『 Missions 』

  Proof of Bravery

  Mission Type: Protection.

  Mission Description: Save the villagers from the wave of wild creatures.

  Rewards: Depends on the completion evaluation.

  Extra Task: Kill as many creatures from the Wave as possible.

  Extra Task Rewards: Depends on the completion evaluation.

  Alexander didn’t have time to dwell on his new mission—the situation was already dire.

  The moment he and Ocean felt the 3rd evolution creature, it also felt them, especially Ocean.

  To make matters worse, when Ocean ran toward the city, the entire horde began to accelerate as well.

  Territorial confrontations between creatures and waves were like that: fight, submission, flight, or death.

  Alexander could feel that at the current speed, this wave wouldn't be able to catch up to Ocean.

  However, since he didn't know what was leading the wave, he couldn't relax and changed to his goblin form in a corner.

  Knowing that his best option was to divert the wave away from Ocean, Alexander used |Sneak| and went to the top of a tree in the opposite direction of the city, which that wave would have to pass by.

  He then used |Ambush|, |Concealment|, and the spell |Vapor Mist| to hide—beginning to prepare his |Elemental Water Blast| with |Water Field| and |Mana Blessing|.

  It didn't take long for the wave to appear after Alexander's preparations were ready. He could see the creature leading the wave.

  It was a colossal bear, about 3.5m tall, which could exceed 5m when standing upright on its hind legs.

  It was in a more recessed part of the central area of the wave.

  As soon as the wave got a little closer to Alexander's position, the bear growled a few times signaling for their direction to change a bit.

  It looked like it started to move as if it were looking for something.

  For a moment, Alexander thought his hostility was leaking even through |Ambush| and the |Concealment| from his ring.

  He soon realized the bear was searching with interest—as if looking for a treasure, and not with anger.

  When the bear got close enough, Alexander fired his spell with the greatest possible power, aiming at the head.

  Yet as soon as he attacked, the bear sensed his presence and the attack.

  Since Alexander's spell was launched first, the bear couldn't dodge with its huge body. It still managed to move a bit to avoid the spell hitting its head.

  — KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

  That was the most powerful spell Alexander had ever cast up to that moment.

  He had never seen an offensive Tier III spell for comparison, but he knew that the channeling of that spell had exceeded the power of a common Tier II spell.

  — ROAAAAAAAAAAAAR.

  A single roar of fury from the bear was powerful enough to disperse the smoke screen that Alexander's spell had raised—making the small grove of nearby trees vibrate as if it wanted to move.

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  Looking over his shoulder while running—he wasn't crazy enough to stay there believing he had killed the bear—Alexander saw that the bear was injured, but also realized this injury wasn't fatal.

  "That point-blank spell could have blown up a sturdy house—or even left me and Ocean half-dead—but it couldn't even destroy the frontal bone of this bear," pondered Alexander as he kept running. "Is it just because it reached its 3rd evolution?"

  Feeling the bear and the wave as a whole turning toward him, Alexander ran into the Star Forest to lure them away.

  Even abandoning Ocean, the bear chased after him, launching energy attacks with its claws.

  Wanting to use the terrain to his advantage, Alexander tried to jump from tree to tree to use them as cover.

  He ended up discovering the hard way that the forest not only seemed to be moving under the bear's roar—part of it was indeed being controlled and grabbed him with branches.

  After using a few |Water Blades| to free himself, Alexander didn't dare stay in the trees any longer and jumped to the ground.

  Even suffering a bit from the fall, he still managed to avoid the bear's claw attack, which knocked down the trees it made contact with.

  Not wanting to be just passive, Alexander rained combat needles down on the wave chasing him while he fled.

  He didn't even care which needle was which. He just threw them until he ran out.

  Ding!

  [|Throw (Peak)| leveled up to |Throw (MAX)|]

  The moment Alexander started to accelerate and increase the distance, the bear rose up on its hind legs and came down with all its strength—slamming its front paws on the ground.

  Remembering he had seen something similar before, Alexander jumped to avoid being grabbed by the roots that should come out of the ground.

  This proved to be a mistake. This bear's skill was on a completely different level from the skill he remembered.

  Although the bear knew most of the wave creatures were in front of it to protect it from Alexander's needles, it didn't care.

  Shortly after the bear's paws hit the ground, the soil in front of it began to collapse and swallow everything in its path.

  Alexander and some more agile creatures managed to avoid being swallowed by the ground thanks to their sharp instincts and speed.

  Yet when it stopped collapsing, the soil expelled several portions of earth at high speed—destroying everything above and crushing what was below when they fell.

  Thanks to his recent increase in attributes, Alexander managed to dodge without suffering any injury. However, more than half of the wave was decimated by that single skill—making Alexander's XP bar skyrocket.

  "So this is the power of a 3rd evolution creature?" analyzed Alexander, scared and fascinated. "I can't be hit by that. Even if I don't die immediately, I'll be at least half-dead."

  Not wanting to take any chances, Alexander fled the area as fast as he could.

  Even with the death of the various creatures, the remaining ones continued to obey the bear.

  Not understanding what was happening, Alexander ventured to slow down for a moment to use |Appraise| on the bear leading the wave.

  [{Forest King Bear} – Magical Beast – 3rd evolution]

  "It must have something that allows it to control forests/vegetation and the weaker creatures that live in them, since it’s a ‘king’-type creature,” he thought as he ran.

  Alexander thought he was doing well—until he glanced back.

  He saw a sleek 2nd evolution feline beast dangerously approaching him.

  Having no time to find out what it was, Alexander just let it get close enough to try an attack.

  As soon as the creature jumped, he twisted his body to hold it and prevent it from turning its head to bite him—biting its jugular, injecting poison.

  When the two fell to the ground, Alexander got up and threw the creature away.

  He didn't have time to kill it. His real enemy was another one.

  Unfortunately for Alexander, it was already too late.

  The bear had already shortened the distance between them and was about to give him a paw strike full of strength and fury.

  With no better option, Alexander activated his physical enhancement skills.

  He crossed his arms over his chest to brace for impact and charged toward the bear, aiming for the inside of its paw to avoid the claws.

  With his plan, Alexander managed to avoid the bear's claws.

  However, the force of the blow was still monstrous enough to send him flying several meters.

  Alexander's arms didn't break due to his elevated attributes, but the entire upper left side of his body—the focal point of the attack—suffered several dislocations and became painfully numb.

  With no time to stay still because of the pain, as the {Forest King Bear} wouldn't take long to reach him, Alexander got up and started running again.

  "I've already bought the maximum time I can. It's time to leave this behind and return to the city," concluded Alexander before running toward the city.

  After running for some time toward Lester City, Alexander arrived at an open field with a large lake.

  With no need to fear the lake, he activated |Aquatic Combat| and continued running—over the water.

  The creatures chasing Alexander became confused and unsure of what to do next. They weren’t aquatic and couldn’t do what he did.

  One of the strongest 2nd evolution creatures even tried to launch a long-range strike at him, but Alexander managed to use the lake itself to defend himself.