Chapter Forty-Seven: The Bear Slayer

After everyone finished their meal, they returned to their rooms, but Xue Han called out to me, saying, "Lin Fan, Sister Lin is thinking of everyone—don’t take it to heart..."

I smiled, "It’s alright. Who knows how long it’ll be before we can form a team? By the time Sister Lin reaches ten thousand reputation points, I might not even be around anymore~"

Xue Han nodded with a gentle smile, "Let’s log in now—the quest time is almost up."

I smiled and went into my room. After all, I’m just a worker—why worry about not having a badge? As long as I earn my share, that’s enough!

Once online, I checked my friends list. Murong Shanshan's name was still dim; she was probably still asleep or having dinner. Flipping through the system messages, I found something exciting: the skill book for the Battleaxe Warrior had been sold for a staggering 18,400 gold. This world is insane—the skill books for level 14 will surely drop more frequently later, but there are even more wealthy people. With this skill, whether leveling up or PKing, it’s extremely useful.

Battleaxe Strike is much like the Swordsman’s Heavy Strike, but its attack output is much higher—just at level one it increases damage by 15%, whereas the Swordsman’s is only 10%, a full 50% higher. This firmly establishes the Battleaxe Warrior as the highest-damage profession in "Moon Eternal." Imagine a level 90 Battleaxe Warrior who has trained Battleaxe Strike to level 10—that’s a 150% damage increase, boosting damage to 2.5 times the original. Cloth classes of the same level would barely survive such an attack, if at all. Luckily, Battleaxe Strike reduces accuracy; at level 10, accuracy drops to about 50%. At least that leaves cloth classes a fighting chance.

"Lin Fan, come to the east gate—the employer is here," Xu Lin messaged me.

The east gate is near the trading post. I quickly organized my equipment and walked over. The drawbridge was crowded; the seven girls from Green Veggie Studio were all present, along with a male warrior named "Black Drift." He must be the wealthy employer.

Black Drift seemed surprised to see me, then smiled, "Now that all eight of you are here, we can set out!"

Xu Lin nodded and led the way. Her area magic skills were perfect for clearing low-level monsters.

Black Drift explained as we walked, "This quest requires us to kill the Bear King boss in a valley, but there’s a mini-boss called the Bear Slayer blocking the cave passage. My four friends and I tried before, but we were instantly killed by the Bear Slayer. Luckily, I teleported back to town quickly; otherwise, I’d have to wait till tomorrow to level up."

I asked, "What skill did that mini-boss use to wipe you out? Does he have extremely high attack?"

"Not exactly—his attack isn’t high enough to instantly kill us, but his skill is brutal. Every time he throws his axe, someone drops instantly. It’s too fierce!"

"Throws his axe? Could it be Battleaxe Strike?"

"Yes, exactly! That skill is crazy. Everyone needs to be careful!"

I nodded and turned to Xue Han, "As long as you use your instant skill well, no one should die!"

Xue Han smiled, "No problem~"

The cave was just ahead. There weren’t many monsters inside, only some blood-sucking bats, which Xu Lin cleared away with a few fire spells. The corridor gradually darkened, surrounded by fiery red rocks that looked as if stained with blood. Ahead, even the bats were gone, leaving only the sound of water dripping from the stalactites.

Black Drift stopped nervously, pointing ahead, "The Bear Slayer is right up there. Everyone, be careful!"

Xu Lin immediately commanded, "Everyone wait for me to lure the Bear Slayer with Frost Arrow. When he comes over, Xinyu, use Shock Arrow to stun him, then Lin Fan, you go stick to him. Xue Han, remember to heal Lin Fan."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but I felt uneasy and stopped Xu Lin, cautioning, "Sister Lin, wait. His skill might be ranged physical attack. Let me go first—otherwise, you might get instantly killed!"

Xu Lin was startled, then smiled, "Alright, that’s safer~!"

I drew my sword and rounded a stone wall, spotting a burly human wielding an axe standing in the middle of the passage. Brambles blocked the way on either side. It seemed we could only move forward after defeating him.

I rushed forward, unleashing Frozen Slash. The firepower from behind followed: Ice Arrows and Shock Arrows froze the Bear Slayer in place. Just as I was sighing at how easy it seemed, the Bear Slayer suddenly shouted, "O gods above, grant me power—send these invaders flying beyond the Milky Way!"

A glowing axe flew from the Bear Slayer’s hand, targeting the closest person—me!

"674!"

The bright red number startled everyone. No wonder Black Drift and his friends were wiped out. With my 212 defense, the blow still did so much damage—if it had hit someone else, it would’ve been well over a thousand!

"Swish~!"

A holy glow poured down over my head—Xue Han’s instant skill activated. Her operation and reaction speed had improved greatly; she managed to heal me before the Bear Slayer’s second attack landed. The healing effect was "262"—not huge, but enough for me to withstand another Battleaxe Strike.

I shouted, "All ranged attackers, stay back! If you get hit, you’ll be wiped out instantly!"

Xinyu landed a well-aimed shot and then retreated, laughing, "You be careful too—getting wiped out wouldn’t look good!"

The Bear Slayer’s health dropped rapidly under our assault. His HP wasn’t high, only around 2000, and his defense wasn’t strong. In a few minutes, we finished him off. In truth, as long as you can withstand his flying axe, killing him isn’t hard.

He didn’t drop anything. I checked my stats and was surprised to see my reputation had increased dramatically. Though the system didn’t notify me, my reputation had jumped from 1630 to 1960—an increase of 330 points. With nine people sharing, each could get over 300 reputation points. Clearly, defeating the Bear Slayer gave a substantial reputation reward.

Murong Shanshan currently needs reputation most—this seems like a perfect breakthrough point!