Giant Ursines

That Flame-Maw Bear was obviously abnormal. It clearly had some sort of mutation that made it grow larger than it should be... It looked nearly twice as big as a regular beast of its kind. Although creatures that evolved due to high concentrations of ambient energy tended to grow larger, that was not the case with Flame-Maw Bears.

The average Flame-Maw Bear was barely any bigger than a grizzly bear.

Also, that bear was obviously starving and dying. It had moss and grass growing by taking root directly into one’s body was usually a bad sign, especially considering the sort of flora growing upon this one.

Edrick did not know about the blood-red moss, but he was well aware that Blood-Drunk Grass grew by absorbing blood present in the soil. Considering how absurdly tall and thick those blades were, they were clearly feasting upon the beast’s blood in abundance.

That bear would certainly die regardless of what happened. Even if it found a meal, as long as it did not get rid of the plants plaguing it, it would simply drop dead, probably in less than a day.

This beast had a crazed look in its eyes, uncaring that it was charging at creatures it knew nothing about. Even if a disease-ridden, foul beast appeared, it wouldn’t hesitate to devour it whole.

Its charge was anything but discreet. However, soon enough, several arrows soared through the air, all lodging themselves right into its body. Compared to an Earth-Carrying Boar, its hide was much less durable. One arrow lodged itself right through its open maw, prompting it to unleash a scalding inferno from within the depths of its throat.

Edrick fired arrow after arrow. Against such a big target, he didn’t even have to focus intently to hit his mark, especially since the creature seemed not to have any plan of dodging anything, only rushing forward like a rabid hound.

The bear wanted nothing more than to run up to Anoteros and tear him apart, but it had no choice other than to focus on Mumin instead. She was on the move, arching around the beast as she summoned a weapon in each hand.

Unlike Lihua and Pluma, who had a rather strong reliance on brute force since they wielded polearms. Mumin instead used a less conventional weapon.

What manifested in both her hands were Flying Claws. As the name implied, they mimicked the claws of a wild predator. But, as per the ‘Flying’ portion of its name might have given away, they weren’t meant for people who fought like beasts. They were attached to strings and could be swung from a considerable distance to tear into flesh or wrap around limbs.

The Flame-Maw Bear got a taste of it firsthand. Mumin did not wait around, swinging the claw in her right hand, slashing across the side of the beast’s hind leg. The cut was deep, managing to sever the tendons.

With its mobility reduced, the giant bear cried out in pain.

Much like Earth-Carrying Boars, Flame-Maw Bears were not masters of the element they had grown attuned to. They couldn’t just summon fireballs out of thin air.

They could only spew flames from their mouth, and the purpose of that wasn’t even to serve as a form of attack. Instead, it was used to cook. Indeed, Flame-Maw Bears did not eat any raw meat.

As such, with its hind leg damaged, the creature could only keep trying to crawl forward to reach the humans. But there was more to Mumin than just a bit of slashing... The wound was bleeding profusely, blood pouring out in excess as though the bear’s blood lacked the ability to clot.

The flying claws lashed out several more times whilst arrows continuously rained down upon the beast, and eventually, it grew still, collapsing on the ground lifelessly.

“How can we be sure it’s not just pretending to be dead?” asked Mumin as she swung one of her Flying Claws around.

In response to her question, Edrick unsheathed his rapier, piercing right through the fallen bear’s skull.

“I believe that it is unlikely to be alive after this” he casually responded, circling the corpse and inspecting it.

He had heard about mutant beasts, particularly in reference to beast-taming cultivators. More often than not, rather than referring to actual mutations, the term was used to describe beasts who had transformed or changed in some way as a result of consuming something, or understanding a new skill, amongst other things... ‘Mutant’ was used when the transformation was not great enough to be called an evolution.

Though Edrick was fairly certain that he was looking at the remains of a genuine mutated beast, some form of gigantism, he would guess, and a rather advantageous one from the looks of it... Since that bear was a grown adult, there was clearly enough food to go around and sustain it.

Something had happened to it, however... Somehow, moss and grass had taken root upon its body.

Without much ceremony, Edrick stashed the whole carcass into his storage pouch, not hiding it from Mumin.

He felt that it would be best to keep the specimen whole, with the abnormal growths still attached.

‘I wonder how much better that Blood-Drunk Grass is compared to the one usually found around?’ he wondered to himself as he walked over to the confused Mumin.

“Keep that little storage thing a secret, alright?” he smiled.

“Sure- Could I have the gland it uses to produce flames, though? I am sure Pluma would find a good use for that”

“No problem” he replied, and the duo resumed walking like nothing had even happened. But soon enough, Anoteros glanced back to where they had slain the bear. The grass beneath and around the area was already turning into Blood-Drunk Grass.

It was only juvenile and without much value. But still, that was abnormally quick.

‘Did this bear have some special blood or something? Should I drink some of it?’ he rubbed his chin in thought. He hadn’t felt any pull, but could it be possible that this bear was something similar to the sasquatch lord, possessing a special bloodline?

If anything, its blood seemed incredibly potent, judging by what had just happened to the nearby grass. Edrick felt confident that the moss and grass had taken root upon its back for one simple reason: Its blood was powerful enough that they didn’t even need anything else to thrive to an absurd degree.

He refrained from making any hasty actions. However, thinking about the fact that this bear was an adult, it made him wonder if there were any more of these giant bears walking around.

Who knew? Maybe the Flame-Maw Bear population had changed in the last fifty years, and these giants weren’t actually as rare as they might appear.

But for now, Anoteros focused on the Fire-Feather Minerals. There was also the matter of his current companion to take care of…