Faron sighed saying, “Well if you plan to stay here you might as well know what’s going on. We should find somewhere to somewhere.”

Walking around in mostly silence we found a spot not too far away from Mr. Tann. It was a nice patch of green grass, some flowers, and a single tree, looked like someone's flower garden really.

Faron took a deep breath before he started speaking, “One day this little black bear showed up, I say little but she was big for her surroundings, so we called her Big Bertha. She was level 10-15 which wasn’t bad or meant to be taken seriously, chances were she was just gonna stay around there maybe get to level 20 so everyone ignored her. The worst she did then was stealing a kill or two and she mostly traveled into the far ends of the forest so most of the time she wasn’t around.

“Big Bertha and the Village lived in some level of co-abundance for quite a bit of time. One year she returned to around the village suddenly reaching level 23, and this was way too close to the first advancement. The then elders came together and decided it was time for her to go, so they organized a hunting party of some of our strongest hunters. Weeks past and they never respond.

“She started to edge closer to the village every day so we thought she held a grudge or maybe saw us now as a bag of exp for her to get stronger. When this was taking place I was only about 10-12 I was just learning to hold a sword at the time, hell I wasn’t even level five at the time. Even at my low level I still thought I could fight Big Bertha with the rest.

“I was in a thing called the Honor Guard Training which meant I was special and at level 10 I would join the guard for real. This was meant for the special few who proved to have talent but people I didn’t deserve this opportunity because my adoptive father was captain of the guard. People said I only got in because of my connections so you can probably guess how I was treated.”

I started seeing tears build up on the corner of Faron’s eyes. I put my hand on his shoulders letting him know I was still here and he can stop if needed but he went on.

“I was disliked by many and I thought I was the best so a lot of their envy turned into pride. Pride made me blind to some things you could say I grew arrogant,” Faron gave a self-loathing smile, “The day where Big Bertha finally attacked the village came. She came charging at the walls hitting them with more force than what they weren’t made to handle.

“The guards, including me, flooded out to surround her trying to draw her away from the village. We surrounded her waiting to attack. She looked around us and I swear she smiled as she charged at the closest guards.

“There was a swipe from her claws that smashed, sliced, and gouged the two guards closest to her. Both of them died before they even hit the ground. The rest of the guards froze for a second before charging at her trying to overwhelm her.

“Even with all of their skills, there wasn’t even a mark bigger than a scratch on her. The guards didn’t fare so well as half of them were already on the ground dead or too hurt to move. Finally, the guards were down to a few members so she turned her eyes on me.

“I swear I felt my soul being stolen into those yellow beastly eyes. I froze, absolutely terrified at her, terrified at the thought of dying, all of my pride was gone. I knew I couldn’t fight back as she started charging at me. Everyone else started yelling at me but their voices sounded like background noise, there but unregistrable.”

Faron’s voice started to break every other word now, “I just stood there accepting the fate I was being handed, unable to even hold up my sword. Soon she was in front of me so close I could feel her breath. I thought I was going to die before I felt a push from next to me.

“I looked back to see my father's arm outstretched smiling towards me. Big Bertha didn’t care about the missed target and instead bit right into his arm. Without making a sound he turned hate-filled eyes straight toward her.

“Then I saw it, the skill he told me about but never used Life Force. It was a special skill that a very select few people had ever gotten. It used the life energy of the person to make a greater force, the more energy you put in the greater the force you would make.

“I watched as formless energy left his body and flowed into the knife held in his uninjured arm. The knife started to glow and as Big Bertha practically ripped off his arm he raised the knife stabbing it into her side. He dragged the knife across her body leaving the biggest gash I’ve seen on her. With a yell of agony, she released his arm and raked her claws across his torso leaving deep cuts down to the bone.”

Faron, with tears running like rivers, shakingly continued on, “She turned and left, leaving blood and death behind her. No one chased her as everyone was exhausted or dead. All I did was kneel next to my father’s body holding his hand.

“He looked at me, smiling, placing his other hand on my head and wiping my tears. He tried to comfort me. He took the knife at his side and handed it to me whispering, ‘This has been in my family for generations. I planned on giving it to you when you became a guard but I won’t get that chance…’ Then the blood loss took him before I could even do anything.

“Everything after that was a blur as all the dead got taken away. The funeral was held a day later where all I did was kneel in front of his headstone. Later I was told days passed as I sat there unmoving for so long. I just shut down but then Mr. Tann came and woke me up from that trance taking me in.

“I vowed to work harder than everyone else to one day get my revenge on Big Bertha. I leveled and honed my skills becoming the youngest level 10 in the village, and only a couple of years later I was level 18 closing in on my next level soon.

“Big Bertha never attacked the village after that and instead stuck close to the walls when she was around. The next time she did come to the village though she was already had her first advancement changing completely and we only knew it was her by the large scar on her side.

“She became practically untouchable now. Without an advanced class of our own, we can only hide behind the walls whenever she comes by.”

I just sat there stunned at the fact that this bear had done so much to this village. She basically became a trauma and nightmare for those who saw her. I gave Faron a hug from the side making sure he knew he wasn’t alone.

We sat there for as long as was needed before Faron finally took a deep breath, steadying himself and wiping away the traces of tears.

“The strange thing is I’ve actually never talked about this before. Everyone else already knew the story so no one brought it up. I’m sorry if I got too emotional there.” Faron sniffled out.

“Don’t be sorry, everyone needs a cry sometimes,” I assured him.

“Let’s just get back to the house, it should be time for dinner soon.”

“Food woo,” I cheered trying to get a small smile out of Faron and it worked as he cracked a small smile.

We made our way back to the house looking around as the villagers bustled around. Parents talked to kids, people gathering things like food or materials, and adults polishing swords and spears.

“Looks like they’re preparing for war,” I sighed out.

“Well, Big Bertha is basically a death sentence for this village if no one deals with her. No even knows what level she is now, the last time she was here she was level 30.”

“You might have to train me how to use a sword or something,” I laughed out.

“Why,” Faron looked at me confused?

“Well if I plan on staying here I should at least know how to defend it.”

“So that means you’re actually staying then,” Faron grinned.

“Of course, not like I know anywhere else to go,” I exclaimed.

Faron punched my arm lightly stifling a laugh.

We stopped messing around as we arrived at the house, and walking in we got smacked in the face with a heavenly aroma. Mr. Tann was standing over a wood fire stove making something.

“That smells great,” I yelled!

“Good thing it’s not for you,” Mr. Tann laughed dryly.

“Awh,” I said dramatically as I slumped and shuffled toward one of the three seats set with plates and utensils. Faron joined next to me and started joking with me as we waited.

A little later Mr. Tann finished up and brought over a pan of vegetables cooked in some kind of fat, and a big roast from some big animal.

“This looks great,” Faron babbled, drooling.

Mr. Tann started cutting up the roast into chunks and separating a few to each of us, topping it off with a heaping pile of vegetables. After he gave each of us our share he sat and nodded at Faron.

Faron started eating with gusto so I followed his example and started wolfing down the food. As soon as the meat hit my mouth the flavor overwhelmed me for a moment, but soon I was eating even faster than Faron who was barely chewing.

Soon enough my plate was empty making me raise it asking for more.

“Manners boy,” Mr. Tann scolded me as he filled up my plate.

I ate again, this time savoring the taste more but still ate with gusto. I repeated this process one more time before I leaned back satisfied and left nothing on the table.

“By god, you can eat boy,” Mr. Tann said with scorn.

“One of my many talents,” I responded with finger guns.

Mr. Tann sighed before saying, “Faron take him and go do something as I clean up and make his room.”

I read between the lines of him basically telling us to get out.

Faron nodded and brought me to the backyard. Once out there he walked over to a long wooden chest and pulled out two wooden swords.

“Time for training,” Faron smirked.

“Already,” I groaned out.