"Grrr....Gwroooooaaa!!"

It was an earth-shattering loud roar.

As soon as everyone heard the shout, all of our bodies went stiff and we couldn't move freely.

Though it was only for about 1 second, but we certainly stiffened up and couldn't move.

I identified Beckwiz, who was in front of me in a rush, [State: Panic (Small)] was the result. Also, his MP had decreased by 1 from it's max. Although Beckwiz can use some magic originally, he still only has no more than a maximum MP of 20. After thinking about it that far I noticed. If I remember correctly Kerry's MP should have been only three. It is bad if MP goes to zero!

As you can imagine, Kerry's MP has decreased by one to two, and his condition was [State: Panic(Large)]. Either on the verge of panicking or already panicked but either way he's in a dangerous condition.

What happened? What on earth is going on?

Certainly the roar from a moment ago was frightening, but was it enough to cause a panic?

"Gwrrr...goraaaaa!!"

Uwa..Again!!

This time everyone but Mill and I were unable to move again right away. Also right after the paralysis triggered I identified Kerry and his MP was already zero, he had fallen into a horrible state of panic. Most likely it's what you could call a perfect state of panic. In no time at all he's fallen to the ground and just flailing unable to do anything it seems.

Also, three adults should have been Panic (Small), but now it has changed to Panic(Middle), and they've slightly crouched down and their knees are shaking. Each of their MP's has decreased by an additional 2. Winry who originally only had 6 MP has already half of that and is nearing a bad state as well. I exchange glances with Mill and to start off Mill drags Kerry who can't move behind a tree.

I look around while hiding but I still can't confirm sight of the Horned Bear. If we don't prepare to hide or run away now then we'll be left with no other choice. However, no matter how you look at it, it's impossible for Mill and I to look after Kerry and three adults.

"Al, in any case, hide everyone behind the trees! In worst case we'll have no choice but to fight!"

Mill says so leaving Kerry to me and goes to try and move the adults who's knees are about to give way. As I expected, Mill immediately recovered from the temporary panic and gave me instructions. Mill's condition has already recovered to Good the same as I. Perhaps listening to that roar may inflict a Panic state. Mill and I were able to recover instantly, but if we were to listen to that roar once again in the state of Panic(Small), although our MP is somewhat high, the Panic state might progress and we might enter a state of Panic(Middle).

I instinctively felt realized in a moment, but now it is not the time to do such an a.n.a.lysis. Anyway, I must hide Kerry in the shade and help Mill...Help? No, I am not dissatisfied with helping out, but is it a situation to be helping? If we don't quickly strengthen our defenses or go on the attack and neutralize it aren't we just going to lose the initiative?

For the time being I succeeded in dragging Kerry to the shade. There is plenty of time to make walls in the surroundings now before the enemy appears. Should I make earth walls with earth magic, or make ice walls with fire and water magic? I can make a wall of fire using fire magic as well but the base t

emperature is 300 degrees. MP increases this by 100 degrees per 1 used, but it takes about 10 seconds. A bear could pa.s.s through a wall of fire of only a couple hundred degrees with some burns but it has fur which can stop arrows. I'm sure it won't die. Just like I once did to Myun and that spy, should I quickly engulf it in earth?

While thinking about such things in a matter of a few moments, I look back at Mill who is pulling Winry by her hand. I saw it, probably about 250 m or so, a pretty big bear with brown hair. It's running on all fours this way. With a glance it appears to be a height of about 2m. If it's that then when it stands up it would be about 5m? It hasn't started to speed up yet but at it's current acceleration rate it might only take about 10 seconds for it to get here. I don't have anymore time to think or hesitate. Obviously there's no time to casually be using identify either.

I let go of Winry's hand, turn to face the Horned Bear, raise my hands and prepare to use my highest level 6 water magic 100x, at the same time I also use level 6 fire magic 100x to solidify it into -30 degree ice. Alright, I still have a few seconds to concentrate! I use 1200 MP of elemental magic to materialize a wall of ice that's 5m high and 50m wide and long centered around the area 25m ahead of me. Obviously considering the timing, I'm using it at the minimum temperature and I'm not using it where it launches, but I plan to use it the moment the Horned Beard enters the right spot. I can't afford to do anything excess like controlling it with void magic or adjusting the temperature. Or rather I don't have that much leeway to do it.

Water is springs forth abruptly from the ground across 50 meters and the water level reaches 5 m in an instant not even taking one second. At the same time an ice wall of 5 m in height appears in front of me. It is 50 meters wide and 50 meters long. The Horned Bear appears to have been frozen in the center of it. It's like a statue locked in by highly transparent ice with no air bubbles along with the surrounding trees. I didn't include sustenance in the fire magic so just like this it will eventually melt. Yes, only wind and fire magic require sustenance with void magic in order to maintain their effects. Earth and water magic remain permanently even if you don't use any mana to sustain them after they appear.

Although it would have been fine if I had used earth magic as well, earth magic materializes from above whereas water magic appears from below. Perhaps it may not have made any difference but I just wanted to stop its feet a bit higher so I used water which appears from below. After all, you can't look down on the amount of resistance water puts up right?

It's currently May and the temperature is around 20 degrees. Even without maintaining it with mana, this amount of minus 30 degree ice won't melt very easily but you never know what could happen and when. In the first place, I think it's impossible to fight at such a close range with such a big bear, maybe. I further used water magic and fire magic to create about 10 m square of water and carried it above the bear then froze it into a distorted pyramid of ice before timidly identifying it.

【】

【Female/1/7/7403·Horned Bear】

【Condition: Good】

【Age: 33 Years Old】

【Level: 13】

【HP: 181(181) MP: 5(7)】

【Strength: 39】

【Agility: 14】

【Dexterity: 7】

【Endurance: 33】

【Special skill: Roar】

While I'm at it I'll also check the sub-window for the special skill Roar.

【Special skill: Roar; A roar for intimidation. There is no level for this special skill. Intelligent creatures of equal or lower level as the user that hear more than 50 phon of sound will take mental damage and have their MP reduced. Decreasing MP increases in proportion to the volume of the sound heard(Maximum 5MP). Creatures that take mental damage will without exception fall into a period state of panic and their body will be difficult to move freely for a period of time. As a result, if the MP drops by 5% or more of the maximum MP value, it becomes a Panic condition and the time that it is difficult to move the body will last for at least 10 seconds. If you listen to the roar again during this effect time, the Panic condition will deepen and the moving body will be even more difficult. This condition lasts for at least 1 minute. Also, by repeatedly listening to the roar during the effect time, the deepening of the Panic progresses a further two stages, and eventually even if MP remains you fall into a complete state of panic and the spirit will cause symptoms of Panic . In the event of a complete Panic condition it will take at least 2 hours to recover and complete restoration will not be achieved unless some extent of MP is recovered】

I see, so that's why Mill and I managed to get off with only stiffening up for a short period.

It seems that Kerry will recover after some time goes by as well, the Horned Bear is frozen, so we have time for a while.

"Hey, Al. Did I tell you how mother defeated the Horned Bear in the past?"

Mill says while cautiously watching the Horned Bear with her short sword at the ready.

"No, I haven't heard?"

Mill continued her words in amazement.

"She supposedly froze the Horned Bears head and limbs. If you freeze it's head then it won't be able to use roar and depending on the situation ice might enter its mouth making it difficult for it to get off... It seems from that situation that father somehow managed to defeat it with the sword..."

"So that was it...I was absorbed in it after all...It's not like I managed to do it because I planned it out."

If you just think about it a bit you'll understand but I used 1200 MP to make a wall of ice 50m around and 5m high. It's the equivalent of using level 6 magic 200 times. Even if you were to just think about the amount of elements created it's level 6 water magic 100 times. With level 6 water and earth magic you can create about 5 cubic meters. However, if this was earth magic, I can use up to level 7. At level 7 you can create an amount of about 10 cubic meters. By simple calculation this allows you to output elements of 8 times the volume while only consuming 1 more MP. If you were to think about using MP efficiently then just like this time you can understand the difference between making the same amount of water with level 6 and 7 water magic. This time I made 50m x 50m x 5m = 12500m^3 of water and then used fire magic across the same area to turn it to ice. Well let's ignore fire magic. In order to make this same volume of water with level 7 water magic you would need to use level 7 water magic 12.5 times. Well, 13 times. The amount of MP it consumes at level 6 is 600 but at level 7 it's 91. Since earth magic is the same, if I were to a.s.sume that I'm going to create the same amount of earth with earth magic, since it doesn't require fire magic then you can figure that it would use 1/13 the amount of MP to create the same amount of earth.

However, I wanted to stop the movement of the Horned Bear as soon as possible, so I ignored the MP efficiency and used ice. Even with earth magic, I have the feeling it wouldn't have been able to dodge it but maybe by approaching much closer to here, I could have ended up activating it faster and end up trapping it in a different place than the center. Of course, even with the current ice it's not perfectly in the center, it seems to be closer to my direction.

The point is I felt frightened again. Even if it's somewhat off from the center, there's generally no difference and no need to use MP to maintain it. If I was as skilled as Hegard with the sword I wonder if I wouldn't be quite as afraid? However, I don't think not being afraid of a 2m bear running at you on all fours is something that can easily be done...

But, as Mill said our parents defeated a Horned Bear when they were young with just the two of them. Even though I have several hundred times, compared to father several thousand times the MP but I was so afraid I could barely stand. Certainly my skill with the sword isn't even worth comparing to father and even comparing to older sister it's like the moon and a turtle. I know I can't keep up with the sword. However, is magic a subst.i.tute for that? I may end up wasting my MP and end up running out during a critical moment.

I glance at the Horned Bear and identify it once more. Since it is froze in ice, it should suffocate, but I don't know if it really will. Since I was feeling worried I wanted to check if its HP is decreasing. Since it had decreased a bit I felt a bit relieved, relaxed a bit, and again used the void magic to prevent the ice from melting. Since void magic is at level 8, I can do pretty much everything with void magic. The duration and efficiency I can use is doubled so even with preventing this much ice from melting it only takes around 4 MP per 2 minutes.

Since there's no more problems with maintaining the ice I check what's going on with the adults and they're all holding knives and swords. Kerry is still trembling in the shade but that can't be helped. It's easy to understand how everyone was still trying to resist while falling into a panic. Certainly I also used magic to freeze it in ice, but that was just an extension of trying to stop the Horned Bear out of fear. Mill and adults were trying to resist. I just tried to slow it down so I could earn some time out of fear. I understand that it's not a problem of which is better or worse but the problem remains which is closer to the thinking of a person who lives in Orth.

Maybe, even if we had resisted, we may have all been killed together. Mill probably would have tried to use magic to freeze it's head or limbs. Maybe we would have been able to do it if she succeeded. Or maybe she wouldn't have been able to do it. However, what Mill tried to do and what I actually did seems to be the difference of heaven and earth. She tried to face that much of a threat head on. At the very least everyone other than I was somehow trying to kill the Horned Bear or at least wipe away the threat by killing it. In my case, I gave up on killing it right away and tried to gain some time to run away or something else, that just went well.

This is fundamentally different from trying to be cautious and trying to achieve results in a way that is as safe as possible. Using the knowledge from j.a.pan, using my excessive mana, I smashed leeches and toasted a slime...My pride that had grown excessively because that had gone so well has splendidly been broken. If I'm just going to prepare to run away when things get dangerous, what was that about making a name with strength? What was that about aiming to be the lord of a castle? What kind of mouth is saying that c.r.a.p.

The HP of the Horned Bear still remains at nearly 170. It is certain that he will die in a while. And I'm sure the experience from defeating the Horned Bear will come to me. That's fine. Because I am the one who defeated it somehow or other. However, I really don't feel like I defeated the Horned Bear. After all, it wasn't a victory at the result of trying to defeat or kill it. It's gold that just happened to fall into my hands when I was afraid and falling over.

I have to change my thinking.

I am not living on Earth anymore.

I'm living on Orth.

There's a different method of living and a different set of values.

It is not unusual for conflicts to arise at the border, and it is said that it's not unusual for noncombatants to be killed.

Besides the areas under the influence of humans, powerful monsters and beasts like this are wandering around watching vigilantly for an opportunity to get their prey.

Violence dominates and those who do not resist violence with violence, will often be killed without question.

Cautiously keep an eye on the surroundings, kill and eat any opponent that can be eaten.

If you don't, just a slight bit of negligence or self-conceit and you will be eaten.

It is a natural world that includes all such things as good and bad, justice and evil.

Rather than recklessly trying to oppose it, I must always remain calm and efficiently conduct myself.

While I'm thinking about these things and maintaining the ice the condition of the Horned Bear went from Good to Suffocation. HP is decreasing quickly every few seconds. I'm sure it's already at the limit. It seems that Mill and the others are still vigilantly keeping an eye out. They're protecting the area centered around Kerry. It's alright, it will die soon.

There are many reflection points, but I must make use of them in the future. Even this time it seems. If I were to simply use earth magic to bury it then I wouldn't have used such a large amount of MP and I wouldn't have had to cut so much of my concentrate to maintain it. I still have more than 4500 MP remaining but if we we're to be attacked by another enemy here it could be really bad. It would be different if it dies instantly but if I had been using earth magic from the start I would have not only been able to reduce the MP usage but I wouldn't have to focus so much on maintaining the ice. It is a problem that I don't have the leeway to focus on anything else for a while until this guy dies. The ability to make instant judgements, unwavering courage, the mental strength to calmly read the situation. Everything I'm lacking. Of course I'm sure there's still some amount of influence, but it should already be at the level where I can ignore the fact that my emotions are being influenced by my body.

...Another enemy? Come to think of it, Winry said it was with kids. There should have been cubs! The gender of this guy that's frozen and about to die is female. I'm sure it's the mother. Based on the ecology of bears on Earth then the father bear shouldn't be together with it. However, this is Orth not Earth. Didn't G.o.d even say that while the ecology and natural environment is close to Earth it's not completely the same? It's pretty unlikely for a northern mountain that isn't a volcano to produce sulfur on Earth. In other words, deny the possibility that the bears on Earth and the ecosystem here are the same! I thought that I just decided to be cautious and think things through calmly.

I yell.

"Everyone, be prepared for more enemies!"

Author's Note: This time it's Beckwiz's stats including his naming for right after birth and after becoming squire leader.

【Beckwiz · Eisenside/14/2/7415 - Beckwiz · Eisenside/18/3/7389】

【Male/2/6/7388 · Family Tribe · Greed Viscount Family's Squire Leader · Eisenside Family Head】

【Condition: Good】

【Age: 47 Years Old】

【Level: 12】

【HP: 109(109) MP: 18(18)】

【Strength: 19】

【Agility: 14】

【Dexterity: 26】

【Endurance: 20】

【Special Skill: Wind Magic (Lv.2)】

【Special skill: Void Magic (Lv.4)】

【Experience: 256329 (270000)】