An hour had passed since L had set after the creatures, and he had not yet seen a single opportunity to strike. He had stuck within thirty yards throughout that entire time, and followed them out the cave and through stringy bushes and under fallen trees and even at one point, through their own shit.
The creatures were out hunting for food, L noticed, as they were constantly eating berries and searching for prey in a circular area around their cave, probably because it was safe and familiar. They had stayed within a kilometer distance to their cave.
Left and Right Eye Growth Progression 25/100
Vision Range increased by 5 meters.
Left and Right Leg Growth Progression 25/100
Sound caused by your feet has decreased by 5%.
L breathed heavily. Even with his decent Stamina and high Stamina regeneration rate, following someone, even with the cover of darkness, was surprisingly difficult. His body was tense and each move would have to be a calculated, conscious desire. The few times that nearly killed him were the times he momentarily lost focus and was low on Stamina, causing him to bend a branch or to step on a pile of leaves. If it were not for the pitch darkness L was moving in, and the tendency of Shadow's Embrace to thicken the shadows around him, the times where the creatures glanced at his position would have given him away. The few times where the creatures stopped for one reason or another, most of the time to shit or piss, had allowed L to recover a part of his Stamina.
Rank D Stalker was learned through special actions.
Stalking
Decrease visibility by up to 10%
Decrease sound by up to 10%
Decrease Stamina costs of Stalking by 10%.
You are now able to move 20% faster without altering your visibility or sound stats.
Your Tracking skill will gain a 25% increase when it is used on a target that you have recently Stalked.
Your Darkling blood has altered Rank D Stalking into Rank C Shadowing.
Shadowing
Decrease visibility by up to 10%. If in the shadows or darkness, this bonus can go up to 30%
Sound you make decreases by 10%. If hiding in the shadows or darkness, this bonus can go up to 30%
You are now able to move 20% faster without altering your visibility or sound stats. If moving in the shadows, this bonus can go up to 30%.
Decrease Stamina of stalking by 10%. If hiding in the shadows or darkness, this bonus can go up to 30%
Infused Attack: If Shadow’s Embrace is activated, then you will be able to charge Dark Mana into your first stealth attack, increasing the damage you deal proportional to the percentage Shadow's Embrace is activated.
L allowed his muscles to relax as the creatures hid in a bush, probably spotting something. He felt the shadows cling on to him like a light blanket. This was the skill he needed.
The one disadvantage to a secret race, was the fact that was a fucking secret race. The months of research L spent on the history of Null Online would be mostly fruitless in advancing his race progression. His research and the amount of money he spent to buy the transcribed history books did allow him knowledge of Darklings, and to receive the race by extension, but there were many different contradicting sources regarding their origins, beliefs, their impact on history, and powers.
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Not that L needed that information, of course, to figure out that Darklings do particularly well in darkness.
Stalking the creatures was easier now. Though L’s skill already boosted his stats, he tried to be as conscious of the effort as possible; this was a vital part in order to boost his growth. Learning how the magic works will increase its potency. He let the darkness cling to the skin beyond his hands and feet, and consciously attempted to somehow will it into thickening around his footsteps.
The effects were minor, but eventually, he’ll grasp at something.
The creatures began to split. Two stayed in the cover of the bush, their purple skin blending surprisingly well in the dark, and the other two went into opposite directions, one east and the other west.
They were surrounding something.
L started moving from tree to tree, eyes darting below him every so often to ensure he was not going to be stepping on a dead twig, as him getting discovered now and that way would be terribly tragic. L followed the creature going east. It held a dagger within his long fingers, and would probably be the one tasked with striking whatever they were hunting from behind.
The creature surely enough went around and stopped at the north-east of his allies. The creature stopped behind a tree and held its knife close to its flat chest.
L unsheathed his sword quietly and risked coming closer. His other flanking ally was probably situated to the north-west. Through the gaps, L could see that they were stalking some type of Wild Cat. Its dark-orange hair was standing sharp and rigid, with a few patches torn off throughout its back. Even from where L was standing he could hear its teeth ripping apart what looked like a rabbit.
L got closer, now only ten yards away. There were two ways the little hunters were going to do this: either they would all come out at the same time and risk the Wild Cat simply darting away through the gaps, or, as they were doing now, let two of them step in front of the creature and the two others would surprise it mid-way through the fight.
The two creatures lunged at the Wild Cat. One was able to get a decent whack against its skull as it was feasting, but the other slipped off its thick skin as the Wild Cat sprung back in wild alarm. It hissed wickedly at them as it constantly stepped back against wild swings, driving it further back. Each time it would attempt to capitalize on one of the purple creatures' mistakes, the other would drive it off with short and accurate strikes. They kept wearing the beast down, never really stepping too far within its bloody claw’s range.
The Wild Cat, becoming increasingly irritated by the two creatures odd tactics, thought of turning tail and to retreat. The Wild Cat was still hungry, however, and had left its meal behind. Losing patience, it pounced on one of the creatures. But its hunters did not jump back this time, as they had constantly done, but instead stepped forward and swung their wooden club towards it. It splintered against its face, dazing the creature slightly, but not slowing it down much. It landed on top of the purple creatures with its fangs ready to sink into its throat. It would endure the strikes of the other creature with its tough fur, the Wild Cat had decided. As a rain of blows struck it the purple creature under it attempted to weasel his way out of sharp claws and deadly fangs. He was protecting his throat with slim arms and was making himself obnoxiously difficult to kill, but just as the Wild Cat pried his limbs from his neck, and just before its fangs sank into the soft flesh, a sharp pain sunk into its back.
One of the other purple creatures had sunk his sword into its back, its sharp edges piercing the Wild Cat’s back and through its thick chest, and just barely missing its heart.
The Wild Cat hissed in pain and thrashed around, but the creature stuck to its backside, even as it began to run wildly. It attempted to escape but blind with fear and pain, as well as the grinding sword at its back, had caused the Wild Cat to run straight into a tree. It had threw off whoever was riding it against the tree as well, but the sword was still stuck in its body and it now was taking blow after blow by sturdy clubs.
The creature that was thrown off picked himself up and began to contribute to smashing the cowering creature into a pulp with his fists.
One of the purple creatures, the one who was smashing his half-broken club against the Wild Cat’s face as it attempted to hide it under its claws, wondered at the back of his mind where his fourth ally was.
Some sharp noise whiffed at his side. His comrade, the only one with an adequately unbroken weapon, fell and slid against his side. Sounds of pain and discomfort came from below him, but he ignored it in efforts to keep the Wild Cat from regaining its wits.
It was not until an arrow had pierced straight through his other comrade’s thin skull that he noticed that they were being ambushed.
The Wild Cat, realizing that the pain had been greatly lessened, peeked at its assaulter from the cover of its claws'.
Only one remained standing, the fear upon its childlike features evident. The Wild Cat pounced up, ignoring the broken club, and began to bite off the face of the creature. The creature under it howled.
“Krakikikikik!”
Another arrow flew into the Wild Cat, knocking it off balance. It took three more arrows until the Wild Cat slumped down and died upon the purple creature’s ravaged body. Its blood poured upon his body.
Surprisingly, the purple creature had enough energy to push the Wild Cat off of him. He began to crawl away. One eye was slashed, his nose and ear were bitten off, and most of the meat on its face, as well as some of its bones, were bitten off. Yet the creature still wanted to live. It wheezed briskly as it half-crawled-half ran away.
Hearing footsteps nearing, the creature glanced above him.
A short human was walking towards him, holding a short sword with purple blood dripping off of it. He sunk his blade into his fallen comrade, allowing the creature to see the bow strapped to its back, the same type as his ally, the Bugbear, was using to hunt the other human.
The human stopped and looked into the creature's eyes. He smiled at the creature, sheathed his sword, turned around, and began plucking the arrows off of the Wild Cat and his comrades.
The creature began to crawl faster. It was confused and terrified, but it did not care. If the human would allow him to live, then he would gladly get away. The creature stood up, using one of the trees as support, and began to limp away.
A few steps after, an arrow pierced its back.