Descent of a God

Bears?

|Jude|

As we finished our meal, Cordelia suddenly froze and whispered, "Someone's there." Her beast-like senses always kept her alert, so I activated All-seeing eyes to confirm. But I saw nothing.

Quickly, I used sound magic to communicate with her, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she replied with a sense of urgency.

I trusted her instincts and approached the cave opening, pulsing mana and aether through my body. Suddenly, the beast moved, and I detected its presence. "It's capable of complete camouflage when it's still, but I can detect aether when it moves," Cordelia warned.

I cautiously moved towards the right of the beast, pretending to be defenseless to gauge its aggressiveness. Cordelia screamed in panic, "What are you doing, Jude?"

"Trust me," I replied calmly.

The beast attacked me, but I pivoted quickly using [Twelve Thunderbolt Steps] around my right foot, dodging its attack and landing a powerful [Lightning Punch]. However, the beast was not affected by my attack, only taking a small step back.

The creature lunged at me with its powerful claws, and I instinctively conjured a shield of earth and ice around my arm. The shield shattered upon impact, but I managed to absorb the blow without taking any damage. 

Quickly regaining my footing, I launched a powerful [God's Fist] attack that knocked the beast off balance. 

Towering over me at a height of three meters, its thick white fur was clearly impervious to blunt attacks, thanks to the aether that surrounded its body. 

Summoning my sword from a storage space I had acquired from the Djinns, I encased it in lightning and wind magic, readying my signature move - [Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes]. 

The bear, slower than before, withstood the first twelve strikes with minor cuts and bruises. However, the final strike left a deep wound on its chest. 

The beast retaliated, charging at me with full force. I was too absorbed in my attack, unable to dodge its powerful attack. The impact knocked the air out of my lungs and sent me flying across the cave, crashing into the wall. 

Cordelia stepped in, launching a barrage of magic missiles at the wounds I had inflicted on the bear. The creature roared in pain, its focus shifting away from me for a brief moment. 

Dazed and bloodied, I struggled to stand up, my consciousness rapidly fading. 

Cordelia was holding her own against the beast, but the cramped space of the cave was limiting her movements. Summoning all the strength I had left, I rose to my feet, determined to finish the fight. 

I combined my strongest sword attack - [Sword of the Sky: Strike of the Divine Sword (Condensed)] - with [Star-Buster]. 

The bear attempted to block my attack with its aether-clad claws, but my sword sliced through them like butter. With a single powerful stroke, I cleaved the beast in half, ending the battle. 

It became clear to me that aether beasts like this one were adapted to blunt attacks, which explained why my punches had little effect. However, they were vulnerable to sharp attacks, such as my sword strikes. 

I checked my body for injuries by circulating vivum through it, feeling the pain of my broken ribs. Cordelia was fortunate enough to not be injured much, but she was understandably shaken by the strength of the aetheric beast we had just faced.

"That was insane!" she exclaimed in a loud voice, her frustration and fear palpable.

"It was most likely one of the aetheric beasts," I replied with a calm expression, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Of course it was, but it shouldn't have been that strong! Those creatures are usually weaker than the Scythes!"

"The relictomb may have changed due to the two of us being here. You did mention that the difficulty level of the dungeon can change depending on the strength of the party," I responded thoughtfully.

"That's true, but the difference in strength is just too great! Even the strongest ascenders would struggle to match the strength of a retainer!" Cordelia argued.

"You make a valid point. This change is quite unusual," I conceded, considering our options.

"So, what do we do now?" Cordelia asked impatiently.

"We should rest for a while. I will set up some alarm spells outside the cave and we can continue exploring once I have recovered."

Despite the continuous hail outside, we could not afford to wait any longer. We needed to find the way to the next floor and continue our journey.

After placing some sound alarms outside the cave, I consumed a potion and went to sleep, relying on my subconscious vivum channeling to aid in my recovery.

Hours later, I awoke to find Cordelia sleeping by the cave entrance. She had tried to keep watch all night, but her exhaustion had finally caught up to her.

My hand instinctively moved towards her cheek, but I quickly withdrew it as her eyes shot open, a look of shock on her face. I tried to play it off by pinching her cheeks, brushing off her reaction as I did so.

Cordelia's cheeks turned a deep shade of red as I teased her, but I quickly shifted to a serious expression. "It seems the hail could last longer than we anticipated. We need to get moving."

Nodding in agreement, Cordelia quickly packed up our supplies. Once she finished, we stepped outside the cave, where I immediately conjured a wind barrier around us. Cordelia supplemented it with a pure mana barrier to bolster our defenses against the unrelenting hail.

Visibility was extremely low, so I activated All-seeing Eyes. The dark world lit up with the four different colored mana particles and purple aether particles, making it easier to navigate. Cordelia still had difficulty seeing, but with her beast-like reflexes, she could keep up.

As we walked, the thick layer of snow on the ground made each step arduous. Hours passed, and we eventually reached a forest. The trees were covered in snow, but it was a welcome relief from the barren wasteland we had traversed earlier.

Small aetheric beasts, around E or D-rank, roamed around, but we ignored them. I focused my mana and aether into my eyes, enhancing my vision. In the distance, I spotted a cliff.

"We should go there," I told Cordelia using sound magic, pointing towards the cliff.

I augmented my right leg with mana and aether and used Burst Step, allowing me to travel dozens of kilometers in an instant. Cordelia teleported to my location using spatium.

As we approached the cliff, I felt massive presences, and I signaled for Cordelia to stop moving. Hiding our mana and aether, I peered over the edge and gasped in horror.

Hundreds of bears formed a massive tribe, with the weakest around Lance level and many warriors at Scythe level. Three giant bears stood next to the presumed king, and they were stronger than the bear we had fought earlier. They comfortably resided in the mid-asuran range of power.

The king was on another level entirely, not quite at the level of Windsom and Aldir, but the difference between the king and the three giant bears was like the difference between Varay and Bairon. Although they were technically in the same power range, there was a massive gap in strength between them.

I relayed this information to Cordelia and began to ponder our next course of action.