“Well, I’ll go fishing, so excuse me a sec.”
So saying, I separate myself from the party and enter a grassy area.
In this case “fishing” means pulling a monster to a safe area in order to fight without trouble.
It’s a sensible method.
Entering the grassy area is also for [Stealth].
If there’s any clear line of sight, [Stealth] can’t display its abilities.
Since this also applies to party members, it’s necessary to enter the grass to gain cover against them.
A Wild Bear wanders carelessly in this direction.
I take careful aim at him with [Farsight].
“<Stealth > … …<Hawk Shot>.”
The Stealth-Hawk Shot combo is a long-ranged surprise attack.
Thanks to [Stealth]’s concealment the Wild Bear won’t figure out the arrow’s coming until he’s hit with it.
Dosu~! The arrow hits, dealing damage and getting his attention.
With an angry look on his face he charges in my direction.
Now it’s time to rally the party,
“Hit confirmed, he’s coming!”
I alert the entire party.
Reiji the tank quickly activates an Art.
It’s the Provocation Art <Taunt>.
It attracts Hate to yourself to protect your allies, making you an effective tank.
By the way, what is Hate?
You can call it anger or hostility, it’s a monster’s [Attack Target Priority], a hidden parameter used to decide who to attack first.
Normally the first targeted are mages with high attack power and priests that can heal.
But, those types are done in quickly due to their low defenses.
That’s why tanks, vanguards with high defenses built to endure, protect the easy targets by making Hate gain a priority.
Like that, they manipulate Hate with their abilities, Or “Hate Control”.
Control can be done with the Provocation Arts.
Taking the hostility of your opponents onto yourself is one method of control.
By the way, the single Tackle from the Wild Bear reduced Reiji’s HP about 25%.
Following it’s running blow, there’s the momentum too.
It’s a dangerous attack.
The mage Millie, and of course I myself, would have been insta-killed with that one attack.
Millie cast a Light Magic spell immediately.
“<Light Heal>!”
With the heal, Reiji’s HP bounced back to nearly 100%.
The Fighting Reiji continues to attract the Wild Bear’s attention while the other members cooperated to bring it down.
“Right, let’s get this started! <Backstab>!”
Nora’s first strike is an attack that deals lots of damage by aiming from behind, <Backstab>.
The dagger’s property allows you to attack from the sides or behind, emphasizing surprise attacks.
There are many skills to increase the damage dealt.
… that said, it doesn’t seem to do much to the Wild Bear.
The opponent’s a bit above her, so the damage is reduced.
Zwei and Kazamine first survey the situation while attacking normally, reserving their Arts.
They are waiting for a decisive chance to use them.
Because I have a bow, despite the distance I don’t hold back and just attack.
Since the fur on the torso is thick, I won’t be able to make a decisive blow;
So thinking I aim for the center of the face.
A regular bear is vulnerable around there, so a Wild Bear might be also…
but shooting right now would be too soon. If I aim for that spot, I’d probably rack up a ton of Hate and throw the party formation into chaos.
But man is it ineffective or what … my arrows barely do anything.
“We’re good so I’m shooting~ <Fire Lance>!”
Millie’s Fire Magic attack, huh.
Among the 6 types of magic, Fire does the most damage and in the flashiest manner.
For example, the famous RPG <Fire Ball>.
The one Millie launched just now, <Fire Lance>, is a magic that deals particularly large damage.
As evidence, that one shot dropped the Wild Bear’s HP 10%.
That hard-hitting spell can’t be rapid-fired, but in a party that’s not a big problem.
While the vanguards deal flurries of continuous damage, the mages are fine doing large amounts of damage in one shot.
“Heyhey, keep me company some more! <Taunt>!”
As the Wild Bear’s attention turns to the big-damage dealer, Millie, Reiji the tank activates his Provocation Arts.
The Wild Bear swings his claws down.
But initial target aside, at the spot that attack hit, holding his shield tightly while fulfilling his role, Reiji the tank’s hp … didn’t drop 5%.
As soon as his HP fell, Millie’s <Light Heal> and Nora’s <Aqua Cure> Recovery Magics completely healed him to the max.
Well, the way this battle’s been going, looks like the Wild Bear’s pretty tough to beat.
Even when Zwei and Kazamine used Slashing Arts, they haven’t been able to turn the tide.
“My Mp’s running kinda low … for it to be this tough wasn’t in the plan.”
Nora throws out the warning bells. If we let this drag out anymore it’ll be dangerous.
Looks like Millie doesn’t have much left either.
The party’s screwed if the two who can use recovery magic run out of MP.
“Cheh! Did we underestimate it!?”
Zwei swore at the Wild Bear.
Unfortunately the Wild Bear still has over 30% HP left.
If we keep going like this it’ll be bad.
Time for a gamble. Sink or swim…
《I need to decide now, and resolve myself to it》
After 38 years of life, it’s weird but when things go wrong, instead of getting flustered I’ve become able to trust my own decisions.
Bears are vulnerable in only in one spot, but that spot does exist … between its eyes.
Wild Bears might have the same weakness.
If it shaved off any of the remaining 30% HP, it didn’t deplete even a fraction of the gauge, but the arrow remains embedded there.
It was completely by accident, but with that there’s a chance.
If we’re going to take a gamble, we should pound into that spot.
But right now, no one’s able to see me!
<Stealth> …
There’s only one chance, but if it’s not decided here there’s no chance for the party to win.
Pulling the bow to its fullest … wait for the Wild Bear to come over and show its vulnerable point … there!
“Go!”
The arrow, with every bit of power I could put behind it, pierces the Wild Bear.
SKILLS
[Bow]Lv23 [Kick]Lv24 [Farsight]Lv18 [Wind Magic]Lv15 [Craftsmanship]Lv29
[Cooking]Lv34 [Woodworking]Lv9 [Alchemy]Lv30 [Stealth]Lv16
[Physical Ability Boost]Lv28
EXP 13
Maybe it’s time for me to raise other skills.
This isn’t even a boss and it’s taking so much time to defeat (sweatdrop).
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