Chapter 37: A fierce and rewarding battle

"Ei, you son of a bitch, he's mine," she said after seeing Strax on his knees, injured. "I'll be right back," she said.

Her fists bathed in flames, ready to attack the guardian bear, which started running towards Samira. She didn't hesitate for a moment, focused on protecting and killing that piece of crap. "I'll turn you into ashes!" she shouted in fury.

The guardian bear growled, standing almost five meters tall with its sharp claws gleaming like pure chromed steel. It was ready to face Samira, to protect its territory at any cost.

Despite the bear's size, it wasn't something that could be defeated quickly, and it wasn't slow either; on the contrary, it had good speed that initially startled Samira.

"It's not an ordinary bear, it's at least in the early cultivation levels," Samira concluded. She was a Master Corporal cultivator, not a Mana user, but she used her flames because it was her best skill when she was without a sword.

As it came running towards Samira, she dodged the first onslaught of its blows, moving with grace and speed to her right and landing a punch to its stomach, followed by a kick. With a spinning kick, Samira tried to destabilize the bear, but the creature resisted, shaking its head in fury.

Its claws shimmered in the light of the flames as it charged again, forcing Samira to quickly dodge backward.

"Tsk, the problem with dealing with beasts is that those without intelligence and acting on instinct are always more difficult to handle," she said, completely forgetting about Strax and focusing entirely on fighting the huge guardian bear.

Despite all her efforts, nothing seemed to be enough to defeat the bear. It was a force of nature and was in its territory, determined to protect its home at any cost.

Samira didn't have time to think about what to do; she began to use everything she had. Her injured arms started to move. "Screw this shitty arm," she said and began to endure the pain. "Come on, you piece of crap!" She shouted as she advanced again, landing an extremely powerful punch on the bear's side.

"ROOOOOARRR" The bear roared loudly, feeling the blow with all the impact it could receive; Samira's hand left a mark on the bear, and again...

The snowstorm began as the bear's eyes turned neon blue. "So it was you all along! You little bastard!" She shouted and punched the same spot again.

KRAK

Samira felt the spot she punched give slightly; she had broken one of her ribs. But unfortunately, a blast of ice hit her in the stomach.

"Ughtt!" She couldn't even scream in pain; she was thrown backwards, her back hitting a tree. "Ahrgt!" She growled, her back hurt, but none of her bones were broken; fortunately, she was physically strong enough.

She lost her breath for a few seconds, but decided to pull herself together; otherwise, Strax could die... "Wait, where is that bastard?" She questioned. Despite the fight having been brief, Strax should... She wanted to think more about it, but... "Roar!" The bear's claws came at her, and she quickly ducked.

"He's getting tired!" Samira yelled, and Strax nodded. When the bear prepared to shoot ice stakes, Strax came at him with all his strength, landing a blow to its stomach. Samira didn't stand still and delivered a blow to its jaw, making it fall backward, but it regained its balance, its white fur now almost entirely red after so much fighting.

Now, however, it was surrounded. In front of it was Samira in a combat stance, and behind it was Strax. It didn't have a good field of vision and was still dazed from the previous impact on its jaw.

At the moment it roared even louder, Samira leaped onto it. "You're going to pay for hurting him," she thought, putting all her strength into her fist. "Even with empty hands..." She shouted, "I am strong!"

"!!!"

The bear was completely brought down to the ground, its body went limp but it wasn't over yet. Strax, who had been holding back his final blow, finally came to finish it.

[Brutal Cut!]

He struck, much stronger than before, completely destroying the bear's head with the blow.

"Wow, where were you hiding that?" She questioned, seeing that the bear lost almost its entire upper part with the impact of the strike. "Oh~ That? I can only use it when the target is almost dead," he said, sweating from the heat and panting. It demanded a lot from him, so he fell backwards into the snow.

"The blizzard has ended," Strax thought, looking at the sky now completely clear. "Yeah, it seems like it's finally over," she nodded and lay down on the ground next to him.

They both gazed at the sky as they rested. Meanwhile, the System was going crazy, sending numerous messages to Strax, who decided to completely ignore them after all, why bother, right?

[You defeated a "Mountain Guardian" - the Ice Bear, as a reward you obtained one of its abilities "Glacial Ice Manipulation (5*)", this ability requires training for full control]

[You have broken the limits imposed by the system on the user, the System update will start soon after the completion of Act II's mission]

Meanwhile...

"The blizzard has stopped!" One of the surviving adventurers said, and Jason nodded. "Let's start the search! We need to find the two Bosses!" Jason said, and the rest of the guild decided to follow his orders, after all, he was the strongest at that moment.

"Young master... be alive... I will die if you are dead, do not condemn me along with you... I have a wife and family," Jason said to the wind, looking at the sky that was beginning to brighten as the clouds drifted away.

"How strange..." he thought upon hearing a strange sound and the sky clearing completely a few seconds later. "Hey! Let's head in that direction!" He pointed, calling the remaining others, and they set off in search of their bosses.