Chapter 44 - Bear King Part2 "Hello, big boy." Liam grinned, eying the grizzly howling in rage. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 [Bear King Barabara] (Elite Boss) Level 15 Health: 50000 The bear's health was almost twenty five times more than his own and Liam knew that its attacks would be of a similar scale as well. After all, this was a field boss which was not meant to be solo'ed by a single player. However, he was not scared or intimidated in the least standing face to face with this gigantic mountain of a beast. In fact, he felt as if he was seeing a long-time childhood friend. It was a nostalgic bittersweet memory. Back then, he never got the chance to fight against this bear but now it was all his to play around with as much as he wanted. Liam's figure blurred and a long sword appeared in his hand, shimmering with its cold metallic sheen. He did not waste any further time and dashed towards the rampaging bear meeting it halfway. SLASH. SLASH. SLASH. He nimbly moved, circling around the bear and the sword in his hand danced. The weapon trembled with each strike as it only barely managed to scratch the beast. -10 -15 -10 Liam chuckled wryly looking at the pathetic damage numbers, but how could he complain? This was a field boss! Its defense was just that high that it prevented him from displaying the full potential of his basic damage, which was at least 400 to 500 if he went all out. Instead, all that registered was only a sorry 10 to 15 damage. The sword he held also wasn't strong enough and it shivered as it struck the thick hide of the bear king, chopping off only small portions of its health. This was something Liam had already expected, so he was not too shocked by this outcome. Moreover, he came fully prepared. As his elegant figure flashed around the monster, taking advantage of his agility which the strong and powerful bear lacked, Berat finally snapped out of his trance and moved. It took him a few seconds but the raging growls of the bear woke him up. He quickly moved back. He was a mage and there was no reason for him to stand so close to the black bear. After that, he hesitated for a couple more seconds, waiting to see if Liam was going to give him any specific instructions but both the man and the beast had entirely ignored him. "Ah… so… this is what he meant by don't get in my way…" Berat wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I will just do whatever I can." He wasn't disheartened and decided to take this positively as an opportunity. Not that he was planning to kill steal or anything. At this point, he was merely curious to see how this single person was going to solo this boss. Though he couldn't see the damage numbers floating atop the beast like Liam did, he could still see what damage his own attacks did. So he could somewhat comprehend the effectiveness of Liam's sword attacks. Moreover, the other party hadn't even drawn the beast's blood yet. So he was very eager to watch the show and see what was going to happen. What special and secret technique was he going to use? He peeled his eyes and patiently waited and watched. A couple of seconds passed and then an entire minute passed. However, nothing happened at all. Liam was only calmly slashing and chopping down the huge bear from various angles, removing small chunks of its health each time. He was not really doing anything else. This in itself was very impressive, and he continued to evade all of the beast's attacks with extreme precision. Even a single attack would probably put him out of commission. So the pressure was that much more to accurately move every single time. The beast as well was extremely enraged because of this. It was literally being toyed around by an ant. Its reddened eyes glared at the pest angrily and the beast and the man continued to tango. Berat as well did his part and continued sending out fireballs, and arcane bolts. These were the two skills he managed to acquire. While fireball was a normal elemental magical attract, the arcane bolt was a comparatively rare skill. It involved shooting out concentrated bullets of mana and it was far more powerful than normal fireballs. Before he met this monster dancing with a sword in front of him, he had actually thought that this was impressive and he had gotten a lucky start! But now his whole perception was completely broken and he saw things in a new light. He knew that he needed to work much harder if he wanted to be anywhere near the top. Berat narrowed his eyes and tried his best to coordinate with Liam targeting the spots on the bear that were already injured. He paid more attention to the battle and did his absolute best. At least this way, he thought that he could amicably part ways with this person and perhaps add him as a friend. He carefully regulated his mana and moved closer and barraged the bear with his attacks. He really wanted to impress Liam. As the fight progressed, he grew more comfortable with it and was able to pay more attention. This helped him increase his rhythm as well and his attack damage improved a lot. However, the next instant just as he was about to target another flesh injury, Berat couldn't help but notice something weird. There were charred marks on the flesh injury. Hmm? His eyes widened and he stopped attacking, now paying more attention to the man rather than the beast. Almost immediately, Berat became even more shocked. He could instantly tell that something was different. Other players might not necessarily recognize this just yet but he was a mage so he could see this. All this time he had thought that Liam was simply grinding down the bear, but now only he realized that he was gravely mistaken.. This guy was once again up to something else.