"Hang on there cowboy, what's the thing's level first." Hal said while pulling Kyle back by the collar of his breastplate.
"Oh... right, I forgot that you guys couldn't see it. It says that it's a level 5 Highland Boar." Kyle said.
Ok, that's doable. The boss of the wave was a level 4 so this boar wasn't much higher than that. We also outnumbered it six to one. We all also had double the amount of skills we had last time and double the amount of fighting experience. A small part of my brain thought that this was overkill, but the rational part that was looking ahead to the future where I would be putting a piece of wood between me and a 150-200 pound boar thought that there weren't enough people.
Before the rational part of my brain could conjure up anything else on why this was a bad idea, I saw Hal give the signal. All of our ranged members fired off their attacks. We could all see the boar through the trees and we were roughly 30 yards out. The arrows were the first to hit, being faster than the ice bolt flying through the air. Kyle hit the front shoulder of the boar while Hal hit a couple of inches lower and over from where the front leg connected to the body. It was a perfect shot ... if it was a deer ... and you had an overpowered rifle that could get through the ribcage to pierce the heart.
When the two arrows hit, almost simultaneously, the boar went wild. It jerked so hard to the side that Alice's ice bolt missed completely. After being attacked the boar instantly noticed us and started charging towards us. Staring at an angry boar that was barreling its way towards me was a new experience, and not one that I was fond of.
When we were initially planning how we were going to approach this, someone had the idea of jumping over the boar when it charged so it flew by underneath us. In this moment I couldn't help but thank whatever god there was that we didn't decide on that plan. It didn't look very big from 30 yards away but as it got closer we realized that it was a lot bigger than we thought it was.
Standing at about four and a half feet tall, I didn't think that I could jump over it even if I had springs on the bottom of my feet. Jack and I shared a look that said this was not the smartest thing we ever agreed to. But we marshaled up some courage and walked slowly to meet it. Now we weren't dumb enough to actually meet its charge, the plan was to dodge to the side at the last second to get the boar to run into the tree behind us. Kind of like they do at rodeos with bulls. It was something that Kyle had come up with and nobody had thought of a better idea.
Watching it close the distance, I didn't know which part to be more scared of; the fact that much weight could move that fast, or the sound of breaking branches and hooves thumping rhythmically on the ground getting closer and closer. Jack and I both tensed, getting ready to leap to the side with all our might when an arrow hit right in the middle of the beast's forehead... sinking in less than an inch.
That did not spell good news. If the arrows couldn't penetrate the head to kill it, the only way to kill it would be to get a lucky shot through the eye. Or tire it out and stab it until it couldn't fight anymore. I could only hope that [Precision Shot] worked better than what I'd seen so far.
Jack and I both dodged out of the way of the charge quick enough not to get hit, but the boar didn't continue on and ram into the tree behind us. It slowed and veered out of the way quicker than I thought possible with the amount of momentum that the thing had built up. If I hadn't witnessed it first hand I would have thought that it wasn't possible.
With its charge broken, it was time for the next part of the plan where Jack and I held it in place so the ranged attackers could pepper it with attacks. I walked to one side of the beast while Jack walked to the other. We both had our shields up and braced with both hands, both hoping that the beast would turn and face the other. I even activated [Fortified Body] and felt my body strengthening with mana.
My luck had run out apparently because the beast chose me. We were only standing a few feet from the thing so it couldn't charge with a ton of force but when the thing hit my shield it took everything in my power not to lose my footing. It was like standing still while a 200-pound linebacker got a five-foot running start to smash into you. My higher center of gravity didn't help matters either.
I only had to hold it for a few seconds before it turned around and tried to maul Jack. While I had been holding its attention, Jack had used his sword, powered with one of his skills, and carved a gash in its hind leg. The boar quickly turned and tried to skewer the person that had injured it. Jack fared much the same as I had and got pushed back a few feet but mostly held his ground.
Seeing that now was my chance, I readied my axe to cut its back leg. After chopping trees for the past day and a half, I imagined that its leg was the trunk and I had to make my way through it. I had used [Power Strike] numerous times by now while chopping wood, so when my glowing axe broke the skin and hit bone I was surprised at its sudden stop. This thing's bones are like stone. [Power Strike] added a good amount of power behind my swings and when I was already swinging as hard as I could, I expected that I would have been able to do more damage.
The fight continued like that while Hal, Kyle, and Alice kept filling it with arrows or ice shards respectively. Austin didn't get to do much with the beast moving around as much as it did but still got a few stabs in. Turns out that his attacks were the most effective. Whenever the subtly glowing spear would find flesh, it made its way a good distance in before it stopped. After pulling it out blood would leak generously from the wound.
We continued like that for a good five or so minutes before the fight changed. I was getting exhausted; my lungs hurt, my body hurt, and I couldn't bring in enough air with every breath and I didn't think Jack was holding up any better. I could barely activate [Power Strike] anymore and [Fortified Body] was out of the question. The boar was way worse off. Its hind legs were both injured with gashes in multiple places, it had over 25 arrows sticking out from various places along with ice shards, and a few deep puncture wounds with blood flowing freely out of them.
I had been using [Power Strike] on its back legs every time it turned towards Jack and he had been using skills of his own when it turned toward me. I could tell that its back legs were about to give out, which would sign its death certificate. If it couldn't move, it was dead for sure. The boar must have realized the same because in a last-ditch effort it ran towards the one who had caused it the most pain, Austin.
Austin had been keeping his distance for most of the fight and only coming in for an attack every once in a while. He was making sure that he was ready if the beast suddenly rushed towards the archers, so when the boar turned and charged in his direction he was prepared. He braced his spear on the ground and I could see him activate [Fortified Body] by the mana wafting off of him.
The boar must have had a death wish, for it ignored the spear completely. It was gonna take this annoying one with him to the grave. The spear penetrated deep into the boar's chest but it didn't stop the boar completely. The charge landed and Austin went flying back a few feet before landing on his back. I could hear him groan when he landed and could only hope nothing was broken. I turned to the boar, which had finally succumbed to its injuries and fell to the ground.
The spear that was over a foot into its chest finally did the trick. Alice had run out of mana a while ago, and she was mostly just standing there, so when Austin went flying she was the first to rush over to make sure he was ok.
Now that the fight was over the notification popped up in my vision.
You have contributed in slaying {Highland Boar – Level 5} 3 Points earned.
I scanned the notification quickly and then closed it. It took everything in me not to fall over from exhaustion. It was a deep exhaustion that felt like more than just muscle exhaustion, like something else was wrung out too. I shuffled over towards where Alice was kneeling over Austin, who was groaning on the ground. Groaning was a good sign, it meant he's still alive.
"How is he?" I huffed out.
"No broken bones luckily, but he has a puncture wound in his stomach." Alice responded.
I inspected his stomach and sure enough, blood was seeping out of a circular wound. One of the tusks must have caught him when the boar rammed him.
"I'm putting pressure on it but there isn't much I can do until we get him to a healer. Why didn't one come with us?" Alice said.
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"You know why." Jack said before mimicking the voice of our Granddad, "If the unfortunate were to happen, we can't afford to lose any healers."
It was a morbid thing to say to a group before they went hunting, but it was true. There were only four Healers in the group and losing one wouldn't be good. It didn't help that most of the Healers were the mothers of the group who didn't wish to leave their kids.
"Looks like we'll have to carry him." Hal said while looking down at Austin.
"I don't know if I can carry myself back. I think I'm seeing spots." I said in between heavy panting for breath.
"I'll do it, plus I know the way back. You guys can carry the boar back after you catch your breath." Hal said while starting to pick Austin up in a fireman's carry. "One of you knows how to get back right?"
I knew, but Kyle beat me to it and gave his affirmation that he did.
Hal didn't stick around long after that. Austin's wound wasn't immediately fatal but waiting any longer wouldn't help things. Watching as Hal retreated into the forest I basically flopped on the ground with a light groan. Jack followed my example, leaving Alice and Kyle standing.
With nothing else to do, Kyle began removing the arrows from the boar and walking around the scene picking up all the ones that missed. Knowing that if we were successful, there would have to be a way to get it back, we bought some rope from the pylon and brought a sturdy branch that we could tie it to. The only thing that we were waiting on was Jack and I getting enough energy to be able to carry it back.
We rested for about fifteen minutes before we got up, any longer and I felt that I would fall asleep. The trip back was not enjoyable, but with four people switching out to help carry it, it was doable. It took double the amount of time that it would have taken without lugging the creature with us. When we got back there were some cheers of congratulations but there were some looks from people who thought that it was reckless. Austin's mom gave us a particularly nasty look, but she was never very pleasant to begin with.
Austin was all patched up by the time we got back but the nurses kept him on bed rest. It's amazing what magic can do. If that had happened before, it would have taken surgery and weeks of bedrest and rehab before it was healed. Based on the look on Austin's face, he did not appreciate all the people fussing over him. I could hear him trying to explain that he was fine and there wasn't even a wound anymore. It all fell on deaf ears though.
Hal already told the story of how it went but all of us got asked again anyway. My sister came to check on me personally to make sure that I was fine before moving on and checking the others. All I had were small cuts and scrapes. Jack was most of the same while Alice was just out of mana. Kyle was the best off with nothing wrong.
I was just glad that I didn't have to eat rabbit again for dinner. The boar tasted fantastic. Someone ended up springing for some seasoning from the store to add on, which really hit the spot. I think it was my Uncle Mark. I could see him arguing that it would be a crime to do without. He took his grilling seriously.
All said and done, I would say that it was a successful hunt. After adding up the points that we all got showed that it was worth a total of 25 points. Everyone got 3 except for Austin who got 10. I guess getting the killing blow gets you more. I think that everyone was happy not to have dried rabbit again and the boar was so good there was barely any left after the feast. I went to bed with a tired body and full stomach and was out like a light.
The start of the fourth day was the same as the previous three. Contemplating whether buying coffee from the shop was worth it. It wasn't, but I still thought about it before getting up for the day. A notification revealed I got an increase in Wisdom from training. The fight was the first time that I had run out of mana so that must be how you train that. I made a note to use my skills more during the day to help in training the magic related stats.
Since we had an excess of felled trees, my job switched to cutting them into planks or other workable shapes. 2 x 4's for framing and 4 x 4's for posts were the most common. We didn't have any tape measures so we used a stick that had notches cut into it to measure. It wasn't very precise but that wasn't strictly necessary. The funny thing was that I was pretty sure our planks were closer to 2" by 4" than the ones bought from the store.
The joking and happy attitude all changed around noon when we all got a notification.
Defend your claim!
Wave Start: 0:59
It was the same notification and timer as the first time. Everyone who was out came sprinting back to camp. Some of the little ones started crying and the whole camp was a flurry of activity.
No one was too far out from camp, likely already on their way back anticipating lunch in the coming minutes. Everyone did a count to make sure that we weren't missing anybody which came back clear. Not knowing which direction the wave was going to come from we assumed the same formation as last time, in a loose circle around the pylon.
The timer ran down and a minute later it hit zero. It was an eerie quiet while everyone searched the horizon for which direction we were going to get attacked. After some shouting in the section facing south, we had our answer.
All of us shifted position to be in the same formation as last time except this time facing south instead of east. It was a lot easier to see the enemy this time due to the fewer hills in the south and the slight decline in height from here to the forest.
Coming out of the forest was a mass of small animals easily more than the last wave. Last time there were around 50 rabbits along with the boss and this time there looked to be 60 or 70 of the things.
"Kyle!" Grandfather shouted trying to get Kyle to relay the information on what they were.
"It's a mix of Level 2 and 3 Forest Squirrels."
"Any sign of the boss?" Granddad said.
"Not yet, I haven't seen anything." Kyle replied.
It took a few moments but Kyle spotted the boss not long after. It was a level 6 Forest Squirrel that looked like it had a mix of rabies and steroids in its system. The wave proceeded much the same as last time. We waited for them to get into range and the rangers fired, followed by the mages.
The practice helped the accuracy tremendously. It went from atrocious, to just below average. Hal was the best but I figured it was his skill Precision Shot more than anything. There was a surprise when I saw one of the arrows split in two mid-air before coming down and hitting the ground. I didn't know that was possible.
It turned out to be the last Ranger's new skill [Splitting Shot]. My Aunt Carrie was the last Ranger of the three that we had, and I didn't talk with her much. The new skill was a surprise. It made the volleys that much more deadly and at this point, every little bit helped.
The practice really showed its worth when the mages started firing off their spells. With 11 projectiles being fired off, all with decent accuracy, the casualties started adding up for the squirrels. Even though there were more enemies than the last wave, since the ranged support killed more of them before they got to us, I was facing down the same -if not a lower- number of enemies as last time.
I reverted to the tried and true method of focusing on defense and only attacking when an opportunity presented itself. It was easier to defend against the leading charge of the little creatures because they didn't have the powerful back legs that the rabbits had to launch themselves at us. What they did have going for them was they were impossible to get off.
One of them got inside of my shield and it attached itself to my leg and started going to town, scratching the shit out of it. It didn't do much to the armor, but where claws met skin it drew bloody lines. It was death by a thousand cuts if it was packed in a small, two-foot ball of furry death.
I had never seen a squirrel so berserk in my life, there had to be something doing this to them. I didn't get much time to debate the reasons behind their attitude with them trying to claw me to death, so I shook the thought from my head and focused on the task at hand.
While getting scratched was painful it wasn't immediately life threatening. My biggest worry was letting more of these things attach themselves to me. I activated [Fortified Body] and the pain lessened from the scratches doing less damage. I put all my attention towards warding the things off.
I got a few decent swipes in with my axe but didn't make the same mistake as last time, overcommitting with my swing to open myself up to counter-attacks. After the initial charge and defense, all of the little buggers had picked their targets and scrambled toward them. With the reduction in numbers, there wasn't enough to overwhelm us. If someone had gotten singled out and ganged up on, it wouldn't have been a good time though.
We did most the same as last time and took them down a little at a time. During the fighting, I got time to reach down and grab the bundle of fury that was on me and I dealt with that one personally. I realized I may have used a bit too much force when its body exploded from my swing. I activated [Power Strike] subconsciously to deal with the menace. I may have taken my anger out on it, but the thing was the cause of it, so I felt justified.
The rest of the fight went most of the same way, and anyone that didn't have an enemy helped others and soon enough the only one left was the boss. The ranged attacks focused on it and being surrounded as it was, it didn't last long.
With the battle finished the notifications rolled in.
You have contributed in slaying {Forest Squirrel – Level 3} 3 Points earned.
You have slain {Forest Squirrel – Level 2}. 4 Points earned.
You have contributed in slaying {Forest Squirrel – Level 2} 4 Points earned.
...
You have contributed in slaying {Corrupted Forest Squirrel – Level 6} 3 Points earned.
You have successfully defended your claim! Extra experience awarded. 40 Points to all who participated.
Congratulations! You have leveled up.
Skimming over them revealed a lot more points than the previous wave. Counting them up showed that I got 75 just myself. The notification said that everyone got 40 points for a successful defense. Added together for all 30 of us was 1200 points just from that.
I saved those thoughts for later and limped over to where the healers were and waited for my turn to be treated. My aunt, who was a nurse before this, was going around checking on everyone's injuries and giving them priorities based on severity, and mine weren't critical so I had to wait my turn. Everyone on the front lines had varying levels of scratches and wounds but nothing that was life threatening. The healers could only cast their spell six or seven times before running out of mana, but there were 4 healers for the dozen people who were injured. Even if every injury took a couple of casts to fix, there wouldn't be an issue.
After I got healed, I lost my excuse to not help with cleaning up. Moving bodies turned out to be just as fun as the last time I did it; which was none at all.
*Ughhh, guess I have to get to it.*