After advancing for a bit he suddenly heard a rustling from the left, which was different from the usual sounds made by the breeze. Because of his taunt nerves he jerked slightly and started to pull out his sword, before his brain could regain control. He carefully stepped to the side to create more distance to the brushes where the rusting had come from. He then pulled out his sword fully and got ready in case something dangerous would come out of the bushes.
He didn't need to wait for long before a wild boar left the brushes. Seeing that it was only a common animal he let out a sight of relief but still inspected the animal, since he had heard that there were monsters which had evolved from normal animals and didn't differentiate much from them in appearance.
<< Wild Boar, Unranked, Level 97
A common animal which lives in the forest. As long as it isn't with children it won't attack, but if they are they are highly aggressive to defend their children. Their meat is said to be much tastier than domesticated pig meat, but according to the Culinary Guide it mostly depends on the taste of the consumer. >>
It was a surprisingly long description. Much longer than he was used to and the information did seem to digress from the usual combat related ones.
The boar stared at him while he was doing the same. Since he couldn't see if there was anything following behind the boar he didn't know whether it would attack him or not. And even though the idea of fresh barbecued boar meat sounded good he didn't want to unnecessarily mess with something which was level 97 even if it was only an unranked animal.
As such he slowly moved sideways in the direction he was going before meeting it, while keeping a eye on it all the time. Luckily after a short snort the boar turned around and left the way it had come.
Once again letting out a sight of relief he put his sword back into its scabbard and then continued on deeper into the forest.
After seeing the level of the boar he hoped that the monsters in this area didn't have a similar level or his hunt for Steelback Bears would be harder than he expected. In the descriptions for the bears he had read that they had levels starting from 50 and that the F ranked could have ones as high as 150 which would be impossible for him to fight against.
And in the information about this forest there was stated that there were different areas where the animals and monsters had different levels. And these areas were constantly shifting so no one could be sure in what area on was in until one had seen a few residents.
If the boar was at the top end of the scale for the area he was in than that would be good since he would most likely be able to find Steelback Bears at the lower end of the scale, but if it was the other way around and the boar was at the lower end then he could meet Steelback Bears with levels up to 150 or even ones which were ranked E. And ranked E ones would be much more dangerous than F ranked even if their level was lower.
Throwing these useless thoughts into the back of his head he once again advanced further into the forest.
He hadn't gotten far when he heard a big commotion behind him.
Turning around he saw the boar he had just met running towards him while behind it a large Steelback Bear chased it. Not only was the bear much bigger than the boar it was faster too. It's powerful body which was clad in a dense fur made big lunges each of which closed the distance to its prey. Ivan concentrated his gaze on the back of the Steelback Bear and was shocked when he saw that the color of the fur there was a very light gray.
*F**k, I am really to unlucky. The first Steelback Bear I find is one that is rank E and from the look of it even closer to rank D than rank F. And to top it of this stupid boar is leading it to me.*
He didn't know if it was purpose or not but the boar was directly running towards him. Since it was still a bit out he decided to inspect the Steelback Bear first, before he decided on how to proceed.
<< Steelback Bear, Rank E, Level 139
For more information please check the wiki.>>
* As expected the information for monsters really is much less. *, a thought flashed through his brain. * But level 139? Isn't that to much? *, he once again lamented his bad luck which had lead to him meeting a Steelback Bear like that on his first try.
In the mean time the pair had come so close to him that he wouldn't have a chance to escape anymore, if there ever was one.
Feeling helpless he could only pull out his sword and get into position. But before the two could reach him the Steelback Bear made one last lunge completely closing the distance to the boar and with a swift swipe of one of its front paws it effortless brought it down.
Seeing the power behind that effortless seeming swipe he couldn't help but shudder. This Steelback Bear was even stronger than he had expected. * I hope it starts eating the boar so I can sneak away.*
Sadly his wish didn't come true as after making sure that the boar wasn't in condition to flee anymore the bear stared at him with eyes full of bloodthirst. Seeing the cruel and bloodthirsty look in the eyes of the bear he instinctively took a step back which only served as a trigger for the bear to attack him.