"Well, my body moved on its own."
I shrugged.
"Strength suddenly surged through me. It felt like someone else was moving my body."
"You pierced the heart exactly! How did you know where it was?"
Fierce Eyes asked as he stood.
"I have never seen anything like it either. To strike the heart that precisely!"
"Well, it was a feeling."
I opened my hand to show him.
"I just... felt that was the spot. I didn't think it through with my head. My body knew."
In truth, the system had told me.
"The ancestors must clearly be protecting you!"
Running Deer shouted. He sprang to his feet and clasped his hands toward the sky.
"That is right! You have been blessed by the ancestors, Chieftain!"
Solid Rock agreed as well.
"There is no doubt. An ordinary person could not deliver such a strike!"
I smiled bitterly.
Well, it would be easier if they believed that. I could not explain that it was the system's help, and even if I did, they would not believe me.
"Let's butcher the bear. We need to take the hide, the meat, and even the bones. Everything."
"Understood!"
Solid Rock answered at once. He took a stone knife from his waist.
"With a bear this size, even the hide alone will be incredible!"
Running Deer exclaimed as he touched the bear's hide.
"And the meat... this could feed the whole village for a month!"
Fierce Eyes chimed in as well.
I sat beside them and caught my breath.
I perched on a tree stump and looked up at the sky.
The sky was blue. Clouds drifted slowly. A breeze blew in and cooled my sweat-soaked face.
'That was dangerous.'
Level 1, Combat Power 12. Facing a Great Bear in that state had been reckless. No, it had been insane. If I had made even the slightest mistake, we would have been wiped out.
Without the system's temporary amplification, all of us would have died.
Thirty seconds. Exactly thirty seconds of opportunity. If we had failed to end it within that time, we would have been annihilated.
'I need to be careful from now on. This isn't a game.'
Death here is real. There are no second chances. I died once and came here.
If I died again, that would truly be the end. There would be no third chance.
"All right, I'm starting!"
Solid Rock placed the stone knife against the bear's belly.
Excitement was mixed into his voice. Slowly and carefully, he moved the knife.
The blade split the hide.
The hide was so thick that he had to put strength into it.
His arm muscles bulged, and sweat formed on his forehead.
"This hide is incredibly thick!"
Running Deer said, his eyes sparkling.
"At this thickness, it could even stop a spear!"
"Of course it could!"
Solid Rock answered excitedly.
"This is a massive bear, after all."
"With one hide, we could make three or four shields."
Solid Rock drew a long line from the belly to the chest.
Blood flowed out, and the internal organs were revealed.
Steam rose from the red entrails.
"Whoa, look at the heart!"
Fierce Eyes exclaimed. He pointed at the bear's heart.
"It's as big as two fists put together!"
"It really is huge!"
Running Deer chimed in.
"It looks as big as a child's head!"
"The Chieftain's spear pierced right there exactly."
Solid Rock said, pointing at the heart.
"Incredible, isn't it?"
"Truly incredible."
Fierce Eyes nodded.
"If it had missed by just a little, we'd all be dead."
The three warriors looked at one another and laughed. It was hard to believe we were alive, and that we had taken down such a huge bear.
"It would be best to skin it from the legs first."
Fierce Eyes went to the hind leg. He placed the knife near the ankle and cut the hide in a circle.
"Ugh, the hide is really tough."
"This takes quite a bit of strength, doesn't it?"
"Take it slowly."
Solid Rock said.
"We must not damage the hide."
"I know. I'll be careful."
Fierce Eyes focused on the work. He cut through the hide and tendons and cleaned around the bone.
"Now we pull!"
Solid Rock shouted.
"Put your strength in together!"
Solid Rock and Fierce Eyes grabbed the hide.
"One, two, three! Hup!"
The two men put their strength into it at the same time. The hide slowly peeled away from the flesh.
Riiip, riiip.
A sticky sound rang out.
"Ohh, it's coming off!"
"Keep pulling!"
Little by little, the hide came off.
When the hide of the hind leg was fully peeled away, red flesh was revealed.
"Wow, look at the meat!"
Running Deer gulped.
"Look how much fat there is!"
"How delicious would this be if we roasted it...."
Fierce Eyes added.
"My mouth waters just thinking about it."
"Think about the villagers' faces."
Solid Rock said with a laugh.
"They'll all be so shocked they won't be able to close their mouths!"
"How long has it been since the children last saw meat?"
Fierce Eyes laughed too. A smile spread across his face.
"They'll be so happy they might cry."
"Let's skin the forelegs too!"
Running Deer began to skin the foreleg. With his knife, he carefully separated the hide from the flesh.
"Look at the tendons here!"
Running Deer shouted.
"Oh, they are incredibly thick! Those would be perfect for making bowstrings, wouldn't they?"
Solid Rock said as he looked at the tendons.
"They would!"
Running Deer nodded and carefully separated the tendon. A long, white tendon caught on the knife and came out. It was as long as a forearm and as thick as a finger.
After about an hour, the hide had almost all been removed. The huge bear hide was spread across the ground, and its brown fur glittered in the sunlight.
"Wow... incredible."
Solid Rock let out an exclamation. He lay down on top of the hide.
"Even with me lying on it alone, this much is left over. It could easily cover ten people."
The hide's size was enormous. When Solid Rock paced it out, it was about three steps long and about two and a half steps wide.
"If we sleep under this in winter, we won't be cold at all!"
Running Deer stroked the hide. The fur was soft.
"Now, it's time for the meat!"
Solid Rock stood and raised his knife. His eyes shone.
Solid Rock started with the hind legs. He placed the knife against the joint and put strength into it.
With a crack, the leg separated from the torso.
"Ugh, it's heavy!"
Fierce Eyes staggered as he tried to lift the leg.
One hind leg was too heavy.
"This one alone could feed forty people, couldn't it?"
"Forty people?"
Running Deer shouted in surprise.
"It could feed fifty!"
"One leg is as big as a person's torso!"
"If one hind leg is this heavy, then two of them...."
Solid Rock cut off the other hind leg too.
It too was enormous.
"Cut off the forelegs too!"
Fierce Eyes grabbed a foreleg.
Solid Rock split the joint with his knife.
The foreleg also separated from the torso. It was smaller than the hind legs, but still heavy.
"The loin is the best part."
Solid Rock pointed to the back.
"Look at the fat here!"
Solid Rock sliced off the loin with his knife.
White fat was embedded in the red flesh.
The piece of loin was as thick as an adult's forearm.
"Ah, my mouth's watering. Really."
As if his mouth watered just from looking at it, Running Deer wiped the corner of his mouth.
"We have to take the ribs too. Meat attached to the bone is the tastiest!"
"That's right!"
Solid Rock agreed with Fierce Eyes.
"If we roast it over the fire, it will truly...."
"Just thinking about it makes me happy."
Fierce Eyes trailed off. His expression looked happy from the mere imagination.
The three men separated the ribs one by one.
Thick meat was attached to the large ribs.
They also took the neck portion and the other pieces of meat without leaving anything behind.
"Don't forget to pull out the claws!"
Solid Rock shouted.
"Ah, right! The claws!"
Fierce Eyes began extracting the claws.
He dug around a claw with his knife and pulled it out with force.
With a pop, the claw came out.
"Wow, look at this!"
Fierce Eyes held the claw up to the sunlight. It glittered.
It was as long as a finger, and the tip was sharp.
"It's sharper than a knife, isn't it?"
"If we made a knife out of this, it would be incredible."
Running Deer's eyes shone.
"It might be good as a spearhead too."
Solid Rock touched the claw.
"How many claws are there?"
"One, two, three...."
Fierce Eyes gathered the claws as he counted them.
"Twenty!"
"How do we pull out the fangs?"
Running Deer opened the bear's mouth. The fangs were revealed.
"Wow, these are really big!"
Running Deer exclaimed.
"They're as long as my palm!"
"What could we make with those?"
Fierce Eyes asked.
"A knife handle? Or a necklace?"
"A necklace sounds good!"
Solid Rock's eyes lit up.
"It would look impressive if we made them into a necklace for the Chieftain!"
Solid Rock began pulling out the fangs. He cut the gums with his knife and dug out the bone. After working for a long while, a fang came loose.
"One came out!"
"Keep pulling!"
The three men pulled out all four fangs.
By the time the sun had tilted far to the west, the butchering was finished. An enormous amount had piled up before the three men.
"Wow...."
The three warriors exclaimed at the same time.
The huge hide was spread across the ground.
It was three steps long and about two and a half steps wide. The fur was dense and thick, so its weight was considerable as well.
"This hide's weight...."
Solid Rock and Running Deer grabbed both ends and lifted it.
"Ngh, it's hard even with two of us!"
The slabs of meat were enormous as well.
The two hind legs were the largest. When they tried lifting one, two people could barely manage it.
"I think this single hind leg weighs as much as a grown man."
"Right, it's really heavy!"
Running Deer chimed in.
"Together, the two of them must be incredible!"
The two forelegs were not light either. They were smaller than the hind legs, but still quite heavy. The slab of loin was thicker than two adult forearms put together.
"How much is all this combined?"
Running Deer asked in surprise.
"Well...."
Solid Rock spoke as he calculated.
"It could feed everyone in our tribe for over a month, couldn't it?"
Twenty claws were placed on top of the hide. Each was as long as a finger, and the tips were sharp.
The four fangs were as long as palms, and they looked white and hard.
The large bones were gathered separately as well.
Leg bones, ribs, and even vertebrae—there were about eight in total. Each was as thick and long as a forearm.
The tendons came out in six bundles. Each was as long as an arm and as thick as a finger.
Ding!
『Dismantling Complete』
Acquired Resources
→ Great Bear Hide: 25 kg (Top Grade, 3 paces × 2.5 paces)
→ Great Bear Meat: 170 kg total
2 Hind Legs: 75 kg
2 Forelegs: 50 kg
Loin: 40 kg
Other (Ribs/Neck/Misc. Meat): 5 kg
→ Great Bear Claws x20 (10 cm each)
→ Great Bear Fangs x4 (15 cm each)
→ Great Bear Bones x8 (Large, processable)
→ Bear Tendons x6 bundles (Bowstring production possible)
"How are we supposed to carry this?"
Running Deer asked worriedly.
"We have to, even if it's hard."
Solid Rock laughed.
"Right, we can't leave this behind. We'll have to make a stretcher."
I looked around as I spoke.
"Gather some branches."
"Understood!"
The three warriors gathered sturdy branches from the surroundings.
They laid two long branches in parallel, wove short branches between them, and tied everything firmly with vines.
"Let's put the hide on here and wrap the meat too."
Solid Rock said.
"It will be heavy. Will that be all right?"
Running Deer asked worriedly.
"If we all carry it together, won't it be fine?"
Solid Rock said calmly.
The four of us placed the hide on the stretcher and piled the slabs of meat on top of it.
We placed the claws, fangs, and bones into a small leather pouch.
"Now, let's lift it."
The four of us grabbed the four corners of the stretcher.
"One, two, three! Heave!"
The stretcher lifted off the ground.
"Ngh, it's heavy!"
"Endure it! We have to get to the village!"
"Thinking of the meat makes it bearable!"
Laughing, the four of us carried the heavy load and walked toward the village.