Arubis lowered her hand, the golden glow steadily fading as the glyph in her palm vanished. “And that should suffice. You certainly gained a considerable bonus from killing Klaus.”
Riley nodded, briefly looking toward the early morning sun. He had decided to upgrade his stats as soon as he was awake, though he didn’t feel much different. He brought his menu up and quickly checked through his stats again.
Vitality 12
Capacity 14
Fortitude 8
Nimbleness 14
Might 8
Wisdom 19
Awareness 10
It was a slight improvement, generally speaking. In truth he was largely paralysed with indecision when it came to picking what to improve, feeling that he needed a little bit of everything. But, for now, his health was now stronger than it had been at first, and his spells would hit a little harder than before. A welcome thing, since Flesh-Rend sounded much more conventionally damaging than his other two spells.
Riley closed his menu just as his stomach began to rumble, a pained grimace crossing his face. He hadn’t spared a single thought toward food last night, all his thoughts focused on getting past Klaus. Now, however, he couldn’t think of anything beyond how empty his stomach was.
“Hey, uh, Mesquard? What’s the hunting like in these parts?”
The elders of my clan passed down many tales of the golden era, before corruption took root in the heart of the humans here. They spoke of banquets of reindeer, and piles of auroch meat, and great cuts of snowbeast. Fine meals that my ancient kinsmen dined upon in daring raids.
Riley was willing to bet that he and the rat had very different notions when it came to things being ancient. Many generations of rats could come and go in the span of a single human generation. Still, that meant there had to be some game out here to hunt.
Too bad Riley had never hunted a day in his life before now.
But if the animals were as violent as the people in these parts, he probably wouldn’t need to try hard to find some. If anything they’d seek him out. “Keep your nose to the air, let me know if you smell anything... meaty in the area.” He nodded to Arubis and set off, leaving the misshapen tree behind.
The road from Fort Bane led progressively downward, the air steadily growing thicker and more breathable. The cold and snow, however, seemed to be perpetual. Occasionally large black birds would take to the skies, racing from the branches of distant trees. Always too far for Riley to see them in any great detail.
But, eventually, he turned at a bend in the road and was able to get a clearer look at the lands below. There, a considerable distance away, he could see a walled town. It was mostly blanketed in snow, but the presence of flames burning in great braziers on the wall gave him some hope there were people there.
He further hoped they were more welcoming than the people of Fort Bane.
His destination set, Riley continued downhill.
By the time the sun passed high noon, Mesquard suddenly tensed up atop Riley’s shoulder. He scanned about their surroundings, rapidly sniffing the air.
I believe an Auroch is near, he eventually said.
“Oh. Good.” Riley wasn’t sure what that was, but it sounded edible at least.
He followed Mesquard’s directions over the snow, beyond the man-made tracks of the road. Eventually he moved into a crouch, moving as silently as he could with his weapons gripped firmly in both hands.
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Soon enough, after passing by an assortment of trees and dead bushes, he got his first look at his quarry.
An auroch, as it turned out, was a hulking beast of a cow with horns longer than a man’s arm, covered from end to end in a mop of shaggy brown fur. Riley took cover behind a willowy ash tree as he stared at the creature from afar. Horns aside, it didn’t look too intimidating.
But even from his hiding spot he could see the creature’s eyes, smouldering like coals. Foam and froth dripped from the creature’s mouth, each snort of his nostrils unleashing twin streams of steam. Something about it just seemed... wrong. Rabid.
A fragment of light glinted in the snow, just a few meters from where the auroch stood. Riley narrowed his eyes for a better look, until he realised he was looking at the outline of a blackened corpse, clutching something in his hand that shone whenever the sun struck off it.
“Is that...” Arubis leaned over his shoulder, nearly knocking Riley over in the process. She hummed softly, seeming to be deep in thought. “If that is what I think it is, you may wish to retrieve it. But, even if it’s not, an auroch will give you plenty of meat. It is a worthwhile endeavour.”
“Ah, right,” Riley murmured. Easy to say when she wasn’t the one who had to do the killng. He cleared his throat and started sneaking downhill. “Mesquard, you may wanna get comfy in my pocket. Things could get hectic.”
Of course, noble emissary. I shall wish you well in the coming battle.
He gripped his hatchet tighter, creeping closer and closer to the auroch. Eventually, when he was little over a dozen meters away, the ox-headed beast snapped his head over to glare at Riley. He expected the creature to be skittish, as wild animals tended to be. Instead, the auroch was staring him down.
It snorted steam from both nostrils and promptly rushed toward him, kicking up great swathes of snow with his stampeding hooves. Riley braced himself, dread soaring through his body.
He dodged the colossal horns as they rushed his way and countered with a swift swing, the edge of his hatchet cleaving deep into the auroch’s skull. Yet the beast withstood the blow, jerking his weight toward Riley. A hard blow knocked Riley off his feet and sent him tumbling over the soft snow. An ache radiated down his right side, but at least nothing seemed to be broken.
“Alright,” Riley hissed, forcing himself upright. The world wobbled in his vision. “Gotta hit him harder.”
He fought against the reflexive urge to cast a spell on the beast. He may have been immune to his own plagues, but he doubted they would do the taste of the meat any favours.
Riley dodged more jabs from the beast’s horns, the sharp tips passing so close that the wind rustled the hem of his robe. He braced, waited for just the right moment, and slammed the edge of his hatchet right between the auroch’s eyes. The blow cleaved flesh and fractured bone, his eyes bulging from the sockets as a shock wave rocked his skeleton.
The auroch hit the ground with a thud, nearly bowling Riley over. He shook from end to end, his breathing heavy in the confines of his beaked mask. “Okay... now I... gotta... clean the carcass, I guess?” That sounded like the right thing to do, he felt.
He reached for the corpse, only to lurch in shock as great chunks of the auroch’s corpse vanished. A message popped up in the corner of Riley’s vision, lasting for only a few seconds before it faded away.
Auroch Steak x6 added to Inventory.
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Auroch Steak
A slab of meat lifted from an auroch. Rich in protein, but as tough as boot leather.
Aurochs are common game in the coldest reaches in Vergoll. Though they are mighty beasts, the volume of meat and fur that can be pulled from them renders the risk far worth the reward. But many foolhardy hunters have wound up as the prey against them.
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“Huh. Convenient,” he mumbled. At least some things about this damn world were kind to him. “Gotta make a fire to cook it. Good thing I was in scouts as a kid.” Making a fire was, in theory, easy enough. Provided he could find some dry wood among all this snow.
“Do not forget about the other body, Warden,” Arubis helpfully said.
“The wh-? Oh!” Riley glanced across the snow, toward the blackened remains halfway buried in white. He made his way over, grimacing from the ache in his side with every step, and halted just above the decaying corpse. His fingers, gnarled and blackened, were keeping a vicelike grip on something that glimmered with a faint radiance. Riley slowly opened the clasping fingers, grimacing with how they snapped off at the joints. Two of them fell into the snow, pointing accusingly at him.
Grave robbing was one of those things Riley never imagined himself doing. But it, along with dying, fighting monsters, casting spells, getting stabbed, and communicating with rats, was just another facet of his life now.
Eventually he managed to pry the glassy shard loose and pulled it close to inspect it. It was like a spearhead of cloudy quartz, radiating a faint silver glow.
“I was right,” Arubis murmured. “This traveller held a rather valuable keepsake close to hand. Alas, it could not save him from the cold.”
Riley quickly opened his inventory, inspecting the newest additions to his collection.
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Lodeshard
A piece of an ancient Lodestone, broken off by worshippers many centuries ago. Carries with it a spark of healing magic, allowing it to mend wounds. It will regain its glow whenever in the presence of a Lodestone.
‘The first Lodestones fell from the sky eons ago, rife with the magical energies of the cosmos. Men of that era called them the tears of Mother Benedicta, for they mended all wounds and woes.’
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“Mother Benedicta?” Riley mumbled. He shook his head. That part wasn’t what was important, he told himself. What was important was that this thing could, apparently heal wounds. But how?
Closing the menu, Riley rotated the chunk of glittering quartz in his hand. He brought it closer to his aching side, before a sudden flash shone from the surface. The glow from the shard vanished, rendering it dull and grey. And so too did the pain in Riley’s side.
“Whoa,” he murmured. “Something like this would be worth a fortune back home.” Was there a limit to the kind of wounds it could heal? Riley briefly pondered the applications of such a device, all the good it could have done back home. He supposed he’d have to wait and see how potent it truly was. But, he hoped, he wouldn’t be getting another spear through the chest any time soon.
Sighing, Riley moved to stand. “Come on, let’s see about reaching that town.”