As the dust covered their sight, they realized a horrible truth.
The bear could easily sense them and attack them, while they couldn't.
There were different kinds of senses. Bears lived in jungles, and their senses were already several times better.
After absorbing Natural Energy, their senses only got better. On the other hand, humans needed to explore different kinds of senses.
Among them was Aura Sensing, which Tyler was capable of.
But these four could only rely on their nose, ears, eyes, and skin.
The bear was fast, but it wasn't quicker than the speed of sound. When it moved, it moved air, and thus, they could feel something coming their way.
Unfortunately, they could only feel it thanks to the air. They couldn't even pinpoint the location of the bear until it reached in front of them.
The bear slapped its claw down with the entire weight of its body, trying to crush Jacob with a single attack.
[Water Manipulation]
[First Skill- Water Shield]
A huge wave of water emerged in front of Jacob. Although Martin tried his best, he was still slow in his reaction.
The skill activation also took some time.
Bang!
The bear's sharp claw pierced through the final layer of the water and struck Jacob on the chest.
It was only due to the large portion of water that covered the bear's limb forcefully stopped bear's momentum.
Splash!
Thanks to that, Jacob only got four claw marks and no broken chest.
The blood fell on the ground as Jacob stumbled back.
The bear pulled out its limb and set it down, then jumped back onto its four limbs.
"Guys, be extremely careful with your surroundings! His body is strong enough to hold the weight of my water shield."
"The next time, he will be able to exert more strength."
Hearing that, the other three immediately understood the situation. Martin saved Jacob because the weight of the water slowed the bear's limb.
But considering it didn't do anything to its limb, the bear could easily attack with a stronger force next time.
Relying on Water Shield was impossible!
Earth Wall was too slow!
Unless.....
John thought to himself as he slammed his fist to the ground, and the ground started cracking.
The rocks gathered around his body. When it formed a bulge around him, that bulge started moving outward.
The further it got, the more sweat John started shedding.
Until it reached a certain point where all four of them were covered, and suddenly spat out a lot of rocks from the bulge.
The rocks started moving up and converging at the top of John's head, several meters in the air, forming a huge dome.
[Earth Manipulation]
[Third Skill- Dome]
"Haa! Haa! Haa!"
John started breathing heavily as dust particles in the air started getting absorbed into the dome.
When the air inside the dome was clear, Liam spoke.
"John, what's your plan?"
"Let the bear attack this dome. With his power, he should easily be able to destroy it. But that will give us one perfect moment to catch it off guard."
John explained his plan.
"I never thought your dome could absorb the dust. How did you develop a skill like this?" Martin asked.
"This dome doesn't just absorb dust. It can absorb any earth minerals, rock particles, and sand. I plan to develop a skill that can control sand one day."
John said as he lay down and rested.
"Is that so? I am not sure how I should proceed. My Water Manipulation is good but..."
Martin didn't continue, but everyone understood his trouble.
"Well, for me, I am just going to increase the firepower. Hopefully, I can make an armor out of flame. Since my fire does not hurt me."
Jacob grinned as he spoke.
Bang!
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise coming from outside. The dome trembled, and some dust started falling down.
"As for me, I plan to go with the wind defense. I am not sure if it is possible, but I want to be an all-rounder with my wind."
Liam spoke as he raised his right hand. He had already picked up the position of the bear.
The moment the bear destroys the dome, he will be ready to attack.
"Hmm! I have two defensive skills and one offensive skill."
Martin muttered.
At this moment, John slowly stood up from the ground and said.
"If that's the case, why don't you develop your Water into something like poisonous water or heavy water so that Water Ball can turn into an offensive skill?"
Martin's eyes lit up when he heard that, but the next moment, his feelings sank as he shook his head.
"I am not sure how I can do that."
"That's the challenge. You have to find the way. Otherwise, you will just lag."
Bang! Just as John finished saying that, the hole appeared on the dome, and the entirety of the dome started falling apart.
As the dome crumbled into pieces, Liam raised both of his palms, facing the bear as a large amount of wind gathered around his palms.
[Second Skill- Wind Blade]
Two significantly large wind blades emerged from his palms and dashed towards the bear.
Each blade was as thick as his arm and sharp enough to tear through rock debris.
Splash!
While the bear saw it coming, he couldn't dodge it. He used his claws to block one of the slashes, but another one managed to slash through his chest.
A lot of blood gushed out of his wound, leaving a large cut mark on his chest.
Roar!
The bear cried in agony as he dashed towards Liam on his four limbs. His speed almost caught Liam off guard, unable to utilize his first skill on time.
But just before it launched its attack, several smaller fireballs came from behind and bombarded him with explosions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
[Second Skill- Scattering Fireball]
As the explosion engulfed the bear, Liam took this opportunity and launched his second skill, moving away from the bear.
At this moment, John came from behind, and Martin appeared at the side.
John clapped his hands together, and the ground underneath his feet trembled and rose.
It turned into an arrow and dashed towards the bear.
[Earth Manipulation]
[Second Skill- Earth Bullet]
[Water Manipulation]
[Third Skill- Water Pistol]
Martin raised his right hand, pointing his index and finger finger towards the bear as a small amount of water gathered at the tip of his finger.
Whoosh!
The water turned into a high-pressure bullet and shot towards the bear at an incredible speed.
The bear sensed the water bullet coming from the side and tried dodging it by backing down.
Unfortunately, he also sensed another attack from behind, confusing his mind.
Bang! Bang!
Those attacks took advantage of his confusion and landed on him. The water pierced through his tough skin and made a hole in his body.
Compared to that, the earth bullet struck his back with so much force that it deformed his butt.
Several red marks appeared on its butt due to the rock's uneven surface, but the earth bullet didn't cause as much damage as the water pistol.
As the blood gushed out from the hole, the bear angrily smashed his foot on the ground several times, unable to decide where he should go.
Jacob took advantage of his confusion and launched a massive fireball towards it.
[First Skill- Fireball]
Boom!
The fireball exploded on his face, burning the majority of his skin and mouth.
The bear was left whimpering in pain, but he wasn't going down so easily.
He immediately decided to release all of his anger on Martin, who was on his side.
Although Martin was surprised, he still knew he had to react.
He quickly released his second skill, but this time, his skin turned pale, and so did his eyes.
[Second Skill- Water Ball]
Surrounding himself inside the water ball, Martin basically saved himself from the bear.
Splash!
Although that didn't last time as the bear managed to smash through the water ball. The force exerted on the water ball forced Martin to fly back.
His body glided on the ground several times before he stopped with several bruises on his face and skin.
On the other hand, Liam instantly appeared next to the bear. Before the bear could even sense him, the sword in Liam's hand moved.
[Wind Manipulation]
[Third Skill- Wind Infusion]
By channeling as much wind as he could into the sword, he pierced through the neck of the bear.
Splash! Thud!
He swept his hand and cut through the half of the bear's neck, releasing his sword from the other side.
Just when he thought he had finished the bear, Rose suddenly appeared in front of him.
At the same time, Tyler also appeared next to him, holding John, Jacob, and Martin in his arms.
"John, use Earth Wall in front of Rose! Martin, try to squeeze some energy and release Water Shield! Rose, Blood Shield!"