A Bear of a Cub!

"Why are you taking so long?" Kureha saw Mercer crouching on the ground, doing who knew what, and walked over. "Huh?"

"Well, this is a surprise."

Kureha saw the Animal Cub in Mercer's palm and narrowed her eyes. "A Red Panda? No, that's not right. It's a Panda."

Red Pandas and Pandas had opposite black-and-white coloring.

A Red Panda's head looked like it was wearing a black bandit's mask, making it rather ugly. A Panda, on the other hand, looked as if it had a pair of black eye patches, which made it seem especially adorable.

Though they had two different names, they were actually the same species. Pandas were simply much rarer. Among hundreds or even thousands of Red Pandas, perhaps only one Panda would be born.

It was like that famous clothing brand based in the East Blue, DOSKOI PANDA (Heixiu Panda). The Panda brand represented rarity. They said even the cheapest T-shirt cost ten thousand Beli.

Mercer lifted his head and raised the cub in his palm toward Kureha. "Can you save it?"

Kureha placed her index finger over the Panda cub's heart, feeling its faint heartbeat. "What? You want this defective little runt, abandoned by its mother and close to death?"

Yes, when Red Pandas gave birth to multiple cubs in one litter, they usually raised only the strongest and abandoned the rest.

Abandoned cubs usually met one of two fates: they either died and became fertilizer for nature, or ended up as a fresh meal for another animal.

"Doctor Doriel, you can save it, right?" Hope showed in Mercer's eyes. "I want this Panda."

Kureha hadn't wanted to interfere with nature's law of the jungle, but when she saw the hope in Mercer's eyes, her heart softened.

Mercer might have been small, but he was clever. This was the first time he had ever asked her for anything since he'd been old enough to remember, so Kureha giggled. "If you want to raise him, you'll have to do it yourself. You'll be responsible for feeding him and cleaning up after him. I'm not helping."

After all,

the little thing couldn't pay for its medical expenses.

Mercer blinked and nodded lightly. He agreed for now. Once they got to know each other, he didn't believe anyone could resist a Panda's cuteness.

Seeing this, Kureha took the cub in her left hand and somehow produced a Cow Hair Needle with her right. She precisely inserted it into the Panda's navel.

As she gently worked it with a special technique, Kureha chuckled. "The bodies of these mammals aren't very different from humans'. The acupuncture points inside them are connected, too.

"Take the navel, for example. With a special acupuncture method, you can stimulate the hidden life force in a living body. Like this."

In less than a minute, even Mercer could sense through Observation Haki that the cub's heartbeat was growing stronger. Then a sharp, high-pitched cry rang out. It had come back to life.

Kureha pulled out the needle.

She handed the revived little thing to Mercer and smiled. "Keep him warm against your chest. There's still some Milk Powder left over from when you were little. Just feed it to him when we get home."

Mercer hurriedly took the cub. He didn't even mind that it was cold, immediately tucking it inside his clothes and listening to its weak cries through the fabric.

Seeing Mercer's attention was occupied, Kureha walked a few steps away to deal with the rabbit. A few seconds later, as if she'd thought of something, her expression suddenly soured.

Her face shifted between dark and bright.

But in the end, she glanced at Mercer and sighed softly. "What a mess."

She could imagine that, for the next six months, she might once again have no peace at night.

Maybe I should toss Mercer and the Panda cub outside together when it's bedtime?

Then she shook her head, rejecting the negative thought that had crossed her mind.

For the rest of the time, Kureha quietly gathered and prepared Herbs. When she felt they had enough, she took Mercer home.

That night, just as expected, a piercing "ghostly wail" woke them both in the middle of the night. Mercer sat up in his sleep, dazed, then promptly flopped back down and went to sleep again.

And so it went.

Without fail.

With the cub howling persistently, Kureha had no choice but to get up and deal with it. She looked at Mercer, who was sleeping so soundly, and her eye twitched.

"His grandfather's a bastard, and the grandson's just like him. Always making trouble for people. Just wait, Mercer, you little brat. I'll teach you a lesson tomorrow."

The next day.

She still didn't punish Mercer, but her face was thoroughly sour.

Mercer vaguely remembered what had happened the night before and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Doctor Doriel still loved him.

He immediately became much more well-behaved.

Life was a performance!

As the cub howled, Kureha taught Mercer with a cold expression. From that day on, Mercer's daily meals became far less tasty, and the quiet days passed one after another.

Though there was now another mouth to feed at home, nothing else changed. Mercer grew day by day, and the little Panda went from looking like a rat to being about the size of a basketball.

Thanks to Mercer, Kureha had added plenty of growth-promoting "supplements" to the cub's milk, too.

As a medical expert, Kureha handled these little things with ease.

The cub grew bigger by the day. The miserable nights when their sleep was interrupted eased after three months. It had to be said: the animals in this world were especially smart and remarkably humanlike.

From opening his eyes for the first time, to pooping for the first time, to playing for the first time, he grew bigger and bigger through countless firsts.

Animals always grew quickly. His nickname was Bear Cub, and his given name was Winter, a homophone of "winter," taken from Winter Island.

Sea Year 1502, January 1st.

Merit Points: [730]

Mercer was two years old, and the little Panda was six months old. That day, Mercer carried Bear Cub in his basket as he followed Kureha to Purple Bamboo Forest once again. After all, a Panda's staple food was bamboo.

But in this world, though Red Pandas were still omnivorous,

their digestive systems had become extraordinary.

Their Hunting Ability had greatly increased.

They could eat much more meat.

The snow was falling heavily today.

Pure white flakes fell into the basket. Bear Cub poked his head out and rested his forelegs on its rim. He watched the snow falling from the sky, opened his mouth, and licked at the flakes with his pink tongue.

He made soft little whimpering sounds, occasionally nudging the back of Mercer's neck with his head or licking him.

The licks tickled Mercer, and he couldn't help laughing. "Be patient. You can eat as much as you want once we get to the bamboo grove. For now, stay quiet."

He reached his right hand behind him and pushed Bear Cub's head back, then ruffled his fur and pinched his chubby cheeks.

Ying~

Bear Cub gave a satisfied little whimper.

Two-year-old Mercer was nearly a meter tall. With a black-and-white Panda in the basket on his back, he was still nimble as he followed Kureha over the mountains, even with fifteen pounds of "weight" on his back.

He carried an iron Axe that looked like it was meant for chopping firewood.

The axe was a little strange. The end that should have been a hammer had instead been made into a pointed, wolf-tooth-like Pickaxe head, giving it the function of an Ice Axe.

The blade was sharp, and the Pickaxe head was pointed.

The axe had three blade edges, giving it the functions of a sickle, axe, and shovel. The Pickaxe head was sharpened on both sides, and the Axe Handle had been given a rough finish so it wouldn't slip from his grip.

A Multi-tool Axe.

Kureha's voice came from ahead. "Today's another first. If you want meat, you'll have to hunt it yourself."

"Do Bamboo Rats taste good?" Mercer asked with a cheeky grin. "I've never tried one."

Kureha paused, then explained, "The Bamboo Rats on this island aren't very fat. They're tough and stringy. If you catch one, you can eat it yourself."

That was a lie!

Mercer had seen them in Purple Bamboo Forest. The White-haired Bamboo Rats there were huge and plump, with the biggest at least as large as a rabbit.

That was all he needed to know.

Some people simply didn't like the taste, did they?

Seeing this, Mercer gave in. "All right, then. What about reindeer?"

This time, Kureha didn't object. Reindeer meat was quite nutritious, after all.

Yam Stewed Deer Leg, Deer Antler Bone Soup, Braised Deer Kidney, Stir-fried Deer Heart. Chopper had probably never tried any of them.

Chopper?

That kid might still be Deoxyribose at this point.

Mercer didn't feel guilty about hunting or killing animals. Over the past six months, he hadn't just been studying; Kureha had also made him butcher the animals she hunted.

After handling enough prey, he'd gotten used to it. Humans were simply very adaptable. Two-legged beasts were omnivores, too.

Their footsteps crunched through the snow as they walked, accompanied by the sound of Kureha swallowing her drink and Bear Cub's occasional "yip-yip" from inside the basket.

They walked through the familiar Snow Forest, buffeted by the cold wind. As time passed, Drum Mountain came into view, and so did the vast bamboo forest below it.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Moving through the bamboo grove, Mercer chopped through a Tender Bamboo stalk as thick as his little finger with the edge of his axe.

As the Tender Bamboo fell, he caught it with his left hand and passed it behind him. Bear Cub reached out with his right paw and grabbed it, then eagerly stuffed it into his mouth.

The sound of bamboo snapping rang out repeatedly as he chewed and swallowed, making soft "mrr" sounds.

This was some good food.

Kureha had seen this countless times and was no longer surprised. Bear Cub had been brought here to eat Tender Bamboo two months earlier, and he had long been drooling over its taste.

Bear Cub wasn't one to hold back.

Once he'd finished his snack, he climbed out of Mercer's basket and tumbled into the snow with a thump, sending up a spray of flakes. He twitched his black nose and charged forward, taking a step and rolling over with each bound.

Mercer followed with a grin. Just a few seconds later, he saw Bear Cub digging into the snow. After a few swipes of his paws, the tip of a bamboo shoot poked out.

Digging for food in the snow was an instinct he'd awakened. He'd be able to find something to eat and avoid starving if he ever got lost.

The little guy didn't hold back. He opened his mouth, exposing his tiny, snow-white baby teeth, and gobbled up the shoot with a few crunches. Then he chewed away, cheeks puffed out, clearly enjoying himself.

Kureha went off to gather Herbs, while Mercer studied the surroundings for droppings, footprints, or irregularly broken stems and leaves.

Everything left a trace!

In the wilderness, careful observation was the key to surviving. The surrounding environment would tell you what had passed through and where it had gone. These were all lessons Kureha had taught him through words and example.

Of course, Mercer had an even more convenient method.

His breathing slowed. With each breath, pale mist drifted out, and his thoughts grew calm. He released Observation Haki from his body.

The various Auras around him flowed into his awareness. The cold wind howled, and he could sense how the Aura of each creature was different.

A moment later, Mercer drew back his arm and twisted his body slightly as he gathered his strength. He stepped back with his right leg. Whoosh! He spun, gripped the Axe Handle, and hurled the axe toward the front left.

A silver disc appeared. It carried considerable force as it struck the base of a thick purple bamboo stalk ten meters away with a sharp thunk.

A white blur shot out of the Snow Cave in front of the bamboo with a whoosh. Mercer's little face fell. He hadn't expected to miss.

Hehehe!

Kureha's amused laugh came from nearby. "You little fool. Observation Haki can help you pick up on Aura, but it can't make you stronger.

"And you only copied my Throwing Technique in appearance. You've got nothing but the surface. You haven't learned the inner workings: your posture, how to exert force, the technique, the turn. You're just copying a tiger and drawing a cat."

Mercer rubbed his nose and shook out his right arm as he went to retrieve his axe. "I learned it with my own ability. Besides, Doctor Doriel, you should've taught me first."

He tugged the axe free from the bamboo stalk, scooped up a handful of snow with both hands, and shaped it into a snowball. Then he walked over to Kureha and held it out to her.

Seeing Mercer look up at her with blinking eyes, Kureha took the snowball with a pout and weighed it in her hand.

It wasn't as if she believed in passing down skills only to daughters and not sons.

"Throwing comes down to eyesight, grip, stance, and strength. Of course, the Human Exertion Technique is the same. The goal of all of them is the same: to hit your target."

"I didn't teach you before because your body hadn't finished developing. The human body is a complicated mechanical system, and mastering how to exert force is easy to learn but difficult to perfect."

"And even though you're still too young to have any body hair, you can begin the most basic Exertion Training now."

Seeing Mercer listen closely and use Observation Haki to sense her body, Kureha picked up a bamboo stalk, tapped him on the head with it, then pointed to each of the key points in his body for generating force.

Toes, feet, legs, hips, pelvis, waist, spine, shoulders, head, arms, wrists, palms, fingers.

Each bundle of muscles.

Every joint.

From breathing, stance, and eyesight, to swinging the arm and the static Throwing Technique with Wrist Rotation, then on to Dynamic Throw with footwork—she explained the Throwing Technique step by step, from the basics to the finer points, examining it from every angle of human biomechanics and medicine.

One taught carefully; the other listened intently.

With Observation Haki involved, and Mercer's familiarity with the human body and his own, Kureha didn't need to explain some of the finer movements.

He got them on the first try.

Soon it was time to practice. At Kureha's "Pay attention," Mercer assumed a very precise throwing stance.

The next moment, as Mercer watched carefully, a snowball flew straight into the spot where Bear Cub's front paw was about to land.

Bear Cub was trotting along on his short legs when a snowball appeared underfoot and struck his paw precisely. He pitched headfirst into the ground, and the momentum dragged his round face through the snow, leaving a shallow furrow.

The next second, a heart-wrenching "yip" rang out from his mouth. Bear Cub wailed and charged toward them on his short legs, as if frightened.

Mercer couldn't help looking at Kureha. She pursed her lips. "I barely used any force. That little thing's just pretending. He's got plenty of tricks."

As she spoke, Bear Cub stumbled over. He stood upright and wrapped his forelegs around Mercer's calf, hiding his whole body behind him.

He kept wailing.

Mercer picked him up by the scruff of his neck and held him in his arms. Bear Cub stopped crying at once and buried his head against Mercer's neck.

Though he had stopped crying, he still whimpered softly in his throat.

Kureha sighed and rubbed Bear Cub's chubby ears. "You're such a bear of a cub."

In the end,

Mercer's first hunt ended in failure.

Well,

mainly because there weren't any reindeer in the bamboo grove.

He did chop up a Bamboo Rat as a consolation prize, but Kureha threw it away.

New Book. Everyone, please give it a follow-up read. Early follow-up reading is very important for a new book. Thanks, everyone!

As always, I'm asking for recommendations and an investment!