Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Iron Bear Chapter 38: The Iron Bear Like a hunter waiting for their prey, Kai crouched in some dense bushes, covered in mud to mask his scent.

He kept his breath steady as he strengthened his senses with magic and extended them into the forest.

Moonlight blanketed the world around him.

As still as a barn mouse, he waited for Shade’s return.

The forest was silent, the usual hum of nocturnal creatures absent.

‘I know this quiet all too well.’ Kai grew accustomed to such silences.

Back home, animals avoided him instinctively, sensing the unnatural energy that lingered around him.

Here, though, the animals of the first didn’t fear him.

They feared the things twisted by mana.

The arcane creatures.

The ones that hunted everything else.

The smell of metal reached Kai’s nose, carried by the warm summer breeze through the forest.

Something different from the dew on the leaves and the damp ground.

Fresh blood.

Shade had found something.

Or rather…

Something had found Shade.

With hasty movement, Shade retreated from its location and Kai felt a looming presence speed towards him.

The scent of blood growing stronger with a tainted hint of mana.

Appearing before Kai, Shade merged with the darkness at his feet after slipping into his shadow.

Waiting at the clearing’s edge, his wolves’ spectral green eyes glowed like eerie lanterns in the night.

Motionless and quiet, they waited for his order.

But there would be no command.

Not for this.

‘I have to do this alone.’ A deafening roar shattered the silence of the forest.

The denizens of the forest, startled by the sudden noise, escaped from their hiding places, their little paws pounding the soft earth.

Kai turned his head slowly, his heartbeat steady despite the immense presence crashing through the foliage.

The Iron Bear emerged, its monstrous frame blotting out the moonlight.

Kai gulped.

He’d seen flashes of the creatures while out in the forest, but seeing one up close…

‘I’m supposed to kill this thing?’ Its maw dripped with the fresh blood of a kill as it scanned the forest for Shade.

Kai looked at his wolves, reconsidering their place in this fight.

Every step from the bear sent tremors through the ground, displacing dirt, sticks, and leaves in waves of raw power.

Its bulky hide, a fusion of dense fur and jagged metal plating, pulsed faintly with arcane energy.  The bear swept a claw through the forest, splintering trees into kindling with a single action.

‘If trees stand no chance against it, I can’t be hit by that or I’ll die.’ The bear raised its nose and sniffed the air.

Kai barely had time to react before the beast lunged towards him.

He threw himself into a roll as the bear’s massive claws sliced through the air where he had stood moments before.

The force of its attack alone sent a gust of wind rushing past him, scattering leaves and dust in a swirling cloud.

The force knocked Kai out of his roll and pushed him back over a meter.

He landed on one knee, mind racing through his options.

‘Fire.

Maybe its fur is flammable.’ He extended both hands, cupping them together and making a spout.

Fire swelled up in his hands and he channelled a concentrated blast of flames at the beast’s chest like a flamethrower.

The fire roared to life, illuminating the clearing in a flash of red and orange.

For a moment, the Iron Bear roared and reeled back, its plated hide glowing as the heat licked across its surface.

Then, to Kai’s frustration, the flames dissipated.

Instead of its fur being set alight, the metal-infused armour of the beast absorbed the heat.

The plates glowed hot until subtle flames radiated from them.

‘Shit.

Not only is it ineffective, but now it’s stronger?’ Kai cursed under his breath and pivoted, summoning his strengthening magic instead.

He reinforced his own body, feeling the surge of raw power flow through his limbs.

‘If fire won’t work, then maybe brute force will?’ Flames pulsed beneath each plate of the Iron Bear, and before Kai could use his strength to attack, he was forced to dodge a giant spray of flames from the bear’s mouth.

“Oh, come on!” Kai dashed forward.

The bear raised itself onto its hind legs and Kai dodged under another sweeping claw.

He drove a reinforced fist into the bear’s ribs.

The impact was solid.

He felt the jarring force ripple through his arm.

Enough that Kai thought several bones in his hand shattered, but they remained unbroken.

The bear, however, barely reacted.

It was like punching a cliff-face.

A cliff-face that can punch back.

Before he could retreat, the Iron Bear retaliated.

A sudden swipe from its claw caught him in the ribs.

Kai coated his chest in Shade and twisted his body enough to disperse some of the force, but it still sent him flying.

Pain exploded through his side as he crashed against a thick tree trunk, bark splintering on impact.

He gasped.

With the wind knocked from his lungs, Kai steadied himself, but there was no time to recover.

The bear was already bounding towards him, fury in its eyes as it roared.

Kai dove to the side, barely dodging as the beast’s massive bulk crashed into the spot where he had landed.

The tree, catching the brunt of the bear’s attack, tilted before smashing into the ground.

The soil beneath Kai’s feet trembled from the impact, and dirt and debris flew in all directions.

Kai slammed his fist into his chest and breathed deep.

He forced himself up, gritting his teeth against the ache in his ribs.

The pain was manageable, and he managed to save his ribs from breaking.

‘I can still fight.

This isn’t over yet.’ He looked at his shredded clothes.

Blood trickled down his chest where the bear’s claws had grazed him.

The wind cooled his wet clothes, sending a shiver across his body.

One direct hit from his opponent, and it would be over.

‘I need to be smarter.’ CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Jhaydun Is Kai ever going to get strong enough to not struggle against his opponents anymore?

I guess all we can do is keep reading to find out!