I woke up early, but Amit was already on his feet, as he was the last one on guard duty. I grabbed some food from my cart, and then he came closer.

- You are planning to go underground, Peter, aren't you?

- Mhm - I swallowed the bite I had in my mouth. - I do.

- That's risky, you know it. As far as I know, those bears are stronger than orcs, and there are more of them in that hole.

- There are fewer of them overall. I can deal with hundreds of orcs, and I think I can also deal with those bears.

- We have the kid with us.

- It will be fine, Amit. Just stay away, and watch over him. You can kill a bear by yourself, and for sure you can run from one.

- But the kid can't.

- Why is he even here? He can't hunt anyway, It's too difficult.

- It was my idea. He should learn how difficult it is to get crystals, besides we want to get close to him, and his father. They might be the key to change our situation.

- And that's why you are taking such a big risk? I could be hunting here alone, and just share later on.

- Yes, but this way we are getting closer to him. Building a relationship, so they will remain on our side. Not only as debtors but also as friends. The kid really wanted to know life as a hunter, and his father really wants to push his crafts to the next level. We are the key to that. We just need to do it safely for them.

I sighed.

- I'll walk around to clear everything in the vicinity, and then you just keep your distance. If something goes south, I'll grab the kind, and just carry him from here. You can take care of yourself. It's a solid plan.

- Fine, but this is an unnecessary risk.

historical

- We need crystals. There is no way that kid delivers a fatal blow to the werewolf as he is now. You yourself wouldn't say no to some crystals, wouldn't you? If we keep walking around, there is not much to gain. The distance is too big. We need to go underground.

- You need to go underground.

- Fine. I need to go underground. Just trust me. It will work, ok?

- I knew you were trouble, Peter. I knew since the first day I saw you. Well... Maybe, in the end, that's something we need. I bit of risk.

- So can I count on you?

- To save the kids, and my own life? Yes. You can count on that.

I put some more food in my pockets and grabbed one pudao from the cart.

- I'll go clear the vicinity.

He didn't answer me and went to grab something to eat himself. I on the other hand went hunting. I did a quick jog around and killed several bears.

Then I returned to the camp. Rishi was already awake. Talking with Amit about something. When I got closer and finally could hear them properly it took only a few words to understand that Amit was actually informing the kid about what we were about to do here.

He seemed more excited than afraid.

- I'm done - I said grabbing their attention.

- You are really gonna do this? Mister Amit just told me you want to go underground, to kill more bears.

- I don't want to go underground. I want to lure more bears outside. You just stay here and wait. Be ready to escape.

- I would really want to see you fighting. Can we get closer, and watch from afar? - he asked, looking at Amit.

- No. You can't - my answer came faster. - It's too risky. You already saw me fighting. Sit tight here. Time for battle will come, even for you, don't push it when you are not ready.

Amit patted him on the shoulder, and the conversation ended. There was nothing more to be said.

I grabbed quickly some food, torches, and things necessary to start a fire, and went straight to the bears' lair. I summoned the shadows to carry the stuff for me. I killed a few animals on my way there, and even more of them closer to the entrance. I used Shadow fusion to make the fight quicker. This combined with a real weapon, strengthened with Ki, was enough to swiftly pierce through beast's hearts.

That was my new tactic. Aim for the hearths, since wounding them took more time, and smashing the heads was way too Ki consuming.

Then I lit up one of the torches, and went inside, leaving my shadows on the outside. Mainly to make some noise, but also to see what's there. I didn't expect what I saw. After a long tunnel, gradually coming down at a pretty sharp angle, there was a gigantic cavern.

Torchlight was not nearly strong enough for me to see how big it was, but it definitely was big and on top of that occupied by bears. Few growled at me and then charged. I bolted outside, climbed my way through the tunnel. It could be fatal if I wasn't so damn strong and fast. For those bears, it was way easier because of their claws.

The beginning was great. I only had to worry about the single ones coming out of the tunnel, but their numbers were pretty large, and with time I couldn't keep up. I had to give them more space, and only then I saw how big in numbers they were. Easly above a hundred.

Taking them down, though, because of the difference in our speed, was just a matter of time. I allowed them to spread around more and systematically killed every single one. It was tiring, kinda boring, and a very extended battle. Then I returned to Amit and Rishi.

They were in the middle of sparing. Amit was showing the kid how to move, and how to strike.

- Is it done? - he asked, stopping the duel.

- Yeah. Let's go and collect the score.

We did as I said, and the rest of the day I watched them polishing their skills in fighting. I was too tired to participate, and even at some point, I took a nap.

The day came to an end with 3 211 521 points remaining on my account, and 268 bear crystals on my cart.