Jason continues his travel through the trees. Despite his worries the Snarltails just are not prepared to have the tables turned on them. His sneak tactics net another four of the cats easy enough. The only problem is how long it takes to find them in the first place. Those four took him the rest of the day and halfway through the next. As it is he would take longer, then he has time left on his room at the inn. Disappointment all around as far as it concerns him.
“Today is the fourth day since I rented the room. I should finish today and go two more before heading back. After that though I will have to be a bit more risky. Good thing the tail quest lets me turn them in as I get them.”
The day passes by and Jason only finds one more Snarltail. At this point he doesn’t even have to think about it. Hide Lily in a tree, sneak up behind it, when it goes to pounce land a kick, and beat it down by crippling the limbs. While the fight takes longer than the first, that is because he spaces his Blast Punches out. Even the System can see the fights are no longer a challenge. The xp he gets has stayed the same but Blast Punch has gained a little more over the last 5 fights than it gained with the first.
Jason throws his hands up at the problem and settles in for a night of cultivation. Although he bought the portable planter Jason had yet to use it. His plants still are just the potted Energy Herbs. Though at this point two of them are mostly dead and the other four are not much better. Jason grimaces at them when he sets them out. The last few days had been nonstop for him and the chance to farm had not come up. At this point the herbs did not even do much for his cultivation. The more alive ones barely able to keep the berries preserved. The only upside is his attempts to keep them alive has benefited his Farming skill.
With the plants set out Jason settles down in the center. Lily after she eats one berry and hops over to settle into his lap. He smiles down at her and after a few pets starts to meditate. All around them trees sway in the wind and the peaceful blanket of night settles over the land.
Half way through the night a deer stumbles upon their camp. As it approaches a slight jingle breaks the silence of the night. Spooked by this the deer dashed off away from the meadow. A closer look reveals a bit of twine circles the camp at shin height. Along that piece of twine small brass bells are hung. Then if one was to look a couple strides further in another circle can be seen. Though this one is made with a thread and Jason has blackened the bells. Jason had considered a tree to camp in but in the end tossed the idea. While he had yet to see a Snarltail climb one, it made little sense for them to not be able to do so. With that in mind a clearing would allow for better security measures. Because he cultivates out here instead of sleeps, the soft tinkle of the bells is enough to alert him. The outer ring is to warn off things like deer as was just seen. The inner ring was to catch those that meant harm. If both rings went off, it was likely a Snarltail out past its bedtime. However if only the inner ring sounded out it would mean either a person or a flier. With the outer ring being easy to see Jason expected anyone who meant him harm would miss the inner ring.
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The next couple days go about the same except he finds even fewer Snarltails. Jason can understand this as they are larger predators so spread out. However after only three more over two days it hits home for him. While he had understood this was a living world Jason had still somewhat expected some sort of respawn. All he can do at this point is sigh. After he finishes back in town, the next destination will be closer to the goblin infested plains. Jason had wanted to stay away from there until he was ready to make the breakthrough but population density will force his hand.
Next morning Jason decides to finally take care of the Energy Herbs. He harvests the last few berries that have survived and turns the pots out into the clearing. After considering the pots for a while, he keeps them for the moment. Even after his backpack changes at level ten they won’t take up much space. Plus he can use them if he finds any live plants to gather and his planter is full. Finished with packing up Jason picks up Lily and heads back towards town.
As he runs through the trees and meadows more animals can be seen. There are even some smaller herbivores around. Jason can only guess that the Snarltails might prefer smaller prey. He can see how that would work as well. If their tails can work like a snake, then a squirrel would slip right in no problem. With the return of small critters though the area will repopulate with Snarltails in a season or two.
Jason remembers the guild only had a single quest for the tails up and it was not a repeatable one. He must have gotten lucky to grab it. The tails have a decent value to them so they might only put the quest up when the population has recovered. There might even be quests to check on the population at other times. After all not much stops others from hunting them. It is only their lower levels compared to the adventurers in the area that likely keeps them around.