Early in the morning, everyone woke up to go do battle. To Haruto’s surprise, Yuuta hadn’t changed at all during his transformation. Tilting his head in confusion, Haruto decided to figure it out after defeating the ancient beast. So I can introduce Yuuta to his new sister, hehehe. The lewd smile on Haruto’s face frightened Yuuta, who was happily hopping towards him. Yuuta climbed onto Bluey for protection.

That really hurts my soul. At least hide behind Shiki or Sura. Haruto tried his best to swallow the pain. The group snacked on some dried carp then headed deeper into the forest, passing by more and more higher-level creatures. This will be deeper than my earlier exploration. I wonder what we’ll see. The trees around them had reached level 100, and the temperature had begun to drop rapidly. Looking up into the branches, Haruto noticed a giant snake lazily slithering through the foliage. Its level was 87. Haruto gulped, wondering just how powerful this ancient beast of the forest would be. The group started to slow down as more and more high-level creatures became present, increasing the chance of being attacked the farther they traveled. 

A level 80 falcon noticing Yuuta on Bluey’s back, tried to sneak attack and grab him. But Haruto sensed the falcon as soon as its killing intent peaked and threw two heavy punches that crushed its head. The falcon was still breathing after Haruto hit it, so he was forced to punch again. Hm, three punches to win. If there was a second falcon, it would be hard to defend Yuuta. I always did hate escort quests, but I promised Yuuta he could come, so I have to protect him. 

After beginning to worry a bit, Haruto drank two of the strength potions that he was saving, which permanently increased his strength by 4. I feel the potion spreading through my body. A heat flooded his body, refining his muscles and even tempering his bones again, making them denser. A kind level 90 horned boa constrictor who really wanted to be Haruto’s test subject tried to attack Yuuta. So Haruto grabbed it from the tree and ripped it in half. It seems that strength increase actually made some real differences in my capabilities. I wonder if the strength boost helps in other areas. Is my energy max strat, wrong? Impossible.

By the time they reached the center of the forest: thirty level 80 falcons, ten level 60 bald eagles, five level 85 tri horned boars, and over twenty snakes tried to steal Yuuta, and 30 falcons, ten bald eagles, five tri horned boars, and over 20 snakes were killed. Yuuta took this time to sharpen his bow skills by shooting at them from afar while Haruto fought head-on, getting a gauge on how much strength he had. 

All in all, Haruto leveled up to 100 by the time they reached the center. Yuuta leveled up to 70 and got the title “intermediate bowman,” which increased his proficiency with the bow and added a +15% chance of arrow hitting. The three exp lechers who helped zilch in the fight leveled up as well. Shiki and Sura reached level 68, and Bluey reached level 75. After this boss-battle, they’ll probably level up so much that they transform into different creatures. Thinking of the absurd changes to come after these freaks of nature finish evolving, Haruto could feel a chill running down his neck.

 Luckily I remain human, or I’d probably have transformed into some monster by hitting 100. Useless thoughts away time for battle. I’m excited this is the first boss battle in this world. Will the boss be a demonic beast like in HOD or something new. Regardless this will be a tough fight, luckily I can prepare beforehand. Stat boost time

Stats at Level 22:

Strength- 110

Dexterity- 106

Energy- 380

Mana- 100

Intelligence- 104

Luck- 104

Health- 8700

For now, I will continue the energy boost strat. My sword dps is what makes the samurai op. I refuse to believe I wasted my points.

 Haruto put on his croc armor for extra defense and pulled out his herculean gloves to throw one-inch punches from the fight’s start. He had Bluey and Yuuta back up a bit., and gave Bluey the last strength potion so the supposed location-boss could be at his prime. Then Shiki and Sura backed up the rear since they were the lowest level. 

Haruto’s heart beat wildly in anticipation. Focusing his mind, Haruto released his shogun’s aura as he did when he first entered the forest. The aura was wild and oppressive like a great shogun; the aura did not ask for respect but demanded it. All were but servants in Haruto’s court, and if they would not yield, then the only alternative was death. The whole forest became silent as the aura rampaged about like a mad man. 

After a few seconds, the forest drummed with noise as various creatures roared and escaped from Haruto’s domain. It was pure chaos. Haruto was unable to differentiate between the various sounds being made throughout the forest. Ten minutes passed as the creatures rushed away from the dangerous aura. Though he could not handle much of the noise, he still noticed that none of the animals were heading towards him. It may be harder than I thought to lure the beast out. I keep forgetting this isn’t a video game. Perhaps one of the fleeing animals aggroed it and brought it away. Sadist-sama probably was too lazy to make a real storyline, so it’s already broken. Wonder if he’ll patch this...

 Haruto felt a sharp pain run down his spine that yelled death was arriving. He began looking around in a hurry. Not too soon after that, a roar that subjugated all other noises was released. Silence resumed in the forest after this roar, and no creature dared to make a sound. The roar met the shogun’s aura and pushed it back towards Haruto to crush his spirit before the battle even began. 

This roar greatly suppressed Shiki and Sura. Seeing their pain, Haruto pushed his aura into overdrive, which activated his warrior soul. The roar and his aura continued smashing against each other, creating shockwaves and earthquakes. Haruto could hear the trees in the distance toppling over from these waves, then he heard another subsequent roar before everything became silent. Haruto began sweating profusely from pushing his aura so far. The ground rumbled, and trees began falling as a monstrous existence made its way towards him. 

Narrowing his eyes in the direction, Haruto gawked at the giant bear, taking the scene. It was the size of an elephant with one eye completely white as an old scar was crossed around it. The name ancient grizzly bear hovered above its head. There was no level, only a skull. 

Oh shit. Its level difference is so high even me being lvl 100 isn’t close enough to show its numbers. Why was I given a real boss so soon? Haruto wiped away some cold sweat and thanked any God, but Sadistsama. That he decided to level everyone up before coming here. Seeing Haruto’s group, the bear looked around with its one good eye until settling on Haruto and letting a low growl filled with killing intent. 

“Well, don’t be shy, smokey the elephant bear. If you won’t make the first move. I will.” Haruto began a barrage of heavy punches that dug up the loose dirt in front of him. Fist imprints streaked through the sky. 

Seeing Haruto’s punches, the bear let out a mighty roar that considerably slowed the air-punches down as if they were in quicksand. 

Clicking his tongue, Haruto continued his ranged barrage. Yuuta began hopping into the air and letting a volley of wind arrows rain down from the side. Their two attacks crashed into the beast, and dirt was thrown everywhere, blocking their view. But both knew the fight wouldn’t be over that quickly.

 Another roar was released that knocked everyone back and destroyed the trees in the immediate area. 

Haruto looked up to find the bear was unharmed from their attacks and had begun rushing towards his location. Haruto prepared to meet its attack, but before it reached him, Bluey slammed into its body from the side, knocking the bear back.

Haruto dashed towards the entangled Bluey.

The bear swiped at Bluey, but Bluey used his spiked tail to meet the hit. A loud bang resounded when the two attacks met, and Bluey was thrown from the blast, the bear was still unperturbed. 

Haruto slid under the flying Bluely. Once between the bear’s front legs, he began yelling “Fist of the Haruto Star. AH-TATATATATA!” letting loose a shit ton of one-inch punches into the bear’s gut. 

The bear was lifted off the ground by Haruto’s punches, but still had enough strength to swipe Haruto from under it, tossing him to the side.

Yuuta continued shooting arrows at the bear, but they had little effect due to the level disparity. 

The bear slammed back into the ground with a thud and quickly charged forward, slashing Haruto with its sharp claws giving him no time to dodge. One swipe flew towards Haruto’s head, ready to either decapitate him, or give him a new hairdo.

 “Motherfucker” Haruto spat in fear and grabbed its approaching arm. The force behind the bear’s swing almost ripped Haruto off the ground, but he held firm. Locking the bear in place as the two struggled between brute force that Haruto was slowly losing. I should have put more points into strength. Why the fuck is this tank, so fast? Did sadist-sama read my thoughts earlier? 

Taking advantage of this, Shiki and Sura began preparing their combo attack. Sura’s fire heated up the ancient oak, yet did not cause the sword any damage. The purple flames this time were 10 times greater than against the elk and created mini-explosions in the air. Shiki’s damage output increased significantly as it was strengthened by the trees in the area. Shiki hopped forward and slashed with his entire strength.

Regardless of Shiki’s speed, the bear noticed the swing coming. Instead of dodging, the bear lifted Haruto off the ground and threw him in the way. 

Shiki panicked and barely missed Haruto, but while doing so, he only hit the paw of the bear and was forced to retreat. The paw that was hit turned a sickly purple as the flames greedily invaded the cut to run havoc in the bear. 

A thunderous roar was released that popped Haruto’s eardrums, causing him to bleed profusely and fall into a daze. Haruto’s mental faculty began slowing. A stun attack, fuck. In a daze from the roar, almost everyone became immobile. 

The bear swiped at Shiki, cutting deep into his stomach and sending him flying. Seeing this, Sura unleashed the full heat within his body, causing the fur on the bear to be burnt to a crisp, and the purple flames expanded wherever the new flames touched. 

The bear turned to chase after Sura.

 Before it could, Bluey slammed into it, this time using his tail to crush the bear’s head. 

Haruto was surprised to see Bluey could still move while he was frozen even though he was a higher level. He really is a location boss. If only Sadistsama knew I converted his boss into a dog. Haruto One. Sadist-sama 1 million. I’m moving up on the board.

The spiked tail was only able to cause a slight injury. Some bleeding happened around the wound, which unexpectedly sent the bear into a rampage. 

The angered bear began furiously swiping at Bluey. 

Bluey attempted to go blow for blow against the bear. The fight was pretty one-sided as Bluey got more and more cuts throughout his body, while the bear only got small bruises. But Bluey’s effort gave Haruto time to break out of the stun. Feeling back in control of his body, Haruto sprinted behind the bear and unleashed two one-inch punches. Taste the power of concentrated energy damage! 

Two indents became prominent on the bear, and a pool of blood erupted from its mouth. Using their numbers advantage, Haruto and Bluey continuously alternated, throwing their strongest attacks every time the bear turned to swipe the other.

 The bear’s eyes became redder and redder the more they attacked until there was only a black iris and a pool of red left. The bear went into a crazed fit and let out a deranged roar that knocked Haruto and Bluey back. The bear moved like lightning and rammed into Haruto, biting into his shoulder and shaking furiously to rip it off. 

AHH, the pain. Why did I have to go against my build’s counter on the first boss? Ignoring the mind-crippling pain, Haruto let off some point-blank punches, but the bear refused to let go of him. In despair, Haruto pulled out his “no luck all skill” katana. This time taste the true ultimate power of energy max. The buffs caused his attack power to skyrocket, and Haruto chopped down towards the bear like a guillotine.

 The bear felt death banging at its cave and instinctually threw Haruto away before the strike landed.

 Haruto’s bitten arm hung loosely, barely remaining attached to his body. With one arm being out of commission, Haruto gave up on using punches and dashed towards it with his katana. 

The bear swiped at Haruto, but his increased agility allowed him to dodge and jump onto the bear’s arm. 

Haruto swung with all the strength his one arm could muster, and a giant gash appeared across the bear’s chest. Haruto dropped to the ground after throwing the strike. All the energy in his body dissipated.

Blood rushed out from the bear’s chest like a river, and a pitiful roar was released. 

Taking advantage of the bear’s natural armor being removed, Yuuta prepared a gigantic arrow combined with Sura’s fire. A beautiful phoenix came into existence as the wind fed the flames, causing the air pressure to drop in the area. Not giving the bear a chance to dodge Yuuta unleashed the phoenix arrow right towards the bear’s chest

 The phoenix raced towards the bear, setting the ground beneath it on fire. Right as the arrow was about to hit its mark, a giant paw appeared in the way. The paw was utterly disintegrated by the arrow, but enough force was reduced to save the bear’s life. 

Now understanding that the attack could end its life, the bear warily stared at Yuuta and decided to kill him first.

Dragging himself up, Haruto saw the bear rushing towards Yuuta. His heart started pounding to give him adrenaline, but he was too exhausted to move fast. He drunkenly chased after the bear. 

Sura absorbed a bunch of soil and tried to slow the bear down with his body. After only two swipes, Sura was forced to retreat as his body became dangerously unstable and close to splitting.

 Yuuta began hopping around the area in desperation to run from the bear. Unfortunately, most of the trees were destroyed, leaving him no high ground to retreat to. 

The thought of Yuuta being murdered flashed through Haruto’s mind. Many thoughts began flashing, his death, Sura’s death, Shiki’s death, and even that idiot Bluey would be murdered because he got a boner for an npc. He remembered the promise he made to Yuuta… No the promise he made to himself. Thinking about failing another little brother for the second time, Haruto’s heart started beating like a drum set far outpacing its previous speeds. His muscles began constricting, and the areas near the bite mark squeezed together until no blood flowed. 

His skill “Barings Of A True Man” activated. Pushing his back leg deep into the ground, Haruto launched towards the bear at full force. Haruto teetered towards unconsciousness after launching himself, so if he missed, everything would be over. If only I didn’t use those health potions on the soup. I didn’t know about transformations if I had known... Haruto gritted his teeth to the point of bleeding, and tears began falling as his mind concluded all would be lost. His strike lacked any killing intent as he drew further and further into a forced slumber only the force behind the launch remained. 

The bear having Yuuta cornered prepared to strike the annoying pest down once and for all.

 Yuuta had tears running down his face as his legs froze under the bear’s pressure. Behind the menacing bear, Yuuta saw his hero. He saw Haruto rocketing towards him.

 Seeing the scared Yuuta Haruto forced a smile, a smile that said, “don’t worry, older brother will take care of everything.” before falling unconscious. 

Yuuta stopped cowering after seeing Haruto’s smile and glared at the bear unafraid of death.

 The bear became wary, seeing such resolve. Its instincts warned that Yuuta might throw that attack again. Before the bear could comprehend what was going on, Haruto slammed into him, driving his katana through its back and out the front. Haruto’s arm was crushed under the pressure of the collision.

 The bear’s eyes began to dim. Its killing intent drained from its body. One last roar echoed throughout the forest, this one was full of sorrow and reluctance. It was the dying note of a great beast.  

 Haruto’s wounds reopened up as his muscles relaxed. The repeated messages of congratulations briefly anchored his consciousness. In a state of delirium, Haruto thought he heard his little brother crying and repeatedly calling his name. He whimpered out, “don’t worry, Aito big brother didn’t fail you this time.” The last bit of Haruto’s consciousness entered a slumber as his aura and skills dissipated. Then everything went blank...