CSMCDB - Chapter 24
Chapter 24
"Look at that gray bear, only a Star Warrior 1st Layer. Bears have high defense, so be sure to dodge when you fight. Try to find its weak spots when you attack to conserve your energy." Qiu Fei pointed to a gray bear that seemed to be looking for honey, then patted her disciple's shoulder after the reminder. "You go…"
The next second, the gray bear collapsed with a thud. In the blink of an eye, its corpse vanished, leaving only a patch of blood on the ground.
Qiu Fei: Yan Ling, you (expletive) (expletive)!
As the saying goes, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but a third and fourth time is enemy action.
But Ms. Yan Ling was persistent. Not only was there a third and fourth time, but there was even a fifth and sixth.
After two consecutive days of being unable to fight a single demonic beast, Lin Jinyu finally decided she didn't want to waste any more time. She looked at Qiu Fei and said, "Teacher, I'll go with the academy's team. If I'm in danger, I'll send you a signal. Is that okay?"
Qiu Fei: "…Alright."
It was her first time bringing her disciple to the Beast Tide, and she had been prepared to watch over her and see her level up. Now, Qiu Fei was beyond furious. Forced to let her precious disciple go out and train on her own, Qiu Fei sent Lin Jinyu back to town, then began hunting for Yan Ling to settle the score, radiating a dark aura.
She finally understood the look on Yan Ling's face when they had watched the tournament together. So this was what she had been waiting for! She'd heard Yan Ling had even left early—she'd better hope that disciple of hers didn't fall into her hands, or else, hmph!
Wen Yuncheng suddenly sneezed. She rubbed her nose in confusion and continued gathering small twigs in the forest. Thanks to the extra-large storage ring Yan Ling had given her, Wen Yuncheng had put all her luggage, her Star Stone Card, and the Star Iron into that big ring. The only thing she wore around her neck was a single ring containing her C-01 Guardians.
Inside the large ring were two other rings. Wen Yuncheng used one to store the corpses of dead demonic beasts and the other to store the twigs she collected. That way, she wouldn't have to painstakingly gather firewood every time she got hungry; she could just start a fire directly.
After tossing another bundle of twigs into her storage ring, Wen Yuncheng heard what sounded like a buzzing noise. She looked around and was surprised to find a beehive in a tree.
Honeycomb…
[Can you please focus on the mission of hunting demonic beasts? You're not here for a picnic!] 1947 had been tolerating Wen Yuncheng for a long time. The moment this kid was away from Yan Ling, she started letting herself go. All morning, she was either eating or on her way to find something to eat. And now she had her eyes on honey?
"Hey, how will I know what rank these little bees are if I don't check?" Wen Yuncheng took a piece of clothing out of her ring and wrapped it around her head, leaving only her eyes and nose exposed. Then she used a Flame Exploder. The flames produced by this skill were contained within a fixed area and wouldn't spread, so there was no need to worry about starting a forest fire.
Aim, throw!
Buzz buzz buzz—
Wen Yuncheng had never harvested a beehive before, so she was completely improvising. The exploder blasted the hive right out of the tree, and the subsequent flames singed the bees in mid-air, causing them to fall to the ground. These bees had no star-rank; they were just ordinary honeybees.
Wen Yuncheng waited patiently for a while, letting the bees calm down.
However, just as the secretly observing Wen Yuncheng was about to step forward and grab the honey, she felt the ground begin to tremble. She steadied herself against a tree, completely bewildered, and saw a brown bear charging toward her on all fours…
A Star Warrior 2nd Layer brown bear?!
Wen Yuncheng watched, dumbfounded, as the brown bear picked up the honeycomb she had worked so hard to get down. It plunged its paw into the hive, pulling out thick honey. The massive creature ate with great relish, the picture of pure bliss.
Wen Yuncheng: Damn it.
I found it, I knocked it down, it was mine first… Wen Yuncheng ground her teeth, unable to swallow this injustice. Moreover, the bear seemed intent on devouring her prize right in front of her.
—Damn it, why are those bees so weak! Sting it to death!
[Shouldn't you get out of here? What if it decides it wants some meat after it's done?]
"Well, I want to eat bear paws," Wen Yuncheng muttered under her breath. She was waiting for the three-minute cooldown to end. She had to bomb this bear to feel satisfied; otherwise, there was no way she could let this go!
[So you want that thousand experience points now?]
"Not worth it." This wasn't a life-or-death situation, so Wen Yuncheng had no intention of releasing her Guardians. Watching the bear savoring the honey made her angrier and angrier. That was hers!
"Boom—"
An explosion, followed by five seconds of a sea of fire. The brown bear was startled, and the honeycomb fell to the ground, crackling in the flames. It scrambled out of the fire's range and fixed its eyes on Wen Yuncheng.
"Roar!—"
"Bye-bye now." Wen Yuncheng released an RX-78 Pursuer and turned to run. A little farther away, she released an EZ-8 Self-Destructor. As she ran, she kept looking back at the brown bear following her, timing it just right to give it a third explosive party.
[You're reckless when you shouldn't be and too timid when you should be provocative.]
"How is that the same? The people you want me to provoke never did anything to me, but this bear stole my food!" Wen Yuncheng said angrily. "You have no idea how delicious barbecue is with a layer of honey!"
[You could spend points in my…]
"I have no points to give, only my life to take!" Wen Yuncheng retorted casually. Did she not know that the food mall had everything? Of course she knew, but she couldn't bear to spend so many points just to satisfy her cravings!
"Roar!!"
Wen Yuncheng felt the ground shake. She glanced back and saw the brown bear running on all fours, rapidly closing the distance between them. "Why is it so fast?! 1947, 1947!—"
[I told you not to provoke it, but you insisted. You provoked it, and now you can't beat it. Sigh, just think of the thousand points. Go for it~]
"Can Star Steel withstand this bear's attack?"
[It can, but you won't be able to handle the force of the impact yourself.]
Wen Yuncheng raised her hand to the ring on her neck, and four Guardians appeared at her feet. She gave a specific order to the steel-material Guardians not to engage in close combat and to only fire their beam cannons from a distance. Then, she prepared to treat this battle, which was a whole rank above her, seriously.
Three of the Star Steel Guardians, brandishing two Star Power Swords each, rushed forward. Wen Yuncheng tossed a Flame Exploder in her hand, then ran to find a better angle and threw it, enraging the brown bear even further.
"Roar!" After roaring, it swatted one Guardian into the dirt with a single paw, then sent the two Guardians that had finally gotten close flying with two more swipes.
The small spheres clutching Star Power Swords turned into two streaks of light and crashed into the grass beside Wen Yuncheng. She stared rigidly at the increasingly frenzied bear. The Guardian at her feet finally finished charging its energy and fired a beam that grazed the bear's head, scorching its right ear.
Wen Yuncheng had a bad feeling about this.
She snatched up the steel Guardian, commanded the others to run back toward her, and fled in a panic.
—Help, this bear is the real deal!
[…But you've completely maxed out its aggro.]
Wen Yuncheng frantically fumbled for her ring. She had to call Teacher Yan for help; there was no way she could handle this! Wen Yuncheng had never even considered fighting the brown bear in close combat. She was well aware of her own limits and wanted to live a few more years.
"Awooo!—"
Did that roar sound a little different? Wen Yuncheng was still clutching the stone, not having activated it yet. She glanced back and was stunned to see… Lin Jinyu?
"What the hell, is the Little Ice Mountain looking for death?!—" Wen Yuncheng was shocked. "And why is she here?!"
[Who cares about her? Just run. The bear's aggro has shifted.]
"…" Wen Yuncheng ran a few more steps, then stomped her foot, looking furious. "What is with this girl! I owe her a favor, how can I just run away!" Wen Yuncheng really wanted to curse Lin Jinyu out, but the image of that face made the words catch in her throat. After holding it in for a long moment, she cursed "idiot" in her heart and ordered the three Guardians to return and continue fighting the brown bear.
With two of them, she wouldn't get any experience reward even if they won. But… but she just couldn't bring herself to pretend she hadn't seen anything and run away.
Lin Jinyu nimbly dodged the brown bear's attacks. The moment the bear revealed an opening, her longsword would strike without hesitation. Infused with Star Power, the blade was incredibly sharp and could slice off a large chunk of the bear's hide.
Wen Yuncheng was a little dazed. The visual contrast was striking. The bear was huge and cumbersome, while Lin Jinyu was small and agile. Faced with Lin Jinyu's footwork, the big oaf seemed to have lost all its earlier ferocity, appearing slow and clumsy.
Releasing the steel-material Guardian as well, Wen Yuncheng controlled all of them to charge their Star Power cannons. At the same time, she sent out an RX-78 Pursuer to get close to the brown bear and explode.
Four beams of light converged on a single point and fired, blasting a bloody hole through the brown bear's hind leg. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Lin Jinyu's expression remained unchanged. As the bear roared in pain and fury, she filled her longsword with Star Power and unleashed a sword slash. The Star Power glowed with a white light as it flew through the air, striking down toward the bear's face—
A deep gash appeared on the head of the brown bear that had stolen Wen Yuncheng's honey. Two or three seconds later, it collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Wen Yuncheng plopped down on the ground. It was dead?! For a moment, she didn't know whether to be more amazed by how sharp Lin Jinyu's sword was or by the immense power of the combined beam cannon from her four Guardians. Wen Yuncheng blinked and saw Lin Jinyu wipe the blood from her sword, sheathe it, and turn to leave.
"W-wait!" Wen Yuncheng scrambled to her feet. "Aren't you going to take your prize?"
"It's yours."
"No, no, no, you saved me. You saved me again. I don't even know how to thank you." Wen Yuncheng recalled her four Guardians and ran up to her. "Thank you so much."
Lin Jinyu looked into Wen Yuncheng's eyes, as if trying to figure out what this person was thinking. But Wen Yuncheng's eyes were sparkling, fixed on her with extreme earnestness. Lin Jinyu averted her gaze. "You're welcome."
Wen Yuncheng probably had no idea what her teacher had done, Lin Jinyu thought. Besides, she didn't really need the demonic beast corpse. "You're only a Star Practitioner 2nd Layer. Are you alone?"
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