It took me some time to reach the lone Imp and when I reached it I found it engaged in a battle with one of the Hellhounds. The Imp was desperately trying to defend itself as the Hellhound slowly wore it down by harassing it. I stayed for some time observing the fight before the Imp finally collapsed.
While the Hellhound was feeding I slowly approached it from behind using my ambush strategy. To my surprise however as I got closer the Hellhound noticed me and growled at me. It seems like my ambush strategy wont work on the Hellhounds. Even while it was distracted it noticed me.
I jumped back to gain some distance from it while I tried to come up with a plan. The Hellhound wasn't injured in its fight with the Imp so it'll probably be stronger than me. I'll need to use my brain to my advantage.
However the Hellhound wasn't going to give me time to think. With its fangs bared it lunged at me. With not much time to react I dodged to the side but not without sustaining an injury. Before I got out of the way my left leg was bitten. While it wasn't bleeding it hurt like hell. As I was studying the wound the Hellhound lunged again however with the element of surprise gone I barely managed to dodge it.
I continued narrowly dodging for a while until i figured out how to beat it. Thankfully it didn't seem very intelligent so it only ever lunged at me. It might work against other Imps but not against me. As it lunged once more i narrowly avoided it but as it passed me I sliced into its side with my claws. While the wound wasn't big enough to cause any serious damage it still hurt it and the Hellhound whined in pain. Now with both of us injured the fight turned into a stalemate.
We circled each other for a while. I didn't feel brave enough to approach it but neither did it. So while we were both bleeding out we continued the stalemate. Unfortunately I got injured first so it looked like I was going to lose. Getting desperate I fainted an attack against its injured side while sidestepping to get on its other side. Thankfully the Hellhound didn't see through my plan and I got in a hit on its right side. With the battle now in my favour I distanced myself and waited for it to bleed out.
[Gained Exp from Small Hellhound. Level has increased to 2. Gained 10 Attribute Points from reaching Level 2. Gained 5 Attribute Points from killing Small Hellhound.]
As I killed the Hellhound suddenly all my wounds healed. And my level increased as well. But I was really surprised. When it comes to attribute points Imps are garbage compared to Hellhounds. Not only did I level up I got 5 attribute points from killing the Hellhound. Though I discovered soon that their blood pales in comparison to Imp blood. While I was thinking of eating the bodies the blood seemed to have sated my hunger so I won't give up my last bit of humanity just yet.
I further increased my Intelligence and Agility by 6 each and put the rest points into Vitality. If I want to be able to stand up against the Hellhounds I will have to be able to survive longer incase I get injured. Still the injuries heal when I level up so as long as I don't die I should be fine. But I barely managed to avoid the Hellhound after figuring out its attack pattern. It's no wonder Imps have trouble dealing with them. They are faster than the Imps and their fangs and claws are stronger than ours. I doubt I would have survived if I hadn't had human level intelligence. After all being able to predict its attacks was what saved me.
But Imps started flocking around the corpses so it's time for me to take my leave. As I left a bloody brawl started over the corpses but I paid it no mind. While I intended to survive this wasteland unnecessary fighting would only leave me weakened incase more Imps started gathering around the corpses I left behind. And a weak Imp is a dead one. But still maybe I should kill some Imps since it helps me get stronger.
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As I was contemplating I returned to the hill I found earlier and looked around. I spotted a few Hellhounds in the distance but they where to far away for me to get them. There where also a lot of Imps around probably drawn here by the smell of blood. It wouldn't be hard to lay in ambush for them as I knew the terrain around here thanks to my elevated position. The only danger would be the corpses left after I killed the Imps but unless too many gathered I should be fine.
I found a nice spot in the are close to the pile of corpses and then waited behind a rock. While I agree it isn't the greatest ambush created by Impkind it'll do since the Lesser Imps aren't very intelligent. And lo and behold soon an Imp entered my vision. Without him noticing I sneaked up behind him and using my claws cut his throat. It was a quick death, or at least it was supposed to be. But the Imp was sturdier than I had expected and survived my sneak attack. Still he was bleeding heavily.
[Skill Stealth has reached Lv2]
Not know. As the voice rang out the Imp pounced on me and thanks to me being temporarily distracted managed to pin me to the ground below him. Panicked I tried to bite at him and push him of me but he was stronger than me. Much stronger. Still he got weaker by the second as blood poured out of the wound I gave him. The other Imp bit into my shoulder and I could feel my blood being drained. Still the wound was still bleeding so the Imp should collapse any minute. Then to my surprise the wound started to slowly close. Before long the Imps wound was closed and I could feel myself growing weaker. My only hope left was that somehow Inspect would give me some kind of way to defeat the Imp.
"Inspect"
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Race: Lesser Imp
Level: 1/15
HP: 6/18
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[Lesser Imp: The most common race in the first layer of Avernus. As they are large in numbers they are a food source for every other creature on the same floor. However in turn those who survive this harsh environment are stronger than any of the first layers inhabitants. They are also able to easily adopt to the need of the individual which means that the evolution options of an Imp will change greatly depending on the individual.]
Great information and all but not what I was looking for. I need to figure out how to survive this. As I was thinking I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. If I was ever going to do something it would have to be soon. But I wasn't strong enough to push it of me. My only advantage was my intelligence. Then an idea popped into my head. I closed my eyes and stopped resisting as I let my head fall to the ground with a thud. Please believe I'm dead please. Noticing that its prey was "dead" the Imp let go of its grip and started slashing into my body as it started carving out pieces of my flesh. But before it got anywhere I jumped up bit into its neck. The already injured Imp fell down on me as its blood dripped into my mouth.
[Gained 3 Attribute Points from killing Lesser Imp]
As the voice rang out darkness embraced me.
As I awoke darkness surrounded me. The only thing I could see was a floating ball of light. As I approached it it kept floating farther away from me.
"Inspect"
[Dark Knowledge can't identify Ball of Light.]
Since Dark Knowledge didn't help I had no other choice I started chasing the ball of light around. I don't know how long I was chasing it but at some point I noticed that the a red liquid was dripping from the ceiling. As I looked up a drop fell into my mouth and I felt the taste of blood on my tongue. At that moment the darkness disappeared along with the ball of light and I was met with the sight of a dead Imp onto of me. My wounds mostly healed. I didn't know how long I had been out but atleast I hadn't been attacked while unconscious. I removed the Imp and stood up making a note to myself to never underestimate an Imp again.