Bear School Astartes

What are these things?

Huge and ferocious vampiric bats, along with giant spiders larger than an average adult human...

Neither of these monstrous forms were unfamiliar to Lann.

Vampiric creatures from the Magic Middle Ages, along with shape-shifting spiders, were quite similar in appearance and intimidating presence.

However, the current behavior of these two creatures made Lann acutely aware—they were not merely simple monsters.

Most monsters are irrational, expanding their territory and attacking other creatures purely for hunger.

Yet now, the vampiric bats and giant spiders clearly exhibited tendencies of collaboration.

The vampiric bats used their speed and altitude in flight to pursue their targets in front, executing harassment.

The giant spiders closely followed behind, moving from one tree to another amidst the dense branches.

Two types of monsters, who should attack or ignore each other, working together indicated they definitely weren’t ordinary wild creatures.

But Lann didn’t ask the old shabby man leading the way ahead any questions.

After all, if these two monsters were widely known in this world, asking would seem quite foolish.

”Screech!”

Flying vampiric bats, logically speaking, should struggle to maneuver in dense and complex forest environments.

But they cleverly flew directly above the forest canopy, using sharp perception to locate targets before diving down to harass and attack.

This made their movement efficiency quite high.

The vampiric bat diving down from the sky was heading straight for the old shabby man, preparing to attack!

Lann sat on the Qilin’s back, rocking with the motion of the Qilin’s Hoof.

With a light click, his left finger slightly twitched, and the mechanism on his left arm brace snapped into place.

If he wanted, in an instant, supersonic pellets could be fired from the mechanical structure, striking the diving vampiric bat.

But he didn’t do so.

He wanted to see what the old shabby man with the Magic Staff would do.

What was the magic of this world all about... Hmm?!

Before Lann could finish his thought, his eyes widened woodenly, his mouth slightly agape in surprise.

”You dark minions, hounds! Begone!”

The old shabby man on the wooden sled cursed indignantly.

Lann thought he was about to cast a spell, but instead...

”Bang!”

Taking advantage of the vampiric bat’s dive, the old man swung the Magic Staff directly at the root of the bat’s wing!

On the sled speeding over uneven ground, the precision of the blow made Lann feel a bit numb.

Is this how local mages operate?

Nevertheless, regardless of how local mages work, the result was good.

The large bat hit by the crystal-tipped Magic Staff lost its stable flight posture immediately, screaming as it crashed to the ground due to its diving momentum.

Then, with a loud ’crack’, the Qilin following behind, with its bowl-sized hoof, stepped directly onto it.

The weight of the Ancient Dragon combined with the Demon Hunter, even without a deliberate stomp, reduced its ugly head to a mushy pulp.

”They are not strong.”

From the tactile feedback of the stomp just now, Mentos projected a series of data onto Lann’s retina.

Including the bone strength, muscle strength of the vampiric bat, and so on.

Though not considering potential extraordinary powers, these data seemed decidedly unimpressive to Lann.

So the Demon Hunter merely glanced at the head-crushed bat behind him, with only its hind limbs and wing membrane still twitching reflexively, and called out to the wooden sled ahead.

”Maybe we can take down some of them and drive them away?”

Rong Buqiu leapt off the Qilin’s back, swiftly darting to a nearby tree trunk.

The current pace wasn’t too fast, fully within the agility of the small cat, though not sustainable for long.

”Nasty creatures, meow! Take this!”

Rong Buqiu meowed fiercely.

These vampiric bats and giant spiders bore no resemblance to ordinary mindless monsters. While the bats repeatedly harassed, the spiders which should have been merely chasing from behind, took advantage and flanked from the sides!

In the dense and dim forest, spiders as large as small horses suddenly sprang forth from the deep gaps between tree branches!

Their sharp segments easily snapped water-rich, tough branches like they were dry rotted wood!

Venomous droplets swung from their hideous and vicious mouthparts as they moved.

It came from the side, its basketball-sized head biting directly towards the Qilin’s flank, while those slender, sharp segments danced in the air.

Just waiting for the mouth to latch on, the segments would gather the prey into an embrace.

This was the efficient and brutal hunting technique of arthropods.

But unfortunately...

It was evidently not faster than the small cat.

”Ugh!!!”

Unlike ordinary spiders, this giant spider possesses vocal organs, allowing it to emit a chilling scream.

As Rong Buqiu flashed past the crisscrossed branches.

At the same time, the Thunder Cat Sword, forged with Valerian steel mixed with the electrified Qilin Mane, also flashed by, and its tip pierced straight into the seam between the giant spider’s head and body!

Rong Buqiu is an expert at dealing with spiders; it grew up in the Valley of Miasma on the New Continent, where in such a harsh survival environment, spiders were considered a nutritious delicacy.

For the giant spider, Rong Buqiu’s size was small, but equipped with steel weapons, its lethality was enough to take down its prey.

In fact, ever since Rong Buqiu arrived in various Otherworlds, it always felt that the monsters back home on the New Continent were much harder to kill... After all, those monsters had incredibly strong life forces.

Unlike these Otherworld creatures, which would die swiftly if pierced in the right place.

The blade of the Thunder Cat Sword pierced through the spider’s carapace, and the electric arcs on the blade discharged from within, causing the giant spider to lose control of its body the instant it was stabbed.

It fell stiffly from mid-air as it tried to pounce and bite.

The cat used the giant spider’s body as a springboard, jumping off the sword hilt it was hanging onto and onto a nearby branch, simultaneously drawing the Thunder Cat Sword out from the seam in the spider’s carapace.

The explosive power of the Light Body Breathing Technique allowed Rong Buqiu not only to take care of the Qilin on both sides but also to surge forward at this pace.

Beside the old man’s sled, it leaped into mid-air, slicing off half a wing of a diving vampire bat in an ambush.

Rong Buqiu’s swift and fierce silhouette darted back and forth between the sled and the Qilin, like an agile elf.

”Well done, little cat!”

The old man, amazed and fond, turned back to look at Rong Buqiu, who was now back on the Qilin’s back taking small breaths after the burst of action.

Then, he responded to Lann’s previous question.

”There are countless of them, and the dark minions never hold back, nor do they retreat. They can’t all be killed!”

”But we’re almost there; just run a little longer, and they won’t chase us anymore.”

Lann wasn’t sure what ”almost there” meant.

Was it some kind of safe fortress or something else?

But since the old man seemed so confident and unflustered, the Demon Hunter decided to go along with the local.

As it turned out, just as the old man said.

At first, the vampire bats and giant spiders were in hot pursuit, but the further they went, the less persistent their chase became.

At first, they paused and hesitated occasionally during the chase, and later, they just watched the target ahead run away before turning back the way they came.

”Alright, slow down! My old bones can’t take constant bouncing!”

Like an old hand, the old man deftly controlled the reins, slowing the seven or eight large rabbits pulling the wooden sled after the monsters in pursuit turned back.

Finally, they came to a complete stop.

Lann frowned slightly, suspecting the old man had some sort of understanding with those creatures?

But he also tugged at the Qilin’s mane, making it slow down.

And then...

Lann loosened his grip on the Qilin’s mane, opened his palm, and lifted it up.

The bright sunlight breaking through the dense canopy above the forest created patterns of light and felt warm and pleasant in the palm of his hand.

The surrounding trees were still lush and thriving but strangely lacked the suffocating and hallucinatory pressure from before.

While earlier, even the particles of dust floating in the sunlight seemed muddy and dangerous.

Nothing seemed to change, yet the atmosphere was vastly different!

This atmospheric difference... could it be the division of realms?

Lann pondered the peculiar phenomena of this world on his own.

Meanwhile, the old man, having brought the sled to a complete stop, got off, propping himself up with his solid magic staff as he walked toward Lann.

”Radagast, at your service.”

The old man tilted his head back, politely taking off his shabby hat, and slightly bowed to Lann.

Was this the customary greeting here?

Lann paused, but then his social intuition kicked in, allowing him to effortlessly mimic the nuanced gestures and tone of the greeting in an instant.

Like an old hand familiar with the practice.

He naturally dismounted and returned the greeting to the other.

”Lann, at your service.”

From his elevated vantage point, the Demon Hunter saw clearly... the patch on Radagast’s temple, resembling dried plaster, was indeed bird droppings.

For as he took off his hat to say hello, three small birds flew up from his head, circling and chirping.

Their nest lay in the hair beneath his hat.

This further confirmed to Lann that the old man was no ordinary person... After all, despite it all, Radagast didn’t even have a particularly strong odor!

At this point, Rong Buqiu also jumped down from the saddle, looking up at the boss.

It lacked the instant knack for becoming a pro at a particular etiquette.

Thus, Lann naturally extended his hand and gently patted Rong Buqiu’s head.