Conquering His Cold Heart

He rapidly changed direction as the war ursa sent out another dose of those red claws.

The five red claws missed him by a small margin before flying beyond into the muddy waters behind him. A lesser drake suddenly lost its tail while the revenant fighting it was forced to desperately avoid what remained. But Findlay didn't have time to care about what was happening beyond his current scope. He needed to enter close combat as soon as possible if those red claws were to stop.

Without a moments delay he was on the move once again, dashing to and fro as he moved in on the war ursa.

His opponent however was no slouch it knew exactly what Findlay was trying to do so it did everything in its power to obstruct his path. not only was it repeatedly sending those long range claw skills with differing strength and speed -to mess up Findlay's timing- it also kept moving away from Findlay, keeping the distance between them.

Gradually however Findlay did make his way in close. He quickly learned the war ursa's tactics with his heightened senses making predicting its moves easier.

From an outside perspective or even the war ursa's perspective it looked like Findlay was dancing. Moving with such finesse and elegance that dodging the red claws appeared easy and without effort.

Findlay was rapidly improving thanks to the constant threat of death. Getting hit by just one of those claws could result in serious injury.

"Let's see you use those red claws now!" Findlay taunted while standing in front of the war ursa with his battle axe primed and ready.

Falling for the taunt the war ursa stretched back both of its fore paws before activating its skill on both. 10 fierce looking red claws appeared above its paws before being violently launched like a cross towards Findlay.

"Idiot" Findlay mocked while leaping upwards and over the war ursa. At such a close distance the red claws didn't have time to pick up their tremendous speed nor expand to their full breadth, they could be dodged with a simple well timed jump.

The war ursa however was no idiot, even in its tentative state it could still understand the limitation of its red claws. If they didn't strike true that was fine, there was really on one way for Findlay to go…. up.

With a vicious grin the war ursa followed Findlay's body as he rose into the air with its eyes before it opened up its jaw revealing its razor sharp teeth, ready to launch a devasting bite. A red energy surrounded its jaw and teeth enhancing its crushing power, a biting skill likely no less potent than the red claws.

In an instant its neck was craned backwards before launching at the mid-air Findlay.

"Guess you're not a complete idiot." Findlay felt a deadly chill down his spine as the war ursa's massive jaw swiftly moved to consume him. But he was prepared for this.

He grabbed hold of his battle axe and smoothly placed the heads vertically within the massive jaw in place of his succulent flesh.

Crunch!

The war ursa's massive jaws slammed down on the battle axe resulting in a fountain of blood escaping. The war ursa may be an upper C-rank monster with terrifying biting power but with a well-placed blockage that can actually be a vulnerable weakness.

The force exerted up and down upon the battle axe served to push the sharp blades deep into its gums. A very painful feeling that even the further frenzied state couldn't completely block. Tears appeared in the war ursa's eyes as its mouth filled with its own blood.

Findlay's battle axe was now firmly in place preventing it from closing or even opening its jaws any time soon. The crisis was successfully averted and now it was time for Findlay to attack.

With his primary weapon current lodged within the war ursa's mouth and likely not leaving anytime soon Findlay had to be a little creative if he wished to launch a decent offensive.

Unlike Frost he didn't have a spatial ring equipped that housed spare weaponry -perhaps something he'd have to look into in the future- but he did have other means.

As his body drifted across the war ursa's back his target came into sight, the severely mangled left rear leg. He didn't need anything too devasting to breach an already open wound. So Findlay started kneading his chakra to form a dense ice spike. He didn't care much about how it looked as long as it was sturdy and had a sufficient grip it'd do.

Within milliseconds Findlay summoned a metre long ice spike with around 20cm diameter. It was rough and jagged, unappealing in terms of aesthetics, but such a structure may actually deal more damage.

He gripped the spike with both hands and violently stabbed it into the open and mangled wound. The open flesh made a great entry point as the ice spike easily penetrated, tearing up another section of the leg and socket area.

It did however come to a complete stop once it reached the bone, shattering into sharp fragments that penetrated the surrounded flesh.

"Roooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!" The war ursa roared in agony. Its remaining good eye clouded over completely, becoming blood red. It lost itself into a complete frenzy, a beast driven purely by madness.

Findlay knew that it was time to make a quick exit, so he rotated his body around so that his feet rested on the exposed area of the ice spike.

He then kicked off shoving the ice spike even deeper into the war ursa's bloodied flesh while also retreating. Not a moment too soon either.

The instant he pushed off a set of red claws was fired his way, a reckless manoeuvre but the war ursa was beyond thinking rationally.

The red claws flew past its body and even carved up a section of the wounded left rear leg all so it would have the chance to kill Findlay.

Unfortunately even with his impressive reaction Findlay wasn't quite fast enough, the red claws brushed past his left arm, opening up five deep gashes before carrying on through the air.

Findlay landed on the snow several metres away, blood dripping profusely from his left arm and pooling on the ground below. His left arm was injured quite badly, though he'd likely be able to move it using his entire strength was no longer possible.

This was the difference in rank, he landed several clean blows yet the war ursa just had to graze him to do devasting damage. Thankfully it was just a deep cut and not the loss of the limb. Mid-level health potions had their limits after all.

He covered his left arm with his hand and winced from the pain before reaching around to the small potion bag around his waist. He removed a mid-level health potion and swiftly downed the contents.

Frost had prepared a few of such potions for this exact battle, price was not a concern if it meant he could reach the next level of power.

Taking one now would mean he'd have to wait a while to use the next one but a loss in strength from his arm and given the amount of blood he was losing he couldn't afford to take any risks. He needed to be at full strength at all times when confronting the war ursa, lest he be too slow to react and end up with far more than a few gashes.

He tossed the empty bottle away and kept his eyes locked on the war ursa, ready to move at any moment. The health potion got to work several seconds later gradually closing his open wounds and replacing his lost blood -the most important aspect, being numb and weak meant slower reactions after all.

The war ursa took this time to wrench out the battle axe lodged in its mouth. Using its paws it tore the thing out, completely ignoring the pain and volume of blood before twisting the axe around. It then began chewing the axe with its razor sharp teeth.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

A horrible sound escaped its jaws as it chewed the 3 star battle axe. The shaft was easily dealt with, but the axe head took a fair amount of effort. Its teeth grinded against the pykrete, groaning as they battled in terms of toughness.

Eventually however the teeth won and the mighty 3 star battle axe that served by Findlay's side since he received his name cracked and fractured into pieces.

The war ursa looked at Findlay tauntingly before swallowing what remained. It then smiled with a bloodied yet now empty mouth.

"Bastard!" Findlay loudly cursed, that axe of his had sentimental value yet now it was nothing but scrap in a bear's belly. Of course he knew that willingly placing his weapon within the war ursa's mouth could result in such a scenario but seeing it in reality was far more disturbing. That was his weapon, his partner and something he felt a true bond with, even more so during this battle.

His hands clenched hard to the point that blood was drawn, Findlay was pretty pissed off.