Chapter 15: One Miscalculation
*Bam!*
*Bam!*
*Bam!*
"What is happening?" A middle-aged man came out of his small hut and saw the people running around.
"Help me!"
"Don't!"
"We need to run!"
The people ran frantically, not knowing where to go. The middle-aged man was completely confused by what happened. They were in Base 01, which was located right outside the Tier 1 beasts' territory.
It was a stable base. While some beasts decided to attack it from time to time, they pretty much repelled all the attacks.
However, there seemed to be something different from the commotion this time. Normally, the people would join hands and fight back. Yet, the only thing he could see was them running away.
"What is happening?" He gritted his teeth. Fortunately, there was a person running in his direction. Without hesitation, he grabbed the man's arm and asked out loud, "What happened?"
"Co-Commander Nak! We've been attacked by a horde of Tier 1 beasts! They are about to come to this base."
"What? A horde?" Commander Nak gasped. "We can still fight. All of you need to stop running and join hands with the military."
"Are you serious? I don't want to die. There are about three hundred Tier 1 beasts coming from that direction! In fact, where is the siren to tell everyone about the danger?!" The guy was angrier than the commander, thinking that the commander hid this fact.
The commander gasped and let him go as the man continued running away. His face became pale as he rushed toward the small container where they monitored the defense.
When he opened the base, he saw two of his subordinates inside—one lying on the ground lifelessly while the other was sleeping on the table. However, as soon as he checked it, he noticed a red mark on the soldier's neck, as though they had been stabbed by a big needle.
"…" Commander Nak couldn't help but look around, wondering if the threat remained in the room. "What's going on?"
Without hesitation, he pressed the big red button on the table. The button caused the alarm to ring, informing everyone that danger was coming. At the same time, it would also alert the main base about this danger.
He grabbed one of the microphones and sent his message. "HQ, this is Colonel Nak. We don't know the situation yet, but please send reinforcement. It seems that Tier 1 beasts are coming to strike this base. There's a possibility that we'll evacuate this base."
After sending the message, he rushed back outside and looked at the north, finding a huge cloud of dust coming toward him.
"This is not looking good." He clenched his fists. "The people are abandoning the beasts, so the scale should be quite big. We might have to evacuate this base, but…"
On the one hand, evacuating the base would be better. While this place was a camp, there was no heavy weaponry. The defense came from the soldiers and the help of other explorers.
Since the latter had scattered, the soldiers alone wouldn't be enough to deal with so many beasts, especially Tier 1 beasts.
"Bring me all the officers that are currently available. Give me a report of the current status and the number of enemies." He ordered one of the soldiers, who was scared by the cloud of dust and his death.
"Y-yes!" The soldier hurriedly rushed to call the officers under the colonel's command.
Colonel Nak couldn't help but grit his teeth. "I just hope that everyone knows the situation and doesn't come here."
…
Meanwhile, Clovis, Jay, and Kanaria were hunting near the Tier 1 territory. This place was filled with the so-called Short-faced Bear or Arctodus simus.
Clovis and Jay were standing in front of one of them. Its height almost doubled that of a normal human when standing upright.
They had an elongated and slender body with long limbs. They were also quite fast and could cover large distances quickly, making them an efficient predator. With its powerful build and sharp claws, it usually preys on large herbivores. It could be said that this bear was one of the strongest Tier 0 beasts they could find in the area.
But this time, the bear was their prey.
*Roar!*
The bear swept its paw from the right.
Jay struck the bear's paw as if he were trying to knock it back. But Jay soon realized how much more powerful the bear was compared to him.
Seeing that he couldn't deflect it, he hurriedly loosened his grip, allowing his blade to rotate. The saber slid on the bear's paw to redirect its trajectory. Jay also managed to avoid the attack.
However, he noticed that the bear wasn't cut by his weapon.
"This is…" Jay furrowed his eyebrows.
Clovis, on the other hand, approached the bear from the other side. The bear used its other paw to push Clovis back, but the latter spun his body and circled around the bear, striking him from the back.
Unlike Jay, Clovis's attack penetrated the bear's skin pretty easily.
Soon, they heard Kanaria's voice through the radio. "This bear is strong. The paws, the arms, and the chest are pretty hard to cut. If you want to kill them, destroy them on their face, feet or back."
"Got it." Clovis and Jay acknowledged the information.
Now that he knew the bear's weakness, Jay swiftly cut the bear's leg, albeit it was a bit too shallow. The bear hurriedly swept his paw again to knock Jay down.
However, forgetting about Clovis was the last thing it should have done. Without hesitation, Clovis stabbed the back of the bear's head before slitting its throat.
In just two strikes, the bear died without being able to fight back.
"It's quite strong for a bear, isn't it?" Clovis muttered while looking at the bear.
"Yeah. If it hunts on a pack, it's going to be troublesome for us."
"Still, it's going to slow us down if we fight one at a time." Clovis contemplated. "Do you have any idea, Kanaria?"
"Do you want me to go down? I can use my rifles to rain them down with bullets. You two can bait them to come and eliminate them together."
Clovis looked at the hill for a moment. Kanaria had a very advantageous position currently, which was perfect to look at the area while helping them. But if she went down, they might be able to hunt more bears.
"Please go down. We're going to speed up." Clovis ultimately decided to kill more rather than hold the advantageous spot.
"I'll arrive there in five minutes." Kanaria accepted the order and jumped off the trees.
While descending the hill, Kanaria noticed some movement coming from the north. She hurriedly said, "I can't say for sure, but something is coming for you guys. Maybe two or three bears. Get ready!"
"Roger." Clovis and Jay exchanged looks before they hid behind a tree, ready to ambush the bear.
However, Kanaria soon was unable to see the incoming beasts anymore after reaching the foot of the hill.
That was why they never realized that the one coming for them was not a normal bear.
"!!!" Clovis and Jay widened their eyes when they saw a giant shadow coming in their direction.
'What is that?' Clovis gulped down. The shadow had a wingspan of three meters. And it looked like it was crawling on all fours instead of running on two feet.
The closer the shadow, the clearer the shadow. It was a bear. Its appearance was similar to that of the short-faced bear, but its size was far bigger.
*Grrr…*
The bear gnashed its sharp teeth when it arrived as though showing its anguish and anger to the bear corpse on the ground.
It suddenly stood up, revealing its true height.
Clovis and Jay couldn't help but gasp. The bear was five meters tall. Even if they jumped, they might only hurt the bear's lower body.
'Is this really a bear?' Clovis's heart skipped a beat. He never thought that Kanaria would miss this.
On the other hand, Jay whispered, "Kanaria. Don't come here."
"!!!" The bear suddenly lowered its head as though it heard the whisper. It raised its paw as though it were about to crush Jay as well as the tree that covered him.
Seeing Jay too focused on the transmission, Clovis couldn't help but come out while shouting, "Jay!"
Jay and the bear were startled. Jay realized that he had made a blunder and Clovis had to attract the bear to protect him. The bear, on the other hand, changed its target to Clovis.
The bear sent its giant paw to crush him. Clovis didn't run. Instead, he tossed the short sword to the top of the tree and pulled him up before the bear could smash him.
After that, he landed on the back of the bear's paw and started climbing its giant arm. "Ooohhh!" Clovis roared to gather the bear's attention.
The question remained. Why would Kanaria miss this bear? There was one thing that he could think of. The bear was sleeping earlier, and it woke up due to them killing one of the bears.
Because the trees were pretty tall, Kanaria couldn't determine this bear from above, especially when the bear was walking on four feet.
Ultimately, Clovis believed that this was his mistake. If he wasn't so rushed in calling Kanaria here, she would have spotted this bear.
Clovis shouted, "I'm going to distract it. Jay! Regroup with Kanaria and find an opportunity to strike back!"
Of course, even if the bear was terrifying, Clovis still believed that their group could defeat it.
'Tier 1 short-faced bear, huh? It's going to be interesting.' Clovis smiled.
These three were still unaware of the danger they were currently in.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone