[SP-F4] Blood on Snow

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius sat around a meager camp fire that was built off of whatever branches he could snap off of the surrounding trees. There was a chunk of meat roasting over the fire on a spit made out of more branches. He didn't really have a high cooking skill, so he assumed he would burn it a bit. It was still better than nothing though.

As he sat around the spit, fumes wafted out from the fire. The fumes of roasting meat in a winter 'wonderland' filled with countless monsters and enemies that would be attracted to the smoke and smell. He cared little. Whatever came he could kill, and if his luck was good enough, get its meat from the loot drop to add onto the spit.

Darius probably should've been more careful. The crackling of the flames, popping of burning wood, and the hiss from the grease dropping onto the fire pretty much masked every sound he could hear of something trying to sneak up onto him. The only problem, as Darius' hairs stood on end, a large artic bear lumbered in from the left side of the clearing he was in.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius hastily stood, snow falling off his backside in crumbs. He drew his sword and readied his shield. The bear looked like it had a considerable larger amount of health compared to the rest of the things he had fought on this floor.

The bear roared at him, angry that he was at /its/ food. It flattened its ears to the back of its head and eyed him angrily. It slowly approached him, its big, powerful, but slow frame lumbering at him, easily being almost as tall as he was on all fours. Darius thought slowly about what he would do. As he was thinking about what he would do, the bear stood on its hind two legs and roared again, easily clearing ten feet. Darius eyed it greedily, maniacally even. In response he roared back, using 'Howl' to aggro it into a fight. A tough fight.

[Darius Verand 0]

The bear started charging towards Darius. Darius; however, skirted around to the other side of the fire. It stood on its hind legs again and roared at him, annoyed at how much moving Darius did. Darius in response kicked some of the coals and burning sticks at the bear with his boot, singing the laces and the ends of his pants. The bear, being so big and on its hind legs would have no chance to dodge. It was big and powerful, but its attack would be slow and it would be near impossible for it to dodge because of its size; Darius thought.

[1-8]- The bear is hit by the scorching hot coals and sticks, taking damage and being driven to get angrier.

[9-10]- The bear is hit by the scorching hot coals and sticks, flailing frantically to escape it, taking damage, and falling onto its back.

[Darius Verand 0]

The bear would be hit by the scorching hot coals and sticks, taking damage. It would fall to all fours, growling ferociously. Darius growled back just as ferociously. Darius' last move had pretty much rendered the rest of the fire useless. The bear, having no more barriers, charged through the remaining coals, burning its feet, at Darius. As it reached him, it pulled its arm back and swung at Darius. Darius tried to jump back to evade the attack rather than trying to block the powerful blow. The snow in the area was only around ankle deep and light and fluffy, so it wouldn't hinder his movement that much.

[2,5,7]- Darius cannot evade the bear fast enough and is raked by the end of its claws, taking one damage.

[1,3,4,6,8]- Darius evades the bear, creating space between him and it.

[9,10]- Darius evades the bear and stabs forward with his sword, striking the bear's arm and dealing damage before he moves back, creating space.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius evaded the bear's lumbering swing. Darius stepped back forward to try to stab the bear's arm with a growl of hate, as it was still flung across its body and had little chance to evade. The bear wasn't about evading. It had thick hide, power, and lots of health for the sole reason of being a strong enemy.

[1,5]- The bear lowers its arm quickly, the sword stabbing through air.

[2,4,6,7]- Darius stabs the bear, dealing damage, before stepping back.

[3,8]- Darius stabs the bear, dealing damage, but the sword gets semi-lodged into its thick hide.

[9,10]- Darius stabs the bear and it is a solid stab, going through the bears tough hide easily and dealing extra damage, easily able to be pulled out from the easy entry.

[Darius Verand 0]

The bear had moved its arm low, having it evade Darius' stab. In response, the bear swung its arm back the direction it came, going for a backhand slash. Darius lifted his shield, trying to step back to only get his shield raked by the claws rather than the full force blow.

[1,3,4,6,8]- Darius steps back as he blocks, his shield getting raked by the bear's claws, losing 2% durability.

[2,5,7]- Darius doesn't step back far enough, taking the full hit, getting pushed back as his shield loses 3% durability.

[9,10]- Darius steps back as he blocks, his shield getting raked by the bear's claws, losing 2% durability, then counters, vertical slashing the bear's arm before it goes out of reach, dealing damage and his sword losing 1% durability.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius shuffles back, the claws raking his shield. He was starting to get pissed. It was so big but he couldn't manage to hit it. He stepped forward, charging 'Vertical Arc' as he prepared to dual slash the bear's head, roaring as he did so. He had known what he was getting into when he started. he wouldn't back out now.

[4,8]- The bear shuffles backwards, dodging both strikes.

[1,3,5,6]- Darius hits the first strike, taking 1% durability out of his sword and damaging the bear, but the bear lashes out at him, interrupting his second strike.

[2,7]- Darius executes both slashes on the bear, taking 2% durability out of his sword and damaging the bear a decent amount.

[9,10]- Darius strikes the bear with both slashes, taking 2% durability out of his sword and damaging the bear a decent amount, also raking over one of its eyes, proving it useless.

Darius: 15/15

Sword: 100%

Shield: 97%

Armor: 100%

[Darius Verand 0]

In furious delight, Darius had hit both strikes of his ability dealing decent damage to the bear. He had also struck its right eye, giving it the status effect of being blind in it. The fight would now be MUCH easier. The bear roared, losing its sight partially and stood on all fours, trying to drop down on Darius and crush him.

Darius dove backwards, landing in the cold snow to evade the bear. He left himself wide open for an attack though. The bear followed up and slashed at his legs, striking them and dealing two damage, his kneepads absorbing an extra point and losing 5% durability. Darius roared, and rolled to the right, into the bear's blindspot. He stood, covered in snow and slowly becoming soaked and freezing.

Darius 13/15

Sword: 98%

Shield: 97%

Chestplate: 100%

Elbow pads: 100%

Knee pads: 95%

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius was now in the bear's blindspot. He smiled wickedly. It was trying to turn to look at him, but he kept skirting around it. He was fast, it was slow. Darius chuckled wickedly to himself. There was a crazy light in his eyes. A crazy light that enjoyed being able to kill something that was vulnerable. He now stabbed at the bear's side with his sword, growling savagely since it couldn't see him at all, Darius being perpendicular with the bear's right side and in its blindspot.

[3,7]- The bear lumbers to the side and turns, dodging the sword unintentionally as it tries to find Darius.

[1,2,4,5,6,8]- Darius stabs the bear in its side, dealing damage, his sword losing 1% durability.

[9,10]- Darius stabs the bear in its side, piercing its thick hide to do extra damage, his sword losing 2% durability.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius' stab missed. The bear had shuffled sideways to turn to face Darius, unintentionally dodging the stab. Darius growled to himself, getting very frustrated that he couldn't hit this blasphemous bear. The bear, in retaliation, had swung its giant right paw at Darius. Darius had enough of running and dodging, of being weak and feeble. He took his sword in a two-handed grip; it being possible because his buckler was strapped onto his forearm; and held it out to intercept the bears paw. He roared while doing so- every ounce of rage and defiance going with it.

[Darius Verand 0]

The bear's paw had pushed up to the hilt of Darius' sword. The force of the swing had pushed Darius back a few feet, but he had managed to hold his ground, exhaling deeply with the effort as his sword cut through the bear's paw. The bear had now lost nearly half its health. If Darius kept it up, he would have this finished up in no time.

The bear roared at Darius and moved its head close to his sword arm, going to bite down on it. In response, Darius let go of his sword with his shield arm and rammed the buckler down onto the top of its head, making its noise bump into Darius' forearm. Darius pulled his sword from the bear's paw, skirting backwards and to the right, away from the bear.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius would continue to skirt around the bear's right side, in its blind side. He swung at it, roaring as he did so, cutting a long strand through the bear's side. The in response, roared back at Darius, turning and swinging a large paw at Darius as soon as he finished the strike and was open for attack. The paw raked against his leather chestplate, making him take two damage, as the third was absorbed by the armor, and stagger backwards. Darius gritted his teeth and growled in frustration through them- heading face off face with the bear. A damage point from earlier had healed back due to 'Combat Healing.'

Darius- 12/15

[Darius Verand 0]

The tension was building as they stood face to face. Eventually, the bear moved. It charged towards Darius, opening its large mouth to try to bite a huge chunk out of them. Darius in return, shoved his buckler in its face. It bit down on it, hard, and tried to pull it away from Darius, only managing to pull Darius' shield arm out to full extension, leaving itself open for an attack.

Darius bared his teeth as he reeled his arm back, preparing a vertical cut. The bear tugged his arm again and he stepped with it, swinging his blade down at the blindspot of its head. He had cut it, doing more damage. It let go of his shield, bellowing and lumbering to the side. It was now badly damaged, having only 1/4th of its health left.

[Darius Verand 0]

The bear started to turn to face Darius again, but Darius was already on the move. He had been charging 'Sonic Leap' while it was reeling away from his attack and now executed it, launching at the bear while it turned, swinging downwards to cleave it again on the head. The bear snorted at him, bringing up its right paw to swat him away. His shield was ready on his left. It took the blow, but he was thrown to the side, not firmly planted from just landing an attack. He landed in the cold snow with an "Oomph."

[Darius Verand 0]

As Darius lay on the ground, the bear rumbled over to him. It stood on all fours and roared to the sky before coming down, trying to crush Darius under its weight. Darius had tried to crawl out of the way, but he didn't have enough time. As he saw the bear's body coming down on him, blocking out all of the light he could see, he took his sword in both hands and held it out in front of him. The bear fell down onto him, impaling itself. The hilt of the sword had driven into Darius' chest, dealing damage, along with the general weight of the bear, dealing more damage. It only lasted for a moment though, because the bear shattered into pixels, having signed its own death warrant.

Darius: 10/15

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius stood up from the cold, wet snow he was laying in. He planted the point of his sword into the ground and roared to the sky; showing /he/ was the dominant predator. After he finished his roar, he slumped back down into the snow. The fight had utterly exhausted him. The stress and fatigue was intense. He watched as the loot counter spun around and around. It finally stopped, presenting him with the piece(s) of bear hide [Depending on loot counter].

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius' eyebrows arched and his mouth formed an exhausted smirk. Fifteen pieces of bear hide would get him a long way. He imagined it would get him a full set of hide armor along with a cloak, gloves, and boots. Even one of those funky fur hats that the Russians wore in reality. He stood and retrieved his sword, resheathing it tiredly. He knew just who to go to. Kyoki could make him the things he wanted. He started to walk to the nearest town.