Taking advantage of Black Bear Charla's slumber, Marcus launched a surprise attack.
-100, -110, -50, -60. A series of glowing red numbers burst into the air.
Because it was an ambush, the first two strikes were critical hits. Charla woke instantly, letting out a thunderous roar that shook the clearing, and barreled toward him. Its normal damage was a little over 50; low, but not something he could ignore for long.
"Run!" Marcus muttered under his breath as he darted around a nearby tree, using it as cover. His own damage barely scratched the bear, and he couldn't help but sigh at its massive defense.
He might be aiming to become a Knight, someone who could stand toe-to-toe with BOSSes, but that didn't mean he was stupid. He could see that Charla's attack and movement speed were sluggish compared to his own. If he kept moving, he could exploit that.
His strategy began to take shape. He weaved in tight circles around the large tree, keeping it between them. Charla lumbered after him, roaring in frustration but unable to keep up.
"Hah! Slow, aren't you?" Marcus laughed as he ducked behind the trunk again.
Just running, though, wasn't enough. He needed to start dealing real damage.
He waited for the right opening. When the bear turned slightly away, Marcus dashed behind it and struck twice in quick succession.
-100, -120. Two more critical hits.
Apparently, attacking from behind while unnoticed increased his crit chance.
He didn't stick around to admire the result; he immediately turned and sprinted away. Charla spun with surprising speed and swiped at him, but missed completely. It could only roar and resume its clumsy chase.
Marcus circled back again, repeating the same maneuver.
-100, -50. Another pair of hits. Again, the bear turned too late. He was already gone.
And so, around the huge tree beside the tranquil Spring of Polaris, man and beast began their strange dance. One moment the bear chased the man, the next the man chased the bear. From afar, it might've looked almost comedic.
"Damn, this is too easy," Marcus thought, half-grinning. "There's no challenge at all."
Charla's health was already below half, and it hadn't managed to land a single clean hit. Marcus was starting to feel confident, too confident.
Then came his mistake.
With a sudden blur of motion, a massive paw swung out from nowhere.
-200.
Charla had used Bear Hug. Its first claw missed, but the second connected solidly, sending Marcus reeling backward. His vision flickered red.
He cursed under his breath and gulped down a Small Health Potion. He quickly retreated, keeping distance between them. Thankfully, Bear Hug had a cooldown period; if it didn't, he would've been flattened in seconds.
"Careless," he muttered. "Won't happen again."
But his relief didn't last long. He'd forgotten the other skill.
The ground beneath him trembled. Charla let out a furious bellow and slammed its paws into the earth.
Earth's Fury!
The impact hit him like a shockwave; -120 damage flashed above his head, and suddenly he couldn't move. His entire body locked up.
Three seconds of paralysis.
"Oh, hell."
He could only watch as the enormous bear loomed over him, its shadow falling across his vision.
The final thought that crossed Marcus's mind as Charla's paw came crashing down was painfully simple.
'Guess I'm going back to Level 1.'
A miss, minus one hundred. Another miss. Black Bear Charla's accuracy was terrible, and the agility bonus from Marcus's Fluffy Rabbit Mask, amplified by his already high luck, had saved his life during the three seconds he was stunned. Charla's wild swings had bought him just enough time to retreat and catch his breath.
'Thank heavens.'
He hurriedly uncorked a Medium Health Potion, gulped it down, and backed away as fast as he could.
The next few moments were a perilous dance on the edge of disaster. Black Bear Charla's Bear Hug was far more brutal than Marcus had expected. It was a two-hit combo, the first paw strike carrying twice the force of the second, and if both landed, they would rip more than three hundred points from his health in an instant.
Worse yet was Earth's Fury. If the stun took hold, the follow-up three-hit combo would land for nearly four hundred damage total, and that was more than enough to erase him from existence. Only now was Black Bear Charla's true strength on full display.
Any other player in this Newbie Village, whether focused fully on constitution or fully on agility, would have crumbled under that assault. Even if they had somehow survived the blows, a Fighter who failed to invest in strength would not have been able to pierce the bear's thick hide. By all sensible logic, defeating Black Bear Charla alone should have been impossible.
It was no wonder this monster ruled the area. Its strength was overwhelming. But this time, unfortunately for Charla, it had stumbled into Marcus, a complete statistical oddity. He was the exception to every rule.
His strange, Knight-like build gave him far more defense and health than most rookies should have had, and his absurd agility caused Charla's paws to swing wide again and again. Those constant misses let him weather attacks others would not even see coming.
His damage output was nothing to scoff at either. Whenever Charla's cooldowns rolled over, Marcus pressed in, refusing to give the beast a moment to recover. After burning through five more Medium Health Potions and thirteen Small Health Potions, he had pushed the bear's health down to a mere five hundred.
A grin tugged at his lips. He still had half his potions left, and Charla was down to its final tenth of health. Victory was so close he could taste it.
Then the monster roared.
"ROAR!" Black Bear Charla's voice boomed like thunder, its eyes blazing. It reared up on its hind legs, black fur trembling before it began to shimmer faintly, yellow light spreading through every hair as its entire body slowly turned golden.
Marcus's stomach dropped. Evolution. The beast was evolving, shifting from a Silver BOSS into a Golden BOSS.
Was this terrible luck, or bizarre fortune? The one-in-a-thousand chance had landed squarely on him. At the final tenth of a BOSS's health, there was a tiny chance it would gain bonus attack, bonus defense, become weakened, or try to flee. Even rarer, once in a thousand, it might evolve, fully restore its health, or even self-destruct.
He must have pushed it too far. His constant evasion, the endless cuts, the humiliation of missed attacks, all of it had enraged Black Bear Charla and triggered this furious transformation.
He could not allow it to finish evolving. He did not know what a Golden BOSS was capable of, but he knew enough to fear it. With his own health sitting at a pitiful five hundred, tanking whatever came next would be nearly impossible.
Marcus charged. He threw himself at the glowing bear before thought could stop him, pouring every last ounce of strength into his swing. His Fighter Steel Blade flashed and chopped into the changing hide again and again.
Minus one hundred twenty. Minus one hundred thirty. Minus one hundred. Critical hits, one after another. His heart pounded as if he too were evolving, his senses sharpening as adrenaline surged. If there was ever a moment to push beyond his limits, this was it.
He hacked desperately, hoping to finish the fight before the transformation completed.
But reality rarely bowed to hope.
Just as Charla's health dipped below two hundred, the yellow glow snapped into a solid aura, enveloping the bear from snout to claw. Marcus's fourth strike slammed against the barrier, and the feedback hurled him backward. He crashed to the ground as a painful red –250 floated above his head, his health dropping by half in a blink.
'Good heavens, that was strong.' He scrambled upright, chugging another Medium Health Potion with shaking hands.
The yellow light slowly receded. When it vanished, the black fur was gone, replaced by dazzling golden bristles. Charla was bigger now, broader in the shoulders, teeth sharper like polished ivory, paws thicker and twice as heavy. For the first time in the fight, a chill ran down Marcus's spine.
The Village Chief had tricked him, intentionally or not. He had only mentioned a black bear, but what now towered before Marcus was something far worse, a Golden BOSS, a Golden Bear. The gap in level and power was simply too high.
Standing in front of this gleaming monster, Marcus realized there might be no chance of victory at all.
Marcus steadied his breathing and activated Insight. A brief string of information flashed across his vision: Golden War Bear Charla, Level 30 Golden BOSS. Likes blood, slaughter. HP: ???, Skills: ???, Status: Weakened.
Misfortune never came alone. The boss's level was so far above his own that Insight could not read its health or skills at all. But that single word, weakened, snagged his attention. Weakened? What exactly did that imply?
An idea sparked. Maybe his frenzied assault during the evolution had taken more of a toll than he realized. If the Golden War Bear was truly weakened, then its health could not be higher than one-tenth of its maximum. Meaning, even though it managed to evolve successfully, it had not restored its HP.
If his guess was right, the monster still had less than two hundred health and was fighting at reduced strength.
He swallowed hard. This was a gamble, but he had run out of safe options. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
'Golden War Bear Charla, either you fall here… or I do.'
Marcus tightened his grip on his steel blade and charged.