With Stealth and Tracking, I felt I was finally making progress toward becoming a hunter. I couldn’t quite remember what skills were required for the Arctic Hunter Class, but I am sure Stealth was one of them. I am sure a weapons skill was another, but I am unsure if Quick Claws counted.

The sun was pretty much circling the horizon, and I am sure in a week or so, it would set for a few months.

I found some branches and sharpened them. They were more pointed sticks than actual spears, but in my humanoid form, they gave me more reach. I also practised throwing them. I was not good at throwing. I will need a lot of practice.

Basic actions like Climbing, swimming, and throwing don’t give you skills, and how good you are depends on your attributes. If I practised Spear Throwing or something else that is more specific, I might get a skill.

I snuck up on a deer and wounded it with a thrown spear, but it was too fast for my sprint, and I lost it as my tracking was not good enough. I need to go back to hunting seals. They are nicer anyway.

I weathered a couple of nasty storms in my ice cave and slept through them in my comfortable bear form. Digging myself out afterwards was not hard, but food was getting scarce.

The starry sky on clear nights was amazing, though. Sometimes, I would stay watching it for hours as the stars marched across the sky and the moons came and went. Some stars were almost stationary, and the ones down by the horizon seemed to move faster. I did have a vague idea that the world was round and rotating, and we were near the top end somewhere. Sometimes, there were amazing colours in the dark sky.

I had reached level 20 in Physical Perception, so I could get another perception ability. My Spiritual Perception attribute had not changed, so I needed something useful now rather than waiting for Clearsight. It comes down to Hearing Aid or Olfactory, either sound or smell.

I was not interested in Tasty or Sensitive Skin. Farsight sounded useful but not overly useful for me now. I needed a way to hunt and track that didn’t rely on sight. I am pretty certain Olfactory is better as scents are left on the ground for longer, and if I stayed downwind of prey, I would never lose them. Hearing Aid could warn me of imminent attacks, but the way the wind howls around here is of limited value. Olfactory it is.

The scents around me came into sharp relief, and they were mostly my scents. I needed a swim to clean up. I went out onto the Ice. The edge of the ice shelf used to be only a hundred meters from the shore, but now it is closer to a kilometre. I tested the freezing wind coming off the ice and caught the scent of seals and penguins.

Visibility is down, and icicles are being blown off the ground. Nightsight picked up what it could, but I moved slowly, practising my stealth in bear form. Bears are not designed for stealth, but my white fur blends in with the ice and helps my Arctic Camouflage when I am stationary. The best way for my bear form is to creep forward and wait for Arctic Camouflage, then do it again. It is very slow, but the bear is big and a lot clumsier than the humanoid.

With the onset of the Long Dark, my Nightsight rapidly rose to mid-Apprentice. My Cold resistance did the same even in my bear form. I no longer had Mum to sleep against. My anger simmered and threatened to rise. I pushed it down for now.

I slept a lot. On calmer days, I go fishing or scavaging. Food is scarce. I had to cut through ice to fish unless I wanted to walk for kilometres now. The ice can be treacherous, but getting dunked in the water is survivable for my bear form. It is not pleasant, but I will live.

I awoke after another storm and dug myself out. I was constantly in my bear form now. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the sea, and it had the smell of seals. My stomach growled with hunger.

I ambled out onto the ice. Suddenly, pain ripped through one of my rear legs, and something heavy landed on my back, claws and teeth digging in. I roared in pain and surprise and kicked out with my leg, clipping a wolf and getting a pained yelp in response.

I whirled around, trying to dislodge the wolf on my back and to stop any further attacks. It was a pack of twenty or so. All looked thin and undernourished. They also looked like normal wolves. There are no monsters here. Wolves who develop monster cores are called Dire wolves, and that would be a certain death to me. This is only possible death.

The pack had been stalking me from downwind, so I didn’t smell them. They were desperate, or they would not have attacked me. They were also dangerous. They were spreading out to surround me, and one darted in from the side. I swiped a claw at him, but it left an opening on the other side and the wolf bit down on my shoulder. It let go quickly when I snapped at it with my jaws.

This is how they would wear me down, one bite at a time. The wolf on my back was trying to get its claws deeper. I rose up on two legs to try to dislodge it, but it hung on grimly. Its claws raked my fur to try and get purchase. It was mostly hanging there by the strength of its jaw. So it was not thrown off. I had to come down to stymie the attack of others. If I could have stayed up longer, I think it would have lost grip eventually.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

The wolves darted back out of reach when I landed. This was a losing scenario for me. They would wear me down. They kept coming, and I kept fending them off, trying to dislodge the one on my back. I had blood flowing from my back now, and I needed it gone.

They were trying to keep me distracted and enraged. The second part is working. Hopefully, the first part would save me if I could just figure out how. I struck suddenly with Quick Claws and sent a wolf flying. It yelped, and when it got up, it was minus the use of one of its legs. I am not sure if I broke it or cut the ligaments, but it will limp for a long while. This may be its eventual death, as this is an unforgiving land.

If I was a polar bear, I would be in trouble, but I am a bear-kin. The biggest difference, apart from the transformation, is my ability to think, even if I was not a fast thinker.

The first obvious thing was that I needed to get somewhere they could not surround me. My cave was the first place I thought of, but then I would be trapped, or they would jump down from the rock above.

I was bleeding from several places now. I needed a solution, and I needed to get this wolf off my back.

The other not-so-obvious solution was the ocean. I could survive the ocean, but I didn’t even need to swim. I just needed something at my back that they could not use.

I swiped at another darting wolf, then twisted and Sprinted further out onto the ice. That actually dislodged the wolf on my back, and it tumbled off. The trouble was that the ocean was a long way away, and the wolves were faster and more agile than my bear form. Sprint was only for short-range, and my limited attributes didn’t help.

I stopped suddenly and Quick Clawed the nearest wolf, sending it sliding on the ice, leaving a trail of blood. It got up and limped back, unfortunately. I kept turning and keeping them at bay, preparing for another sprint. I am going to have to manage my energy. If I run out of stamina, I will die.

They were trying to bait me again, and a wolf landed on my flanks and bit in. I struck out with both back feet, and it almost dislodged.

I took off in another sprint, and it rolled free. I need stronger fur or skin. I started using my spiritual strength to try to make my fur stronger and more resistant to the bites. I had no idea if it would work.

I dodged to the left, and a leaping wolf landed on the ice rather than on me. Then, there were two trying to turn me to the others. I barred my teeth and crashed through them, getting a Crushing Bite on one and whipping my head from side to side, making it seem like a soft toy. Hot blood filled my mouth. I crunched down harder and cracked bones before dropping it to fend off another one.

I felt claws on my side and a bite on my hamstring. I struck out and missed and then Sprinted again.

I was accumulating wounds. The wolves were as well, but there were twenty of them and only one of me.

I passed the last hole I cut in the ice to fish, so I knew how thin the ice was here. I fended off a couple of wolves as they started to surround me again.

I went up on my hind legs and crashed down with my claws into the ice. I struck out with a back foot at a wolf before I did it again. The ice creaked.

I moved and took some more bite wounds and tried to crack the ice again. I think I am too far from the edge, but I am running low on energy.

Crash! Swipe, dodge, Crash!

Pant.

Kick, and hear a yelp and whine, Crash!

Creak.

Crash! With claws and spiritual strength! Sometimes, my thinking is too bloody slow!

Creak.

Crash.

Snap.

CRACK!

Again, with Spiritual Strength. Crash!

A gap opens in the ice, and a wolf’s paw slips in.

Again, with Spirit. Crash!

The gap is bigger, but the ice drift is too slow. Crash!

More cracks appear and the wolves are losing confidence. The ice breaks into smaller pieces, and the piece I am on moves when I shift my weight. The ice under my feet is also stained with my blood.

The wolves stay back as the ice moves. They don’t retreat but circle like they don’t want me to escape. The ones on the seaward side move to more stable pieces of ice. I back my back to the less stable ones.

I growled at them and crashed my paw on a piece of ice next to mine. The wolf on it yelped and backed away to another piece. Some of the wolves growled at me, sensing they were losing their prey.

I growled back. Come and get me if you want me.

One of them did, and I stomped on it, and it wriggled and whined under my paw, and my claws dug in. I stopped its whining with a Crushing Bite and started to feed while looking at the other wolves.

I ripped into its fur and ripped off some meat. There wasn’t much to it. They were really suffering through the winter. Well, so was I. If you try and eat me, I will eat you.

My self-made iceberg didn’t drift far because the wind was blowing onto the shore. We were moving along the shore slowly.

I crouched down, ripping hunks off the carcass as I ate and watched the wolves follow me from solid ice. I was feeding even if it wasn’t a seal. I was restoring my energy and letting my body rest and start healing.

I crunched down, cracked open a leg bone, and licked out the marrow while watching them.