The coming of autumn was what just about everyone in the city would call a disaster.
I knew of the coming threat that was the wereboar in the southern district and I planned accordingly. I had stockpiled a handful of healing and lesser fortify magic potions to increase the odds of my survival when fighting the beast, I could still recall the raw power and might it could muster and the fact that nearly ten men were needed to hold it back.
With several breaths to calm myself I stepped out into the first autumn night of the year, my hands were already twitching like the wereboar was about to pop out from any of the buildings I could see. After about an hour of walking I managed to find my way on the path I used to take while walking home from Henry’s lessons.
Slowly and carefully I continued down the short and narrow roads that made up the ‘shortcut’ I used to take, each step I was half certain would be the last one I took.
Eventually I heard the familiar sound of a large animal eating. I stopped my search and pressed my back up against the nearest wall to hide myself from the beast. Holding my breath I listened closely to the sounds to be certain I knew what I was hearing.
I could hear the sound of flesh tearing and bone cracking under the force only a werebeast's jaw could apply. I slowly peaked around the corner and looked upon half of the animal it was eating. Like I saw the last time a dog, most likely a stray, was unlucky to be noticed and then caught by the wereboar. The amount of blood and small bits of flesh told me that this werebeast was also a very messy eater.
With a long and deep breath I conjured up a ladder with my geomancy and climbed onto the roof adjacent to the beast to give myself a better look. Peeking over the edge of the roof I saw the horrible sight that was the wereboar. It looked exactly like a boar that was forcibly shaped to the body proportions of a human, only it was much larger than any human I knew.
‘Why is the damned beast so large?’ I thought to myself as I pressed my back against the roof. ‘Is there some sort of starting phase where the beast becomes hungry and must eat everything in their sight? Does that allow them to grow to such sizes? Will it keep growing the more it eats?’ I looked at the beast with a mix of fear and disgust as I thought of why it and likely any other werebeast's act the way they do.
‘Now isn’t the time, I need to focus on either killing or disabling the wereboar for the city guard to deal with.’ I stood up and peered down on the wereboar which was almost done eating the stray dog, all that was left was its head. ‘This won't be like when I fought against Darius, he was underestimating me and trying to recruit me. This werebeast has no such desires, it just wants to eat me.’
As quietly as I could I conjured up an earth longsword and left it above my right shoulder as I conjured up another. ‘Getting hurt in a fight like this will likely be the end for me, I will need to attack while it is distracted and then keep my distance. The best way to do that will be by attacking the legs before anything else.’
As the wereboar stuffed the stray dog's head into its mouth I conjured up a second earth longsword and held it above my left shoulder. Then the beast used the power in its jaw to bite down on the skull with a loud crack, at that very same moment I thrusted both my arms forwards and the conjured longswords followed shooting down towards the wereboar. The first longsword stabbed into the left forearm and sunk around a foot into its flesh, the other however missed and instead sunk into the dirt that made up the street.
In one swift motion no normal creature that not even a demon could replicate the wereboar turned its head and snarled with its hollow and animalistic eyes. It seemed to recognize it was harmed but it didn’t react in any negative way to the pain itself, almost like it didn’t have the mental ability to do so.
Within a few seconds the wereboar jumped up at me atop the roof and dug its teeth into the corner as it tried pulling the rest of itself up to chase after me. Pulling my hands backwards I recalled both conjured weapons back to my side before turning and running to the edge of the roof on the opposite side.
Reaching the edge of the roof I extended my hands and conjured up a small and thin platform angled up somewhat, I continued running up and at the peak jumped up and towards the nearest roof while using aeromancy to help propel myself further. With a loud thump I fell to my knees on the next roof and I looked back over to see the wereboar pulling the rest of its body atop the previous roof.
I looked directly into those horrible white and empty eyes as it snarled and began running towards me. Without really thinking I extended my left hand towards the beast and one of my longswords followed and struck into its chest just as the wereboar was about to jump across to the roof I was on. The blade sunk a few inches into the thick furred hide that covered the beasts chest and it almost was pushed slightly off balance by the force, as such instead of making an easy leap to my position it stumbled slightly and only managed to get its upper half on the roof. Without hesitation it bit into the roof and started kicking its legs trying to get its footing.
I thrusted my right hand forwards as I stepped away from the edge and the second longsword plunged into the wrist of the beast right above the hoof. Blood started pooling onto the roof in a rapidly growing puddle as the conjured sword also managed to pierce through most of the flesh. Quickly I recalled both my conjured weapons and turned and ran to my right to another roof, but before I could jump I heard the roof creaking from the shifting of weight. The wereboar was climbing up and I was just a handful of feet away.
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Adrenaline surged through my veins as I put as much strength into my legs as I could and leapt to the next roof. I could feel the air rush by as I sailed through the air and I could hear the wereboar starting to run towards me and seconds later make a running jump. The moment I landed and without looking back I turned and started running to my left towards another roof. The wereboar with its simple mind ended up putting far too much power behind its jump and ended up sliding off the far end of the roof and back onto the street.
Turning right and as I was about to jump to the next roof I extended my right hand towards the wereboar and commanded one of my longswords to strike as it was down. Shortly after I landed on the roof I heard the sound of flesh being pierced by my conjured blade, unfortunately it didn’t seem to stop the wereboar and I could hear it jump up and dig its teeth into the closest roof edge to chase after me again.
Cursing myself for choosing to fight the damned beast I hastily looked around for something I could use for just a moment of safety, that was when I found it. Off just a handful of buildings away to my left was a two story building, most likely an old warehouse of sorts, made from stone bricks. The door was likely made of wood but I didn’t need to get inside, I just needed to get on top and take a moment to breathe.
Abruptly I turned left and ran towards the building as the adrenaline in my system kept me running at max speed, behind me I could hear the wereboar climbing back atop the roof and snarling at me as I created distance between us. I managed to get two buildings away before the wereboar started running after me.
As it started closing the distance between us I was forced to start making more random and abrupt turns to keep it from reaching me. For a while it worked, the beast would put far too much power behind its jumps and it would go too far, several times it almost went over the edge again, but it managed to save itself just before. This however was troubling, it was also getting better at controlling its jumps which told me it was slowly but certainly learning and improving. I was still able to trick it, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t last.
When I was just one building away from the old warehouse I let out a quick chuckle, however the sound of the wereboar behind me quickly changed that. Like before I extended my hands before me and created a longer and narrow platform that was angled upwards towards the top of the warehouse, I followed it up and at the end I jumped with as much might as I could towards the top. Just barely, my right hand managed to grab onto the edge of the room as the wereboar crashed into the wall just a couple meters below me.
Looking down I got a good look at the wereboar as it fell to the ground with a loud thump. It quickly stood back up without regarding its injuries and tried jumping back up at me reaching its hooves like hands, it was only at this time did I notice the damage I caused with my conjured weapons. Down across its right arm I saw a deep cut that was bleeding very badly. If a human, elf, or dwarf was to suffer a wound like that, I would have doubts about their survival if they didn’t receive healing magic within at least a half hour.
Looking at the two conjured longswords that floated above my shoulders that were slowly nearing their end I looked down to the wereboar and gave a small chuckle. ‘Might as well.’
Raising my left hand up I quickly pointed downwards and both of my conjured blades followed and plunged downwards. The sound of the blade finding their mark was the first thing that followed before the sound of the beast falling to the ground. I saw the first blade plunged into the beast's left shoulder right where the arm connects to the torso, the other found itself halfway through the right thigh which finally brought a reaction to pain.
Its left arm was limp as it tried to regain its footing, the nearby walls and road becoming painted crimson as it started jumping up at me like a dog. Eventually it seemed to understand I was out of its reach and lowered itself to its three remaining good legs and began pacing around with its eyes watching my every move.
To keep myself from falling I pulled myself atop the roof and took a moment to rest. I breathed heavily as my conjured weapons faded into nothing. I could feel my mana reserves were almost empty leaving me with little to use against the wereboar.
‘I have wounded it quite seriously, I may not need to wound it any further at this point. Those wounds the beast has are losing it a lot of blood, it is honestly quite a surprise that it is even still standing with how much is on the road alone.’ Looking down I could see the wereboar moving slower and slower by the minute. The left arm was of course contributing but this was different, it was becoming sluggish and instead of pacing around it was just standing in one place as it looked up to me panting heavily.
Off in the distance towards the center of the city I could hear voices, looking over I could see many small pockets of light likely being torches used by the city guard. It was to me expected given the noise the two of us were making, but they were also earlier than I expected them to be. Perhaps it was the bandits being dealt with far sooner that allowed for such a quick response, or perhaps it was the fact I chose to fight the beast rather than stay just out of its reach. Regardless it was a bit of an issue.
‘Damn, I was hoping they would take longer. Looks like I will need to kill the beast sooner than later. I doubt the scattered city guard is capable of dealing with a wereboar, it took ten men to stop it before even if it is wounded now it will not be easy.’ Looking back down I saw the wereboar turned its attention from me to the sounds of the city guard shouting to each other. At first it was just its head that was turned, but soon it started turning the rest of its body which was followed by a footstep towards the nearest group.
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted at the beast without thinking. It slowly turned its attention back towards me as I started conjuring up a tier two earth spike pointed directly towards the beast’s face. It took me just six seconds to finish the spell and I already thrusted my right hand forwards directing the earth spike to follow.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion for the handful of seconds that followed, perhaps it was a side effect of depleting my mana reserves so much but that didn’t matter. The spike sailed through the air to the wounded and weakened wereboar, it didn’t even have the sense to try and dodge the attack. The sound of the spike piercing through the beasts eye and its body falling to the ground was by far the loudest thing I had heard since I left the caverns of Dom Badaher and I was certain that the city guard heard it as well.