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Energy Eater - Chapter 58 - Goldilocks
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 10:03:11 +0000 UTCAstrid was now level 8, just two levels away from Tier 1. Even then, ideally, she would get a few more levels to gain skills for her new class before we could fight the Ice Devil. So, our priority stayed the same: finding a way to leave this place. But the more we walked, the less likely that seemed. Every tunnel we took seemed to head down, and the sparse few that had an upward incline led to dead ends—either parts of the structure that were clearly incomplete or places where walls had collapsed, blocking the path ahead.
Another problem quickly became evident. The deeper we went, the more bears we encountered. From the little we gathered, there were at least a couple dozen around. They also seemed to work in groups, almost as if they had created factions among themselves—although "families" might be a better term. With each new tunnel we discovered, more creatures began to chase after our scent. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the bears managed to trap us in a dead end.
I couldn’t just start moving without talking with Astrid first, but making noise was a bad idea. It was a good thing there was another option. I made a gesture for her to stop and touched her shoulder.
Cass: Maybe we should go back. I’m talking with you through the System. Just think about what you want to answer, and you will send the message to me.
Astrid: Like this?
Cass: Exactly.
Astrid: This is quite the ingenious way to communicate. I can see how this could be helpful if people were hunting in a group. But she had yet to tell me about this form of communication?
I paused. This was the first time Astrid had said so much at once. Her vocabulary was broader than I expected.
Cass: Sorry. There was a lot going on. Talking through messages like this wasn’t useful at the time.
Astrid: You heard that?
Cass: Saw, but I did. You didn’t want to send that message?
Astrid: No. Those were thoughts. I’m sorry. Need practice.
Cass: You don’t have to apologize. And you can talk like that with me if you want. I don’t see a problem with that. Either way, there are too many bears around us, but they were avoiding the Ice Devil. Maybe we should run back and try to get one of them for food.
Astrid: And water?
Cass: We have ice everywhere. In a perfect world, we would boil it before drinking. But if we can’t do that, our best option is to suck on it like candy.
She paused and looked around before nodding.
Astrid: Ok.
We turned around and started retracing our steps. I only had a general idea of where we should be going, but Astrid seemed to be a bit more proficient in that kind of thing. She effortlessly took the lead, pointing to the correct tunnel or corridor that we should take.
Despite our plan, the monsters weren’t about to let us go easily. In just a few minutes, a group of three found our trail and began their chase. We could hear their footsteps moving quickly towards us, but it was almost impossible to figure out where they were coming from. The sounds echoed too much, and more and more tunnels seemed to appear out of nowhere. The closer the bears got, the more frantic our movements became. Astrid was starting to struggle to remember the path we took, and I wasn’t much help. I could manage not to get lost in a forest, but these mines were just too confusing. The constant pale blue light was starting to give me a headache, and it kept creating odd shadows that made even small pieces of ice look like giant creatures in the distance. That only served to confuse me even more.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, while running, we passed by a tunnel that was covered in ice—but not just a block of ice. It was a frozen spider web—a gigantic one, capable of capturing even one of the bears. Fighting the bears was one thing, even if they were in a group. It would be another to fight them and the spiders at the same time.
Turning a corner to the left, we continued following a tunnel that made another curve to the right. But beyond that was a collapsed area. In other words, a dead end.
"Crap," Astrid stopped moving and just stared at the rubble.
"Don’t stay there. There was another tunnel a few meters back," I turned around as I continued to talk. "We need to get out of here before the—"
Coming around the corner were three bears. They were somewhat smaller than the ones we killed before, but there were still three of them. The monsters slowly approached, snarling and baring their teeth.
"Fight, or run?" Astrid asked.
"I don’t think they’re going to let us run. If they do, it’s because one of us got stuck behind," I glanced at her, who was about to say something, but I didn’t let her. "We’re not doing that. Both of us are getting out of here."
Astrid closed her mouth and nodded.
The three bears in front of us were very similar, but they also had a few differences. One was bigger and angrier. It had a scar above its left eye. I decided to call him "Papa Bear." The second was a bit smaller, and its front claws were thicker, with a shade of dark blue instead of the lighter color of the others. I called her "Mama Bear". The third, which was smaller and had no notable features, became "Baby Bear" by default.
Despite my internal joke, it was hard to imagine a scenario where we could get out of this without a problem. I kept trying to think of ways to kill these creatures quickly, but nothing came to mind. The only skill I could use now was {Compression}. Everything else was either passive or wouldn’t help during a fight.
On the other hand, Astrid had the skills from the Frosted Axe. It sucked that she didn’t get any new skills in the last two levels, but that might be our best answer to this.
"I’ll try to create an opening for you to kill them. Don’t let them circle back. Even if we have our backs against the wall, that’s better than being flanked," I said. The bears continued their slow approach, but they were about to reach the point where we had to stop them. The tunnel wasn’t wide, but it wasn’t long either. Letting them get closer would remove any breathing room we might have.
Astrid gave me a confirming grunt just before I lunged at the creatures. First, baiting an attack from Papa Bear, I jumped to the side, getting enough distance for a quick jab with my Cold Staff. The target was his scarred eye, but the Polar Brown Bear moved away in time, receiving the blow on its neck instead. Recovering, I spun my staff before cracking it against Mama Bear’s jaw. The impact made her step back, whimpering in pain. The gap between her and Papa Bear became just wide enough for Baby Bear to move forward. Focusing on the smaller one seemed like a good idea, and now Mama Bear couldn’t rejoin the fight due to the tight tunnel.
However, my risky move didn’t go unpunished. Papa Bear clawed my arm, leaving three gashes in my biceps. Before I even stepped back, {Body Regeneration} was already working to close the wounds. Baby Bear lunged at me, but in doing so, it blocked Papa Bear from following up. Because of its smaller frame, Baby Bear couldn’t reach me, despite its best efforts. In the back, Mama Bear kept trying to rejoin the fight, but she was too big to push past the other two. Even better, her attempts only served to annoy Papa Bear, who tried to attack me twice but was interrupted by Mama Bear’s struggles.
As Baby Bear snapped at me, I jumped over it and kicked the creature towards Papa Bear. My legs didn’t have nearly enough strength to topple it, but the sudden push and my movement made it look away from Astrid just long enough for her to bring her weapon down directly on the small monster’s skull. The blade sank deep between its eyes. I honestly wasn’t expecting her to kill one of them in a single move, and by the look on her face, neither was she.
Mama Bear roared in anger as her cub was killed by prey. She practically jumped over Papa Bear, trying to reach Astrid. But just as she wanted to avenge her baby, I wanted to protect the new System user. As the monster leaped through the air, I placed my Cold Staff under her and triggered {Compression}. The blue wood transformed into a tall pillar, slamming against the monster’s stomach and pinning her against the ceiling.
The creature struggled to free itself, scratching at the wood, but its limbs couldn’t reach from that position. Astrid approached the trapped beast, looking for an opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, even though it was stuck, the Polar Brown Bear was still a threat to anyone who got close. An even bigger problem was that I had lost my weapon, and now my only option was to fight Papa Bear with my bare hands.
Which might take the prize for the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
The biggest of the bears didn’t seem bothered by the death of the small one or the fact that the other was trapped. It continued to stare me down, waiting for an opening. And it had just found one. Without my weapon, any threat it might have felt was gone. The monster charged at me, swiping with both of its front legs. I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike, but the creature’s mouth was still tracking me. It bit down on my clothes, ripping part of the sleeve as it flung me into the wall.
I tried punching its head since it was so close as it moved me, but that had no effect. Actually, no—the only effect was hurting my own hand. Then, before I could recover, I slammed my back against the frozen rock of the tunnel wall. Just after the impact, I felt two massive paws pinning my shoulders. The bear now had me against the wall, its mouth opening wide to bite my head off. The movements were slow, almost as if it was savoring my fear. Using all my strength, I reached up and held its jaws open with both hands.
The creature pushed me down, forcing me to my knees as saliva dripped onto my face. I tried to see if Astrid was coming, but the bear blocked my view. Its tongue reached out, licking me, but I bit down on it in response. I held the bear’s tongue in my mouth and pulled with everything I had, ripping it off entirely. The creature roared and recoiled, too distracted by the pain to react further. Ignoring the burning pain in my shoulders, I jumped on top of the monster. My nails clawed at its eyes until I managed to blind it while it tried to shake me off.
With me still on its back, the monster reared up on its hind legs and fell backward. I pushed off the opposite wall, increasing the force of the fall. The drop was more violent than I expected, and the bear slammed its head against a jagged piece of ice jutting from the wall. I landed on its stomach, but instead of attacking me, the creature went limp. It was still breathing and making noises, but aside from that, it wasn’t moving. My best guess was that the impact had broken its spine, but it wasn’t enough to kill it.
I quickly climbed down and stepped away to avoid its claws. Looking over, Astrid had just finished off Mama Bear, several shards of ice embedded in the ceiling and the creature’s body.
"Did you kill Mama Bear?" I asked. I was too focused on my own fight to notice if I got any SP. The only confirmation I had was when Baby Bear died.
"Mama Bear?" Astrid tilted her head.
"I gave them names in my head. Don’t ask. Is it dead?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let me borrow your axe. I want to finish this one off," I told Astrid, who stared at me for a moment before nodding.
It took me a few swings, but eventually, I managed to cut Papa Bear’s neck and felt the flood of SP rush into me. Just after that, an upbeat notification resonated in my mind.
[Congratulations, user Cassandra. You have reached level 6.]
"Nice, a level. Did you level up?" I turned to Astrid, who nodded with a smile.
"Twice."
"So you’re already level 10? Perfect. Let’s get out of here before more bears show up."
"Wait," Astrid gestured to her axe and walked over to Baby Bear. In one quick motion, she cut off one of its arms. "Food."
"Good call. Actually, can you take Mama Bear’s paws?" I asked as I retrieved my staff, letting the monster’s body fall to the ground.
"Why?"
"She got her nails done. That might be a skill."
