The Great Gruu stretched out its wings and took flight, and Redmane realized in an instant of alarmed clarity what it intended to do.

It was going to pick him up and drop him into that mass of Gruu below.

He fled from it, turning and leaping to the next tree limb that would support his weight, and the next one. Not every guess was correct, some branches split or cracked the moment he landed upon them, but he was quick enough each time to find another before careening down onto the forest floor with it.

Thus far.

Redmane began to feel like it would only be a matter of time.

As he leapt and ran, bounding from tree to tree fast enough for the wind to blow back his hair, he focused his mind. Tried to find a solution.

Then it hit him.

The Skill! Their Skill!

He’d eaten some of them. More than one could grow wings. Which meant he could grow wings too.

Redmane’s mind reached into his body for the Skill. There was a small cost to pay, he felt it, fed Gnosis into his form…

Gnosis: 135

Carnivorous Metamorph

Wings exploded from his back. Redmane gasped at the pain of the sudden transformation. They were huge and strong, big enough to bear his form aloft, at once he could feel their strength, the air flowing over their surfaces.

He gritted his teeth, made those wings beat the air. They blasted leaves and twigs down at the forest floor and launched him from the treetops and into the early dawn sky.

And not a moment too soon. The Great Gruu bore down on him, it had closed the distance between them and was about to swoop in to catch him. Now it had to flap up over the treetops in pursuit, the claws on its hands gleaming as white as its teeth, its mouth contorted into a perpetual snarl.

He’d equalized one advantage, now it was time to see who had the upper hand in a fight.

The Great Gruu flapped its wings frantically, climbing to close the distance. Redmane gripped the haft of Morholt’s axe near the base, the better to take advantage of its reach. When his foe was close enough, reaching out with one of those claws, Redmane struck downward.

The blow cleanly severed its arm at the elbow. A clawed red hand tumbled for the treetops, disappeared with a rustle of leaves.

But the Gruu didn’t scream in pain. It didn’t even flinch.

It roared, spittle flying from its teeth, and a fresh new arm shot out from the bleeding stump to instantly replace it.

Redmane realized the Gruu might be his siblings or cousins or something.

This foe would not be beaten swiftly. He’d have to move, find a place where he could engage with it by itself, without the added peril of a sudden fall to the forest floor. The smaller Gruu down there wouldn’t be so fast as to swarm over him if he touched down somewhere far from where they had amassed. Even if they had some higher sense with which to locate their own kind, it would take them time to reach him.

So he turned to the north and flew as fast as his wings could bear him.

The Great Gruu gave chase. Redmane raised his arm to block the rays of sunlight shining in his face over the silhouette of the northron mountains. Below him he spied the peak of a small hill cresting up over the canopies of taller, older trees standing around its base. A perfect landing pad.

He angled his wings to descend, trusting the instincts in his body to do so properly. True to the description of the Skill, he didn’t even have to think about how to do it. It came naturally.

When his feet touched the earth he banished the Skill, felt a strangely painless tearing sensation as his wings split from his back and dissolved into reddish motes of Corpus and Gnosis before entirely disappearing.

The Great Gruu swooped down on him then, and he brought Morholt’s axe to bear.

An upward slice sheared though the Gruu from groin to chin, knocking it out of the air and sending it tumbling across the grass. It rolled to its feet and hissed as its wings retracted into its back with a squelching sound, and it came at him on all fours, running like a wolf for a second lunge.

He noticed the wound he’d left had already healed completely. This one must have quite a lot of vitality. He wondered if a different strategy would be better.

The Gruu lunged like a cat and Redmane moved his axe aside, struck its face with a claw. The System helpfully placed a tag on the Monster as the blow landed.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Bleeding (1)

It hissed and snapped at him again, swiping with its claw. Redmane barely evaded in time, answered with a claw of his own.

Bleeding (2)

So every time his claws scored flesh, another instance of Bleeding would be applied. Very good.

The Great Gruu slashed and bit like a wild animal. With one hand Redmane used Morholt’s axe to block, taking advantage of its splendid Defensive quality, and with the other hand he dealt blow after blow with his claw.

Bleeding (3)

Bleeding (4)

Bleeding (5)

He found it was a fine way to fight a beast. To let it flail in vain, bleeding out from wound after wound, eventually exhausting itself. Though it took longer than he’d hoped for the Great Gruu to reach such a state, it eventually did. Its blows and bites became sluggish. The growl in its throat became a gurgling rasp.

Redmane sensed the right moment, and struck.

The Great Gruu missed a wide, poorly aimed swipe and he dove in, jaws clamping down on its neck, spraying blood and snapping bone. It raked at his back with its claws but he bore down on it harder, hunched over its weakened form, biting off chunks of flesh and swallowing them down, eating it while it still lived.

Corpus: 901

Level Up

Level 22 —> Level 23

Level 23 —> Level 24

Quality Points awaiting allocation: 2

It was a surprising amount of experience. The little ones must have brought him close to leveling before this one came in. Glancing at his Qualities, he decided to place these two in Grace to help shore up the gap between it and the other two.

Grace 6 —> 8

Redmane hastily munched down the body of the Great Gruu. He could already hear hurried footfalls pelting up the hill. But not a great horde of them. It sounded like two. And they were human sized.

His hackles raised when he considered the possibility it might be two more Great Gruu.

But instead, two human men came running into view. The both of them were tall, though one was a head taller than the other. That one was thin as a rail with long, wiry limbs and a handlebar moustache, while his companion was the complete opposite. The other man was barrel-chested, with thickly muscled arms, stout legs, a huge round belly and thick mutton chop sideburns. Both wore mail shirts, and the skinny one had a sword belted to his waist and a longbow with a quiver on his back. The stout one carried a heavy crossbow and a pair of hatchets. He noted they also had the same shade of ruddy brown hair and light blue eyes.

Redmane crouched low, ready to pounce, lips pulled back in a snarl that showed his canines.

The two men stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him. Redmane struck a formidable figure even when he didn’t have blood on his teeth. then his face and claws were covered in it.

“Easy there…” said the tall one.

“What do you reckon it is?” said the stout one. “Another beastman?”

The tall one shook his head. “Doesn’t look it. The beastmen have red eyes, this one’s are yellow.”

“Hair’s off too,” said the stout one. “Look at that color, red as fresh blood! Never seen it’s like before.”

Redmane stood to his full height, and the two men took a step back from him.

“I am no beastman,” he said. “Though I too was touched by the Blight, it seems to have changed me in a different way.”

The duo looked equally startled to hear him speak.

“Truly!” said the tall one. “And ah, what brings you out to the forest on this fine morning?”

“Last night I conquered Häerz Castle. It is now a Sanctuary for my Faction. Today I hunt the Monsters of Midva Forest, to claim it as well.”

Both their eyebrows raised. The tall one said, “I see…” and then he seemed to be looking at an object over Redmane’s shoulder.

Redmane realized both of these men had one too. He’d seen it before when he met Magister Helmold. There was a small glowing sigil in the air by their heads, a mark of the System.

He opened them both.

—

Valtr Khazador

Class: Hunter

Archetype: Marksman

Faction: None

Level: 20

Vengarl Khazador

Class: Hunter

Archetype: Trapper

Faction: None

Level: 20

—

“Well met, Valtr and Vengarl,” said Redmane. “Redmane is my name.”

Valtr’s handlebar moustache stretched out over his yellow teeth as he smiled.

Vengarl folded his burly arms and nodded his approval.

“A fellow Hunter!” said Valtr.

“Aye, and one with a fine Archetype,” said Vengarl. “Hadn’t seen this one yet. Predator… Sounds fearsome. Did you know there were four?” he said, as he side-eyed his brother.

“There’s more than four,” said Valtr. “It doesn’t show you the ones you can’t pick.”

Vengarl grunted.

“I’ve told you why I’m here,” said Redmane. “Now I ask the same of you. Why have you come to this forest.”

Valtr nodded. Then he turned and pointed to a spot to the southeast. “ down the way there’s a camp of brigands. When the Blight struck they all became beastmen, like most of the folk in this land. And they’ve got a load of hostages caged up, the ones who didn’t transform.”

The tall hunter had a stricken look on his face when he turned back to Redmane. “Word is, they’ve been using those hostages for food. Eating em alive. Making the others watch. Ghastly stuff, it is. No one deserves to go out like that.”

Vengarl nodded. “We came to free em, bash some heads in and level up. Except we came in on the wrong end of the forest and we’ve been neck deep in Gruu.”

“I appear to have made the same mistake,” said Redmane.

Vengarl let out a hearty laugh. “Aye, we heard all that commotion and came runnin!”

“If you aren’t careful these little buggers will mob right over ya,” said Valtr.

“So I’ve noticed,” said Redmane.

He glanced between the two Hunters, thinking.

“You say you’ve come to free the folk of Barograd,” said Redmane. “Did you also mean to clear this Zone of foes?”

“It would take some care and patience. Midva’s a mighty big place,” said Valtr. “But such things aren’t impossible. We two Imbued could likely do it, if we took our time.”

“How about we three then,” said Redmane. “I help you free them, you help me with my Tasks. This Zone will become a part of my domain and you’ll be free to come and go as you please.”

Valtr’s moustache twisted thoughtfully. “You have territorial ambitions, aye?”

Redmane nodded.

“Would there be space in your Sanctuary to host the survivors, until another safe place can be found?”

“Of course,” said Redmane. “I plan to liberate the town as well when I’m done here. But until that time they’re free to shelter in the castle.”

Vengarl rubbed his chin. “One share of the loot per man?”

“Acceptable.”

Valtr and Vengarl exchanged a look, nodded at each other. Valtr reached out his hand with a smile.

“We have an accord.”

Redmane clasped hands with the Hunter and returned the smile with one of his own.