Notice: I mended two things in chapter 4. Nothing important, really. Just that in stat window, the hp and mp are displayed now like that: current/max. Sorry about that, I'm writing now so you won't be surprised the next time a status window shows up. Have a good read!
Chapter 5: What unexpected happens twice
Ken found himself deep in shit. Let us start from the meeting with demonic Black Panther.
After frantic escape of Dennis and Harry, Ken was left looking straight in the eyes of enormous black feline. At a first look it was a typical panther-like animal - black fur, green eyes. At the same moment though, it was full of muscles and was the size of an average horse carriage, one which is harnessed by a single horse - the smallest kind.
Ken stared straight in the nuzzle of demonic carnivore with cold sweet running down his back. Although he was saved from a sure death, another grim reaper was way too close.
In the meanwhile, the panther started moving. It was creeping upon the youth growling, nearing to him as if he was a point a bit above the center of a circle. The human was racking his brain furiously, but didn't manage to think of any way that would help him with that situation. So he managed to do only one thing - he yelled.
"Cat Mode: on!"
You have activated sustained mode: Cat Mode
It is a mysterious skill available only to your class. Actually, you are the only one who has this skill. Why do you keep piling the work up for me? Anyway, due to activating it for the first time, the information about it will be added to the skill list. Even though I say that, you have to figure out most information first, nothing for free. Well, actually, one thing is for free: you are able to more or less communicate with any being that have at least some affinity with cats. Also, the sustained mode will freeze half of your mana, which is necessary for sustaining it. On the bright side, your mana regeneration will work as usual and the sustained mode won't deactivate unless you say so. Have fun with the kittens!
Suddenly, the feline's growl started making sense.
"...I'm asking one last time, who are you and what the hell do you think you are doing on my territory?!"
Ken looked at him with shock, but quickly snapped out of it. Time was of importance.
"Ee, mm, I am just a passerby."
"Oh really? Wait, that appearance... I thought there was something strange with you..."
'Really, what a pain... what did it start seeing now...', thought human, fatigued. But out loud he said something else, "Please don't mind me, boss, I will quickly be on my way and you will never see me in your territory again..."
As he was saying that, he started to withdraw slowly and cautiously. But the next words he heard froze him on a spot.
"B,Boss? Heh, heheh, I like the sound of that! All right, I decided, from today you are my underling!"
'What the fuuuuuck?!', Ken felt like screaming. He was a lazy person at heart, and after those crazy events there was something even more crazy?! The cat who sounded happy as he said that - human barely registered that through his disbelief - suddenly released a powerful killing intent.
"What, you don't want to?"
"No, but of course, it will be a great honor for someone like me to serve under you, boss!"
You have become an underling of Black Panther! Congratulations, lackey!
"Heheheh, that's more like it. My name's Black Panther, what's yours?"
"Ah... it's Ken.
"Good, follow me, Ken!"
And thus Ken found himself an underling of the wild feline.
***
The youth soon resigned himself to his fate. Black Panther, what a 'surprising' name for a black panther, was a loner. That was a relief - human didn't know what he would do if he was to interact with a whole group. He decided to use this situation to his advantage and started looking for opportunities to become stronger.
"Boss, actually, I am pretty weak. If you could lend me your, em, paw sometimes, I'm sure I'd be a lot more of use to you."
"Hah, and then what? Challange me? You think I am stupid?"
'Che, looks like it won't be that easy', Ken thought annoyed.
"Well, we will look and see. For starters, I'm hungry. Follow me, we are going hunting."
You have joined Black Panther's party. Congrats, lackey.
Now that Ken thought about it, he was pretty hungry as well. Thus he followed.
"Good. I can smell a boar in that direction. Go taunt it and run in my direction, so I don't have to do it myself. I will be in these bushes."
You have received a quest, First hunt with Black Panther.
Get a boar running close to the bushes where Black Panther is laying in wait so he can prey on it.
Rewards: Quick and successful hunting. Black Panther's good mood.
Quest rank: F
'Great, what a hassle', thought human to himself. Meanwhile, his 'boss' hid to lay in ambush.
But, whatever. He was hungry anyway, so he may as well do it. He looked around to memorize the area, and when he was sure he would recognize it, he went into the mentioned direction.
The distance was greater than he thought. Probably because of something like lack of common grounds when it came to measuring distances. Nevertheless, while he walked quietly, he noticed the boar before it could notice him. Young man scrutinized the animal.
It was a big, brown boar, full of muscles and with big, sharp tusks. It seemed to be alone and was eating something after searching for it in the grass, perhaps mushrooms or nuts. Either way, Ken had to do his job so he decided to be about it already. He only waited a bit first to make sure it's alone. It was.
Ken jumped out in the open with a quiet snap of branches fallen in the grass. The boar turned extremely fast and looked at the human with threatening eyes. It didn't let out a sound and just looked at the unknown, bipedal creature in front of it.
"Hey, stupid pig, you can't touch me!", Ken taunted while lightly spanking his ass which he leaned towards the animal, then showed it his tongue and let out a hoarse laugh.
The boar was not impressed.
It just snorted at him and came back to eating with it's snout in the grass, only looking every now and then to have strange bipedal creature in it's sights.
But young swordsman was not the one to give up halfway. He looked around, found a small pebble and threw it at animal's head. It made an angry, pig-like squeak and looked angrily at the perpetrator, who in turn was standing with another pebble in his hand and was throwing it in the air to catch it with the same hand continuously. Because the animal didn't make any other reaction, he threw it once more, this time harder. The creature's HP lowered by a few points and it charged mad at the human.
It was what Ken was waiting for. He run straight in the direction of the trap laid by Black Panther.
It was hard, and human was almost caught up with. Boar also lost interest once little after half the way, so young swordsman had to taunt it some more. He could swear the boar was red from fury now, with steam coming out of it's nose and veins popping on the forehead. They would arrive at the ambush soon.
Suddenly, youth felt pain in his posterior. The infuriated boar tackled him with his tusks! Last 100 meters to the bushes where Black Panther was waiting was filled with continuous instances were boar would catch up with Ken, prickle him in his buttocks which in turn made the prickled run faster for a moment so he would get ahead of the angry animal, and then he would be caught up with again.
Such a circle went on and on.
The salvation came when he finally crossed the point of no return in front of the bushes where Black Panther was concealed - the feline launched itself from hiding, immediately assaulting the prey, which failed to notice the danger until it was to late. A growl, a squeak, and everything was over.
Black Panther laughed.
"It was a fabulous spectacle. Good job out there, underling. It would be a pain to catch up with that boar if I had to get it myself."
You have finished the quest, First hunt with Black Panther!
Ken looked at the hunted boar, saliva dripping from his mouth.
"Hey boss, can I have a leg? I'm quite hungry, you know"
Suddenly the feline's mood took a 180 degree turn.
"Huuuh? I am THE BOSS, you are AN UNDERLING! What kind of bullshit are you spewing?"
"Huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me, it's only normal that the stronger one feasts first and the weaker one waits for his turn!"
"Ah... I'm sorry, boss, I went ahead of myself."
"Humph! It's the first time so I'll be benevolent and pardon it, but the next time I'll snap your neck!"
"Yes, boss. It won't happen again."
'Shit. Is this supposed to be a 100% affinity with cats!? Ah, Black Panther is a demonic cat. But, shit, I will repay him one day for this!'
Thus, the daily life with a puss on a dark side began with a sore ass and scraps from a boar that have been nibbled on.
***
Certain day, approximately a month after the class change.
Ken and Black Panther were resting after a hunt. The prey was a large one - a buffalo, so the big cat was generous today and let Ken eat a whole leg. Well, the human sneaked out to hunt by himself last days, he was at the level where he could fight lesser demonic opponents.
After eating the demon flesh for the first time youth quickly noticed that it had a negative influence on his body. Probably it couldn't wholly utilize the food, especially demonic particles. It might've been dangerous if Ken didn't had somewhat profound knowledge of herbs and didn't add two of them to his meals: one to counteract the food poisoning, and the second to drastically improve digestion. The second one was rare but thankfully there was plenty of it here. After three weeks of such meals, he unexpectedly gained a skill.
You have gained a new skill
Iron stomach (passive) beginner [1] 13%
You are able to digest food that no normal people would bother with. Currently able to digest:
-Demonic flesh
Also, your resistance to poisons is heightened. Current bonus: 10%, rises with the level.
That was a rather pleasant surprise. Anyway, Ken decided to try getting advice from Black Panther.
"Boss?"
"Mm... hm?"
"Can you give me a hint to get stronger?"
"Hm... Well, ok. I guess it will benefit me as well if you get a bit stronger. Listen, it's about fighting spirit. If you arrive at a certain threshold, it will be upgraded. The first upgrade is aura - you can project your fighting spirit so that the weaker creatures will instinctively be afraid of you. With time, you will be able to select who you want to affect and who not, as well as the distance. Well, it's the practice that matters. That would be all for now, I'm hitting the hay."
After a surprisingly long advice a loud snoring reverberated across the clearing.
'Hmm, Black Panther was rather unexpectedly benevolent today. Well, let's have a look at my stats - it has been a while.'
He checked the status window.
'Whoa! I've got lotsa points to allocate. Better do that already. Also, it seems that some stats have risen by themselves... gotta be the result of hunting here...'
Without delay, he did so.
Status WindowNameKenAlignmentNeutralLevel252ClassCopycatTitleRole-playerFame750Health2671/2671Mana2300/2300Strength466Agility429Vitality260Stamina2520Wisdom90Intelligence230Endurance71Luck43Fighting spirit94Leadership13Attack93Defense71Magic ResistanceNoneUnallocated points0
Bonus statsEquip Bonuses: +110 Atk +60 Def +10 Fighting spirtSkill Masteries Bonuses: +208% to attack with one-handed sword and +14% to other weapons or unarmed damage
'That's considerably better. Gotta grind the fighting spirit now...'
After allocating points and thinking that, Ken himself drifted away to the dreamland...
***
A few days later an unusual guest has arrived.
Normally, the only creatures dwelling on the territory of Black Panther are small animals that do not feel threatened by him due to their small statue, in other words - pathetic level of satiety gained upon eating them - and occasional young herbivores that don't know any better. Every animal experienced in the ways of the world and knowing the laws of the jungle won't get close no matter the reason. Thus, the feline has to hunt on the borders of his territory, unwillingly expanding it bit by bit with every feast.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
But, let's get to the matter on hand: the unusual guest consisted of a pack of wolves, led by a slender, yet giving off a feeling of strength, werewolf. It had silver fur, and there were two scars on it's body: one going over whole right side of his chest, and another on his right eye, which was closed by the way, hinting that the eye socket was empty or unable to fulfill it's raison d'etre.
With him, a dozen of wolves came. There were three kinds of them, all visibly different. There were: two silver wolves, the biggest and probably the strongest ones, six brown ones, seemingly the weakest and obviously the smallest, and four black ones, stationed in the middle in the terms of size and, likely, strength.
Black Panther and Ken obviously noticed the intrusion. It would be difficult not to, since the wolves were manifesting their arrival with mighty powerful fighting spirit.
"Ken, go and ask them whatever they want. I would like not to bothered after a meal."
"Yes, boss!"
Feline assigned the task to his underling and lied down on the grass to savor the tender touch of the afternoon sun rays.
"What art thou seeking?", the wolves were asked by Ken in a mocking manner. Both him and the panther already knew it, but they wouldn't fight now unless provoked.
"A human? Hahaha, this is to good. I didn't think there still would be any living one in the forest."
"What do you mean!?"
Did that mean that there were people in the forest at some point in time?
"Oh, a little savage is upset. Listen, puny hairless monkey, I've personally slain more of your kind than ever lived in that sorry settlements you call home. I've mastered the art of killing your sorry species before you were even born. I will soon proceed to teach you the true definition of pain while breaking every single bone in your body before I kill you, but now get out of the way, since I've got talk with Black Panther."
"I will kill you!"
After the whole speech of the werewolf Ken could barely contain his anger. The werewolf has just set up a deathflag with his words and it was not to be revoked.
But for now, from behind the human's back a voice could be heard.
"Enough! What do you want, Silver?"
"You should have your hairless monkey on a tight leash, Black Panther. Not to mention the point of keeping that measly creature."
"I will deal with that matter later! For now, state your business!"
"Oh, with pleasure. I've came to reclaim what was rightfully mine."
"Huh, rightfully you say? There is only one set of laws in the forest, the laws of nature. The strong prevail and the weak crawl in the mud. What you are saying isn't even amusing. Or did you forget who dealt you the blow on your chest that left you with that scar?"
"Grr, enough! You will regret the day when you spared my life. This time, my pack is two times stronger, and even two times as big! Go get them!"
After he barked the order, the combat began.
"Underling, go kill them, I'm gonna take a nap", murmured Black Panther while laying his head on his paws.
"Yeah, yeah...", an unenthusiastic reply came.
"This impudent...! Get him first!"
Ken unsheathed his sword whilst the whole horde - minus Silver - rushed at him.
The wolves seemed to equal his level, at least the weakest ones that attacked him first. Well, they were still demonic creatures, so he had to be careful. Thanks to his experience in fighting animals demonic herbivores and weaker wolves back home, he managed to kill all the six enemies without taking an injury nor using any mana.
Neither the black nor silver wolves attacked him. The reason was quite simple, really - they were observing his moves and learning his patterns. Good thing he didn't use active skills. But then the remaining six of the pack came in.
Ken quickly found out that he was right on the mark. Black wolves were stronger than the brown ones, and silver ones were the strongest. Honestly, they were quite a bit above his level and if not the fact that the level wasn't everything, he would die in this fight. He used almost all of his skills, so although he killed all the wolves, he showed almost all his cards to the strongest enemy, Silver.
Silver on the other hand, looked at the spectacle with rising anger and incredulity. A human killed off his whole pack? Unbelievable! And, above all, it was a deed punishable only by death, indeed!
As he was already in his transformed state - or rather, did he have any untransformed state? - Silver lunged towards the youth in wrath, wanting to dismember him with his claws and tear him apart with his jaws, and finally reduce only to bloody shreds. What awaited him though was a splendid evasion combined with a similarly splendid counter. It took a little over 10% of the enemy's health, but also brought him back to his senses. The werewolf would now be more cautious, having lost part of his anger that controlled him.
Even from that brief exchange Ken understood one thing: this enemy was at higher a level compared to the serpent he fought with a party some time ago. He took a perfect counter without guarding and still lost only this much hp. Also, he felt that his body was harder than still, and his would-be deep injury turned out to be shallow as powerful muscles stopped the blade from penetrating further.
Silver looked at him angrily. There was no doubt that even if physical injury wasn't serious, the one on his pride was.
"Die, human!"
The werewolf attacked once more, but this time more cautiously and elaborately. He feigned an attack on the upper body, but threw himself at Ken's legs, instead.
What met his muzzle was note a human leg as he expected, but the sword's sheath. He fought some humans but never did he encounter one that would use his scabbard in a battle, also this was first from the two things Ken didn't show him while fighting his pack. On the other hand, even if he lost some health to this and the a barrage of following attacks, he still had 75% of his hp and would now be careful about the scabbard as well.
This time, surprising the enemy, it was the young swordsman who initiated assault. He used his scabbard to execute a feign, and then stabbed with his sword in the Silver's closed eye. His foe, who has just been shown the use of scabbard in the battle, haven't been given any time to think if this attack was serious or not as well, and he couldn't make it out due to observing the pattern which used the scabbard to little - since he didn't have the time to do it.
You have dealt a critical hit!
Damage for your last attack has been multiplied by several times. The enemy is in shock, and receives -50% to defense for a period of ten seconds!
The werewolf's hp fell to 45% and also an opening has been created. Full of enthusiasm, Ken jumped at his enemy to exploit it, but he has been too careless.
Shocked and angered by the lost of his eye, Silver started flailing his arms around uncontrollably. Because of it, his attacks for a moment were made completely unreadable in their randomness, and thus Ken was hit with a single swing of the paw.
The youth was thrown for a five meters thanks to obviously higher strength stat of his foe. Not only that, also his health plummeted to 2/3 of his max amount! He looked at his health in the status window with astonishment and recovered only when the werewolf did, both standing up to face their respective nemesis.
"You are something else, human. But enough is enough! The great me is gonna finish you right now!"
Just when Ken started wondering what was he talking about, he got his answer, first ambiguous and only later obvious. Needless to say, he didn't like it.
They clashed once again, Ken managed to sever one of his enemy's arm in the middle thanks to Heaven's Slash skill, but in return suffered a terrible fist blow to his stomach. Now, Ken had 10% and Silver had 30% of health left. Needless to say, but the difference in their health meant, that it wasn't like one had 3 times as much as the other. No, the werewolf had quite a high level, and also a racial ability guaranteed him some additional health. No to mention his regenerative powers, in this battle his health already recovered by 1-2%.
Ken, battered by enemy and weakened by wounds - although his enemy was in quite the same situation, or maybe even a bit worse since the loss of the arm if one were to disregard the health remaining - decided to try tactical retreat.
"Boss, how about dealing the death blow? If it's you, you will oneshot this small fry without problem."
"Lol, nope. I said you have to do this, so don't give me that crap. Also, flattery will get you nowhere. Don't worry, I will avenge you though."
'No use as expected, huh', Ken had already anticipated such outcome. But well, asking it was worth it - Silver got distracted with that, putting on a guard in case Black Panther decided to interfere. Although he relaxed visibly, he still harbored worries - and thanks to that, Ken managed to find an opening.
"Eat this! Sword of Judgment!"
It was his strongest skill, with a 5 min cooldown, and also his last hidden ace in the sleeve. The werewolf started to the back, trying with all his might to evade the attack his instincts warned him he might get killed with, but it was too late. Ken's sword slashed his chest from above, completely ignoring his defenses to deal the fatal blow along with critical hit, which even further magnified the damage.
Ken turned around to face the feline while breathing hard, "Huff, puff, I didn't, puff, think I, puff, would be able, puff, to pull it off, huff, in the end, puff."
"That's good, since you didn't", replied Black Panther nonchalantly. Ken turned abruptly to see Silver standing up slowly and with visible difficulty. He could only gawk at him astonished while panting.
"It's not the end yet, human!", the werewolf roared loudly, as if declaring that he is still alive and kicking. He had less than 1% of health remaining.
"Tsk, huff, quite impressive, puff, you are, huff, that you managed, puff, to survive my, huff, final resort, puff...", commented his opponent, who still had troubles catching his breath.
They both understood: this was the final clash, and the victor would finally emerge.
They stared at each other, searching for a best opening to exploit and appraising each other's defenses. A minute passed, two, three. Finally, Black Panther, who wanted to continue his afternoon nap, shouted "Just do it already, you retards!"
That served as a signal. Both opponents rushed at each other, one brandishing a sword, the other his paw. They crossed each other in a blink of an eye and finally, finally the winner was decided.
***
A week later.
On the edge of the forest, one could see two lumps of fur. One was black, and other was silver.
Upon the closer inspection, one could make a distinction between their nature. One belonged to a feline, and other to a canine. Both were quite big-sized, and their respective owners were sleeping in the afternoon sun.
The first was Black Panther, the top dog - or should I say top cat? - of the forest and powerful demonic creature.
The other one had belonged to another demonic creature, second only to the feline. A silver werewolf, by the name of Silver.
Yes, had belonged, because currently, from under the fur, a human hand could be seen. On it one could see calluses, the one that are made from the excessive use of a tool. In this instance, the tool was a sword.
It was none other than Ken - who valiantly fought and defeated the werewolf. Not only has he gained a lot of experience - and a few level ups - but also quite a lot of fighting spirit stat, a reward for defeating the wolf pack and it's leader by himself. Well, Black Panther was there as well, but he was the one to deal all the damage, so it counted.
At the moment, Black Panther was yawning after awakening. A strange sensation disturbed his slumber, and although he tried, he couldn't fall asleep once more. So he said, "Hey, human. Wake up. I'm bored."
"Snorrrrrr... mmhmm..."
Although feline, even a human could make out the feeling of displeasure from panther's muzzle.
"Wake up, I say!"
"Mmhm... Five more minutes..."
"Get up, dammit!"
"Auu!"
Losing his patience, the animal unsheathed less than one centimeter of his claws on his paw and smacked the creature snoring under the silver fur, which in turn was followed by a cry of pain.
Ken looked around, trying to find the culprit while massaging his aching bottom.
"Finally. So, what do you think of Silver?"
"Hm... Well, he was very strong, certainly. Yaaawwwnn... I almost got killed, 1% of HP left is no joke for sure."
"Right?"
"True enough. Although, there was something strange: in our last clash, he looked away for a split second, and only thanks to that am I alive. If not for that, we would both die."
"Stupid, aren'cha? It was obviously me, idiot. I used fighting spirit to divert his attention, since you are useful to me and I didn't want to discard you."
Ken looked at him in surprise. He pinpointed the fighting spirit? That would certainly explain it, but for it to be possible... It seemed that the fighting spirit held many secrets waiting to be discovered...
"Hm...?!"
"What is it, boss?"
"Something's on my territory! It feels strange but strong, we are going!"
"Eh? Ah, yes, boss!"
The travel was quiet, Black Panther behaved funny and youth, puzzled by his behavior, was sending him quizzical glances while trying to figure out the cause. After a few minutes they arrived in front of the intruder.
It was a sylphlike, yet well-built feline. To be precise, a white feline similar in size to Black Panther, but of a different build. Also, it had a slender muzzle, also differing from black feline's one. It had overall different feeling, not bulging with muscles, yet giving off an aura of strength, and also, what he noticed after a while, two tails.
Yet a greater surprise was in store for him.
"Human, help me.", Black Panther whispered to him.
'What the hell?', the swordsman thought. It was a first for demonic creature to speak to him like that.
"What's the problem, boss?"
"I've fallen for her. Help me get that female's heart."
"Ah, help you get her heart... What?!"
For the end of the chapter, a loud yell resounded through the forest. What will happen next? Wait and see!