Foot long claws tore through flesh without a hint of resistance, spraying blood across the field as it rended the flesh. Ripping it apart in its mad rage, tossing organs and chunks of visceral meat to the side until it was truly satisfied.

Yet when the bear looked down at its blood-soaked claws, still dripping with that delectable life wine, and the carnage it had wrought, its tiny mind worked in overdrive as it realised there was something wrong, that something was missing.

Where were the human bits? There were plenty of deer meat, it's tough pelt no match for the might of the ursine's claws, yet no matter where it searched it couldn't find a single morsel of human. Where was the human?!

As if knowing its thoughts and eager to answer, sudden bouts of pain flashed through the back of its legs as its own blood was sprayed across the grass, mixing with the mess it made of the venison.

Whipping its head around, it bared its teeth in a vicious snarl at the wretched human standing behind it.

"Oh I'm sorry Care Bear, were you looking for me?"

Seth smirked as he met the armoured bear's bloodthirsty gaze, feeling the storming ocean of unbridled rage contained within it. In his hand he held one of the feathers from his cloak, the steel edge stained crimson as a fresh droplet of blood gathered at the tip before falling into the grass beneath his feet.

Despite his defiant stance and fearless expression as he stared down death once again, he could feel his heart thundering inside his chest at the close shave. By the warm trickle emanating from the back of his neck and creeping its way down his spine, it was definitely far too close.

Just before the beast had clawed him to bite sized chunks for its dining pleasure, he had tossed a handful of the antler parts to safety before burning another charge from his ring and, in the process, learned an important aspect of the [Expeditious Ratreat].

While it acted as a teleportation feature, it wasn't exactly the same. The stomach churning 'tunnel' he travelled through when activating it wasn't just a feeling, in some form of another he still had some metric of a physical form.

Even though he had activated it before the bear could touch him, when he tried to go through its body the ring instead sent him through the gap between its legs. Which led to him getting scratched by its claw in the short delay the ring took to find a suitable path for what he wanted.

The warm sensation of his blood running down his back was a warning, and a lesson. If he was going to use the [Expeditious Ratreat] in the future, plan accordingly.

That delay, no matter how short, could be the difference between life and death. Or worse, if he had chosen a location that couldn't have been rerouted, like behind a locked door, would it even activate at all?

The sensation of Omelette landing on his shoulder snapped him out of his morbid thoughts as the little Wyvern began to lap up the blood from his fresh wound.

"Thanks little buddy, but you get outta here. It's about to get messy."

He wanted to give his little friend a reassuring pat on the head, but he didn't dare drop his weapon for even a second in front of this infernal beast.

As the baby Wyvern took to the skies once again, the bear dropped down onto all fours and began to circle its prey. It didn't know how it got away the first time, but it wouldn't do it again.

Its claws cleaved ruts into the ground and kicked up dirt as it charged once again, swinging wildly as soon as it got into range of its prey. Relying solely on its superior size and overwhelming strength.

Yet no matter how many times it swung its flesh rending claws, it hit nothing but air. Like a leaf on the wind, Seth dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged every strike.

It was true that he couldn't match the creature's strength, but he never intended to. Bouncing on his feet, he danced between the wild swings and kept just out of reach, relying on his puppet's overlook of the situation to help him avoid tricky attacks that came from his blind spots.

Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, he had always heard that phrase but now he was truly embracing it. The only issue was with the stinging. Much like a bee, his stings were tiny and insignificant.

No matter how many times he slashed or stabbed at the beast, he could never do any meaningful damage. At least a bee had venom, his feather bladed stings were nothing but an irritant to the colossal beast.

Death by a thousand cuts was also definitely off the table. Even with his increased stats, he was putting much more energy into dodging and attacking than the bear was, especially since it didn't bother to dodge and relied purely on its armour and thick hide. The more he dodged, the more his lungs heaved and his muscles burned. Every brush with death could easily be his last.

All it needed was one lucky hit, unlike the dozens he was carving into its flesh.

As he was considering the different strategies for felling the beast, he caught something out of the corner of one of his puppets eyes.

'Bingo. It may be tough, tougher than the deer even, but it still has gaps in its armour.'

Dodging one last strike, Seth leapt backwards to gain some distance before spinning on his heels and breaking into a sprint. His sudden retreat befuddled the bear at first, before it let out a growl that contained a mixture of anger and sadistic amusement.

Amused that it feared its might so much despite its defiance, yet angry that it dared to run instead of laying down and allowing it to devour its earned prey.

Letting out another guttural roar, as if to say 'You can't run from me!', The bear sprinted after its prey and quickly gained on it as the two raced across the clearing.

However, little did the beast know that its prey was intentionally slowing down, allowing it to nip at his heels and stay right on his tail. Focusing only on his back and not what they were running towards.

The prey leapt into the air, a feeble attempt to escape, as the bear pounced after him, ready to crush the meat under its weight when they landed.

But, the moment the bear's hind legs left the ground and before it could even reach the same height as its spring heeled prey, the human vanished in a flash of light leaving the bear with a perfect view of the orchard of hanging vines it was now sailing into.

Appearing out of thin air, a few metres behind where the bear had leapt from, Seth landed on the ground with a grunt and quickly rolled to his feet. The azure writing of the [Expeditious Ratreat] losing its lustre and turning as black as the rest of the ring as the last charge was used until it recharged, but it was unclear how long that would take.

The bear, unable to stop its momentum, sailed helplessly through the air and landed deep within the carnivorous orchard that the Jade Deer had once walked through. The deceptive fruits at the end of the vines immediately split open, beginning to snap at the prey that had fallen into their embrace.

Many of their fangs sparking off its earthen shell, but a few found purchase in the thick skin between the gaps. More and more vampiric apples sunk their teeth into the vulnerable flesh of the armoured bear, which howled in pain and clawed at the vines.

But no matter how tough its hide, nor however many it ripped from the tree, the venom of each fruit seeped into its flesh and coursed throughout its bloodstream. Every beating of its heart spread the vile plague deeper within its body, as if writing its name in death's ledger.

Its movements slowed, becoming heaven and lethargic, as it stumbled its way out of the deadly orchard, taking more venomous stings with every step.

Finally it staggered out of the reach of the vines, its legs trembling underneath its weight as every step felt like it was walking through a deep marsh. Raising its head, the bear opened its mouth wide to let out yet another roar. Eager to show its triumph over the trick and to tell the world that it would never lose to worthless prey food like plants.

But the roar never came. The only sound the bear could make was a weak gurgle as it choked on its own blood. Its remaining eye was wide, staring at the human in front of it who had a smirk on his face and blood-soaked, glistening feather in their hand. The feather that had been thrust through its open mouth.

Ripping the blade from the bear's mouth, letting its body finally collapse to the ground, Seth plunged it through its remaining eye to finish the job. As the warm blood sprayed across his face, Angel confirmed his kill and told him what he wanted to hear the entire time he had been in this clearing.

[Congratulations. You've earned a Requital.]