CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 23 - THE EARTH BEAR.

The great forest, Rugrada, wasn’t ruled by one entity.

It was so big that one beast wouldn’t be able to manage it.

Hence, the beasts in the forest decided to claim parts of the forest as their own.

Of course, not many could keep their spots, as a stronger beast could always snatch them away, but there were a few beasts who had never lost their spot.

These beasts were called the region lords, and their areas, through countless sacrifices, were marked as red areas.

No matter which hunter or adventurer it was, they avoided the red zones because entering them meant death.

One such region lord was an earth bear with the power to shake the ground with every step.

It lived peacefully some distance into the forest. It ate, slept, licked itself, shitted what it ate, then ate again.

It wasn’t doing anything special, but it was living a life it wanted to.

That was until one day, when it was strolling in its area, walking around a lake it used to sit beside, it felt something—the gaze of a predator.

It had turned around despite itself, only to see a huge creature sitting on the spot where it used to sit.

In normal cases, the earth bear would’ve torn the intruder from limb to limb and eaten it with relish, but the problem was that this intruder was... big.

That was something coming from a five-meter bear.

Above all, its instincts, which had always shown it the right path, had urged it to run away.

It had done just that.

It had run away while tucking the tail it didn’t even have between its legs.

Out of fear of being eaten, it never returned to that place and marked another area, much closer to the city, as its own.

Now, while it was sleeping in its newly claimed area, the bear felt some movements.

This annoyed it, as it wasn’t going to let this go unattended.

But as it rose to its feet, observing the things that were going to be its good, a voice called from the side.

"I nearly thought that you were dead."

The tone in the voice was more curious than concerned, as if they weren’t standing before a huge bear but a cute puppy.

Even though the bear had been hiding its presence while sleeping, it felt like the man in the air somehow knew he had been there.

So, the massive creature blinked once, twice—chunks of dry soil crumbling from its stony shoulders with each movement.

Its molten-veined eyes turned from the crowd to Kael, the deep rumble in its chest shifting from menace to... mild confusion.

Its instincts told him that it shouldn’t act rashly, so with its rocky brow ridge lifted—

"Do... I know you?"

—The bear asked, voice like boulders grinding together.

Kael’s brow arched. "You talk."

The demihumans below twitched.

Some tightened their grips on whatever weapons they had no chance of using. Others just stared, unsure which part was stranger—the bear speaking... or Kael sounding only mildly surprised.

Kael adjusted his hold on the twins, speaking casually, as if he were discussing the weather.

"Last time we met," he said, "you bolted like you’d seen a ghost."

The bear tilted its head, frowning. "Huh? Who are—"

It stopped mid-question, pupils dilating.

Its eyes locked on Kael’s—those dragonic, slit-pupiled irises glinting faintly in the dim light.

The beast froze. Its entire frame shuddered once, pebbles trickling from its hide.

"...It’s you," it stammered, voice now an octave higher. "The... the creature from the clearing..."

It could remember those eyes—more like, he could never forget them.

Heck, the bear had been sleepless for some time because whenever it closed its eyes, it would find those golden eyes staring at it.

The reason the massive bear slept with its presence hidden was because of the creature, basically Kael in his dragon form.

The bear feared that Kael might come strolling away from the lake and find it.

Now, its fears came true as the creature floated before it. The only difference was that its aura was tamed, and it was in a human form.

Looking at the bear’s reactions, Kael’s lips curved in a faint, knowing smirk. "So you do remember."

The bear swallowed—a sound like grinding gravel—and began to shift backward on instinct.

Kael’s gaze followed the motion, his tone almost playful.

"Trying to run away... again?"

The bear froze mid-step, muscles locking like a guilty child caught stealing.

"N-No!" It laughed, the sound awkward and hollow. "Never! Why would I do that? I mean, it’s not like you’re going to eat me..."

A beat of silence.

"...Right?"

Kael raised a brow. "So that’s why you ran last time?"

The bear’s head bobbed in a quick, guilty nod.

"Yes. Well. My instincts screamed at me. Your aura..." It shivered. "...was bad for my health."

"Speaking of aura," Kael muttered, glancing past the bear.

The demihumans below, not wrapped in his mana—around two hundred of them—were pale, trembling under the crushing weight of the beast’s presence.

"Yours is scaring them," Kael said evenly, pointing at the crowd. "So, reel it in."

Rue and Rina, unaffected, like all others who were wrapped in Kael’s telekinetic power, were leaning forward with bright-eyed curiosity when the bear tilted its head.

"...How do I do that?"

The silence that followed was the kind that made even birds reconsider singing.

Kael deadpanned. "Seriously? You were hiding your presence a second ago."

The bear shuffled its massive paws, tilting its head as if the concept itself were foreign. "

Hide... aura? I don’t... know what you mean," it rumbled, feigning confusion with all the subtlety of a child claiming ignorance while crumbs clung to its muzzle.

It merely didn’t want to do anything.

After all, why would one of the strongest creatures in the forest care about some weak prey?

The only reason it was scared of Kael was that the dragon was stronger than it was.

Kael, however, narrowed his eyes as he understood what was going on, the golden slits gleaming with quiet authority. "Don’t make me repeat myself."

His tone was calm, but it carried the weight of something absolute—like stone cracking under pressure.

The earth bear froze,as its instinct screamed again, telling it that this wasn’t a bluff.

It didn’t want to do it, but—

After a long, rumbling exhale, it dipped its head low, and with visible reluctance, the suffocating pressure rolling off its body receded like fog burning away under the sun.

The crowd exhaled in relief, their legs wobbling, some only now realizing they’d been holding their breath.

They weren’t pressed down by the bear’s aura anymore.

The bear looked around, grumbling. "Happy now?"

Before Kael could answer, Rue giggled. "Yes, you look less scary!"

"I was never scary," the bear huffed.

Lyra muttered under her breath, "You’re literally the ruler of this part of the forest."

At that, the demihumans’ eyes widened further.

After all, they’d heard of this beast.

It was called the earth bear, and only a few who crossed its territory lived to speak of it.

The thing was that no one had ever lived after seeing how it looked, so there was no news on how he looked.

Even the fact that it was a bear was only a prediction made by people who could distinguish its roar as a bear’s roar.

Looking at that creature up close wasn’t something they had expected—not when it hadn’t even been a day since they left the city.

But as they recalled how the bear seemed scared of Kael, they felt safer, concluding that Kael was stronger than a Region Lord.

Kael didn’t know what the demihumans were thinking.

He could see the respect and reverence in their gazes increasing, but he merely shrugged as it wasn’t a bad thing.

He turned to the bear with that infuriatingly lazy calm he always had. "You’ll follow us."

The bear reared back in surprise. "What? No. I’m a proud—"

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

Just a glance, sharp enough to slice through stone.

The bear froze.

Then slowly, without another word, it lowered itself to the ground like an oversized, furry boulder being placed in storage.

"I... will do as you say," it said meekly.

Alenia, Lyra, and Evethra exchanged looks—half disbelief, half resigned acceptance.

Of course, Kael would casually recruit one of the most dangerous creatures within a hundred miles as a pet.

There were two girls, however, who didn’t care who the bear was.

What they cared about was that—

"We have a big puppy now!" Rue clapped her hands.

Rina also peeked out from Kael’s coat.

The bear, however, didn’t like what Rue said. It puffed up. "Hey! I’m not—"

Before it could complete its words, Kael glanced at it lazily.

He merely glanced, and whatever bravado the bear had was promptly crushed.

It dropped like a rock, forelegs folded, chin to the dirt, and tail stump twitching like a scolded pup.

"—I’m not! I mean, yes! I am! I am a puppy!"

From the side, Lyra muttered under her breath, "The ruler of the northern forest, everyone."

Alenia’s lips twitched. "Truly fearsome."

Evethra just shook her head, though her eyes never left Kael.

The demihumans, although laughing, weren’t sure how to treat the bear.

They knew that Kael was stronger than it, and the bear was scared of him, but that didn’t mean they would start getting chummy with one of the strongest beasts of the forest.

What if something they said offended it and it ate them?

So, for now, they decided to keep their distance from the bear, who knelt before Kael like a carriage-sized boulder.

"Forward," Kael said, shaking his head as he wondered if the bear would even be of help.

’Well, even if it’s useless, I’ll just make it useful,’ he finally shrugged.

Everyone was already moving, the forest ruler lumbering at the rear like an obedient shadow... that just happened to weigh several tons, while Rue and Rina kept glancing at them, their eyes sparkling with excitement.