Zane and the others quickly made it through the dark and arrived at another room. The room looked exactly like the one they left and the bears were in the same position as well. The only difference was the bears that looked slightly bigger and felt a little stronger.

“There sleeping again,” Shane mentally spoke. “It looks like we have another easy fight.”

Shane stepped into the room and a second later the bears reacted. Zane saw the snout of a bear tremble. A second later another bear reacted and started sniffing the air.

“Go,” Zane said.

Zane steeped into the room and began rushing toward the beta bear on the left. Zane saw the bear open its eyes before he had closed half of the distance between them. Zane used Charge, not having to worry about the bear awakening due to his burst of strength. The bear let out a growl as it rose to its feet was now a head taller than Zane. Zane quickly used identify before he entered close range.

Adult Beta Bear Lvl 20

The bear raised its paw and slammed it toward Zane’s shield when he got close. The blow was strong but Zane still mange to make the bear take a step back. Zane gave a quick jab with his spear drawing blood from the bears arm. The bear gave a roar of anger before busting forward to attack. Zane received the attack with his shield and was pushed back a few steps.

Zane didn’t rush to attack after the bear landed a blow. Everyone came up with a simple plan to deal with the bears when they woke up. A quick glance around the room allowed him to confirm everyone was following the plan. Shane, Luna, Lana and Jason were each facing a bear. Sophie and Shawn were standing by ready to help.

Zane had confidence in their plan. More importantly he had confidence in his party members. Zane only had to deal with the bear in front of him. He could keep most of his focus on it and take his time killing it. Of course, he would still try to kill it as fast as possible and help someone else with their bear.

The bear surge toward Zane and he used Warrior Steps to dodge it. A quick jab to the bears sides as it passed caused another roar of anger to spread through the room. The bear attacked Zane multiple times and Zane counter attacked multiple times. Mana creatures had very little intelligence and were driven by there base desires. In fact, all of their mental stats were low in comparison to a sentient race. Most mana creatures below the first tier have only shown the desire to eat, breed and kill. Given Zane’s stats he could continue dodging and stabbing the bear in multiple places until it died. However, Zane wasn’t going to do that.

Skill Combo. Stab. Pierce. As the bear charged at Zane, he raised his shield stepped to the right and delivered his combo attack. The bear’s fur was tougher than the one Zane faced before. The moment the spear firmly dug into the side of the bear’s neck Zane let go. He used Block with his shield and received the bears charge.

Zane was pushed back several feet and almost lost his footing. Zane grinned as he saw the bear was distracted by his spear. Zane could see that the bears charge had caused the spear to dig deeper into the bear’s neck. While the bear was distracted Zane pulled out his mace and quickly approached it. The bear directed its fierce gaze to Zane once he got close and Zane responded with a mace to the face.

The bear was able to endure the first hit but not the second hit Zane delivered using Smash. The bear was rattled and unresponsive but Zane didn’t give it time to recover. He used Smash and struck the bear above where his spear was. The bear screamed in pain and Zane saw some blood shoot out of the spear wound. Zane raised his mace and gathered his inner energy for a third strike but the bear recovered.

Zane had to stop his attack and raise his shield to block the bear’s paw. Zane had to rush his defense but the bear’s attack was rushed as well. Zane was forced a few steps back but he quickly recovered. Zane rushed forward and bashed his shield into the bears snout. He followed that with three quick strikes from his mace to the bear’s head. Seeing the bear stunned Zane dropped his mace and yanked his spear out of the bear’s neck. The bear let out a grunt when the spear left and a roar when the spear returned.

Zane pulled his spear out again and then rammed it back in. He smiled when the bear roared and collapsed in defeat. He gave one final thrust and received a system message about its death. Zane stopped using Warrior Steps and started breathing heavily. The fight with the bear lasted slightly more than one minute but Zane used more than half of his stamina.

Zane looked around the room and saw that everyone was doing well. Shane was covered in sweat and the bear he fought was covered in blood but both of them wore fierce expressions. Jason summoned a stone the size of a human head from the ground and threw it at a bear restricted by roots. With Shawn’s help Jason would most likely defeat the bear in a dozen or more seconds.

Luna and Lana were full of energy but their bears were too. Zane could see that they had taken the slow approach to dealing with the two mana creatures. He decided to give them a helping hand and chose to start with Lana’s bear. Lana put an arrow in the bear’s left eye and Zane was standing in its blind spot. Zane picked up his mace and went to work.

Zane used Charge and knocked the bear down. Skill Combo. Stab. Pierce. His spear pierced into the bears neck and he saw Lana bring down her short sword inches away from his spear. They both quickly backed off to avoid the bear’s retaliation. Watching the bear struggle to rise both of them attacked simultaneously. Zane gave a normal spear thrust at the wound he already created and he noticed that Lana’s attack used less energy as well. They repeated their attacks twice before they received a system message.

The battle quickly finished after that. Lana went to help her sister and Zane went to help Shane. They finished killing the bears a few seconds after Jason finished dealing with his. The moment Jason killed his bear Zane felt a rush of energy flow into him. Leveling up caused helped Zane recover all of his energy and left him feeling like he got a good night’s rest.

Jason was the only other person who leveled up. Everyone else needed time to rest and recover. Shawn and Sophie used a mana potion to recover while Shane, Luna and Lana entered meditation. Zane approved of Sophie and Shawn using mana potions. He thought that spending a few minutes to recover stamina was fine but spending dozens of minutes to recover mana wasn’t a great idea. While they were waiting Zane decide to enter meditation and go over his skills and the two battles.

Skill: Basic Shield Mastery

Level: 21, 96%

Tier: 0

Effect: Improves physical defense when wielding a shield. Defense 11 + Str/10 + End/10

Cost: none

Skill: Block

Level: 16, 88%

Tier: 0

Effect: Allows the user to gather their internal energy to fend off powerful blows.

Defense increases by 16 – 24 points.

Cost: 30 stamina

Skill: Warrior Steps

Level: 9, 89%

Tier: 0

Effect: Increases the user’s dexterity by one point per skill level.

Cost: 5 stamina per second

Skill: Skill Combo

Level: 3, 64%

Tier: 0

Effect: Increases the damage and cost of two skills used in succession within two seconds. First skill 50% damage, 100% cost. Second skill 100% damage, 200% cost.

Cost: none

Skill: Stab

Level: 14, 45%

Tier: 0

Effect: Allows the user to gather their energy to deliver a powerful stab and increases critical damage by 5%. Damage 14 – 21 points

Cost: 30 stamina

Skill: Pierce

Level: 13, 14%

Tier: 0

Effect: Allows the user to gather their energy to deliver a powerful piercing attack and increases critical damage by 5%. Damage 13 – 20 points

Cost: 30 stamina

Skill: Basic Spear Mastery

Level: 18, 21%

Tier: 0

Effect: Improves physical attack damage when wielding a spear. Damage 9 + Str/10 + Dex/10

Cost: none

Skill: Basic Mace Mastery

Level: 11, 13%

Tier: 0

Effect: Improves physical attack damage when wielding a mace. Damage 5 + Str/3

Cost: none

Skill: Smash

Level: 9, 78%

Tier: 0

Effect: Allows the user to gather their energy to deliver a powerful smash. Damage 9 – 14 points

Cost: 40 stamina

Skill: Charge

Level: 9, 67%

Tier: 0

Effect: Allows the user to gather energy to increase their speed and strength when moving in a straight path. Chance to stun opponents. Damage 9 – 18 points

Cost: 80 stamina

Zane smiled when he saw the improvement in his skills. Although his skill level didn’t represent his true understanding of his skills it was still pleasing to see it increase. After looking at his skills Zane looked at his system messages. He specifically looked at the combat log. He was able to see the amount of damage he dealt and received in each battle.

Teacher was right again. Zane thought to himself. After looking at the damage I received and dealt through the combat log it is easier to see the mistakes that I made. The few times when my attack and defense decrease could be blamed on changes in the bear’s strength and defense. However, there are a few times where it’s clear that it’s my fault.

Zane started to visualize his movements during combat. He visualized when his attack and defense were to rushed. He visualized when he didn’t draw on his internal energy properly for a skill. He relied too much on the system and less on himself to gather the energy necessary to use the skill. This was beneficial for quick attacks and defenses but it led to a weaker outcome. The more Zane visualized his mistakes the more he felt like he improved. His visualization led him to receive two system messages. One about an increase in his Basic Shield Mastery skill level and another about his talent.

Congratulations! You have earned the Skill Visualization talent.

Talent: Skill Visualization

Description: Able to clearly visualize skills before or after they are performed. Improves the ability to unlock and learn new skills. Increases skill leveling speed.

Zane was happy to receive the new talent but his mind was focused on another problem. Zane opened his eyes and saw that only Shane was still recovering. He decided to wait until Shane was done before sharing his thoughts with everyone. A few seconds later Shane stood up to stretch and Zane mentally spoke to everyone.

“I think there’s something strange about this den. Mana creatures have a hierarchy but this isn’t the way it usually established. Usually, there would be an alpha, one or two betas, and a few normal bears in a group. I never heard of several beta bears being put into a group.” Zane looked at everyone with a grave expression. “Based on the number of Alpha bears we have to kill I think there are a few bears missing.”

Zane watched as the group’s eyes widen in surprise. However, Sophie and Jason shared his grim expression.

“Zane’s right, Jason said. “Teacher Isabelle left a book about dens and what we’ve seen so far is unusual.”

“I’ve also read those books,” Sophie added. “Also, this means we might have to fight several alpha bears and several normal bears in the next room. If that doesn’t happen then we will have to fight several normal bears with the dire bear.”

After Sophie finished speaking, the rest of the group’s expressions turned grim. Fight a mana creature at the first tier would be difficult but it would become impossible if they had to fight several other mana creatures at the same time.

“So, what do we do?” Shane asked.

“We keep moving forward but cautiously,” Zane said. “We’re aware of the dangers and can make a final decision after seeing the room or rooms.”

Everyone nodded at what Zane said. Sophie made sure that everyone was prepared and the bear corpses were collected before they started moving. After walking through another dark tunnel, they came to a room that had three bears that were awake and cautiously staring at each other from different sides of the room.

“Looks like the rest of the bears should be with the dire bear or in a room to themselves.” Zane said. “Either way the battle after this one will be difficult.”

“We should focus on this battle first,” Sophie said. “Since there awake ill start applying buffs to everyone right now.”

“I don’t think you should.”

“Stop trying to be tough. With my help you can win much easier.”

“You’re right but you’ll use a lot of mana and you still have about an hour left until you can drink another mana potion. If we fight without your help, we’ll only loose stamina which can be recovered a lot quicker than mana.”

Sophie decided to agree with Zane and not apply any buffs to the group. Zane would face one bear; Shane would face the second bear with occasional help from Jason and Luna would fight the final bear with Lana. The group stepped into the room and each of them moved to challenge a bear.

The fight required more energy but the difficulty didn’t increase. The bears had a similar level but greater strength than the previous bears. They had stronger attacks, greater defenses and better speed but their intelligence was the same. They furiously charged without strategic thought and everyone did their best to capitalize on that.

Shane struggled to dodge and had to meet his bear head on most of the time. Eventually Jason found an opportunity to use a spell and give Shane the opening to land a fatal attack. Lana would distract the bear with her arrows and Luna would use the opening to deal damage with her short sword. Zane took his time dealing with his bear relying only on his spear and shield. He slowly damaged the bear while waiting for an opportunity to deliver his combo attack.