Black Bear

The very first monster the party encountered was a black bear. It was a large bear, coming in at around 6 feet even when on all fours.

It was an aggressive animal that immediately attacked them the moment it noticed their presence.

"Formation!" the sorceress screamed, and the four other members jumped into action while Loma pulled Jax away.

"Stay back and be on the lookout for any other monsters," Loma said.

Jax nodded.

The male sorcerer jumped in front of the attacking monster, taking on the brunt of the force with his shield. He grunted a little, but he was fine. Next, he raised his hand and used a spell.

A thick band of light appeared around the black bear and tightened up as it covered the bear's eyes. The bear began swinging around wildly, which was when the two male warriors stepped in.

Danny had a spear with him, while the other man had a sword. They swung and stabbed at the bear, using all the force they could muster. The way their weapons dug into the bear let Jax realize just how strong they were.

They were likely stronger than even him.

Once their attacks landed, they immediately moved back. The light band around the bear's eyes disappeared as they left. Just at that moment, the sorceress acted.

She used a spell, and two tiny bolts of lightning shot out from her palm, striking the bear in the eyes again. At the same time, the female warrior let go of the arrow she had nocked since the start.

The arrow lodged directly into the bear, making it wail out loud. The two warriors jumped in again and attacked the bear. Once again, their weapons dug deep into the bear.

The two sorcerers put up their hands at the same time and used the same skill.

Two balls of fire appeared before their palms and shot out, hitting the bear square in the face. The bear fell backward, and Danny jumped onto the bear's chest, delivering the final strike.

As the spear stabbed into the bear's neck, the bear let out one last gasp and then died.

A dim light shined from within the bear as three blobs of white flew out of the bear's corpse and landed before Danny. Danny grabbed them.

Gemma came to Jax's ear and whispered, "Since he delivered the final blow, he gets the reward."

Jax was left stunned, watching the battle. The massive monster had died so easily. From start to end, it had taken no more than 15 seconds at most. With their coordinated attacks, they had managed to take down the monster as if it were child's play.

Loma elbowed Jax lightly, getting him to focus. "Come on. We got work to do."

The man walked over, and Jax quickly followed. Only up close did Jax truly realize just how hauntingly large the monster was. That gave him a greater appreciation of how amazing that showcase had been.

Still, one thing puzzled him now. "Are we seriously going to go kill more of these?" he asked. "I don't know if I can even carry just this one."

Aside from the other male warrior and the sorceress, the rest laughed at that suggestion.

Loma pulled out a bunch of tools from his bag and began handing out some of them to Jax. "We're not going to take it all with us. That would be very stupid."

Jax looked at the two tools he had and realized that one was a tiny saw and the other was a long knife.

"What am I doing with this?" Jax asked.

"Butchering the corpse," Loma said. "Don't worry, I'll teach you what to do here."

It was only then that Jax realized why they had laughed at him. The idea that they would be taking the bear's entire body was considerably absurd.

"What are we taking?" Jax asked. "Just some body parts?"

"The hides of Great Black Bears sell for a decent amount. We can sell the eyes and heart to potion masters. And its bones are quite useful in making weapons. So those are all we will be taking. Since you don't know how to take off a hide, let me do it. You can start sawing through the bones of the parts I am done removing the hide from."

Jax nodded.

Loma took a sharp dagger and stabbed the location where Danny had dealt the final blow. He tore through the thick skin of the bear all the way to the bottom. He then took out another tool, one that was less sharp, and wiggled it in between the layer of skin and muscle. Once it was in, he slowly slipped it sideways, removing the hide from the body.

Jax watched as Loma worked masterfully. In just two minutes, he was more than halfway done. The moment he gave some space for Jax to work, Jax joined in too.

He took the knife and cut through the thick meat of the bear to expose the bones. As he cut the meat, he realized just how dense the meat was and just how hard it would be for weapons to dig into the bear.

He glanced at the three warriors who were on the lookout and couldn't help but be amazed by how strong they were. He wasn't sure if he could have done as much damage to the bear as they had with the same weapons.

That confused Jax a little. Weren't warriors supposed to be of similar strength to sorcerers in the early Opal stages? How come there was such a difference, then?

What were these warriors doing that made them so strong?

"Don't stop now. We need to go find more monsters to kill."

"Huh? Oh, right!"

Jax worked harder. He managed to saw through a few bones, which Loma helped him remove as much weight as possible from. That included taking a hammer and a long awl and removing all the bone marrow as well.

The more weight they shed here, the more they could carry back later on.