As time passed and I became impatient about not finding any good monsters, I found a group of wild chickens. They weren’t the same as iron clawers but were different—almost like normal chickens, but with stronger wings. They could glide if they dropped from a higher position, and their claws were sharp enough to cause injuries. Because of their smaller build, they weren’t good prey for meat that gene evolvers typically hunted.
I searched for seeds from different types of plants and found enough to lure one away and test my strength. I wasn’t overconfident about defeating 20 at once. Blocking a few of them while fighting is easy, but once all of them attacked me, I had no chance of victory.
I started luring one away as quietly as possible. From looking at it, it also tried to be quiet for the rest of its herd not to find out about the food it found. I left the remaining seeds at the bottom of a tree I climbed up.
As it slowly neared the tree, it looked around suspiciously. But when it found the seeds, it happily ran there to start eating them. When its head was in the seeds, I jumped down and aimed my sword at the wild chicken’s body. Why not the head? It’s much smaller than its body, and missing it would scare it away and alert its herd, starting my daily marathon all over again.
As I landed on the ground, my short sword was inserted into its body. A painful scream erupted from the chicken as it started kicking around to escape, but instead, it made it much worse for itself. I didn’t think much about it, with the extra weight on my sword, I started running for my life as the scream was likely for its herd.
As the blood spilled from its body, the herd at first wanted to chase after me, but I was already too far away, so they gave up. It felt awful for them to give up one of their kin, but what can they do? Their kin would die no matter what, and the seeds I left gave them quite a bit of charm. Wild chickens are still just chickens, and their brains aren’t much more developed than those that live on Earth.
As I ran, I suddenly felt danger. I ducked, and above my head passed a shadow. I dropped the chicken on the ground and looked up at the shadow.
It was a small wild cat, around the same size as a lion. I could feel my fear rising. Was it an elite creature? No, thankfully it was only extraordinary, but why was it here? Could it have tried to hunt the chickens too, but I was there first? Did it think killing me or stealing my prey would be easier than fighting that herd of wild chickens?
Kicking the chicken away, I started backing away. I could always get food from the system, and I didn’t have to take risks. But on the other hand, these monsters risked their lives all day. Seeing me kicking away the chicken, its eyes glowed with a predatory light, but it held back the impulse to drag my prey away and eyed me more.
Was I its prey now?
Soon, it saw my hesitation and leaped at me. I ducked to the side, but I felt my grip on the sword weakening. How could anyone without fear fight against these monsters for the first time? Even my sword was shaking from fear. I saw its teeth and realized my head would be crushed easily under its jaw.
As it landed, it turned and jumped again without giving me a moment to react. I ducked once more, but this time it was prepared and struck my back with one of its claws, leaving a bleeding mark. If its reach were any longer, I would’ve been sent flying instead of just having a claw mark on my back.
I flinched at the pain, leaving me in a worse position than I already was. Looking around for a way to escape, I realized this monster was much faster than me, so I couldn’t escape—it was either face it head-on or perish. But as I watched its moves, I realized it had only recently started hunting, and rather than killing me instantly, it seemed to be toying with me.
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I gulped heavily at these thoughts.
I positioned myself with a tree behind me, so if it leaped at me, it would strike the tree first rather than me. Sensing what I was doing, it didn’t give it much thought and jumped at me again. But this time, it didn’t make a big leap. It jumped at a much lower height, allowing it to react quickly to my side-step. Unprepared for this move, it struck at the tree with its claws as it couldn’t alter its trajectory mid-air. As it landed, its claws were embedded in the tree, and I seized the opportunity to thrust my sword forward.
I felt great resistance as I sank the blade into its side.
With my sword still inserted into its side, the monster ripped its claws out of the tree and jumped away. Blood gushed from the wound, and the sword was limp in its body as I lost my grip on it. Soon, it started thrashing around to remove the sword, but every movement only worsened the injury. Finally, the sword slipped from its body, but it was in a sorry state—bent and covered in blood.
The monster stared at me with hatred in its eyes, but realizing the extent of its wound, it began to back away, knowing that fighting with such an injury would mean certain death. Seeing my chance, I dashed for my sword. The cat, sensing my intent, turned and tried to flee, but the wound caused it too much pain. As it tried to run, it hit a tree, aggravating the injury even more.
Grabbing my weapon, I dashed towards the monster. It turned to face me, but its injury made it slow and sluggish. I thrust forward my sword into its neck. As I did, it bit my arm in a final act of revenge, sinking its claws into my chest and trying to tear my arm from my body. The pain was intense, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins dulled it.
With my free hand, I gripped the hilt of the sword and started twisting it wildly. It was a fight to the death now—either I die or it does. “Why didn’t you take the chicken and leave me alone?” I thought, feeling the desperation of the situation. But soon, more pain surged through my body. The cat’s grip on my arm loosened, and finally, it fell limp against me, its body heavy with defeat.
Pushing the lifeless monster off me, I lay there in a pool of blood, my wounds throbbing with pain. I quickly checked the system for any way to stop the bleeding. In the medicine section, I found bandages that could staunch the bleeding and herbs that could cleanse the wounds from infection.
Removing my torn and soaked cloth from my upper body, I carefully cleaned the dirt and blood from my wounds, hoping I got everything out and applied the herbs correctly. Bandaging myself as best as I could, it was crude but necessary. I knew my arm felt weak and likely broken from the cat’s bite, making movement agonizingly painful.
Looking at the body of the big cat, I considered eating it but instead decided to sell it to the system. I wanted to keep the chicken for myself—after all, it was my first prey—but in the end, I gave in and sold it as well. The chicken fetched 30 copper, while the cat brought in 6 silver.
I now had 10 copper remaining, but with the sale, my total had increased to 6 silver and 40 copper. It was a small fortune, but the pain coursing through my body prevented me from smiling. I needed to clean myself, but I hesitated. The river water might contain unseen dangers, risking infection if I tried to wash my wounds there.
Crawling back into my cave, each movement jarred my battered back and made me grimace with pain. I settled on the leaf bed, opening the system once more to see what could help me. What I needed now was protection—armor.
Scrolling through the items section, I found several options that seemed essential
* Leather Wrist Armor: Could protect my wrists from attacks by mortal realm monsters and elevate my defense against extraordinary monsters.
* Leather Breastplate: Offered protection for my chest and back, crucial against both mortal and extraordinary creatures.
* Chain Arm Protector: Aimed to shield my arms from slashing or stabbing attacks.
The combined cost of these items would be 7 silver and 40 copper—just beyond my current reach of 6 silver and 40 copper. I realized I could gather silver quickly after seeing how much I could sell monsters for, but finding a reliable method to hunt them safely was essential.
Poison seemed like a good idea—if I could find the right herbs. However, considering the nature of the monsters here, it was likely any potent herbs had already been monopolized by powerful organizations for their exclusive use. I needed to find a different approach.
So what’s left for me? Traps? I don’t have the equipment for them or the experience to build them. My only choice is to hunt these creatures down, but with my wounds, it would take a few days to fully recover.
I started browsing the herb section of the system and found a medicine that could speed up recovery for 30 silver. I didn’t have enough money for it, so with a heavy heart, I went to sleep.
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