Although he abandoned the idea of attacking by surprise, Mamadou was beginning to enjoy the situation. His lips had become dry, and he licked them unconsciously.

The Ratatosks and the other monsters he had encountered so far had merely been a form of preparation.

The Green Bear, however, would allow him to make a huge leap in his stats.

This area of the pit was filled with rocks and stone spikes, terrain that would normally make movement difficult for something as large as a Green Bear. Yet something told Mamadou that, aside from a slight inconvenience, it would hardly affect the beast.

Mamadou was different.

With his Ark Nocyris body, aside from a forest, this was the ideal environment for him to let loose.

He could slide, twist, bend, and contort himself freely, using his body however he pleased.

The surrounding humidity remained constant.

Fortunately, it did not interfere with the Ark Nocyris’ vision abilities.

Mamadou cautiously began to approach.

In the blink of an eye, the Green Bear crushed the spikes before it and charged straight at him.

The flying debris reached him first.

Child’s play.

Mamadou dodged the projectiles and rushed toward the Green Bear.

Whoa!

Some of the debris had actually managed to scratch him.

The Green Bear was much larger than Mamadou. It was only now, seeing it in motion, that Mamadou truly grasped the size difference between them.

He hastily swung his sword toward the monster’s head as it charged on all fours.

Klaaaang!

What the—

Mamadou looked incredulous as he was forced backward.

His strike had not hit the monster’s head.

Instead, it had collided with the claws of one of its forepaws.

Apparently, the beast had raised its paw to strike him while running, causing the clash.

My current stats should make up for the level difference.

I’m confident in my stats.

I can avoid being one-shotted.

All I need to do is end this fight quickly.

That all sounds good, but it’s still incredibly strong.

I knew that from the very first exchange.

The Green Bear got its name from its fur.

That was merely one characteristic among many.

Perhaps it would make it twice as dangerous in a forest.

But what made it dangerous right now were its claws, its raw striking power, and its bite.

One well-placed hit and the fight would be over.

As Mamadou tried to determine the best strategy after creating some distance between them, the Green Bear charged once more.

"Its speed is incredible."

Mamadou narrowed his eyes.

Although he had not lost sight of his opponent, a moment of distraction could easily cause that to happen.

He focused all his senses and made full use of his infrared vision.

The Green Bear leaped toward him.

Just as it descended, Mamadou lashed his tail around one of the stone spikes.

The moment it tightened, he pulled with all his strength and launched himself out of the impact zone.

BOOOOM!

I knew it.

So that’s what that feeling was.

After fighting numerous monsters inside the pit, Mamadou had reached a conclusion.

Every monster here lacked intelligence.

Recalling his conversation with the Greater Ark Monkey regarding sentient and sapient beings, he concluded that these creatures possessed neither.

They could not retreat from pain.

They could not reason.

All they did was charge at whatever they saw without any form of strategy.

That worked greatly in Mamadou’s favor.

As long as he could overcome the level difference, creatures like these were nothing.

Mamadou had even developed the somewhat arrogant belief that he could defeat any monster of this type in a one-on-one fight, provided he had enough preparation time.

He switched hands and gripped Steelbone.

Steelbone was the name he had given his short sword.

He was rather proud of it, and it seemed unlikely he would change the name anytime soon.

That was why he had gone as far as naming it.

"Let’s go!"

Raaaaargh!

Mamadou charged toward the Green Bear.

The beast swung a massive paw.

Mamadou dodged and slashed at its flank.

He was still close to the Green Bear when it immediately swung another paw.

Mamadou was sent flying.

However, he twisted his body in midair and adjusted his posture before landing, greatly reducing the impact.

Just like cats do, he thought.

Mamadou glanced at Steelbone in his hand.

Although it had the shape of a short sword and possessed a sharp edge, it was ultimately still made of bone.

Piercing rather than slashing.

Steelbone could not inflict severe wounds on the Green Bear.

And because it was short, he could not engage in long-range combat.

At this stage, he would be better off relying on his skills.

The bear charged once again.

Mamadou prepared himself, planting his feet firmly into the ground.

After judging the Green Bear’s trajectory, he pointed his sword straight ahead.

Steelbone pierced through the paw the Green Bear had used to attack.

Mamadou seized the opportunity and viciously bit down on the injured limb.

Crunch.

He spat the remains from his mouth.

The Green Bear struck with its free paw.

Mamadou quickly withdrew his sword and used it to block the attack coming from his right flank.

His entire body vibrated from the impact.

He immediately swore never to do that again.

It was far too dangerous.

I feel like I’m becoming more and more reckless because of that Pain Resistance skill.

He retreated immediately.

"I can’t use my skills against monsters like this. If I exhaust all my SP here, who knows how strong that special monster will be?"

Mamadou glanced around.

The terrain consisted of rocky ground, scattered stone spikes, and numerous visible pits and holes.

He decided it was time to pick up the pace.

He intended to use the terrain itself to kill the beast.

After all, he had been trapped in the pit for quite a while already, and he was beginning to grow impatient.

Mamadou started running through the area in a zigzag pattern while carefully keeping the Green Bear within sight.

First, I’ll use my speed.

I’ll get out of its field of vision and start harassing it from every direction.

Since it doesn’t even limp despite the condition of that injured paw, maybe it won’t matter much.

But even for something like this, if I sever every joint, it’ll stop moving, won’t it?

Then all that’s left is to finish it off.

But first...

Let’s deal with its vision.