Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 314: Chapter 14 Wrestling with a Bear

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Using the javelin as a walking stick, the Hunter Ralph and Winters climbed up the steep slope. After the ascent was a descent, and following the descent was another ascent.

After continuously traversing several hills along the beast trail, even the seasoned Hunter who often roamed the woods was gasping for breath.

Wolf Town was located at the northern foot of the Jinding Mountains, and generally speaking, the deeper into the southern forests one went, the higher the terrain became. However, the micro terrain was not a constant uphill but a series of undulating ridges, which were extremely torturous to travel through.

Winters, carrying a heavy-duty musket that was dripping with sweat, knew this large-caliber matchlock gun was extremely cumbersome. It usually had to be mounted on a support pole during use, weighing close to twenty pounds, and Winters had two of them on his back.

“Sir, beasts generally circle around the hillside,” Ralph said, panting heavily. “That creature must have been scared by the people returning from the church, so it panicked and ran without choosing its path.”

Winters leaned on his knees, trying to steady his breathing rhythm. He nodded but didn’t say a word, as he was simply unable to speak at the moment.

“That beast must be even more tired; it can’t have gone far!” the old Hunter, leaning on his javelin, moved forward again.

Winters bit his lip and followed.

The signs of destruction in the forest were becoming less and less. The giant bear had crashed through the forest upon escaping, and its brutal actions caused damages that even Winters could identify.

But the deeper they went into the forest, the less broken branches and bushes there were, and the paw prints also became shallower.

It was clear the pace of the beast was slowing down, and its frenzied emotions were subsiding; it was gradually reverting to its natural behavior patterns—moving stealthily with a strolling posture.

The tracking became more and more difficult, but the beast could not escape the Hunter’s eyes.

Ralph clung tightly to the bear’s trail, chopping notches on the trees with his hunting knife as he went to mark the direction for those who might follow.

Passing through a stand of white oak trees, the giant bear’s tracks disappeared into a small river. Winters’s heart tightened, but the Hunter crossed the stream to inspect it carefully, then led Winters upstream in pursuit.

The two of them walked along the riverbank, with one foot deep and the other shallow. Seasonal mountain floods had washed away all the soil along the banks, exposing stones of various sizes and shapes underneath the earth’s layer.

The forests on both sides of the riverbed were like dark, wide beast dens, lurking with lethal dangers. The power of the water had polished the surface of the stones on the riverbed, making them smooth and hazardous.

Ralph, leading the way, suddenly stumbled, barely avoiding a fall. But he managed to steady himself with a violent struggle, emitting a painful groan from his throat in the process.

Winters hurried to catch up with Ralph and saw the old Hunter clenching his teeth, flaring his nostrils, his whole body’s muscles tensely shivering.

The Lieutenant quickly realized: the exhausted old Hunter had not stepped firmly on the stone underfoot, and he had twisted his ankle.

A sprain, the most common and troublesome injury. It won’t kill you, but it will prevent you from moving.

The reason the two of them had managed to track this far depended on the Hunter’s skills, which Winters was well aware of.

He could no longer discern where the fierce beast had run to. If Ralph could not move, then he could only watch helplessly as the creature disappeared without a trace.

Supporting Ralph’s arm, Winters gritted his teeth and asked, “Can you still move?”

“Yes!” the old Hunter replied through clenched teeth. “Keep pursuing.”

After steadying himself, the old Hunter lifted his leg and proceeded to walk forward, but he wobbled again and nearly fell.

Winters immediately steadied Ralph, saying helplessly, “Let’s rest for a while.”

The Lieutenant helped Ralph to sit down slowly on the spot and removed the old Hunter’s boots. Ralph’s right ankle had swollen up considerably, the skin underneath turning blue-purple, evidently no longer capable of movement.

“Stay here and wait for the others to come,” Winters resolved. “I’ll go after it alone.”

The old Hunter shook his head vigorously and said breathlessly, “No, it won’t work, not alone. Let me catch my breath, I’ll wrap my ankle with cloth, and we’ll continue the pursuit.”

As he spoke, the old Hunter took a horn cup from his waist, leaned over to scoop up some water from the river to drink. The cup had nearly reached his lips, but then the Hunter suddenly thought of something. He stopped, and offered the water to the Lieutenant first.

Winters was both annoyed and amused. “What the hell, it’s not the time for this kind of formality, just drink up. I’ll drink after you’ve finished.”

Ralph stopped resisting and drank. After finishing, he scooped another cupful of water for Winters. The Lieutenant, thirsty to the point of a dry throat, downed it in one go and handed the cup back to Ralph.

Once again, the Hunter leaned out to scoop water. The moment the cup touched the river, the Hunter suddenly froze, and failing to grip it firmly, the horn cup slipped from his hands and was swept away by the swift current downstream.

Winters was about to reach out and ask when he saw Ralph make a gesture for silence. The old Hunter looked at Winters, slowly shook his head, and then pointed toward the pine trees on the opposite bank of the river.

In the eyes of the old Hunter, Winters saw a hint of fear.

He looked in the direction the Hunter was pointing. At first glance, he saw nothing. The next moment, he realized that the very thing he had been desperately searching for was right under the trees on the opposite bank of the river!

The deep brown fur was a natural camouflage in the woods; the creature was lying in the shadows under the trees, as if it was a huge rock that had stood there for eons.

The head of the logging team hadn’t exaggerated in the slightest; it truly was a bear as big as a house. The beast’s massive size was truly daunting, so much so that even lying on the ground, it was an intimidating large mass.@@novelbin@@

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