The forest remained silent long after the Stoneback Bear collapsed.
Its enormous body lay sprawled across the ground like a fallen boulder, the thick fur along its back still twitching slightly from the final moments of death. Frost spread slowly across the deep wound beneath its jaw, pale mist drifting into the air. For several seconds, no one spoke; even the wind seemed to hesitate.
Zhang Wei stood several meters away, his sword still in his hand, but the experienced hunter had completely stopped moving. His eyes were fixed on the enormous corpse of the monster before his gaze shifted slowly toward Lin Yi.
The young man stood beside the fallen beast with a calm expression, the froststeel dagger resting loosely in his hand. His breathing wasn't heavy, and his posture wasn't strained. He looked completely fine, as if killing a level six monster had required nothing more than a simple motion of the wrist.
Behind him, Wang Hao was the first to react, his face totally in shock, as he processed what he had just seen.
"Brother Lin.... Killed a stoneback bear?"
Then, students began to react immediately towards the situation.
"That… that was a Stoneback Bear… right?"
"He killed it in one strike!"
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Its hide is tougher than reinforced steel, yet his blade went through it like paper…"
"That's a Level six Stoneback Bear. Even a full squad would take time to bring it down."
"Yet he ended it alone… in a single exchange."
"A Laborer class…?"
"If this is his real power… then during the tournament… who could possibly stop him?"
Voices filled the clearing as the students stared at Lin Yi with disbelief written across their faces.
Even those who had previously ignored the E-rank Laborer were now looking at him like they had just discovered something impossible.
Zhang Wei slowly walked forward, his boots crunching against the dirt as he approached the corpse.
He crouched beside the bear and carefully inspected the wound. The dagger had pierced perfectly through the soft spot beneath the creature's jaw, directly into the throat—one clean strike, precise and deadly.
Zhang Wei then placed his hand on the monster's thick hide and pressed lightly; cold frost energy still lingered within the wound.
He looked up again, his gaze locked onto Lin Yi. "You aimed for the weak point."
Lin Yi nodded slightly. "Seemed like the best place."
Zhang Wei stood up slowly. Most beginners would panic when facing a monster like that, but this boy had done the opposite. He waited, observed, and then struck at exactly the right moment. Zhang Wei exhaled quietly, his tone changing to one stripped of casual dismissal. Instead, there was respect.
Behind them, Wang Hao finally walked forward and stared down at the bear's massive body. "Brother Lin…" He rubbed his face with both hands. "I'm starting to feel like I don't know you anymore."
Lin Yi laughed softly. "I'm still the same person."
"No, the same person doesn't casually stab a Stoneback Bear to death!" Wang Hao pointed at the corpse, and Lin Yi simply shrugged.
Wang Hao opened his mouth again, then closed it, because strangely enough, he had nothing else to say after witnessing what he witnessed.
Su Qinghan walked over next, the weapon in her hand already faded back to her system inventory. She stopped a few steps away from Lin Yi and studied him quietly, her calm eyes unusually sharp.
"You moved at the exact moment it attacked," she said.
Lin Yi nodded. "That was the opening."
For a moment, neither of them spoke, then Su Qinghan turned her attention toward the fallen monster.
"We should extract the materials," she said.
Zhang Wei nodded immediately. "Stoneback Bears are valuable." He gestured toward the armored plates along the creature's back. "These plates can be forged into defensive equipment. Even a single piece is worth quite a bit." The students' attention quickly shifted from shock to excitement; monster materials meant money, and even beginners understood that.
Inside Lin Yi's mind, the system interface flickered again:
[Level 10]
The experience from the Stoneback Bear had pushed him several levels higher in a single jump, and his attributes—Strength, Constitution, and Agility—had increased once again. Everything felt slightly sharper than before. Lin Yi flexed his fingers lightly; the Titan's Grip passive ability had proven far more useful than he expected. Without that burst of strength, penetrating the bear's hide would have been much harder.
He glanced toward the others who were working around the corpse. Zhang Wei was guiding them while cutting away the stone plates along the monster's back. "This piece is good quality," the hunter said. "Careful with the blade. Don't damage the edges."
A few minutes passed as they carefully harvested the materials. Eventually, Zhang Wei stood up again, wiped the blood from his knife, and looked at the group. "Alright. We've gone far enough today."
Several students immediately looked relieved. After witnessing the Stoneback Bear, their excitement had been replaced by a much clearer understanding of how dangerous the wilderness really was. Zhang Wei continued, "We'll head back to the city," and no one objected.
The group gathered their things and began walking back along the forest path. Wang Hao quietly walked beside Lin Yi again. For a long moment, he didn't say anything, his mind trying to process this new version of Lin Yi.
Brother Lin is definitely not the same person. How can he defeat a Stoneback Bear with just a single strike?
Then, Wang Hao brushed off his thoughts, realizing that this was actually the first time in three years of knowing Lin Yi that he had seen him in a real combat situation. While he might have known Lin Yi socially, seeing him in combat was something else entirely.
So, Brother Lin is actually this strong?