Kit's muscles tightened as he turned and took off running in the opposite direction from Mars. His adrenaline surged, causing his body to tremble slightly. The sound of his heartbeat thumped loudly in his ears, and he became acutely aware of every noise and movement around him.
Despite feeling weakened by fear, Kit pushed through it and continued to run on unsteady legs as the massive crocodile drew closer.
As Kit ran further into the dense trees, he stumbled over an exposed root but managed to regain his balance. He could hear the heavy thuds and hot breath of at least one crocodile close behind him.
Trying to push through the fear, he focused on finding a way to escape. As he approached a low-hanging branch, Kit saw an opportunity and changed direction towards it, using all his energy to jump and grab onto it. Scraping his hands on the rough bark as he scrambled up, Kit paid no attention to the pain and focused on getting higher for safety.
Looking down at the large crocodile staring up at him with its creepy black eyes, Kit frantically tried to come up with a plan. He knew that the most dangerous part of the crocodile was its sharp teeth, so if he could somehow neutralise them, he might have a chance of defeating the monster.
Gathering courage from adrenaline, Kit spoke out loud to the crocodile, “If you were a gummy crocodile, I could probably take you on. I bet you are the Spectral Nile Reptile Iris is having trouble with.”
The tree suddenly shook violently, Kit realised that the crocodile wasn't going to let him stay safe in its territory. Fearing for his life as the crocodile repeatedly hit the tree with its tail, a crazy plan formed in Kit’s head.
He remembered watching a documentary on crocodile farms, when the staff needed to administer medicine to a crocodile, they would wind a rope around the crocodiles mouth to stop it from bitting them.
All Kit needed for his plan to work was some rope and he remembered that the barrels on the wagon had been tied down with rope. The only problem was that Pint was still attached to the cart, if he headed over there now, he would be putting the horse right in harms way.
Kit frowned, “Oh what the hell, it is worth a shot!” Kit then called out to Mars. “Mars can you hear me? I have a plan.”
As he scrambled down from the tree, he heard Mars' voice calling out from somewhere nearby, “I’m over here!”
Kit dashed towards the sound of Mars' voice, with a crocodile hot on his heels. He finally caught sight of Mars and saw another crocodile joined the chasing. "Mars, I need you to distract both of them for a moment." Kit puffed out between breaths.
"Are you insane? They'll devour me in seconds!" Mars gasped, as they both continued to run.
But Kit was determined to give this plan a try, it was better than just giving up and dying. "If we can somehow tie their mouths shut," he panted, "we might be able to defeat them."
"What kind of ridiculous plan is that? How are we supposed to get close enough to rope their mouths?" Mars gave Kit a disbelieving look.
"It's worth a shot, right?" Kit was out of ideas and running low on energy.
"Fine. But do you have any rope?" Mars reluctantly agreed to try Kit's plan.
"It's back at the wagon, which is why I need you to distract them." Kit explained.
"Okay, I'll give it a go, climb up a tree when I tell you." Mars rolled his eyes before scanning their surroundings as they ran.
"Got it." Kit followed his friend, his lungs burning from exertion. Mars pulled something from his pouch and pointed to a nearby tree. "That one."
Then he turned and threw something at the crocodiles, causing them to roar and chase after him. A sense of dread washed over Kit as he watched them pass by.
Shaking off the feeling, he focused on his own task. When he determined that the crocodiles were far enough away, he made his move.
He climbed down the tree and headed back towards Pint and the wagon. But to his surprise, Pint was simply grazing without a care in the world. "Pint, we're trying to save your backside here and you don't even seem concerned!"
Kit huffed in frustration as he picked up a discarded rope from the ground and cut it into two pieces with his rusty knife. He then made loops at the ends of both pieces, slung them over his shoulder, and headed back towards where he had last seen Mars.
"MARS!" Kit shouted as he searched for his friend.
"COMING!" Mars' voice echoed through the trees and Kit turned to see him approaching.
As Mars got closer, Kit could see the sweat on his face and how red he looked from exertion. "Let's climb up a tree, Mars."
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They quickly climbed up the nearest tree with a low branch, both panting heavily. Down below, the crocodiles were circling the tree, ready to attack at any moment. "Here, take this so we can try to get it over their mouths."
"Kit, did you even think this through? They'll just snap the rope." Mars looked at him like he was crazy.
Kit's face fell as he realised his mistake, these monsters were humongous compared to normal crocodiles. Mars frowned seeing Kit crestfallen. "Well, it doesn't hurt to try. We can hook it on and try to jump on their backs to pull it off."
“What? Are you serious?” Kit stared at Mars in disbelief, excited that he was on board with this suicidal plan.
“Well, we're just sitting ducks anyway.” Mars shrugged apathetically and took a rope from Kit’s shoulders. He observed the crocodiles' movements carefully.
“Look, Kit! They're giving us an opening by turning their backs on us. Are you ready to try it?” Mars raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Kit took a deep breath and nodded, feeling that their chances were better than doing nothing. He rubbed his bracelet for good luck, hoping that Kat's blessing would work. “Okay, let's do this!”
The weight of the rope in his hands was heavy as Kit locked his gaze onto the back of the closest crocodile. He waited for it to turn its back again before leaping down onto its giant head.
Holding onto the ridge under the crocodile's mouth with his knees, Kit's heart pounded in his chest. The sound echoed in his ears and his hand trembled slightly. But he didn't stay still - he quickly looped the rope around the crocodile's mouth and frantically wrapped it over and over. The crocodile shook its head in an attempt to shake him off.
Please don't fail! Please don't fail! Kit tightly squeezed his thighs together and focused on staying alive. If he let go, he would end up in the crocodile's stomach after passing through its sharp teeth. The thought of that pain made him shudder as he continued to wrap the rope frantically.
When the rope finally ran out, Kit tied it off and pulled out his rusty knife. Miraculously, the rope didn't snap. “Oh no! I don't think my knife will hold up if I try to stab its skin.”
“Target its eyes, Kit.” Mars instructed.
Without hesitation, Kit followed Mars' advice and stabbed his knife into the crocodile's eye with all his strength. The eye exploded with a sickening force, covering Kit's face and clothes in black goo. The stench made him gag.
- 500 damage [critical hit]
After regaining his balance, he quickly aimed for the other eye and thrust downward with all his might before the crocodile could shake him off. The strike dealt another critical hit of 500 damage. "Take that, you overgrown beast. Who needs brute strength when I have my skills!"
Ding!
[Skill learnt: beginner incapacitating stab]
Player stabs target to prevent it from functioning in a normal way. Congratulations player learnt a new skill that he can probably never implement again due to his poor talent.
+ 5 attack to every attack with a blade.
+ 5 Intelligence
+ 3 Agility
"These descriptions are getting more absurd by the minute," Kit thought to himself, making a mental note to ask Mars about his own unique skills.
Ding!
[Spectral Nile Reptile Killed]
1000 experience, 100 bronze crowns.
10 x Spectral Nile Reptile meat.
20 x Spectral Nile Reptile teeth.
1 x Spectral Nile Reptile hide.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you are now Level 2]
Ding!
[Congratulations, you are now Level 3]
Holy hot peppers! How did that happen? Kit realised with amazement that he had killed the Spectral Nile Reptile. He couldn't believe it, considering that his previous kills had been more of a fluke.
“How is it possible that it only took two hits to kill it?” Kit asked out loud, not really expecting an answer.
“Their weak spot was their eyes. That's why they caused so much damage when they exploded,” Mars informed him.
A surge of joy flowed through Kit's body at the thought of taking down the Spectral Nile Reptile. Even if it was just a lucky fluke, he didn't care. He remembered how scared he had been when he first saw them, thinking that both he and Mars were going to die.
Now, a wide smile spread across his face, and he couldn't stop giggling like a fool. The leftover adrenaline from the battle made him feel giddy.
Curious about how Mars was feeling, Kit glanced over at him. To his surprise, Mars was also sitting on top of a crocodile's head covered in thick black gunk, with a huge grin on his face. This sight only made Kit laugh even harder. When Mars noticed him, he turned towards him and started laughing as well.
They must have looked ridiculous covered in disgusting black eye gunk, but Kit didn't care. He was so happy to still be alive. "This game is amazing!" Kit exclaimed as he did a little happy dance on top of the crocodile.
"I never expected it to feel this good," Mars agreed with a sly grin. "I'm glad I could share this moment with someone. But Kit, what exactly are you doing right now?"
Kit's laughter increased at this question, he knew he looked silly but didn’t care at that moment. But from Mars' smirk, he was going to be teased about this later. As his excitement began to fade, Kit remembered that he had gained a new skill and wanted to see what Mars' skills were like. "Hey Mars, can you show me one of your skills?"
"Of course. Have you not gotten any skills yet?" Mars replied.
[Novice Arterial stab]
The player can precisely target an enemy's arteries for greater damage, adding 30 attack to any weapon.
“Sun of a peach! How did you get such a good one? Is it only me with bad skills, is CAL mocking me?” Kit felt jealous over the difference in their attack skill.
Mars quirked his lip up at Kit’s reaction. “It can’t be that bad right?”
“I’ll show you one of mine, but don’t laugh.” Kit shared one of his own skills and Mars burst out laughing. Kit rolled his eyes, he shouldn’t have shared.
“We had better head back and find Pint to see if he is ok. Though I think he had no clue about the danger he could have been in.” Now that the monsters were dead Kit wanted to get back, as he stood up, he felt his wet shirt slide on his skin. “First I think we should take a dip in the water to wash this gunk off our clothes.”
“Good plan.” Mars and Kit raced down to the water to get rid of the black gunk. When they had finished washing, they collected the rewards from the crocodiles. Then they made their way back to the stubborn horse, Pint was still happily grazing the grass where he had been left.
“Honestly, he's the most difficult horse I've ever dealt with. I can't wait to return him after we get the wagon to Iris,” Kit exclaimed. Once they were done with their task, Kit was adamant about never wanting to see the stubborn horse again.
"When it's time for me to get a mount, I'll make sure to choose one that doesn't even want to be near alcohol," Mars stated with a disapproving look at the troublesome animal.
They finished loading the remaining water barrels onto the wagon and Kit even gave Pint some beer before they headed back to The Waddling Duck.