"This place is freezing…"
"Can you even feel cold? You're undead." Ananta shoved both hands into his cloak. The walking skeleton had a point—this place *was* cold.
"No…" The fleshless skeleton hovered beside Ananta, his black robe fluttering in the wind. "But... surely this place looks cold enough to prove my point, doesn't it?"
Ananta looked around. The ground was almost completely white, and the pine tree leaves were now frosted over.
"Yeah, yeah…" Ananta pulled back his hood. "Where the hell is that giant bear?"
"Use your detection spell, Benedict. We've been circling this forest since sunset. That furball couldn't have just vanished," he said, stepping over a mound of snow.
"You've asked twelve times already, sir. My answer hasn't changed. There's nothing out there."
"Not even a deer? Or a wolf?" Ananta frowned. This hunt was starting to become a pain.
The floating skeleton—Benedict—kept scanning the surroundings with his spell. "No signs of life within a one-mile radius. I'm starting to worry that this bear is a magical creature…"
Ananta clicked his tongue in frustration. He'd had nothing but bad luck since morning just to get here. "Damn it. This really is wasting our time." He sighed and collapsed onto the snow mound beneath him.
Ever since he'd taken the mission to slay the bear that had eaten several villagers, it'd all gone downhill. The caravan to the village had left without them, the village elder had been downright hostile, and now? He'd wasted the rest of his day chasing a bear that didn't even show itself.
"Shit, what if the bear doesn't even exist? What if the quest came from some paranoid old man?"
"Damn it! Bastard!" Ananta stared up at the sky, beating the snow with both hands in frustration.
Benedict watched Ananta's tantrum, thinking how much he looked like a child who didn't get the toy he wanted.
"Heh heh…" The skeleton chuckled, watching Ananta's pitiful behavior.
But then Ananta suddenly rose from the snow. "I've got a bad feeling," he said with a sly smile. He brushed the snow off his cloak, untied his hair to shake the snow loose, then tied it back.
"Wait, there's something over there!" Benedict pointed to a larger snow mound nearby.
"Heh, probably just a rock." Ananta finished tying his hair and started walking toward the mound.
"It is a big rock, I thi—!" Benedict watched in alarm as Ananta suddenly tripped and fell near the mound.
"Wait, shit!" Ananta scrambled backward, eyes wide as the mound began to tremble.
"That's the bear!"
A massive, fur-covered form rose from the snow. Its eyes glowed red—it roared viciously at the fallen Ananta.
ROAR!
The huge bear reared up on its hind legs and swung its claws down at him.
"Shit! Pull me back!" Benedict quickly conjured glowing blue threads that yanked Ananta out of the bear's range.
Not done, Benedict raised his other hand and fired a lightning spell.
The bolt struck, but only burned some of the bear's white fur. "Damn! What kind of physical resistance is that?!"
Ananta heard the panic in Benedict's voice. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a pistol.
He fired. The bullet soared—and a second later, the massive beast howled in pain.
"Hit its eyes, Benedict!" Ananta got back to his feet as blood poured from the creature's left eye.
The bear went wild, charging at them on all fours. Ananta grabbed Benedict's arm and bolted, dragging the skeleton with him.
"Bastard! That thing's at least a level-3 monster! What the hell is it doing here?!" His long hair whipped in the wind as he looked back. The bear was still chasing, still roaring.
"Do you have any mana left, Benedict?!"
"Not much—enough for three level-3 spells."
Ananta looked around, searching for a better position.
"Hold it off while I prep my rifle! Use a fire spell! Wait—no, wind spell!"
"What if I can't?"
"Doesn't matter, Benedict—just slow it down!"
Benedict didn't argue. He turned, and shimmering violet circles formed in both his hands.
"Shadow of Restraint!"
Dark chains surged from the bear's shadow, binding its limbs and body.
The bear fought back, roaring again—but this time, it wasn't an ordinary roar.
ROAR!
The force of it shattered the bindings, and the beast lunged at Benedict.
"Firewall!" A pillar of flame exploded between them, engulfing both the bear and Benedict.
Ananta watched the flames rise—but he had other priorities. From his spatial ring, he pulled out a rifle.
"Damn it, this bullet cost 1000 Crona!" He reached into a pouch at his waist and pulled out a bright red crystal shaped like a bullet, lined with steel.
He hesitated a moment, then cursed and loaded it into the rifle.
"I'm definitely filing a report on this shitty intel!" He cocked the gun and aimed into the fading fire.
Two figures emerged slowly—Benedict, with his robe burned and bones cracked, and the bear, its fur scorched but otherwise unharmed.
"Now, Ananta!" Benedict shouted before collapsing—his skeletal frame finally giving out.
The bear roared again, and Ananta winced, covering his ears.
"Guess it spotted me."
The bear charged. Ananta had already locked his sights.
"You might be tough on the outside, but I doubt your insides are the same."
BANG!
The bullet blasted forward. It pierced the bear's right eye — and then — BOOM!
Its head exploded, gore flying everywhere.
"Shit… that was a 1000 Crona shot." Ananta muttered, half in awe, half in regret.
He cocked his rifle once more and stored it back in his spatial ring.
"This damn job doesn't even pay 300 Crona. Bastard! I'll go broke at this rate!"
Ananta walked up to the bear's corpse, touched its thick hide, and looked down at the scattered bones.
"Get up. You can rebuild yourself, can't you?"
He looked at Benedict's skull. A glowing purple circle appeared beneath it.
Bit by bit, the scattered bones reassembled. Ananta watched as massive magical energy swirled around the skeleton, restoring it—everything except the skull.
The skull floated, aligning itself with the body. Two purple lights flickered in its eye sockets.
"Where's the bear?"
Ananta simply pointed behind him, face darkened.
The undead floated closer to the headless corpse. "Mind if I take some of the bones for myself?"
Ananta said nothing for a moment, then shrugged. "If you're willing to pull the pieces apart, go ahead."
"We've got a deal," Benedict replied, chuckling softly.