Chapter 41

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Cook looked at this group of people. Although Mitch is the daughter of a hunter, she is still young and is originally a magic apprentice, not a knight's squire or a combatant. As for Mike, his physical condition is even worse, worse than Mitch. He has already rested for over ten minutes and is still lying there like a dead dog. Kangknie is somewhat sickly and has no good appearance now. As for the remaining Lori, there's no need to think about it. So, after a glance, Cook could only sigh, "Alright, I'll go take a look first."

Cook took off his gray robe and put on the hunter's professional equipment, a set of leather armor. However, this leather armor was given by Lori to a magic servant, so both the craftsmanship and the defensive power were excellent, far better than ordinary standard equipment. Most importantly, Cook also had a magic cleaver, not a straight one, but a knife similar to a larger dagger, used for cutting meat, like a super-large dagger. As for the bow and arrow, Cook had just learned to use it. He could still swing a one-handed sword, so the things Cook brought were very simple: a one-handed sword and a large dagger (the magic cleaver).

After Cook was ready, he followed the route Big Mouth pointed out and moved forward. Cook's actions were very fast because he was also worried about the safety of Lori and the others. Although there was Big Gray, there was still Kangknie and Mike, and Cook couldn't guarantee their safety. So, Little Bad went with Cook this time, while Big Mouth was left in a hidden place to guard Lori and Mitch. If anything happened, Cook could return in time. It must be said that Cook's arrangement was very good, and a real 16-year-old boy wouldn't have arranged it this way.

"Little Bad! Go take a look!" It turned out that the saying "a distant mountain can tire a horse" was true. Cook spent nearly half an hour to reach the place Big Mouth mentioned. The straight-line distance was only a few hundred meters, but there was a large ravine in between. Big Mouth flew, but Cook had to push through the underbrush. When Cook arrived, he found the cave under a huge cliff. In front of the cave were large trees, and the cliff above was covered with thickets and thorns. Cook didn't dare to be careless and used the most common hunter's skill, climbing trees, to reach a position where he could observe the inside of the cave directly. However, the inside of the cave, which sloped downward, was very dark. Cook had to send Little Bad, his only scout, again.

"Hmm!" At this critical moment, Little Bad stretched out his claws, clearly trying to bargain.

"A bear's ear!" Cook replied irritably.

Little Bad tilted his head, touched his own ears, and then happily jumped off the branch, rushing into the cave under Cook's gaze. Cook couldn't help but sneer. This little creature was just like a person who might be wary of an unfamiliar dog, but would likely ignore or even pet a fluffy little duck.

"Is the big gray bear inside?" After a while, Little Bad returned. When it came to climbing trees, Cook had to admit defeat. Cook asked impatiently.

"One ear isn't enough to eat, two ears would barely be enough." Little Bad opened his mouth, but instead of giving information, he tried to bargain.

"Damn! You little thing, are you threatening me? Do you want a beating?" Cook irritably picked up Little Bad's small ear and scolded him.

"Hmph, I want two ears. I warn you, if you touch my ears again, I won't tell you." Little Bad, now more cunning, struggled for a while and then argued.

"Alright, two ears it is. If you can't finish them, I'll deal with you." Cook had no choice but to agree irritably.

"It's sleeping. Act quickly if you want to do something." Little Bad, having received Cook's promise, showed his big teeth and said eagerly.

"Sleeping?" Cook asked, puzzled. Isn't this the time when wild animals should be replenishing their nutrition?

"Yeah, I even jumped on that big guy twice, and there was no reaction." Little Bad answered confidently.

"Alright then!" Hearing this, Cook slid down the tree and quietly approached the cave, being very cautious all the way, afraid of making any noise. He even sprinkled some odorless powder on himself, a common hunter's powder to eliminate his own scent.

"Little Bad, go check again." Cook was less than ten meters from the cave, lying in a low thicket. However, he didn't dare to move forward blindly because animals also have instincts. So, Cook had to send Little Bad to check again.

"Here? Or here? How far?" After Little Bad returned, Cook asked multiple times to roughly understand the layout of the cave and the position of the big gray bear.

"Brother, it's up to you today." Cook took out the magic cleaver wrapped in a beautiful leather case, clasped his hands, and said. Cook had seen Muhammad cut a sheep's leg with one stroke, very easily. Later, Muhammad even cut a branch as thick as an arm with the same ease, and the cut was extremely smooth.

"Yah!!!" Cook took a deep breath, then leaped into the cave at an incredible speed. As he entered the cave, he roared loudly, and at the same time, pulled back the magic cleaver, clearly intending to give the big gray bear a hole.

"Splat! Uh!" However, when Cook leaped into the cave, he found the ground covered with soft grass. In the middle of the grass was a big gray bear, but it was a cub. So, when Cook leaped in, his feet sank into the soft ground, and he fell directly to the ground, staring blankly at the big gray bear in Little Bad's mouth.

"Big gray bear?" Cook looked at the small cub, which weighed only about ten pounds and hadn't opened its eyes yet. It was moving its pink nose around, hearing the noise. Cook was speechless. Yes, Little Bad and Big Mouth's information was correct.

Because even as a cub, this big gray bear was much larger than the two of them. Cook looked at the cub's two ears and realized they wouldn't be enough for Little Bad to eat in one meal.

"Roar!" But at that moment, a roar came from outside the cave, along with the sound of bushes rustling.

"Damn, it must have been my roar that attracted the big one." Cook was startled by the sound and then realized what had happened.

"I hope the bears here have the same habits as those in our world!" Cook didn't have time to make a decision and immediately rolled on the ground, pretending to be dead, his heart pounding.

"Huff, huff!" Just as Cook fell to the ground, a huge black shadow rushed into the cave. Since Cook was facing away from the entrance, this position was not good, but he had no time to adjust. From the shadow on the back wall, he could see that this was the real big gray bear.

"Huff, huff." The bear kept making sounds, which made Cook's scalp tingle.

"Human scent, damn humans! If I see you... Uh! You're hiding here!" This was what the big gray bear was saying. The bear probably didn't think Cook could understand it, so it cursed and walked straight to the cub.

"At least the baby is safe, but what's wrong with this human? Not running but hiding here, is there some kind of plot?" The bear continued to mutter, first looking at its cub and then talking to itself, addressing Cook's back.

"Damn!" Hearing this, Cook couldn't help but sigh. This world was different; the bear's intelligence was actually high enough to understand the word "plot."

"Whatever, I'll kill you first!" Just as Cook was thinking about how to deal with the situation, he suddenly heard the bear say this, and then saw a huge paw raised high on the back wall.

"Puff!" Cook instinctively pushed off the ground and rolled away. Even so, he felt a chill on his back, and the heavy, dull sound that followed told him that his action had been wise. His back then felt a burning pain.

"Yah!" As Cook rolled, he drew his one-handed sword and slashed at the position he estimated, with all his might.

"Clang!" But there was no blood spurt as Cook had imagined, only a sound like metal.

"Uh!" At this moment, Cook saw that the giant bear was not gray but glowed with a yellowish-brown light. Cook was startled and hesitated for a moment.

"Bang!" But this hesitation was enough for the giant bear to kick Cook hard, sending him flying and crashing into the side wall of the cave.

"Puff!" Cook spat out a mouthful of blood, and his head buzzed. He fell to the ground.

"Hisss!" But the intense pain from his back quickly cleared Cook's mind. Without looking, he rolled over, and during the roll, he felt the pain from the stones on the ground scraping his back.

"Bang!" Just as Cook rolled away, the spot where he had fallen was hit by flying sand and stones, and the side wall of the cave was left with a huge, deep hole.

"Uh! This damn human actually dodged." The bear was surprised and pounced on Cook again.

"Yah!" Seeing the bear's attack out of the corner of his eye, a never-before-felt fear surged in Cook's mind. But then he roared and, without hesitation, pounced on the cub, his one-handed sword aimed directly at the cub.

"Damn human!" Because the bear was chasing Cook, Cook, the bear, and the cub formed an equilateral triangle, with equal distances. But don't forget that Cook's one-handed sword was longer. The bear clearly understood Cook's plan, roared, and the yellow light on its body intensified as it rushed toward the cub at incredible speed.

"Clang!" Cook's one-handed sword was struck by the bear's yellow-glowing paw, and the sound of metal clashing followed. Cook's one-handed sword broke into two pieces.

"Bang!" The force of this blow made Cook's arm almost numb, and he was thrown back again, but fortunately, he was thrown toward the cave's entrance.

"Puff!" Cook felt his internal organs shifting, but the burning pain on his back kept him from losing consciousness. He looked around, rolled over, and ran out of the cave.

"Damn human!" But the bear wouldn't let Cook escape. It looked at the cub and then rushed out of the cave at incredible speed. But just as it rushed out, it saw a black shadow flash on the ground and wisely stopped short. But!

"Roar!!!" The bear's mournful roar echoed through the forest.

"Bang!" The bear swung its paw hard, and a black shadow was thrown into the bushes dozens of meters away.

"Cough, cough! Ha, ha! Cough, I knew you would come out, didn't expect that, did you!" Cook struggled to support himself in the bushes, laughing and bleeding from his mouth.

But at the bear's abdomen, a huge wound almost split the bear in two. The bear seemed to try to turn its head but couldn't, and it fell straight to the ground.

It turned out that when Cook ran out of the cave, he had no plan, just wanting to run. But the bear's roar made Cook realize that running wasn't a solution. Where could he run? Into the forest or back to Lori? Even if he could escape, Lori and the others would hear the commotion and come to check. If the bear met Lori and the others, Cook couldn't imagine the outcome, as he realized the bear was actually a magic beast, not just a wild animal.

So, after running out of the cave, Cook didn't leave but lay on the ground, his left hand tightly gripping the magic cleaver, his last hope. The bear was in a rage and didn't expect Cook's attack. The cave entrance was sloping upward, and the entrance was high, so the bear's vision was limited, allowing Cook to successfully ambush it. But the bear's immense force and the subsequent hard slap left Cook almost unable to move.

"Cough! Puff! Cough! I... I..." Cook coughed and spat blood, finally fainting.

"Cook, Cook!" Just as Cook fainted, a voice called out from a distance, and then Big Gray appeared, followed by Lori, Mitch, Kangknie, and Mike.

"Damn, it doesn't have to be so bloody, does it?" This was Mike's first reaction upon seeing Cook and the bear.

" Mitch, get the healing potion and help Cook clean and bandage his wounds." Lori's face first showed panic, then she quickly gave instructions.

"Cough!" Cook felt he had had a nightmare, swimming in dark water but unable to reach the surface when he needed to breathe. When he felt his breath was about to stop, he woke up.

"Cough!" Cook coughed again, opened his eyes, and saw he was in a cave. Looking more closely, he realized it was the bear's cave.

"You're awake." At this moment, Cook saw Lori sitting in a corner, her face showing concern, but only for a moment.

"Sir!" Cook felt weak all over and couldn't even sit up.

"Boss, I really admire you. You actually killed a level 3 magic beast. My God." Mike, now awake, looked at Cook with amazement.

"Level 3?" Cook wasn't very familiar with magic beasts.

"Yes, level 3. But fortunately, this earth magic bear had just given birth, so its strength was greatly reduced. Otherwise, few in our group would have survived." Kangknie said from the side.

"Hmph, magic beasts find a safe place to hide when they give birth, and only return to their territory after recovering. This magic bear clearly thought this place was safe." Lori, seeing Cook's puzzled look, explained with a snort, but the snort was directed at Kangknie.

"Damn! I hit a hard spot." Cook didn't have a specific understanding of level 3 magic beasts, but thinking about how Viscount Locke was only a level 3 knight, he understood the gap. He felt depressed and looked at Little Bad and Big Mouth, thinking about training them better.

"But are we in danger now?" Cook then remembered they were still on the run.

"Ah, look, the cave entrance is covered with branches. But this can only hide us for a while. Not long after you fainted, the griffin knights came twice." Kangknie said with a smile, but she didn't know she had already been put on the death list.

"What do we do?" Cook struggled to sit up and asked, but as soon as he did, he felt something was wrong. He saw Mitch sleeping next to him, and he was lying on a huge bear skin. Between him and Mitch was a fluffy little thing that was pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

"There's an underground river over there. Although the rainy season has passed, it's still dangerous." Mike pointed to a corner.

Cook looked at the corner and saw a dark cave with the sound of water. He felt his scalp tingle; the side wall of the cave was where the magic bear had hit.

"Rest and recover!" Lori was hesitant. The underground river might be passable, but she wouldn't go down unless absolutely necessary. Not only was the exit a problem, but if there was a sudden rain, the water in the underground river would rise.

"Click, click, it's your turn to scout." Cook looked around and decided to send Click to scout, as Click had given him a surprise upon waking up.

"Okay!" Click, still thumb-sized, was very quick, said a word, and then slipped into the underground river.

"Huh!" Only then did Lori notice Click's change and look at Cook with confusion.

"I have a headache!" Cook knew Click's habit. At home, the two magic beasts had their heads drilled by this little guy. Click had just said, "This time I'm almost full!"

Then Little Bad reported, "That guy swallowed a shiny thing bit by bit."

"Magic core!" Cook realized and felt very depressed. A level 3 magic beast's magic core was worth nearly a thousand gold coins, so Cook could only pretend to be sick in front of Lori.