Mosh stirred out of his meditation, the forest unchanged. He could hear the cries and songs of birds, or maybe lizards considering what he had seen earlier. The light coming down was diffused by the leaves, there was no way for him to know the time.
The time is nine hours, Earth reckoning, since the Candidate arrived in this world. While it appeared early morning on arrival, no determination as to local time can be made as the candidate has been in this world for sufficient time to determine the length of the day or what actual time of arrival was.
The text surprised him, though he was getting used to its sudden appearance. Useful information, letting him know how long it had been. But if it had been nine hours, it brought into question how many hours of daylight remained, and he wanted to find shelter before nightfall. He stood, stretched, and pondered the best way to go, knowing only of the sea and cliff behind him. He shrugged, when completely ignorant, any direction was better than no direction, and no choice a choice to give up. Shrugging his backpack into a more comfortable position he moved in the opposite direction to the cliff, heading deeper into the forest.
He trudged on, carefully watching his footing, still trying to move silently, still failing to overcome the hazards of the terrain in doing so. He halted, retrieving his water bottle to relieve his thirst, and to use a towel to wipe sweat from his forehead that was rolling slowly down into his eyes, bringing with it a slight sting of discomfort. He regretted butchering the towel, but he hadn’t thought to pack a sweat band, and a strip from the towel, wrapped around his head and tied off, served the purpose well.
As he finished tying off his new sweatband, he caught a flash of colour from the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he could not see it, even staring in that direction with his
Mosh made sure his grip on the spear was firm, yet not stiff or inhibiting. He loosened his shoulder, straining his eyes, channeling chi to them, trying to enhance his vision further, straining to break the camouflage of whatever watched him.
Sensory sensitivity enhance level increased, Basic Level 2 achieved.
Mosh was started by the sudden appearing text, shaken out of his concentration. It was welcome news, but it came at an inappropriate time.
Candidate’s frustration at sudden intrusion noted. Notifications will be withheld until candidate is not under stress.
Sighing mentally, Mosh returned to his search but even an increase in his Sensory Sensitivity was insufficient to break the camouflage of whatever beast was out there, though he did spot what looked like a tunnel opening of some kind through the trees and bushes leading into the ground. He scratched his nose, trying not to sneeze as pollen blew off from a nearby flower, reminding him of something he had forgotten, perhaps not too surprisingly since humans did not generally make use of their sense of smell for tracking, but his was chi enhanced!
He took a sniff, concentrating on the different smells. The smell of rot from the mulch below. The wet leafy smell of bushes with drops of water pooled within leaves and flowers. A sickly-sweet scent from the flower near him, and the smell of rotten meat from another that looked innocent and unassuming. And the smell of wet fur from up ahead, the creature hidden, but its smell not masked.
With a direction, and knowing an approximation of where it was, Mosh slowly stalked forward, alert and prepared. Still, he was almost caught off guard as a large cat like being pounced out of the shadows towards him. Between his alertness and enhanced reflexes from his Tier 3 body, he dived out of the way, the creature shot past him, landing on its feet and almost instantaneously turning towards him, crouched, teeth bared, as it snarled in his direction.
Barmenash Home
“Ma, Pa, come quick. They are showing Mosh, and he is facing a monster” The voice of Elise, the twelve-year-old sister of Mosh rang out. It was her turn to watch, someone always watched just in case Mosh was shown. No one expected it this quickly, he hadn’t even been in for day!
Sarah came running, scared for her son! Not even a full day yet, and he faced a monster. Avrami rushed in from outside, the commotion having spread out there. He was not in the fields, the Mileu workers still there, only leaving in a week, giving the family time after their son entered the Game.
Sarah grabbed him, clinging to him, their children and grandchildren crowding in, the room overflowing. Mothers with toddlers and small children shooed them out, a few ladies from the Earth Mileu contingent coming forward to take them in hand, leading them to a play area. The rest, paled as they watched and as the image of the screen focused on the monster facing Mosh.
A large cat, perhaps four feet high at the shoulders with prominent fangs and sharp teeth visible as it snarled. Small tentacles writhed around its mouth, twin pupils shining in each eye.
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“A Prowl Hunter. We had them featured in school in lessons last term. They have amazing camouflage! Moshi must have evaded its first take! WOW, that is already amazing!” Followed by a sob, “but they are really strong. Moshi, you better win!”
Another young voice piped up, “Yeah, he avoided that, but look at its teeth, and it claws. Do you think Mishi will be alright?”
The silence after that was thick, no one wanting to voice their fear, nor wanting to bring bad luck down on him, instead they watched as the big cate circled. They saw Mosh prepare his spear, and watched it burst into flame as the Prowl Hunter charged towards him.
“He can use mana! Go Mosh, go, burn that damned cat.” The voice of Caleb shouted out, only for him to get a withering stare form his mother as he was meant to be with the other young children, but his eyes were so glued to the screen he did not even notice. The stare broke quickly as her attention was drawn back to the drama unfolding.
Mosh crouched, ready for another charge of the Prowl Cat, the flames of his spear out. He could be seen examining the Prowl Cat, his eyes emitting a faint glow. A few of the older people present were taken aback, recognizing the indications of another ability which seemed to ne body cantered and thus most likely chi driven.
Avrami could be heard comforting his wife, “Look, another awakened ability, a chi one. Not even a day and he has two enhancements! Our son will be alright!” Sarah clung to him, her eyes not leaving the screen, praying her husband was right.
A gasp went up, almost universally, as the Prowl cat moved, this time almost too quick to be seen, yet Mosh seemed to follow it, his body moving to evade the bite, his once again flaming spear deflecting the claws. He spun, faster than the prowl cat as it landed, his spear thrust forward, its blade cutting its back, dissecting its spine just above the tail. The cat howled as its hind quarters collapsed, paralyzed with the severing of its spinal cord, flames spreading as the fur could not resist the heat of the mana fueled flames. Mosh did not leave it in misery, he withdrew his spear, moving to stab again, the spear penetrating just below the head, the blade sinking in further, stilling all movement as it penetrated the brain bypassing the skull, entering from below. They could see Mosh relax, and the image stilled with an announcer’s voice doing a voice over.
“To all the Game aficionados out there, it looks like there is a new Gamer to watch! Newly awakened a week ago, in the Game for less than a day and he already has two enhancements! Let us not forget the masterful combat display we just saw! A take down of a Tier 3 Prowl Cat, with no injuries to him. Seems to be one to sponsor and bet on. I for one look forward to seeing more of this future star!”
Sarah cursed, swearing at the announcer. “He is not your entertainment!” Her angry shout reverberated around the room, Avrami clutching her harder, trying to soothe her.
“Ma,” Gideon her oldest son came forward to embrace her as well. “We cannot stop them watching, but it is better they follow him, make him their star.” His face was angry, “I hate the abuse and the way they use him, but if they push him, then he will also attract sponsors and that means gifts and a greater chance to survive!”
Sarah broke down, held in the arms of her husband and child. Her son had been taken, forced into a deadly game, and all they could do was watch.
Mosh
Mosh looked at the body of the Prowl cat below him. He could feel the mana exhaustion. He had tried to flare his mana, only use it as needed to try and preserve it, but that had backfired. Reigniting it as the cat charged used more mana that if he had just left it burning. He sighed to himself, knowing he would learn. And now that the combat was over, notifications flared in front of him
Chatul Leshoteit killed. Body enhancements points earned: 3. Body enhancement points needed to next Tier 5/1000. Mana enhancement points earned: 3. Mana enhancement point needed for next Tier 5/1500. Evolutionary essence gained: 3, Evolutionary Essence to next Tier 5/100. Evolutionary Potential points gained 3, Evolutionary Potential Points to next tier 5/6600. Evolutions offered: Retractable Claws, Fangs, Mouth Enhancement
The Mana records seemed to have different names to what he had been taught at school. He remembered these as Prowl cats, from school lessons and the revision of various monsters with Shiel. Tier 3 ambush hunters. It seemed his Indices rose according to the Tier of the creature and if it was used. He would need to find a way to utilize those that had not yet been used. And considering the number of points needed, he had to find a way to enhance the number of points needed or it would be a long time before anything advanced!
He eyed the evolutions, scared of what they meant for him, but knowing he would eventually need to start utilizing them. He was not yet prepared to mar his face, but claws might prove useful in situations where he lost his spear or could not reach it. He closed his eyes, mentally accepting the one, accepting that soon he would no longer be fully human.
His hands and feet tingled, he felt pain, not devastating but there as bones altered themselves, as skin stretched. It did not take long, perhaps ten minutes, and he looked down at his hands. His fingers were fatter than before, the top joints longer, the skin taking on a leathery texture. But claws were not visible. With that thought, claws extruded from the top joints of his fingers, sharp, deadly looking claws that were around five centimeters long. With a thought they retracted. He had evolved the claws of the act, retractable and hidden.
Mosh stood, the spear feeling clumsy in his newly evolved hand. He would need to practice, get used to the changes, he could not afford to let it bring him down. He moved towards the tunnel he thought he had seen during the battle. With any luck it was this creatures lair and now empty.
The roof was low, forcing him to crawl as he entered, his spear still in hand and being pushed ahead of him. In his other hand he had activated mana globe, its light pushing ahead of him. For a moment he contemplated running away, scared of what might attack him as he crawled through, but knowing he had to investigate so as not to leave a possible enemy behind his back. He crawled forward, the feline smell overwhelming him. A breeze from deeper within wafted over him, highlighting the stench of the cat. But his usage of smell was too new, too untrained, and he could not tell if there had been just the one, or if multiple Prowl Cats lived down here as pride. All he could do was crawl forward and hope his memory of the Prowl cat being individualistic and territorial, except in mating season, was correct.