The cool early dawn winds from the mountain peaks above blew down into Fangs hiding spot. Despite the bite he remained unmoving, watching the valley 50 feet below ; a bow in his hand and arrow on the string.
Gnolls were not normally the patient type but those of clan Skarrhide were hunters trained to track and kill monsters, beasts and anyone else as long as there was enough coin involved or if they thought it particularly challenging. he and his master had tracked this particular beast for nearly 2 weeks to its den near the southern mountains, it had ranged out farther than normal and ate some poor women's husband not that they really gave a shit but the necklace she offered as payment and for his final test it would be sufficient. His final test before being sent on his own to experience the world and gain experience or die in the process. But he refused to fail he had sat in his hiding spot now for almost a day and half now watching the cave mouth below waiting for it to emerge. "Manticore, body of a big cat with a humanoid face,wings and a barbed tail,highly venomous but not to resistant to poison itself its hide is tough but the arrow i prepped should be able to pierce it even a bit can be dangerous". Fang looked down to the arrowhead with a viscous purple sheen and then down to his 2 swords a hooked blade made from bone and steel and a smaller steel short-sword. a sudden fit of nervous giggling tried to escape him as he thought over the plan after calming he continued to watch the cave exit as his bait had finally maid it into the clearing. a large stag entered the valley cautiously looking around it smelled the doe scent Fang had placed early and it had finally come to look. his stomach gurgled and he silently cursed the manticore "damn beast hurry up i'm hun-" before he even finished the though a flash of movement caught his eye from the cave mouth sprinting across the valley sharp whistling sound could be heard as more than 6 foot long barbs pierced the stag to the ground and the manticore followed soon after. Within seconds the manticore had already started dragging the now dead stag back to the den.
Fang steadied his breath and took aim for the neck drawing the bow back slowly and releasing the arrow flew smacking into the beasts neck and even tho it penetrated only a little it was more than enough with a yell he burst from his cover as the beast looked up at him counting down in his head"10" .the manticore roared flicking its tail as it dropped the stag and launching several poisoned barbs towards the now sprinting gnoll above;its muscles bulged as it launched itself with unnatural speed. "9" he e ran fast and hard already drawing his swords he heard the steady thunk of some of the barbs sank into soft ground and the scrape as others ricocheted off rocks behind him leaping foreword he dove behind another large rock as another volley came "8". The manticore practically flew up the side of the hill launching another volley right as the creature who dared attack it dodged behind a rock its failure to hit him only pissing off the beast more as it rounded for a better angle "7". Fang breathed hard as he saw the manticore again it had rounded out and gotten above him "shit,shit shit!!" he cried a bout of nervous laughter escaped soon after as he was forced to jump to the side after the newest volley a barb had ripped open the top of his snout . He pulled a small vial from his belt as ran angled down the hill for another patch of rocks and downed it the manticore poison already starting to make his face numb his tongue lolled from his mouth as he ran. Just before he made it to the rocks he was slammed as 400lbs of pissed off beast crashed into him and he felt claws pierce his side,tumbling down the hill and bouncing off rocks they separated at the bottom the beast scrambling as he tried to stand. "He that HA AH hurt a lot " he half laughed half growled as he stood on shaky legs blood poured from his side where its claws had found him ripping through the hardened leather armor.The Manticore circled around its fanged mouth drooling and one of its wings now broken from hitting a rock it lunged hate and murder in its eyes.Fang dodged to the side his hooked sword chopped into its shoulder but it still managed still managed to catch him with its tail slamming him into the ground it pounced he blocked the teeth mere inches from his face and roared back at beast in defiance.
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The struggle was fast the beast far stronger as it ripped the sword from his hands and stared down a malicious gleam in its eye and just as it dived its head back down it heard only a single word "one" its body froze its muscles not responding as its vision began to blur it fell over spasms wracking its body as it tried to crawl away.Fang quickly rolled over grabbing his sword and reaching for his belt and the healing potion that he had prepared along with the poison and the antidote only to find remnants of broken glass."D-damnit you stupid b-bastard masters gonna kill me" fang breathed out shakily as he stumbled towards the beast before raising his sword and delivering to quick chops once to crack its skull and another to enter its brain he slumped over against its side his vision more than a little blurry from blood loss.
Ding:level 6 reached you gain +4 strength,+4 toughness,+2 agility you have 2 free points
He read the notification in the corner of his vision when a familiar face loomed over him blocking the rising sun "He! good job you know you should really keep better hold on those potions Snaggle Fang" his master teased a serious look on his face as he tossed a potion "drink and get up your burning daylight ,get this corpse stripped " Fang grumbled quietly under his breath as he started to dress and clean the manticore its barbs housed a potent poison and its hide was perfect for armor.without looking up he asked "did i fail"? for a long moment he only heard silence as he worked and as his hopes fell his ear twitched it was light, concealed but a definite giggle was coming from behind him he turned to see his masters goofy grin all teeth" no boy you passed your a true hunter now".