Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 127 Fighting the Bear
Using their javelins as walking sticks, hunters Ralph and Winters climbed the steep slope. After going uphill, there was a downhill, and after going downhill, there was an uphill again.

After traversing several hills along the animal trail, even seasoned hunters who were accustomed to walking in the forest were already panting heavily.

Wolf Town is located on the northern slope of the Golden Peak Mountain Range. Generally speaking, the terrain rises higher as you go further south into the woodlands. However, the micro-topography is not all uphill, but rather consists of undulating mountain ridges, making travel in such places extremely arduous.

Winters, carrying a heavy musket, was also drenched in sweat. This large-caliber matchlock musket was extremely cumbersome and usually had to be mounted on a support pole when in use. It weighed nearly 20 pounds, and Winters was carrying two of them.

“Sir, beasts usually avoid hills,” Ralph said, panting. “That beast was probably frightened by the people returning from the church, which is why it ran away in a panic.”

Winters braced himself on his knees, trying to calm his breathing. He nodded but didn't speak; he simply couldn't utter a single word.

"That beast must be even more tired; it can't run far!" The old hunter, leaning on his javelin, continued walking forward.

Winters gritted his teeth and followed.

The signs of destruction in the woodland were becoming fewer and fewer. When the giant bear first fled into the forest, it rampaged through everything in its path, and even Winters could recognize the damage caused by its brutal actions.

But the deeper you go into the forest, the fewer broken branches and bushes there are, and the claw marks become lighter.

It was clear that the behemoth was slowing down, its ferocity was subsiding, and it was gradually reverting to its original behavior pattern—moving stealthily in a strolling manner.

Tracking became increasingly difficult, but the beast could not escape the hunter's eyes.

Ralph followed the giant bear's trail closely, marking the trees with his hunting knife as he went to indicate the way for those who followed.

After passing through a forest of white oak trees, the giant bear's tracks disappeared into a small river. Winters' heart tightened, but after the hunter crossed the stream and carefully examined the area, he led Winters upstream in pursuit.

The two walked along the riverbank, their steps uneven, as seasonal flash floods washed away the soil on both sides of the river, exposing stones of varying sizes and shapes beneath the soil.

The forests on both sides of the riverbank resembled a dark and vast beast's den, teeming with hidden dangers. The force of the water made the surface of the stones on the riverbank smooth and perilous.

Ralph, who was walking ahead, suddenly stumbled and almost fell. But he struggled to his feet and steadied himself, letting out a low growl of pain.

Winters quickly caught up with Ralph and saw the old hunter clenching his teeth, his nostrils flaring, and his muscles trembling with tension.

The lieutenant quickly realized that the tired old hunter had lost his footing on the stone and twisted his ankle.

A sprained ankle is the most common and also the most troublesome injury. It won't kill you, but it will render you unable to move.

The two of them had tracked each other all the way here thanks to their hunting skills, a fact Winters knew well.

He could no longer tell which way the beast had gone. If Ralph couldn't move, he could only watch helplessly as the creature vanished without a trace.

Holding Ralph's arm, Winters steeled himself and asked, "Can you still move?"

"Yes!" the old hunter gritted his teeth and answered, "Keep chasing."

After regaining his footing, the old hunter continued to walk forward, but he swayed again and almost fell.

Winters immediately helped Ralph up, saying helplessly, "Let's rest for a while."

The lieutenant helped Ralph slowly sit down and helped the old hunter take off his boots. The hunter's right ankle was swollen high, with bluish-purple skin underneath, and he was clearly unable to move it.

“You stay here and wait for the others to come.” Winters made up his mind: “I’ll go after them alone.”

The old hunter shook his head vigorously, panting, and said, "No, one person can't do it. Let me catch my breath, then I'll tie a cloth around my ankles, and we'll continue the chase."

As he spoke, the old hunter took a horn cup from his waist, leaned out, and scooped some water from the river to drink. He had already brought the cup to his lips, but then he suddenly remembered something. He stopped and offered the water to the lieutenant with both hands.

Winters was both angry and amused: "What the hell are you doing this for? Just drink up. I'll drink after you finish."

Ralph didn't refuse anymore. After finishing his drink, he scooped another glass of water and handed it to Winters. The lieutenant, whose throat was parched, drank it all in one gulp and returned the glass to Ralph.

The hunter leaned out again to scoop water. Just as he placed the cup in the river, he froze. He lost his grip, and the horn cup slipped from his hand and was swept downstream by the rapids.

Winters was about to step forward to ask when he saw Ralph make a silencing ring. The old hunter looked at Winters, slowly shook his head, and then pointed to the pine trees on the other side of the river.

In the old hunter's eyes, Winters actually saw a hint of fear.

He looked in the direction the hunter had pointed. At first glance, he saw nothing. The next moment, he realized that what he had been searching for was right under a tree on the opposite bank of the river!

Its dark brown fur served as natural camouflage in the forest, and the beast lay prone in the shadows beneath the trees, resembling a massive rock that had stood for millennia.

The logging team foreman wasn't exaggerating at all; it really was a bear the size of a house. The beast's size was truly enormous; even just lying on the ground, it was a terrifying behemoth.

Winters wasn't surprised that he and Ralph hadn't noticed it at first, because no one would mistake such a large rock for an animal. Even though he knew he was tracking a giant bear, the size of the thing in front of him far exceeded his expectations.

This beast was so large that it could no longer be called a bear; no word could accurately describe it. Only the royal eagles kept by the Oathbreakers could compare to it.

Could those two muskets really harm that thing? The lieutenant even felt a slight wavering in his heart.

For days, Winters Montagne had dreamt of finding this ferocious beast. Now he was less than twenty meters away from it, but the lieutenant had no idea how to kill it.

Fortunately, the beast is currently motionless and appears to be fast asleep.

What to do? Fight or flee?
The hunter and the lieutenant exchanged a silent glance.

Winters quietly placed the javelin and saber on the ground, then removed the two muskets from his body and gently placed them on the ground as well.

To avoid waking the beast on the other side, Winters moved extremely slowly and made no sound.

The more noisy the forest sounds—the flowing water, the birdsong, the rustling of leaves in the wind—the more terrifying the silence felt by the hunter and the lieutenant.

After putting down all the weapons, Winters gestured for Ralph to be quiet. He silently walked to Ralph's side, grabbing Ralph's leg with one hand and his arm with the other.

The lieutenant took a deep breath, and with a sudden burst of strength from his abdominal muscles, he lifted the old hunter up.

Just as the old hunter was hoisted onto his shoulder, a crisp sound came from his bag.

Instantly, the hairs on Winters' back stood on end, and Ralph immediately grabbed his tool bag.

The two men stood frozen in place, too afraid to move. Winters slowly turned to look at the giant bear. Luck was on their side; the beast remained motionless beneath the tree.

The lieutenant nodded, carrying the old hunter back the way they came, his steps slow and steady. The old hunter gripped his tool bag tightly, trying to keep it from making any more noise.

Winters silently counted his steps, and when he reached five hundred, he found a flat spot and put the old hunter down.

"Sir." Ralph didn't even have time to thank him. He knew what the lieutenant was thinking and lowered his voice to anxiously dissuade him, "We can't handle that beast on our own. We absolutely can't go alone. Sir, let's wait for the others to come and then we'll think of a way."

"What if that thing gets away before reinforcements arrive?" Winters chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not that reckless. I'll go and guard it, make sure it doesn't get away again."

"Then please take my cleats." The old hunter took out a set of shoe spikes from his toolbox.

The hunter gave a brief explanation of how to use it, and Winters took it and turned to leave.

The old hunter was at a loss, wanting to call back Lieutenant Montagne but not daring to utter a sound, and could only watch helplessly as the lieutenant walked away.

Returning to the spot, Winters retrieved his weapon. The giant bear was still fast asleep under the tree, completely unaware of what had happened around him.

“Hitting this behemoth in the body won’t work; you have to hit its head.” Winters silently calculated in his mind: “I’m afraid even hitting the head won’t be enough; you have to hit a vulnerable spot like the eyes.”

At this moment, Lieutenant Montagne's biggest regret was not bringing a cannon into the mountains.

Carrying two guns, Winters found a shallow spot with a slow current, crossed the river, and silently approached the giant bear from downwind.

Winters was not confident in the accuracy of the musket in his hand.

Unlike the two spring-loaded guns Antonio gave him, which were made by royal gunsmiths, those two guns had smooth, mirror-like barrels and were incredibly accurate.

However, the muskets in the Blackwater arsenal were cheap, and their barrels hadn't been properly ground. You had to get very close to ensure a hit.

The closer Winters got to the giant bear, the more directly he felt its immense size. This behemoth was like the embodiment of the wilderness, its very existence seemingly a demonstration of nature's power. The lieutenant still retained his rationality; he didn't intend to deal with such a colossal creature alone.

But he couldn't allow himself to let the ferocious beast escape and wreak havoc. So, when he got to within about fifteen meters of the giant beast, he found a suitable tree branch and set up his musket.

He dared not and could not get any closer.

The next step is simply to wait.

Waiting for reinforcements.

The distance was so close that Lieutenant Montagne could even hear the bear's breathing. For a moment, he had a strange feeling: the forest seemed to have come alive, its pulse beating in sync with the bear's breath.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a second? A minute? A quarter of an hour?

The forest's heartbeat paused for a second.

The giant bear under the shade of the tree awoke, as if a giant rock had been infused with a soul.

Winters' breathing stopped abruptly, and his heart clenched violently.

After a slight movement of its body, the giant bear twitched its nose and turned its head toward Winters.

They were so close that Winters could see every detail of the behemoth: its tangled fur, its high-set back, its erect ears, its dark nose, its cold eyes, and its dark eye circles.

He also noticed that the fur around the bear's nose was reddish, which was the blood of a recent victim.

The man and the beast locked eyes, and Lieutenant Montagne, without hesitation, used magic to ignite the gunpowder in the barrel.

The gunshot shattered the silence of the forest, the recoil from the doubled charge nearly knocking the lieutenant over. In the instant the smoke billowed, he saw the lead bullet graz the bear's cheek and explode at its shoulder.

Before he could even feel regret, Winters immediately switched to another gun.

A chilling roar echoed from behind the smoke. The flames, the explosions, and the smoke failed to scare away the ferocious beast. Enraged, the giant bear roared and charged toward the tiny humans.

So for his second shot, Winters aimed at the bear's gaping maw.

The gun did not disappoint Winters, who carried it all the way; the 35-gram lead bullet accurately struck between the bear's upper and lower teeth.

The bear's head was jolted backward by the immense force of the lead bullet, blood and foam spurting from its mouth. The rampaging behemoth collapsed suddenly, howling in agony.

There was no time for pity. Seeing the giant beast fall, Winters immediately reloaded his musket. Without bothering to clean the chamber, he simply poured gunpowder into the barrel to save time.

But before he could take out the lead weight, the giant bear, which had just suffered a severe injury, shakily stood up again.

"[Veneta swears]!" The lieutenant acted decisively, throwing away his musket and climbing the tree.

In a life-or-death situation, Lieutenant Montagne, who had never climbed a tree before, used the "footholds" given to him by the old hunter and managed to climb up the tree using both his hands and feet—albeit in an extremely awkward posture.

Having climbed to a height of two or three meters, the giant bear crashed into the tree trunk with a deafening roar. The pine tree, nearly as thick as a person's embrace, was like a weed in a gale under the beast's immense force, almost throwing Winters off.

The pine tree trembled, but it wasn't knocked down. Winters, regaining his footing, immediately began to climb desperately to higher ground.

The giant bear, having crashed into the tree, shook its head a few times and, leaning on the tree-man, stood up. It roared and swung its forepaws at the human, the bear's claws whistling through the air, nearly catching the human's ankle.

The distance between the man and the bear was minuscule; Winters could even smell the stench emanating from the bear's breath.

But by this time, the humans had already climbed to five or six meters, and the giant bear stretched out its front paws in vain, while the people in the tree climbed higher and higher.

Lieutenant Winters Montagne now has only two wishes: first, that bears can't climb trees; and second, that trees are sturdy enough.

The first wish has been fulfilled, because the giant bear showed absolutely no intention of climbing the tree. Finding it unable to reach the humans, the bear instead began ferociously ramming its back and shoulders against the tree trunk.

The lieutenant discovered that the tree he had climbed was indeed not sturdy enough.

With each ramming of the behemoth, the pine tree, as thick as a person's embrace, began to tilt. And there wasn't another large tree within several meters that Winters could leap over.

Winters realized he couldn't let it keep crashing like that—or he would surely die.

“[Incoherent and vile language]!” Regardless of whether the beast could understand human speech, Winters, in his desperate situation, shouted desperately to distract the giant bear.

However, the ferocious beast beneath the tree ignored it and continued to ravage the tree with brute force.

Winters drew his saber and began hacking at pine branches as he climbed down. The branches struck the giant bear, but to the beast, they caused no pain whatsoever; it remained completely unharmed.

Winters went down to a position where the giant bear could almost touch him.

"Come on!" the humans roared like wild beasts, "Come and kill me!"

The enraged bear once again stood upright and pounced on the humans in the tree.

Winters had been waiting for this moment.

As the giant bear opened its blood-red maw and roared as it pounced on the humans in the tree, the humans screamed and used all their strength to plunge their javelins into the bear's mouth.

The humans in the tree were slammed to the ground, while the javelin plunged deep into the bear's throat.

The intense pain almost paralyzed Winters' body; he couldn't even feel which bone he had broken. He lay on the ground, unable to move.

The giant bear shook its head frantically, splattering crimson blood everywhere. It tried to pull the javelin out with its front paws, but the barbs on the tip were firmly embedded in its flesh, and the more it pulled, the more painful it became.

The ferocious beast clenched its jaws and snapped the spear shaft in two, leaving the spearhead embedded in its mouth. The giant beast panted, growled, and twitched its nose as it approached Winters.

One step, two steps, the heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.

Winters was utterly despondent.

"In this situation... is playing dead still useful?" Winters Montagne, in utter despair, suddenly had a thought with a touch of dark humor.

He gave a bitter smile, closed his eyes, and awaited his death.

He could already feel the heat from the beast's breath.

"call out".

A sound of breaking through the air was heard.

"call out".

Another sound.

Two arrows, shot from a 180-pound longbow, pierced the bear's cheek one after the other.

The giant bear, struck by an arrow, stood upright and roared in agony.

"Come on! You beast! Come at me!"

It was the old hunter's voice.

I originally thought this chapter would be enough to kill the bear, but I failed.

I posted the foot puncture in the chapter comments. Readers who are curious about what it is can open the chapter comments to take a look.

Another thing is that sprained ankle is a really painful injury. When I read "To Build a Fire" in middle school and saw the protagonist being abandoned after spraining his ankle, I didn't quite understand. But later, during my first wilderness trek, I wore low-top hiking boots and instantly understood. With no one around, it's a real hassle if you sprain your ankle. So, from then on, I always wore high-top shoes and ankle braces for other routes.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before;
Thank you to readers Calm Gray and Fighting Storm for the monthly tickets;
Thank you to the readers for their recommendation votes: Your Life is the Most, Sky Lens, Rice Dates, Yellow Rabbit from the Flower Country, Kunkun, felixyf024, Reader 161120205936216, I Don't Know What's Called, and Jiang Xue Diao Weng. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)