The whistling sound of an arrow brought me back from my astonishment. Noah’s shot struck the creature on its shoulder as it slammed down its paws. I rolled to the side and crouched with my spear in hand. The creature glanced at me, but kept its attention on the large group fanning out in front of it. I didn’t hesitate. A quick thrust brought the tip of my spear against its rubbery skin. It wasn’t hard, it was surprisingly easy to push back, but the skin didn’t break. I couldn’t put more strength into it, because the creature answered with a powerful swipe. I pulled back my spear and took two quick steps back.

Its hateful eyes bored into me. I kept myself on the move, waiting for an opportunity, holding its attention. Another arrow struck, the creature growled. It glanced at Noah, but I feinted a charge that distracted it long enough for him to fire another arrow. The rest of the group were too apprehensive to make a move, some of them were one step close to delivering a blow, but no one made a move.

The creature seemed to reach a new level of fury, as it roared and charged me. It was painfully slow in its first steps, but we all knew how quick it could become. Still, it would never catch me with its slow start. I stepped out of its way and stabbed at its side. This time, with some extra strength combined with the creature’s perpendicular movement, I managed to inflict a long, shallow wound. I knew it wasn’t more than an inconvenience, barely noticeable by this monstrosity, but if we were going to kill it, we would have to pile on numerous wounds like that.

The bear monstrosity kept its charge until it collided with the wall of the nearby building. It failed to break through, only stunning itself shortly. I approached it slowly as another arrow struck it, and its black eyes searched for the source of the attacks. I couldn’t tell if it was too dumb or too blind, but the creature failed to distinguish the attacker among so many people. It eventually just decided to focus on whatever was closer to it. Me.

‘Good. It’s just as dumb as the others have been.’

The next fifteen or so minutes were repetitive, but exhilarating nonetheless. After a couple more failed charges, the group understood that the creature would be extremely vulnerable as it slowly charged forward. I maneuvered it in a way to make it charge to one of the nearby building walls, and everyone made a loose path to flank the charging bear. It didn’t work perfectly every time, and more than once I had to risk getting swiped by its massive paw, but we eventually succeeded.

By the time we heard a second roar coming from beyond the barricade, the first bear was looking more like a porcupine. It left long trails of purple blood whenever it moved, it wobbled and its charge had become less and less frequent. Its reaction significantly slowed down, some members of the group, Johann included, were growing bolder and attacking the creature even if it wasn’t charging.

Despite the relative ease of the fight, things would be extremely more difficult if we had to fight two of the creatures at the same time. I glanced at Johann and I could see the worry on his face as he stared at the barricade, looking for signs of the approaching creature.

‘I guess I need to take some risks if I want to make this work. I was planning on doing it anyway, not going to risk losing my points.’

By this time, I was already used to the creature’s attack patterns and reaction speed. I felt confident enough to push and try to finish it off. A couple of quick thrusts on its shoulder brought the expected reaction, a forward step followed by a paw swipe. This time I didn’t retreat, but dodged under it. A powerful stab under the creature’s shoulder made it buckle. Using the spear as leverage, I jumped on top of the creature, as if I was riding a bull.

The sensation on my legs as I dug in to stabilize myself wasn’t pleasant. At all. I ignored it and started repeatedly stabbing the back of its neck. The monster shook me weakly, wobbled and roared. I kept at it, even after I heard the sound of whelps and the other one crashing hard against the barricade. A piece of loose furniture hit me in the ribs, but I pushed through the pain, stabbing it nonstop. The creature lost its strength and fell flat on the floor. I didn’t receive any message, so I kept going. The neck was already a bloody mess, I couldn’t even tell what I was stabbing when I finally saw the kill confirmation.

[You have slain a Young Devourer Bear.]

[You have leveled up.]

The level up was nice, but I didn’t have time to celebrate. Someone screamed and I watched as the creature ate one of our defenders alive. The guy kicked, and screamed as he was slowly pulled inside the mouth of the devourer bear standing on top of him. Most people watched paralyzed in fear, but some hacked away at the beast, doing their best not to get hit by its massive paw. Noah’s arrows struck it again and again, as I charged it from behind.

I lunged and stabbed deep into a hind leg, trying to compromise its mobility. I held on to my spear as it pierced and dug inside its wormy flesh. The creature turned to catch me, but I spun with it, my spear still stuck in it.

“Pull him! Pull him out, now!” I called as I did my best not to get caught.

The monster was completely focused on me, turning in place trying to catch me. I saw Johann and someone else grab at the victim's arms and pull him from under the creature. When the creature turned once more to try and grab me, I used its own momentum to pull my spear out and roll out of its reach.

They managed to pull the guy out, but unfortunately there was only half of him left. A trail of innards led to a half eaten torso and a face pain stricken with empty dead eyes staring at nothing. Someone puked, and curses were thrown around. I had no time to worry about any of that as the bear charged me. I dodged, but left my mark on its side once more. Despite all my efforts at trashing its leg, the creature was unfazed, charging as if nothing had happened to it.

With its attention on me, the battle eventually fell back into the previous pattern. Some people attacked the creature eagerly, others needed some more time to recover, but eventually rejoined the fray. Johann had to address this weak behavior. The battlefield wasn’t a place for people to hesitate over losses. Were they so relaxed to have the luxury of catching their breath?

Part of me wanted to send the creature barreling towards them, but that wouldn’t help anyone in the end. These people would eventually find themselves in a situation that would push them to their limits. Then, if they were not up to task, they would die. Simple as that. There was no need for me to create such a scenario, this place would surely provide it.

Pester the monster until it charges, dodge, stab, move towards it, repeat. This time didn’t take us that long to bring it down to its wobbly state. The charges were far and between now, and the more experienced fighters were already on it much earlier than the previous one. It stumbled and fell mid charge. No one wasted a breath and jumped on the creature. I stabbed with gusto at whatever spot I could find. The creature quickly became mincemeat.

[You have increased your Strength.]

‘I failed to kill it, but as consolation prizes go, it could be worse.’

We didn’t have much time to rest or celebrate our victory, because shouts and sounds of battle coming from beyond the barrier got everyone’s attention. A roar made us all move away from the dead devourer bear and reorganize our formation, when a second roar followed. I hadn’t seen the creature roar so quickly in succession, which meant there were two of them. The shouts and the battle only made me think of one other possibility.

A man wearing nothing but combat shorts and an Asian looking sword in his right hand jumped on top of the remnants of our barricade. His body was covered in tattoos, even his neck and face. He had a slim form, but very well built and muscular. His hair was shaved and he had no facial hair. His eyes scanned our side until they found me. He gave me a wide grin.

“Leo! You are Leo, right?” He jumped down the barrier as new people started to run through the barricade, now behind him.

“Maccurach.” I said. His smile widened.

“You see, Leo. Even though you took my bitch, I am a magnanimous person. I brought you a gift” He spread his arms as two of the monster bears broke through what was left of our barricade. The creatures stood on their hind legs and roared with their belly mouths. One of them had some wounds, but the other was as pristine as ever.

Maccurach was undisturbed by the creatures a couple steps behind him as he walked towards me. I pointed my spear to him.

“Gift? I assumed you were insane, but you can’t seriously think this is a gift.”

“Tsk.” Maccurach clicked his tongue in annoyance. “That isn’t polite of you. You know how much trouble I had to go through to bring this to you without killing it?”

“I thought I had found a kindred spirit in you, Leo. But maybe I was wrong…” If the circumstances were different I might have believed the sadness in his eyes. “No matter. It’s just more for me then.”

Maccurach turned his back towards me as one of the bears was about to slam him head first. Then he jumped. High enough to go above the creature. He twisted in the air and grabbed some of the fur with his left hand. He balanced on top of the creature and started hacking away with abandon while laughing. He didn’t let the bear crash against the wall, instead, pulling hard on the fur on the back of its head to steer it until the bear gave up on the charge and started fighting the man on its back.

The roar of the second monster forced me to leave the insane man and his fight. The people who came with him weren’t doing so well. One of them had been caught by its charge and was currently being eaten alive while the others just stepped away. I knew I couldn’t just watch. I looked to Noah who seemed confused on which of the creatures to focus. Our eyes met and I signaled him to keep an eye on Maccurach. Noah nodded, and I hope he understood my intent. I didn’t want to be surprised by that maniac in the middle of a fight.

I rushed towards the bear in an attempt to grab its attention, but by the silence coming from the guy underneath it, I was probably too late. Despite all the chaos around, I felt calm. More than I should have been. I stared back as the black hateful eyes of the monster bore into me, and I knew there wasn’t much it could do to harm me that I wasn’t prepared for. I maneuvered the creature so that my back would be towards Johann and our group, not the newcomers, and we started our dance again.

From time to time I would catch glimpses of the fight going between Maccurach and the bear. I watched as the bear inflicted a deep laceration on the man’s chest, but he only laughed. When the bear roared, he roared back. He was thrown around by the bear once, twice, but he got to his feet in joy, shouting in defiance as the creature charged him. As he accumulated wounds, so did the monster. A lot more than him. At some point he even managed to blind the creature, but the monster continued to go after him, Maccurach made enough noise that even a human could tell where he was.

When the bear we were fighting started to get wobbly and weak, Maccurach rode the other bear straight onto it. They slammed into each other as he jumped away at the last possible moment.

“Isn’t that awesome, Leo!? Look at them! Can’t even tell each other apart!” He shouted amid his laughter. I didn’t answer.

The creatures stumbled on top of each other trying to get on their feet, the blind one started attacking the other, and took a large chunk of its left hind leg. The creature roared and they finally untangled. The blind one started sniffing the air, while the other charged where he saw the most people. They started scrambling away, but one unlucky guy got caught by the beast’s charge and thrown hard against a wall. The creature didn’t pin him down, but by the sound and the amount of blood that splattered against the wall, his situation wasn’t good.

Noah’s arrows struck the charging bear as it finally hit the wall on an angle. It scrapped against the wall until it finally stopped, turning towards us once more. I did my best to get its attention, and after a few tense moments, it was happy to go after me with an unsteady step. I dodged and weaved through the creature's paw swipes, but there was no more line. I did my best to keep it away from Maccurach, but our line was broken, his guys mixed in with ours.

We fought against it the best way we could. A couple of guys ended up getting caught by a wild swipe from one of the bears. The creature relied less on its charges, and more on its frenzied swipes. One of the wild swipes of the blind bear caught me on my back. I heard Noah’s voice, but the battle was so chaotic I couldn’t understand in time. It only made sense when I was barreling towards the other bear.

The monster headbutted me in the abdomen and I doubled over. The creature tried to pin me down, but I caught his shoulders with my feet, pushing myself away from his belly mouth. My spear was in a bad position and I could bring it from underneath the creature. I slid with my back on the pavement while frantically used my legs to keep away from the danger zone. At some point the bear got frustrated enough it stood on its hind legs and roared at me with its otherworldly mouth.

I rolled to the side, crouched and held my spear up. I knew I couldn’t roll away from its drop, so I did the best I could and trusted that my weapon wouldn’t break under its weight. The bear crashed on top of me and I felt as the spear pierced its skin under its enormous weight like it was nothing. The spear kept digging deep and soon I felt the writhing skin pushing me down as the entire weight of the creature fell on me. The enormous weight of its body threatened to crush me, but it ultimately didn’t move anymore. Its skin jerked a couple times until it eventually went limp.

[You have slain a Young Devourer Bear.]

[The fifth wave has been cleared.]

[Participants will be rewarded according to their contribution.]

[The contribution ranking is:

Leo - 240 Points

Maccurach - 120 Points

Sarah - 120 Points

Will - 120 Points

Johann - 120 Points]

[You have been awarded 240 points.]

[You have been awarded one free stat point for being the highest contributor.]