The Giant Bear Forest was a place where the trees themselves seemed to have been carved from the nightmares of a druid. Each trunk was as thick as a castle tower, their roots gnarled and twisted into shapes that resembled grasping claws.
This was a Level 100 hunting ground, a zone where the ambient pressure of the monsters' presence was enough to inflict a "fear" debuff on any player lacking the mental fortitude or the level to withstand it.
Arthur stood at the edge of the forest, the Bandit's Bandana tied firmly across his brow. He didn't look like a Level 73 warrior anymore; he looked like a predator entering his own domain.
"Ten days," Arthur said, his voice cutting through the heavy mountain air. "We don't stop until the efficiency drops. We eat on the move, we sleep in shifts, and we harvest every scrap of value these beasts possess. Smithy needs materials, and we need the strength to protect what we build."
Behind him, his four companions stood in a crescent formation. Alfia adjusted her weirwood staff, her eyes already scanning the mana ley lines of the forest. Meteria hummed a low, vibrating note that caused the nearby ferns to lean toward her.
Nana's hand was a permanent fixture on the hilt of her Sun Sword, and Cecil—usually the stoic blacksmith—was spinning her twin spears with a restless, violent energy.
"Let's begin the cull," Arthur commanded.
The first Giant Bear emerged from the gloom like a localized landslide. It stood four meters tall, its fur a matted rug of iron-grey, and its claws were long enough to disembowel a horse in a single swipe.
Arthur met it head-on.
He was a master of the blade, but even he had to navigate the system's constraints. In Satisfy, dual-wielding came with a brutal 50% penalty to skill effectiveness to prevent balance breaking.
Arthur's solution was tactical genius: he treated his hands as two separate entities with different roles.
His left hand held the Deluxe Sword (Rare). He used it as a shield and a scalpel. As the bear lunged, Arthur didn't dodge; he stepped into the strike, his left blade catching the bear's massive forearm, deflecting the momentum with a basic parry.
[You have dealt 137 damage to the target]
The "Deluxe" blade was for the grunt work—the basic slashes, the stabs to the joints to interrupt the beast's charge, and the constant, irritating pressure that kept the monster off-balance.
Then came the right hand.
Holding the Prodigy Sword (Epic), Arthur unleashed the true weight of his legacy. While the left hand parried, the right hand ignited.
"[30,000 Army Severing Sword!]"
A crescent of golden light erupted from the Epic blade. It didn't strike the chest—Arthur had forbidden the destruction of the central pelt—instead, it arced with surgical precision, severing the bear's tendons at the hip.
[Critical!]
[You have dealt 105,620 damage to the target]
[The target lost its movement]
The beast let out a roar that shook the pine needles from the trees, collapsing into the dirt as its mobility was erased in a single heartbeat.
[You have dealt 381,560 damage.]
[A level 100 giant bear was slain.]
[You got 97 silver coins]
[You got giant bear pelt]
[You got giant bear meat and gallbladder]
The forest floor suddenly became a chaotic canvas of elemental destruction.
Alfia was a turret of arcane fury. She didn't stick to one element; she cycled through them like a virtuoso. When a pack of three bears tried to flank the party, she slammed her staff into the earth.
"Ice Shards, bloom. Lightning, strike!"
Jagged pillars of frost erupted beneath the bears, skewering their legs, while a chain of blue-white electricity leapt from beast to beast, paralyzing their nervous systems.
[Giant bear was effected by the chill, movement speed reduced by 90%]
[Giant bear has suffered 78,093 damage!]
[Giant bear has suffered 75,912 damage!]
[Giant bear has suffered... ]
[The giant bear was slain]
She was the "Aspiring Great Magician," and her control was so refined that not a single spark of fire touched the precious fur of the monsters.
Meteria, meanwhile, was the silent gardener of death. She didn't look like she was fighting. She looked like she was conducting an orchestra. At her command, the massive roots of the ancient trees surged upward like literal spears.
[Giant bear was effected by the vines, movement speed reduced by 70%]
[Giant bear has suffered 78,093 damage!]
[Giant bear has suffered 75,912 damage!]
They didn't just bind the bears; they sought out the soft tissue under the jaw and the gaps in the skull. A bear would roar, only for a sharpened root to erupt through its throat, silencing it mid-cry.
[Critical!]
[Giant bear has suffered 298,871 damage!]
[The giant bear was slain]
Nana was the party's finisher. When the bears were blinded or pinned, she would move. Her Sun Sword was a beacon of localized divinity.
"[Sun Flash!]"
A blinding burst of solar energy would erupt from her blade, searing the retinas of every monster in a twenty-meter radius.
[Giant bear was effected by the skill 'Sun Flash', target was stunned for 3 seconds!]
[Critical!]
In that moment of darkness, Nana would blur past, her blade leaving a trail of white heat. She focused on the neck—the "cleanest" kill point that preserved the integrity of the pelt.
[Giant bear has suffered 375,912 damage!]
[The giant bear was slain]
But it was Cecil who surprised everyone. The thin, lithe girl who spent her days over a forge was a demon in the field. She wielded twin spears, using them like high-velocity pistons.
She moved under the bears' guard, her spears blurring as they found the skull's eye sockets or the tender flesh of the inner thigh.
[Critical!]
[The giant bear's vision is taken, bear will got into a fenzy]
[Giant bear has suffered 78,093 damage!]
[Giant bear has slain!]
She was a "Blacksmith-Berserker," fighting with a cold, mechanical aggression that saw the bears not as creatures, but as raw materials to be harvested.
The routine was brutal.
They hunted through the daylight hours, the forest floor becoming a tapestry of grey fur and crimson soil.
When the sun dipped below the horizon, they retreated to a high, defensible ridge. There was only a campfire and Nana's cooking to eat and replenish energy for the next day hurdle.
They ate stale bread and dried jerky in the day, their movements practiced and fast. Arthur used those minutes to fully utilize he hunting time.
By the fifth day, the "Golden Aura" of a level-up began to flash with increasing frequency.
[You have reached Level 100.]
Arthur felt a tectonic shift in his core. The milestone of Level 100 was the gateway to true power in Satisfy. This is the first status awakening.
Suddenly, the higher-tier skills of his legendary swordsmanship began to vibrate in his skill window. The 10,000 to 50,000 Army Swordsmanship branches, previously greyed out or restricted, were now glowing with readiness.
Even deeper, the Imperial Swordsmanship—the first three forms of the style that had once conquered the continent—flickered into existence. Arthur looked at them, his heart hammering. The power was immense, capable of leveling the entire glade in a single strike.
'Not yet,' Arthur thought, closing the menu. 'If I use the Imperial forms here, the players around will see it. The players will hear of it. I am a Level 100 Warrior. I must remain "just" a Warrior for a little longer.'
By the tenth day, the forest felt empty. The Giant Bears, once the terrors of the north, now fled at the scent of the five humans. The experience gain, which had been a rushing river, had slowed to a trickle. They had all reached Level 120, outgrowing the efficiency of the zone.
"Enough," Arthur said, sheathing his blades.
They stood amidst a mountain of loot. Because of their discipline in targeting only the limbs and heads, the quality of the drops was staggering.
[Inventory Check: Giant Bear Expedition]
* Giant Bear Pelts (High Quality): 312 Rolls
* Giant Bear Gallbladders (Alchemy Material): 150 Units
* Giant Bear Claws (Crafting Material): 600+ Units
* Gold Coins: 437 (From direct drops)
"Three hundred rolls," Cecil said, her voice raspy from the cold. She knelt by a pile of the thick, iron-grey fur. "Arthur... two of these rolls are enough to craft a full 5-piece heavy armor set. We have enough for 156 sets of leather armor."
He looked at Cecil. She was an "Intermediate Blacksmith" now, her potential as a "Legendary" hidden deep within her code, waiting for the right spark.
"When we get back, Cecil, you and I won't be resting," Arthur said. "We're going to turn this bear pelts into the finest equipment the Eternal Kingdom has ever seen."
Cecil's eyes lit up with a fire that was hotter than any furnace. "I'm ready."
As the party began the trek back toward Winston, they were no longer the ragged group that had left Patrain. They were Level 120 powerhouses.
Arthur took pelts inside his inventory. In his mind, he was already calculating the next steps.
Arthur was returning to his forge, and this time, he was bringing the materials to disrupt the market with him.