It has been five days since our parents, Ciana, and Ciara departed. My five sisters and I are left alone in the house. Aisha and Stella are in charge of cooking. Sierra and Mariella take care of the garden and the farm, while Alissa and I handle the hunting and the house cleaning.
Today, Alissa and I are going to hunt some thunderbears. Aisha has been craving them, so we decided to go out and catch a few.
Thunderbears are bears that can create thunder, as their name implies. As soon as they become agitated, the air around them vibrates with a low, rumbling sound, like distant thunder rolling across the sky, and faint sparks of electricity start to crackle through their thick fur.
When standing on their hind legs, these enormous animals can reach a height of almost four meters. Their thick, dark fur, which covers their enormous bodies, appears to trap static energy and occasionally release bright bursts of light. They can easily tear through stone, wood, or bone with their long, jagged claws, and each step they take is heavy enough to shake the ground.
Even a single thunderbear is considered dangerous.
Alissa is a year older than me. She's a half-elf, half-spirit, and if I had to describe her in one word, it would be "elegant." Everything about her, from the way she walks to the way she fights, seems graceful and effortless.
But despite that elegance, she can be a little absentminded at times. Sometimes she forgets where she placed her things, or she gets distracted by small things like the sound of the wind through the trees. Still, when it comes to battle, she's incredibly sharp.
Her main weapons are a pair of crescent moon knives. With them, she moves swiftly and precisely, striking before her enemies can even react. She also wields the element of wind, using it to boost her speed, guide her attacks, and move as lightly as a drifting feather.
Alissa stretched her arms lazily, the morning breeze rustling her hair as she looked over at me.
"Lil' bro, should we go hunt now?"
"Sure, big sis."
We headed into the forest and made our way straight to the Thunderbears' territory.
"Over there! What should we do? Should we head straight to their lair, or wait for one of them to come out?" Alissa said, pointing ahead.
"I'll use myself as bait to lure them out, big sis. We only need one thunderbear. Can you use your powers to snatch one?"
"Okayyy~"
Usually, mages have to chant when casting spells. The chant helps them focus their mana, shape the spell, and control the power they are about to release. Without it, most mages would struggle to stabilize their magic, and the spell could easily fail or backfire.
But Alissa is different. Because she's half-elf and half-spirit, magic flows through her far more naturally than it does for ordinary mages. Instead of relying on chants to guide her power, she can simply will the spell into existence. Mana responds to her thoughts almost instantly, allowing her to conjure magic with little more than a gesture or a quiet focus of her mind.
And this isn't unique to her; it applies to all of us as well.
Of course, it's only natural for spirits to conjure magic with ease, since their bodies are entirely made of mana. Magic flows through them the same way blood flows through humans, so they can shape spells almost effortlessly, often without needing chants.
Elves, on the other hand, mainly use nature magic. Nature magic is more like a trait exclusive to the elves. It is a type of magic that manipulates the surrounding environment using the mana inside the user's body. They can influence plants, soil, water, and other natural elements. They can use nature itself as both a weapon and a shield.
Humans work differently. Instead of drawing power from the environment, they rely on the mana within their own bodies to cast spells. This means human mages must train their mana control carefully, since their magical power depends on how much mana they possess and how efficiently they can use it.
Human mages are generally divided into two main classifications: conjurers and augmenters. Conjurers are those who manipulate their mana to create spells and magical phenomena, such as elemental attacks, barriers, or other constructed forms of magic. Augmenters, on the other hand, focus on strengthening their own bodies by channeling mana through their muscles and senses. By doing so, they can greatly increase their speed, strength, endurance, and reflexes. Because they enhance their bodies using mana, augmenters are also commonly known as aura users.
But as I've said before, every living being has something called zxychq inside their body. It acts as a medium that allows them to control the aura, mana, holy energy, or demonic energy within them. Normally, a person can only control one type of energy, but there are rare exceptions like my family.
I'll explain that next time. For now, it's time for me to make my move.
"Alright, you stay here, big sis. I'll give you a signal when it's time for you to snatch one."
"Mm-hmm." Alissa nodded in agreement.
I walked toward their lair, wondering what method I should use to lure them out. I didn't want to use my powers because I might accidentally kill them all. Instead, I picked up a small pebble and tossed it into their lair.
"I guess this will do. I'll just use thirty percent of my strength," I muttered to myself.
*Whoosh*
Then I used a bit of magic to enhance my eyesight, letting my vision pierce through the darkness of their lair. My gaze followed the path of the pebble I had thrown. It had struck something deeper inside the cave with a dull thud. For a moment, everything was still. Then I noticed a shape lying motionless on the ground. I squinted, focusing my enhanced sight on it.
"Oh… shit. I accidentally killed one," I muttered under my breath.
I glanced over in Alissa's direction and saw her quietly giggling.
They started growling and snarling one by one, their voices echoing like distant thunder. The sound quickly grew angrier and louder. They hurried to the entrance of their lair, their heavy footsteps thudding against the stone.
Moments later, several massive figures burst into view.
At the entrance to the cave, three thunderbears appeared large and menacing. They glared at me with intense hostility. Their paws were equipped with long, sharp claws that could rip through both stone and flesh. The air seemed to tremble in their presence as they let out heavy huffs and faint sparks of static crackled around their thick fur.
They had clearly realized what had happened to one of their own.
Well, at least I have their attention now. I guess it's time for me to play my role as the bait.
I kept my eyes on the thunderbears while slowly stepping back, making sure they stayed focused on me.
Unfortunately, we couldn't take the one I had accidentally killed earlier. The pebble I threw, combined with even a small portion of my strength, had completely obliterated its body. There wasn't much left of it to recover.
A bit wasteful… but there was nothing I could do about it now.
They started charging at me from the left and right, one by one, their enormous bodies moving surprisingly quickly. Their heavy paws struck the ground with enough force to cause the ground beneath my feet to tremble.
Naturally, I managed to avoid their blows with ease.
I started examining the thunderbears more closely as I continued to avoid them. There were two males and one female among them. The female remained slightly behind them, observing and waiting for the ideal opportunity to attack, while the larger, more aggressive males were always attempting to corner me.
I watched for a few seconds before deciding that one of the male thunderbears and the female would be knocked out by me.
I steadied my position and whispered to myself.
"This time, I'll use ten percent of my strength. Just enough to subdue them so that I don't kill them by accident."
I burst forward with a speed so sudden that the thunderbears couldn't even follow my movement. To them, it must have looked like I simply vanished from where I had been standing.
"Get ready, big sis! I'll handle two of them, then you put the last one to sleep. That'll be our food."
In the next instant, I leapt into the air and appeared right above one of the male thunderbears. My hand grabbed the top of his head, my fingers sinking into the thick fur as I forced his massive body downward.
Others would have been paralyzed or seriously injured just from the electricity crackling through their fur, but not me. My body is built differently. It's so resilient that most status effects barely register at all, as if I'm almost immune to them.
With a single motion, I slammed him into the ground.
The impact sent a heavy thud echoing across the ground, dust and small stones scattering from the force. The enormous beast groaned as the earth cracked beneath him, his body momentarily stunned.
I didn't stop moving.
Using the momentum, I pushed off the ground and dashed toward the female thunderbear. She had just begun to turn toward me, electricity crackling along her fur, but she was too slow.
I spun and drove a powerful kick into her side.
The blow sent her massive body sliding across the ground, claws digging trenches into the soil as she was thrown several meters away. A burst of static electricity flashed in the air as she crashed down, the thunderbear letting out a stunned roar from the impact.
After dealing with the others, I turned to watch big sis Alissa handle the last thunderbear. With a calm demeanor, she cast a wind-based spell.
"Drowsing wind," she whispered.
Within moments, the beast weakened, its movements slowing, until it finally drifted into a deep sleep.
"Phew… that was easier than I expected," Alissa said, letting out a soft breath as the tension left her shoulders. She lowered her hand, the faint traces of wind magic fading into the air, and glanced at the now-sleeping beast with quiet satisfaction.
"All right, time to head back home," Alissa said, glancing at the creature before a playful grin tugged at her lips.
"Think you can carry that massive body without using magic?" she added, her tone teasing.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to have this side of you, big sis," I said, staring at her in disbelief before letting out a sigh.
"Hehe, let's get going~"