Notes: Finally another chapter and this one is a big one. Sorry about the long wait on not only this work but most of my works as of late. I have have been very busy with work related stuff and just haven't had much time. This chapter was fun to right though, I just love the personal stuff in this work. And stuff about MMO culture is also a lot of fun to write. I don't know how much you guys care for it though so if you could I would love to hear what you think. Do you think I should cut back on explaining MMO terms and mechanics a bit or do you like them?

Oh also on a side note you may have noticed the sweet new cover art for this fiction. I put it together myself and put it up on my deviantart art page. I will likely put a link hear later when I get time. I would like to hear what you think about it.

ROR Part 6: Bears and Backstory

"I'm screwed!" Jaune declared as he threw his hands up in the air and proceeded to slump over as he stepped out of alleyway that had lead to his guilds supposedly secret lair.

"Relax Jaune, I assure you that you will be just fine." Pyrrha proclaimed as she followed Jaune out onto the main streets of the market place.

In response to Pyrrha's words Jaune spun around in place and directed an accusing finger into her face. "And what makes you so sure of that huh!? Were you even at the same meeting as me!? Because if you were you would know that they want me to go raiding with them tomorrow! You do realize that I've never even been in a real raiding party before right!? Heck, I've never even been in a real dungeon before, so there's no way I pull this off!"

"Sure you can Jaune, the Emerald Forest isn't as bad as you think. It's a fairly low level raid and the other guild members will still be there to help. They all know that dungeon like the back of their hand so it shouldn't give us any trouble. And they are only doing this raid as a sort of initiation party for you." Pyrrha explained in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

Jaune retracted his hand and placed it on the bridge of his noose before letting out a groan. "And that's what I'm worried about! If this is an initiation like you say it is, doesn't that mean that they are going to be watching me, testing me? And when I blow it, they will realize that we lied about my experience level!"

"You're not going to blow it Jaune. I already have a plan, you just got to trust me." Pyrrha stated while reaching out to place her hands on Jaune's shoulders to steady him. This caused Jaune to glance up and meet Pyrrha's gaze and when he did he was met by her bright smile.

That smile left Jaune with only one option. He let out a sigh of defeat before responding. "And what might that plan be?"

Jaune's question caused Pyrrha's smile to widen to at least twice its size before twisting slightly into something almost sinister. "It's simple Jaune. We're just going to do what you asked me to do from the start. Since its experience that you are lacking, all we need to do is focus on fixing that correct?"

Jaune's expression shifted to one of confusion as he considered Pyrrha's words. "Yeah, I suppose so but how are we going to do that? Wait, so are you saying you're going to train me?" He asked the red haired gladiator. Pyrrha simply nodded in agreement which caused the look of confusion on Jaune's face to intensify. "But isn't the raid tomorrow? How much could we possibly get done in such a short amount of time?" He asked.

"Oh, you'd be surprised Jaune. I mean after all, the day is still young. You may want to brew up some coffee and use the bathroom while you can though because we got a long night ahead of us and we have little time to waste." She explained while letting out an ominous laugh.

"I don't think I like this training idea anymore." Jaune cried.

Ignoring Jaune's words Pyrrha promptly grabbed him by arm and dragged him through the streets of the market district and then out towards the town gates. "Don't worry Jaune I know the perfect place for us to start our first training session. I swear I will have you up to snuff in time for the raid!"

Meanwhile back in Penny's Place the guild meeting had long since ended and now Nora, Yang, and her sister Ruby were the only members who still remained. They were all seated at a small table in the corner of the tavern and Nora was leaned over the table chatting away with her comrades. "So, what did you guys think of the new guy?" She asked.

Yang shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Meh, he liked my jokes so I guess he has that going for him but he didn't really seem like he was anything special."

"I thought he was nice. And if Pyrrha vouches for him I'm sure he will do fine." Ruby added.

Nora leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She seemed to be considering her guildmates words. After a moment she finally responded. "Yeah he did seem like a nice enough guy and all but what's important right now is if he can be of any use to us or not. The new expansion is right around the corner and we aren't anywhere near ready for it. And there's no way we're losing our spot in the rankings because of a slow start! We have to be the first party to clear the new raids or die trying!"

"Do we really?! That means that we will be going into all of those raids blind! I don't want to go through another wipe fest like when we were starting out. I can practically feel my wallet shrinking from the repair costs!" Yang complained.

"It does seem like it would be a bit of a hassle. Wouldn't it be more enjoyable if we took our time and properly explored the new content instead of rushing headlong into the unknown without a plan?" Ruby inquired in a serious tone.

"Ugh, come on guys I thought you wanted to be the best! We're the Violet Crusaders for crying out loud! Are you seriously telling me that you don't want to be the first boots on the ground? That you want to let everybody else take all the glory that rightfully belongs to us while we're left to feast on their scraps!? I say nay sisters!" Nora roared as she stud up on her chair and placed her foot on the table.

"Umm, Nora would you mind I just cleaned the tables?" Penny asked timidly from behind the counter a few feet away.

This caused Nora to sigh and deflate back into her seat. "Yeah sorry Penny, I got a little carried away again." Penny just nodded in understanding and went back to work cleaning around the tavern. "Maybe this game is becoming too realistic." Nora mumbled under her breath causing Yang and Ruby to chuckle.

"Oh, relax Nora. It's not that I disagree with you or anything, I just feel like there's a smarter way of going about this." Yang reasoned.

Ruby scoffed. "And like you would know anything about being smart." She said as she began to snicker.

Yang's eyes widened before she turned to glare at her sister. "What'd you just say to your elder sister you cheeky little brat!?" She roared right before she jumped up out of her seat and pulled Ruby into a headlock.

Ruby let out a squeaking sound as she began to struggle to break free of her sister's grip. Unfortunately as a Beserker class, Yang's strength was far higher than Ruby's making it so there was very little chance of her breaking free. However force wasn't her only option. Thinking fast Ruby quickly flicked open her option menu with a free hand and clicked the option to deactivated player collision. No longer tangible, Ruby's character slipped right through her sister's hands and took a step away. "Ha, nice try sis but I think this proves my point. Brute force can't be used to solve all of our problems and it would seem that, that's all your good at." Ruby reasoned.

Yang's brow furrowed as she spoke. "Oh, you think you're so smart don't you!? We will just see about that!" She retorted right before her body suddenly went very still. Her character model seemed to go rigid and stiff while its face became as blank and expressionless as a statue. Nora instantly recognized the expression as the default expression used by all the character models when their user removes heir VR headset without logging out. A loud thumping sound came thundering out of her microphone soon after.

"Hey Yang are you still there? Hello!" Nora asked as she stepped closer and waved a hand in front of her face in an attempted to gain her attention. After getting no response she turned back to Ruby who was now looking slightly nervous. "Hey Ruby what's up, where'd your sister go?"

"Umm, I don't… What is that sound?!" Ruby was interrupted by the sound of loud foot falls coming from the hallway outside her room and she looked over and lifted her VR visor just in time to see the door to her door being thrown open. Yang was now standing in the threshold with her hands held out in front of her so she could crack knuckles. The sight of this caused Ruby's heart to jump into her throat. "Oh, hey Yang, you know I was just kidding around right?" She asked while letting out a nervous laugh.

Yang just gave her soon to be ex-sister an ominous smile as she stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind her. "Of course sis, you know I wouldn't hold something like this against you. Now why don't you come over here and give your big sister a hug?" She said as she continued to close in on her Ruby with out stretched arms.

Meanwhile Nora just watched on as Ruby began letting out a muffled screams and her character began flailing around wildly. If Nora didn't know better, she would think that the small girl was trying to fend of some sort of raved beast. "Hey Ruby you ok!? Ruby!" Nora called out to the girl but her calls went unanswered. After a few more seconds of this Ruby's character model also feel still and rigid just like her sister's had moments ago.

Seeing this Nora let out an audible groan before returning to her seat and leaning over the table gripping her head in her hands. "Seriously what am I going to do with these two? Ever since their dad got deployed overseas they've constantly been at each others throats." Nora thought allowed. She was then startled from her thoughts when a cup of hot looking tea was set down in front of her. "Huh what?" Nora sputtered while turning her head to see Penny standing beside her looking down at her with a warm smile.

"Sorry for startling you, you just looked like you could use something to help relax. I know it won't offer you any nourishment but, I have heard that the taste and aroma of tea is usually enough to calm the nerves." Penny explained.

"Thank you Penny." Nora responded as she returned Penny's smile. Then she hoisted the tea cup to her lips to take an experimental sip. "Hmm, this is good tea." She stated before taking another sip and directing her gaze back to Penny. "This flavor, this is jasmine right? I'm surprised they're able to simulate the taste so precisely."

Penny nodded in agreement. "That's correct Nora. You must know your teas fairly well to guess that after just one sip."

Nora shook her head before taking another slightly longer sip. "I'm not much of a tea drinker but my," Nora paused for a moment as if trying to decide what to say. "My brother Ren really loves the stuff and he has this annoying habit of forcing it on me whenever possible. He's always saying stuff about how healthy or relaxing it is but most of the stuff he shoves at me is just hot leafy water, yuck. Maybe he's just trying to make me kick my coffee addition."

"He sounds like he cares about you." Penny said happily

This statement caused Nora to groan before taking another long sip of her tea. "Yeah, I know he does."

Nora's reaction caused a look of confusion to come over Penny's face. "Forgive me if I am being too forward but, you don't sound happy about this. You don't dislike your brother do you?" she asked sheepishly.

Nora shook her head. "No way, Ren's the best brother a girl could ask for. It's just, well a girl needs her space sometimes you know what I mean?"

Penny thought about Nora's question for a moment but didn't seem to understand. "I'm sorry Nora, I don't think I do know. Can you explain further?" She inquired.

Nora groaned even louder before responding. "Well, it's just that Ren is always acting like I'm a helpless little girl despite the fact that we're the same age. It can just be a bit annoying sometimes. With how he's always doing unnecessary things like pushing my chair around, carrying my school books, making all my meals. I swear that guy would help me go to the bathroom if I let him. And yet he never wants to do anything fun together. No matter how much I try I can't even get him to make an ROR account!"

"I'm sorry, what's a bathroom? I'm unfamiliar with this term." Penny asked curiously.

Nora went red for a second before quickly flailing her arms around dismissively. "It's nothing important just a room us humans have to use from time to time, usually in private."

"Ah, I see. By the way, may I ask you another question?" Penny asked.

"Shoot." Nora responded.

Penny tilted her head and gave Nora a confused look before speaking. "Shoot? Shoot what? I don't want to shoot anything."

"Oh, sorry I forgot you're still not good with slang terms. When I said shoot, I actually meant that you could go ahead. Remember you're still a member of this guild and I will always be willing to answer any questions you might have." Nora explained.

"Thank you very much guild master!" Penny cheered causing Nora to smile. "I was just curious about another term you used earlier. You said Ruby and Yang's father was deployed. What does it mean to be deployed?"

This question caught Nora a little off guard. She wasn't quite sure if she should answer it since it was a bit of a private matter. However she figured it couldn't hurt anything to tell Penny, she is a good kid after all. "Umm, well do you know what the military is?" Nora inquired.

Penny nodded her head. "Yes I am quite familiar with the term. A military is the official armed forces of a country."

"Good, that makes things a bit easier. Deployment is what happens when a military sends their forces out to protect the country. Right now Yang and Ruby's father isn't around, and this is because he's out fighting to defend us." Nora explained.

"Oh, so Yang and Ruby's father is like a knight! They must be very proud." Penny exclaimed.

Nora shrugged her shoulders before downing the rest of her tea and continuing. "Yeah I guess that's about right. And I'm sure they are quite proud of their father, heck Ruby wants to be just like him when she grows up. However with them being left all alone at home, I kind of feel bad for them." Nora said the last line quite solemnly.

Nora's sad tone caused Penny's expression to sink as well. "Wait they're alone? Correct me if I am wrong but aren't human families made up of two parents? What about their mother?"

This question caused Nora to cringe slightly before she glanced back at her other two guildmates. She gazed across the faces of their characters to check if they had returned. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw that they were still as blank faced and rigged as ever. Which was a strange first for her, up to this very moment she had always thought of the blank faces of abandoned avatars to be by far one of the creepiest, most unsettling thing imaginable. After all, they just screamed uncanny valley to her. So much so that unless she was raiding, she would always use the game setting that would automatically log her out when she took off her helmet. Though that was beside the point, what was important right now was that she wasn't in any mood to jump into this topic so she let out a sigh before responding. "That's a very long and complicated story Penny, one we don't really have time for at the moment. And even if I did, I don't think I should be the one to tell it." She explained while glancing back at the pair of sisters across from her.

Penny's eyes followed Nora's and after a moment of thinking about it, she seemed to understand what Nora was implying. "I suppose you are right, I have heard that it is improper to speak about others personal matters without their knowing." She responded.

Nora nodded in agreement. "Good, now since we're on the topic of family. I've been wondering something myself. And it's about you Penny."

"About me?" Penny echoed.

"Yes, I was curious if you had any family?" Nora inquired.

To Nora's surprise Penny's bright smile returned in full force. "Yes, I do. I have a mother, a sister, and two fathers."

"Really wow, I didn't think they would go into that much detail!" Nora exclaimed before taking pause. "Wait, two fathers?"

Penny nodded her head. "Yes, I have one father in this world and another father in your world. My father in your world is the one who created me."

"Oh, you mean like a developer! I guess he would count as your father. Hmm, but what about your other family members? I've only ever seen you here, do they live somewhere else?" Nora asked causing Penny's expression to dip slightly and Nora to promptly correct herself. "I'm just curious if you don't want to say I will understand."

Penny waved her hands dismissively. "No, it's fine. I'm not mad and I don't mind telling you. I'm just not sure about where they are right now. I haven't seen them in a long time and my memories of them are a bit fuzzy."

"I see." That was all Nora could bring herself to say at that moment. After all, she couldn't rightly say what she was really thinking. Since Penny was a NPC with artificial memories her 'family' may not have even really existed in the first place and were just something that the developers made up to make her seem more human. Nora wasn't so cruel as to give the poor girl an unwarranted identity crisis, so she didn't press the issue.

That's when Ruby's character finally snapped back into motion with her blank expression being replaced by a pouty but some how adorable one. Noticing this Penny called out a greeting to her. "Salutations Ruby, have you resolved the problem with your sister?"

"Yeah, we're good I guess. Sorry about up and disappearing on you Nora." Ruby said in an apologetic tone.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault. Well it kind of was I guess but I know you didn't mean to so it's all good. So where's your sister, she come back?" Nora asked.

Ruby opened her mouth to respond but before she could get a word out Yang's character snapped back into motion as well. "Hey guys, what did I miss?" She asked as dawned a triumphant smile and began stretching out.

Nora and Penny shared a quick glance before Nora shrugged. "Not much, we were just…" She paused for a moment when she heard the sound of a private message coming in. "Umm, could you guys hold on for a minute?" She asked and before waiting for a reply she flicked her wrist to open up her menu and began scrolling through it until she reached her message inbox. Just as she thought the inbox showed that she had one unread message.

"Who's the message from?" Yang asked curiously.

"It's from Jade." Nora responded as she opened the message and began reading its contents. Upon doing so Nora's eyes widened and began sparkling with excitement. "Oh, what do we have here?"

"What does it say?" Ruby asked.

In response to Ruby's question Nora shot up out of her seat. "I will give you the details later, just know that we might need to make a change to the plans for tomorrow." And with that Nora turned away from the table and began marching towards the exit leaving Ruby, Yang, and Penny there with confused expressions on their faces.

"What was that about?" Yang asked.

Ruby shrugged. "It's Nora, who knows."

"Maybe she had to use the bathroom." Penny stated causing the other two girls to turn and stare at her. "Did I say something strange?"

"AAHHHH!" Jaune squealed in terror as he booked it through a crimson red tree line as fast as his virtual legs could carry him. Jaune's intended destination was somewhere at the end of the ever winding game trail that spiraled out before of him. Though where he was going wasn't really his main concern at the moment. Rather he was far more concerned by how the ground seemed to tremble under his feet and that the natural sounds of the forest had been completely overtaken by animalistic growls and snarls that seemed to emanate from every direction at once.

Jaune took no comfort in the fact that he knew what was causing the noise either. After all it wasn't just the wind, nor was it his imagination. It was instead, a pack of huge bloodthirsty wolves with jet black fur and glowing red eyes. And much to his dismay they were right behind him and dead set on clawing out his throat. With that in mind Jaune just kept running.

Every so often Jaune would glance back over his shoulder to check on the beasts and gasp when he met their hateful gaze and realize that their razor sharp claws had grown even closer. "I can't believe I let her talk me into this! Just gather up as many mobs as you can she says! It will be fine as long as you keep moving she says! Seriously this is just cra… OUCH!" He screamed as he felt a sharp ripple of pain shoot through his body emanating from his chaff. He quickly glanced down to see that one of the monsters had caught up to him and just couldn't wait for the other guests to arrive before taking a bite. The beast's teeth were now digging into his lower leg and it was now being dragged along behind Jaune. Jaune quickly glanced at his health bar to see that the bite was currently causing him to bleed out. Which was a problem since it would not only damage him over time but also cause a crippling effect. This meant he had to do something fast otherwise the crippling effect would slow down his movements to a crawl and allow the other wolves a chance to catch up them. Once they swarmed him he would be screwed.

"Crap!" Jaune hissed before he activated his whirlwind attack ability. This ability caused his character to go into a rapid spinning motion that not only swatted away all the nearby wolves but after a few seconds inside the swirling blade-storm, his unwanted passenger was completely sliced apart. Then after the ability had ended and before his attackers could close in again he activated his warrior leap ability allowing him to jump high up into the air over the tree tops and land several yards outside of beast's attack range. Then without missing a beat he broke into a slightly less steady run while the wolves gave zeroed in on him and continued to give chase.

"You aren't going to catch me that easy!" He cheered but after a few seconds he had to stifle his joy when he realized that at the rate he was now going the wolves would catch back up to again in no time. At least if he didn't deal with his injury soon. So he sheathed his sword to free up a hand which he used to opened up his inventory and select a mega elixir from its contents.

Pyrrha had given him several such elixirs right before they had begun this so called 'training' and so far it's the only thing he's been happy about. After the item was selected it appeared in his hand and he promptly downed the whole thing in one big gulp. A moment later and his health bar began to rapidly regenerate until the bite wound on his leg vanished along with its crippling debuff. Also a large stat boosting buff took its place on his display. When he pulled the empty bottle away from his lips he let out a satisfied sigh and instinctively wiped his mouth with the back of his palm. "Wow this stuff is effective, and it's surprisingly tasty too! It's no wonder it goes for so much gold in the market. I just hope Pyrrha doesn't want me to pay her back for these." He said while letting out a half hearted chuckle. "Hmm, speaking of Pyrrha I'm almost at our meeting place, I should contact her." He thought to himself before opening his private message box and typing out a quick message and pressing the send button.

Private Message to Pyrrha the Gladiator: "Hey Pyrrha I'm almost there, are you in position?"

After sending his message Jaune took a moment to glance back at the horde following him and noticed that a few had begun lose interest and break off. "Oh, no you don't!" Jaune shouted before he activated his taunting shout ability causing not only all the wolves already on his tail to gain new vigor but it also drew out at least half a dozen more wolves from the surrounding area. Then that's when Pyrrha's message reached him.

Private Message from Pyrrha the Gladiator: "Of course, did you manage to draw a good crowd?"

Private Message to Pyrrha the Gladiator: "Oh yeah, and you better be ready to receive them! And I mean like now!"

A moment after Jaune had messaged back he stepped out into an open meadow. The moment he walked out into the meadow his eyes snapped wide as he gazed over it. Covering the meadow were the same crimson red leaves and broken tree branches that had littered his path up to this point and that was no surprise. What did catch him a little off guard however was the massive black bear monster stud in its center that was not glaring at him with hateful eyes. Unsure how to handle his new guest he glanced up at its display to see what he was dealing with.

The display read as follows Scarred Claw Level 25 Rare Boss. Seeing this caused Jaune to momentarily freeze place and stare in horror. "Why is there a boss out here!?" He screamed before trying to turn away and flee but his path had already been blocked by the approaching horde of furious wolves. "Oh yeah, nearly forgot about you guys." He said nervously. "Umm, Pyrrha I could really use a hand over here!" He shouted towards the sky.

Then right on queue, Pyrrha leapt out from a nearby tree top, her shield and spear were at the ready and her expression determined. Once she was above the pack of monsters she opened her mouth to yell out the words. "Meteor Strike!" When she said those words, her body seemed to almost catch fire and then she was launched downward at a speed gravity couldn't have possibly pulled her at. Her decent was aimed directly into the center of the unsuspecting wolf pack. When she collided with the ground, it was with enough force to release an earth shattering impact that sent out a shockwave of fire and scorched stone in every direction. Every beast caught in the calamity was instantly obliterated and the rest of the monsters suffered heavy damage and became staggered temporarily preventing them from moving or attacking. And of course without waiting for them to recover Pyrrha sprang up from her creator and began slashing the survivors apart with her spear, each one falling in just one or two hits.

Even though he had suffered no damage, Pyrrha's move had rattled his bones and left him awestruck. He had no idea that such powerful abilities existed in this game. "What the heck was that and how do I do it?!" He asked.

Pyrrha chuckled before responding. "It's a warrior special ability known as Meteor Strike. It's a fairly powerful but high level ability. You also have to follow the correct skill tree in order to unlock it. It's what we call an area of effect attack or AOE for short. AOE abilities tend to cause large amounts of damage spread out over wide areas, which makes them perfect for dealing with enemies in large groups like these." Pyrrha explained before slicing the throat of another monster and pointing her blood soaked spear behind Jaune. "Watch your six Jaune!" She shouted.

Suddenly remembering what was still currently standing only a few feet behind him, Jaune spun around just in time to see the massive bear boss bringing its thick arms down to strike him. On reflex Jaune attempted to bring his shield up to block the incoming attack but the enemy had a head start and Jaune just wasn't fast enough. Jaune's shield was knocked aside as the beast's claws connected with his chest, the impact causing a set of massive hit markers to appear next to Jaune's display before he was thrown backward to land at Pyrrha's feet with a thud.

Upon landing Jaune let out a groan of pain and quickly glanced up to see Pyrrha shaking her head while she easily dispatched several more wolves. With them out of the way she rush out in front of Jaune to block the bosses follow up attack. That's when she glanced down to meet his eyes and address him. "Jaune, I'm sorry but, I don't have any healing abilities so you need will to drink another Elixir!"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot about those!" He responded before promptly following Pyrrha's instructions. He popped up his inventory and downed another Elixir. Just like before he felt rejuvenated in next to no time. "Dang this stuff is strong! How is this stuff even fair!?" He asked as he jumped back up to his feet and activated his charge and shield bash abilities to slam his shield directly into the chest of the boss monster like a human battering ram. The blow dealt a fair amount of damage and knocked the beast backward, staggering it.

"Well done!" Pyrrha declared cheerfully as she gave Jaune an approving nod. "The Elixirs only seem overpowered because you're at a lower level than what they are meant for. Once you've reach level 30 and got yourself some better gear they won't do as much for you. Besides, the ten minute cool down rate on those things is unbearably long."

Jaune gave Pyrrha a quick nod to show that he understood before he leapt forward to take several swipes at his opponent with three of his attacks striking the bears arms and dealing small amounts of damage while the other two managed to strike its chest causing some critical damage. "Yeah, I'm doing it!" He cheered in the process.

By this point however the boss had fully recovered from Jaune's battering ram attack and began its own counter offensive, starting by dishing out wide powerful swipes of its claws. Jaune squealed as he just managed to dunk under the first swipe. Then in the same motion he raised his shield to defend against the second strike. And though the shield did intercept the attack, Jaune was unprepared for the strength of the blow. When the claws impacted his shield he was sent reeling backward while his health bar dropped by nearly twenty percent. "Gees, this guy's strong! Come to think of it, Pyrrha, why is there even a boss out here in the first place!? Did you know it was here!? And if so why didn't you tell me about it!?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "Sorry Jaune, it's a rare mob so I had no idea it was going to be out here today. However, this is a good fortune for us. A rare boss monster tends to be worth a lot of gold and experience. So come on and let's kill this thing!" She stated before letting out a battle-cry and refocusing her gaze on the boss. She rushed towards it with incredible speed and began to unleash a squall of spear thrusts. Each thrust striking a joint or the chest causing critical hit markers to spam the air in rapid succession.

Jaune shrugged and quickly jumped back into the fray himself. His sword gleamed in the sunlight peaking in through the canopy as it began slicing and stabbing at the boss whenever he got an opening. Before long the boss's health began to dwindle. It wasn't until it was down to about ten percent of its remaining health that things got a bit more complicated. The bear started to glow slightly as it began charging up some sort of special attack.

"Umm, Pyrrha what's it doing?!" Jaune asked in a slightly panicked tone.

"Oh my, that might be problematic!" Pyrrha shouted. And based on her reaction Jaune surmised that she clearly realizing what was about to happen. That's when Pyrrha quickly activated another ability which placed a protective energy shield on Jaune. And not a moment too soon as the boss then released an ear-splitting roar that caused Pyrrha's character to go completely ballistic. She began screaming in terror before bolting at full speed away from the boss. Then once she was a fair distance away she began running around aimlessly, almost like a chicken with its head cut off.

Jaune looked on in bewilderment before calling out to his manic companion. "Umm, Pyrrha what on earth are you doing!?" He shouted before glancing up to see her display. He hoped it could shed some light on just what the boss had done to her. It didn't take him long to realize that Pyrrha had been struck with fear. He knew from basics guide that when a character becomes terrified they go completely out of their player's control. Not only can they not use their abilities but they also can't control their movement either. They will just try to get as far away from the source of their fear as possible. So it effectively renders them defenseless, at least until the effects wear off. Luckily for Jaune the shield Pyrrha had placed on him at the last moment seemed to protect him from the negative effects of the roar. That was a good thing to be sure. However now he was left to fend for himself and still had a boss to deal with.

The boss in question released a normal if a little bloody-thirsty roar before hauling itself at Jaune and launching into another series of swipe attacks. Jaune quickly dunked ender the first assault causing the beat to fly past him but it quickly righted itself and began another charge. Jaune stood at the ready, with his shield raised and his sword in a firm grip. "Alright, Jaune you can do this!" He cheered himself on as he rushed in to meet the boss head on.

Jaune dodged out of the way of the second attack and struck the ankle of the boss dealing minor damage but still managing to stagger it slightly and causing its next attack to be cancelled. That gave Jaune just the opening he needed and he took advantage. He thrust forward with his blade and plunged it into the bear's chest. The blow struck home as it pierced several vitals and dealing a massive critical hit to the beast dropping its health down below five percent.

The boss seemed to almost take personal offence to this as it sent it into a complete rampage. Its eyes began to glow brighter and the blood-lust within turned to burning hatred. And with the visible effects came the more troubling ones. The boss's attack speed had now been increased drastically. Jaune quickly tried to dodge away from the flurry of attacks that followed but was struck on the shoulder by the third blow which caused Pyrrha's protective shield to flicker slightly as its effect's weakened. Not wanting a repeat Jaune dodged the fourth swing and launched a counter attack, he sliced across length of the bears arm. If the beast were real, it would have left a mean scar but unfortunately the blow only dealt minor damage. And feeling undeterred the boss attacked again without so much as missing a beat. However Jaune was also ready and was able to raise his shield to defend against the next attack. And as the blow struck him, Jaune activated his iron wall ability which boosted his defensive power and allowed him to easily weather his opponent's blow. And now with another opening he delivered another blow to the boss's chest.

This savage melee stretched on for a several more seconds each one seeming longer than the last, until finally the boss's health done to nothing be a sliver. By this time Pyrrha's protective shield only had three seconds left on its duration. Since Jaune knew his protection was running out and that he only needed to deliver one more solid strike to end this fight. With that thought in mind he took a stance similar to the one Pyrrha had employed a moment ago and lunged at the boss with his sword aimed for its throat.

The boss had no intention of backing down however and met Jaune head on. The two launched what would undoubtedly be their finally attacks. Sword and claw passing one another nearly simultaneously and in that moment, time seemed to slow down. Jaune watched as his sword inched closer to boss's neck while the bear's claws closed in around him. Much to his dismay however, it looked as if the boss's attack was slightly faster and would land first. And that wouldn't be a problem with his protections up but, Pyrrha's shield had less than a second left before it vanished now. Without out its protection backing him up, the beast's mighty blow would likely kill.

Jaune's life was just far too low to tank such a hit. And if he died mid-swing it would cause his own attack to be cancelled out and even if it didn't for some reason, he couldn't gain experience while he was dead. That would mean that all of this effort would be for nothing. However there didn't seem to be much he could do about it at this point. There just wasn't enough time left on his shield, if only he had just a little more time then maybe he could win this.

Right as the last tick of Jaune's shield came and went the boss's claw struck Jaune in the chest. While at the same time his blade dug itself deep into the boss's neck. As the tip of the blade popped out the back of its neck a large hit marker popped up above the boss's head. The boss's health bar shuck as it fell to zero percent and it let out a guttural dying roar that was muffled by the blade embedded in its throat. Then without ceremony it collapsed on the ground dead.

Jaune on the other hand had been sent flying. He had been knocked backward by the force of his opponent's attack. His health bar was jumping wildly as he bounced off the ground several times before he finally came to a stop flat on his back in the middle of the meadow. He laid there motionless for a moment, breathing heavily. His health bar was now at a measly three percent but, it wasn't zero which was a pleasant surprise.

Jaune groaned as pulled himself up into a sitting position. He took a moment to glance over at the boss who was now dissipating and at his own display which now had a nice chunk of experience. While he did so, his face contorted in confusion. "What the heck just happened? I thought for sure that I'd be dead after that attack."

Jaune was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice. "Oh, yeah you really cut it close there. Good thing that fear wore off before it was too later." Pyrrha said as she walked up to meet him.

Jaune looked up at Pyrrha who was not next to him and motion towards his own display. Jaune quickly did a double take and that's when he realized that Pyrrha had cast another defensive ability on him right before the boss's attack had connected. "Wow, Pyrrha talk about a save. I owe you one." He declared cheerfully.

Pyrrha gave him a wide proud smile before responding. "No need Jaune, you earned this one. I get the feeling that you really will be a great player some day."

"Ah, gees stop it." Jaune said bashfully.

"Yes, I suppose your right, there's no time to be sitting around. We still got a lot more training to do before tomorrow!" Pyrrha declared.

"Wait there's more!?" Jaune gasped suddenly feeling faint.

"Of course, you haven't even gained a single level yet. And you still need to practice your luring a bit more you know, it's a critical skill for a tank to have after all. So are you ready!?" She asked cheerfully.

Jaune let out an audible gulping sound before responding. "There won't be anymore boss monsters right?"

"We'll see." Pyrrha said cheekily.