had my ability this would be child's play.

Zane began hectically looking around the area, all the while trying to keep an eye on the dire bear that was beginning to circle around him, crushing every tree that was in its way like it was a small twig.

One hit from that thing and I'm dead . . . although . . . no, that's a last ditch effort . . . no way I'm risking my life on the chance that this gauntlet can block an attack from a dire bear.

Zane noticed a boulder laying in the distance, from where he stood it seemed loose enough to serve him as a weapon.

My best shot I guess.

Zane began running towards the large boulder, glancing back at the dire bear, that was charging after him, the entire time. It was faster than him and Zane had to roll to the side to avoid the next paw attack. The dire bear now stood between him and the boulder.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Mira sneak past them behind some bushes. Zane smiled and shot two more bullets at the bear, this time hitting right into its chest. Its fur began turning slightly red around the two wounds. The dire bear roared in pain and raised its body, now standing on two legs. Zane let his eyes wander up the giant bear's body to its head.

That fuck is as tall as a small giant . . . that's ten, maybe twelve meters.

Zane swallowed, his throat bulging.

Before the bear could slam down its body and crush Zane beneath it he heard grunting from behind the bear, followed by a cracking sound and the sound of something heavy rolling in the snow. Something hit the bear from behind. Mira had loosened up the boulder and sent it rolling down into the back of the dire bear. It was rammed into a nearby tree, which quickly fell over. A loud roar coming from the dire bear filled the forest.

Good to have at least one competent person here with me.

The dire bear used its hind leg to kick the boulder away, making it roll towards Zane, who dodged it by jumping to the side. As he jumped he shot at the large beast again, only one bullet left the gun but it luckily pierced its large body. And again, the bear roared.

Alright, anything I can do to kill that thing without having any more people die needless deaths . . .

As Zane was thinking he heard something fly through the air and shortly after he noticed a crossbow bolt sticking out of the bear's neck.

Oh no . . . oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That fucking idiot, why, why, why, why would he do this? Does he want us all to die? Is this some sort of petty jokes? The gods must have their hand in this, right? I mean it's impossible they don't . . . right? When I look at him he will look just as shocked as me, right? A god just took over his body to have some fun. Yes, that must be it.

Zane slowly turned his head, looking to Xavier. But unlike he had hoped he saw a happy expression on Xavier's face as if he had just found the most incredible treasure in the world, like a mercenary that had just gotten paid the largest sum of his career, like a little kid celebrating the day of its birth.

Oh, the world just hates me, doesn't it?

Zane's expression changed to one of fury and rage. The dire bear began charging at Xavier and Zane put both guns back in their holsters and jumped in front of the bear, drawing his sword at the same time and slashing at its feet. He managed to cut into one of them, leaving behind a deep cut that made the giant bear fall over, sliding through the snow for a few meters.

As quickly as he could Zane began climbing up its back, gripping its fur to hold onto and crawled to its thick neck. It was too thick for him to cut its throat from his position so he raised his katana and was about to ram it down into the neck of the creature.

And again, at the moment he was about to deliver the finishing blow he heard the sound of something fly through the air and shortly after he saw another crossbow bolt, sticking out of the dire bear's neck.

Zane glanced over at Xavier, who looked even happier than before. He was about to scream at the man but before he could even open his mouth he heard someone else scream.

"Would you stop it you useless fool! Don't you realize that you're just making it worse!? Don't you realise that this is all your fault in the first place!?," Mira screamed as loudly as she could.

Zane saw the shocked expression on Xavier's face before the bear threw him off its back and began approaching Mira. Zane, who had fallen into the snow, jumped up as quickly as he could and noticed one of the guards holding a spear. He ran over to the guard and grabbed the spear out of his hands, then threw it at the bear, sinking it into its fat behind. The dire bear glanced back at him and changed directions again.

Good thing that it's only a bit smarter than this idiot.

Zane began running away from the others, keeping the bear's eyes on him. Once he got some distance from both the group and the bear he sheathed his sword and opened up his satchel. Then he drew both guns, pressed the buttons and let the empty cartridges fall into the

Should have ordered more bullets . . . I'm stupid.

Zane put two full cartridges into his gun and aimed at the approaching dire bear. He shot again, and again didn't hit the eyes he was aiming for. Instead, he hit one of the bear's shoulders, slowing it down but not enough to be effective.

This is getting me nowhere, I need some better way to kill this thing . . .

Zane began looking around again and noticed two snow-covered rocks that were close enough to get the bear stuck but had enough of a gap for Zane to get through.

Perfect.

He ran towards the two rocks and slipped through the gap just in time to dodge the bear's claws that nearly cut of his torso. It glanced at him from behind the large rocks. Zane aimed both guns at its face. As he was about to squeeze the triggers he noticed the rock to his left shatter, the paw of the dire bear appearing behind the rubble, quickly approaching him. In a split second, he channelled aura through his body into the gauntlet, activating the rune. The paw hit right against the air shield the rune created.

For a second Zane was happy that it held out but then he realized that his feet had already left the ground and that he was currently flying through the air, quickly approaching a nearby tree. He slammed into it and coughed up blood. His vision became a bit blurry as he hit the ground. He tried his best to not throw up and focused on the approaching dire bear.

I'm not dying here . . . What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?

He tried moving his body but it wouldn't move.

Did it really hit me that hard? This thing is abnormal . . . I mean it's stronger than a damn goblin king.

The bear had now almost reached him. He felt his body shaking and tears running down his face.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! This is all that damn idiot's fault! If he hadn't shot those damn bots!

Zane became angrier and angrier at the thought of Xavier's stupidity. And at that moment his body began moving again. Instinct took over and he jumped up from the snowy ground. He put away both guns and drew his katana gain. Then he charged at the dire bear, which was about to hit him with its paw again. But Zane instinctively dodged by throwing himself to the ground, rolling around and using the momentum of both his body and the bear's paw to cut through it with his katana.

Blood splattered over him as the paw flew somewhere into the snow and the dire bear roared loudly in pain.

Zane jumped up again, driven by anger and fury and rage he charged at the dire bear again and slid through the gap between the ground and the dire bear's belly, cutting it open in the process. When he came out on the other side he was covered in blood and what not and the bear had fallen to the ground, growling quietly.

Zane, with a crazy look on his face, climbed up to the dire bear's back again, using its fur for grip and leaving behind large amounts of blood that dripped down onto the snow, turning it red. He walked up to the dire bear's neck, raised his katana and rammed it down as deep as it would go. Once it was all the way in the bear stopped growling and Zane pulled his blade back out, raised it up into the air and began screaming.

"We're eating well today!" he screamed.

His vision slowly began fading and he fell from the bear into the snow, then everything became black.

He heard some chattering when he woke up. His head was resting on something warm and soft. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Mira's face, at her dark red hair and her two differently coloured eyes.

"You're awake," she said with a bright smile on her face.

"Good, then he can get off your lap," Xavier said with an annoyed undertone.

"Shut it! This is your fault in the first place!" Mira said to him, angrily.

"How was I supposed to know that that . . .terrible creature, that terrible beast would react in such a way?" Xavier asked, again looking like someone had just insulted him, his family and everything he stood for.

Zane slowly got up from Mira's lap and stood up, his head nearly hitting the ceiling.

"How were you supposed to know you ask? You couldn't have known," Zane said.

"See, I couldn't have kn-" Xavier began.

"But what gave you the idea that you should attack? I'm the one supposed to be guarding you but when the one I'm guarding actively tries to kill himself then even I can't keep him out of harm's way! I mean really, what gave you the impression that you, you! Someone who has no experience with any of these creatures! You who has never even been in a real battle! You who has never even held a real weapon with the intent to kill! You who is incompetent enough to get himself in such a situation! You who pissed himself at the sight of a mere dire bear! I would love to see a measly idiot noble fight against stalkers or goblins or hell, a fucking canyon basilisk! Would you be able to do it!? Of course not! You're an incompetent, useless, inexperienced, bratty, idiotic, shitty fucking noble that needs his daddy to hire someone to protect him because he's such a fucking disappointment! A disappointment that never had the guts to be a warrior and never will have the guts to be one! Now I see why he would be like that! Why he would hire me! The one known as the strongest mercenary in Ion! Because no one else would be able to deal with such stupidity as you have displayed today! You acted tough this morning, thinking you knew what kinds of creatures lived here! Then you were annoyed when I laughed at you! How dare you!? Who gives you permission to cause such a situation!? Unlike you, I didn't ask for help! Didn't you think that if I needed you to do anything I would have said so!? Did you even think for a single second when you fired either of those two fucking crossbow bolts!? Hell, have you ever thought in your entire, sad excuse for a life!? Or are you too incompetent to do so!? You know, I'm no better! I mean I gave you the benefit of the doubt and hoped that you wouldn't interfere again! But no! When I was about to kill it you did it again! And now look at yourself, crying like a baby because the bodyguard, hired to help you not kill yourself through your own stupidity, is ridiculing you right next to your future wife! You damn fucking excuse for a humanoid! If you think I'm ever allowing you to go on a hunt again you're in for another fucking session of this! Remember that!" Zane screamed.

Xavier had started crying somewhere halfway through Zane's speech and was now sitting on the bench they had all sat on, next to his future wife with tears running down his face. He was about to let his head rest on Mira's shoulders but she stood up before his head could touch her shoulder. Both Zane and Mira angrily stepped out of the room and out of the small hut where they had left their horses.