After descending the tree and setting down the Lunar Hare, Samantha stashed her gear in a nearby bush and climbed back up into the canopy. Then, she began quietly maneuvering through the branches to get a bit closer to the Iron Boars–the hare following her progress from the ground.
Figuring it could be several hours before the boars fell asleep and she’d get an opportunity to attack, she made herself as comfortable as she could in a suitable section of canopy. Comfortable did not mean idle, however. She wanted to be in the best shape possible before taking on the spirit beasts, and that meant meditating to replenish the points missing from her qi pool. While passively regenerating qi would give her 0.5 qi points/hour, active meditation doubled that regeneration rate. As her attention turned inwards, she immediately lost nearly all sense of her surroundings apart from the 15 foot sphere around her. Before her mind completely dropped into meditation, she tasked her bond with keeping watch for her.
Due to her trance-like state, the next several hours passed in what felt like a blink. Once she felt that her qi pool had filled, she emerged from mediation and realized that true night had fallen.
“How was the watch?” she asked.
“Not much happened. The alpha is away. The rest are sleeping.” he reported.
If she were to hazard a guess, the alpha was out patrolling the area for predators, and would be back soon to check on his herd.
Taking a look for herself, Samantha noted that there were five boars nestled in a slight depression in the ground. There were three larger boars arranged to form a protective triangle, with two smaller boars–presumably piglets–in the center of them. After around 10 minutes had passed, the alpha returned to check on how the group was faring.
She was tempted to try and [Inspect] the alpha, but ultimately decided against it. She recalled how her spirit bond had detected her use of the art during their very first encounter, and didn’t want to risk prematurely drawing the boar’s ire. Instead, she focused her intent on one of the sleeping boars and canceled the art after 1 point of qi had been expended–not wanting to invest too much qi and weaken herself for the fight to come.
Iron Sow (Rank 2 - ???)
Highest Attribute: Resilience (???)
Lowest Attribute: ??? (???)
These spirit beasts’ tough hides are covered in thick, coarse hair which makes them extremely resilient against slashing blows. They’re instinctively drawn to iron ore deposits, which they consume and integrate into their tusks.
She was pleasantly surprised at seeing how much information she had been given for the relatively low qi cost. She suspected that it had something to do with the fact that the sow was completely asleep and thus its natural qi defenses were weakened. Reading through the notification, Samantha found two useful pieces of knowledge.
Firstly, the rank of the spirit beasts likely weren’t too high for her to handle. Iron Boars were commonly found in the forests around Yivesh, and it was well known that they were more physically oriented–as opposed to ability oriented–beasts. Samantha felt more confident knowing the fight would be relatively straight forward, and one of the sows being rank 2 was a good indicator that the rest of the adults were of similar rank.
Secondly, confirmation that the stabbing attacks from her spear would maintain their effectiveness was encouraging. Iron Boar leather was a popular material for making armor, but she had only interacted with it after it had been tanned and toughened further. Her worries about having a difficult time damaging the creatures were significantly reduced.
With all of this information circulating in her mind, Samantha began formulating a more detailed plan on how she would approach the group. But before putting her plan into action, she needed to get a feel for the alpha boar’s movements.
Observing the patrol pattern for the better part of an hour–and sending the Lunar Hare after him to stalk from a distance–Samantha noted that the alpha was never gone for longer than 15 minutes and didn’t travel far from the herd. Any unusual, loud sound would call him back in minutes, leaving her without much time to spare once she was discovered. She would do as much damage as quickly as she could to the sleeping sows, but would need to retreat to recover her qi before taking on the male.
When the alpha departed on his latest patrol loop, the Lunar Hare followed silently behind him while Samantha descended from her perch, then advanced towards the sleeping group. She was astounded again by how effective and useful her [Prey’s Perception] was. Where her mortal eyes would have been just as blind as the boars in this scenario, she could now see almost as clearly as if it were day. The colors of everything were muted to near grayscale, but her vision was not impeded at all by the surrounding blackness.
“You’re welcome,” her bond said smugly in response to her thoughts.
“It’s the least you could do,” Samantha retorted playfully, “since I do most of the work when we fight.”
“I make you fight better!” he said teasingly. “Slow without [Swift]. Blind without [Prey’s Perception].”
Samantha smiled at the small banter, now close enough to the sleeping prey to fully appreciate the size of them. Even laying down they reached Samantha’s chest height, and being practically face to face with the beasts almost shook her resolve.
Can I really pull this off?
Her heart raced as she looked around and double checked for other dangers, but there was nothing that would dissuade her from her plan apart from her own fears. She pushed the doubts from her mind. Time was short, and she had to either act now or retreat until the next patrol loop began.
She moved quietly to the center near the piglets and marked her targets mentally. The 5-foot spear wasn’t long enough to strike a killing blow on the boars without movement from her starting point, so she needed maximum efficiency in her attack paths to take advantage of every second of her active ability time. Deciding to strike purely based on size, she lined her spear up with the largest sow, invested 2 qi/second into [Swift] to get +2 Agility, and attacked.
Her spear shot forward like a bolt of lightning, piercing through the hide and puncturing the beast’s heart effortlessly. Before the sow could even release a death rattle, Samantha instantly changed direction and leapt towards the second spirit beast. It began to stir at the sound of her movements, but barely had enough time to open an eye before her spear found its mark a second time. She turned again, ignoring the frantic pounding of her heart as she leapt towards the final sow. Not even a full two seconds had passed yet.
I’m going to make it!
The third spirit beast seemed to rise from the ground in slow motion, its eyes widening as she closed the distance between them. The spear thrust forward a final time, but it seemed her luck had run out. The sow shifted ever so slightly, causing Samantha’s strike to miss the heart. The creature might still die, but it would take several minutes and would certainly not be a quiet affair.
The sow shrieked in panic and agony, the horrible sound echoing like thunder through the near silence of the dark forest. The piglets awoke immediately, their terrified cries joining in the cacophony as they scattered randomly. Seemingly in response to the disturbance, an intimidatingly loud growling sound that ended in a high pitched squeal came from the general direction of the alpha.
“Run fast! He’s very angry.” Her bond warned.
He didn’t have to tell her twice.
She withdrew her weapon from the sow with a flourish to cause a bit more damage, then sprinted to the nearest tree. The injured sow attempted to pursue her, but was now ultimately too wounded to move with any speed. As Samantha practically flew up into the branches, she deactivated [Swift]. She had spent a total of 6 qi points during the attack, and had just around 3.5 qi points remaining in her pool. Upon reaching a comfortable height around 30 feet in the canopy, she leapt to another tree, and then another. She hoped if she got far enough away she could avoid the senses of the male.
Even though she was still putting distance between herself and the spirit beasts, [Prey’s Perception] allowed Samantha to see both ahead and behind her as she moved. She saw clearly when the alpha burst onto the scene and encountered the dead sows, a deafening screech of rage emanating from the animal. She immediately stopped moving when she made it about 50 yards away, afraid that the sound would draw attention to her.
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All she could do now was wait.
The alpha was able to track her trail to the first tree she fled up but seemed to be unable to discern more than that. The boar–wailing in frustration and without a clear target for its fury–rammed into the offending tree repeatedly. The wood shattered and bent beneath each blow until the tree was knocked entirely over. As the falling tree was caught in the limbs of a neighboring tree, an unfortunate dog-sized creature she couldn’t clearly identify fell out of its boughs, and was promptly smashed to a pulp with a single merciless stomp from the alpha.
Seemingly satisfied with his perceived vengeance, the boar moved back to the fallen females–the third in the process of taking its final breaths. In true survival-of-the-fittest fashion, the dying sow was completely ignored in favor of feasting on the corpses of the other two.
Samantha watched in mild horror as the alpha ate its mates. She wished that she could say that the horror stemmed from facing the unadulterated cruelty of nature, but that would’ve been a lie. In truth, it was because the alpha was consuming the parts of the sows that she had planned on taking for herself. Not only did the boar dig out the precious spirit pearls, but it also saw fit to eat the jaws of the sows–presumably to absorb their iron-rich tusks and strengthen his own.
After about 20 minutes, the Iron boar finished the cannibalization of the prime parts of the dead sows, then turned to the dying one. Without even waiting for the sow to expire, the boar mercilessly dug into its flesh, ending her life himself and harvesting the core and tusks. Completed with his grim task, the Iron Boar stood amongst the ravaged carcasses, unmoving but alert.
Samantha had been hoping he would leave the area so she could ambush him later when his guard was down, but even after a full 30 minutes of waiting he remained stock still.
“We need to go.” the Lunar Hare forewarned.
“Why? What’s wrong?” she asked, worried.
“Can’t you feel it? He’s changing. Getting stronger.”
Turning up [Prey’s Perception] to the maximum, Samantha took another look at the boar. A subtle glow infused its entire body, and its mass had slightly increased. Furthermore, she noticed with concern a new pair of tusks were visibly extending from the front of its lower jaw. Unlike the other four tusks in its mouth, these were straight as forged swords and protruded forward, as if grown specifically for the purpose of stabbing during a charge. As the changes continued it seemed to grow irritated and began shaking and stomping intermittently, and then a potent wave of killing intent rushed outwards from the beast.
Samantha felt her heart rate sharply increase as the aura pressed down on her own spirit, making her feel nauseous. This had gotten a lot more dangerous.
Samantha didn’t need to [Inspect] the spirit beast to know that it was suddenly beyond her capabilities to take down. Based on the two straight tusks it had grown, she guessed that the Iron Boar had evolved into a Steel Boar. Compared to Iron Boars, Steel Boars had much higher Resilience and Strength, and its tusks would be sharper and more dangerous–now capable of even piercing plate armor. She scowled at the turn of bad luck. Normally, only a team of High or Peak Coppers would be sent out to hunt a Steel Boar, and realistically, as a Low Copper she should flee immediately. The loss of the cores stung, but it wasn’t worth her life to try and handle something like this.
As she was about to make her way towards her stashed pack and leave, a shiver ran down her spine and a cold sweat broke out across her skin. Foreign qi gushed out from the boar, racing out in every direction to enclose the surrounding area in a sphere-like domain.
Alpha Steel Boar has used [Sovereign Territory]!
Qi Defenses Overcome!
You’ve failed to conceal your current location from the Alpha Steel Boar.
25% penalty to Agility while within 100 Yards of the Alpha Steel Boar.
The Alpha Steel Boar turned menacingly in her direction, snorted out a low grunt, and then tensed its body to begin a charge.
Samantha inadvertently shouted an expletive as the boar rushed directly towards her.
As soon as she leapt from the boughs of her tree towards the safety of its neighbor, she knew she had made a miscalculation. It felt like she was pushing into a strong headwind, even though the air was perfectly still. She barely caught onto the branch she had been aiming for, and nearly dropped her spear as she pulled herself up with one arm. She scrambled towards the trunk of the new tree as quickly as she could, then rushed across another thick branch to try and transition to another tree further from the boar. Throughout this process, the tree she had just left shook ominously as the boar rhythmically rammed into it with his sharp tusks.
She leapt shakily to the next tree just as the first one began to fall, struggling to acclimate to the reduction in speed and reaction time as she narrowly avoided falling through the canopy. She had hoped that the boar would target the tree she had just left to give her a bit of time to catch her breath, but the beast wasn’t stupid. It immediately began ramming into the tree she currently hid in, rapidly chipping away at its all-too-frail trunk.
She fought desperately against the fear and despair that threatened to overwhelm her, and her mind raced for a strategy–any strategy–that could keep her alive for a few minutes longer. She considered trying to jump down to the ground and test to see if she was quick enough to flee on foot and relying on [Swift] to get her back up into the safety of the canopy if she wasn’t, but the risks of that plan made her feel ill. All it would take is one unexpected burst of speed from the Boar and that would be the end of her.
She wracked her brain for another plan but was coming up completely blank. It wasn’t helping that the tree she currently sheltered in was violently shaking, and was sure to fall soon. To make matters worse, she’d reached a dead end. All the branches near her were too slim to hold her weight if she attempted to transfer to another tree.
Is this it, then?
The voice of her companion cut through her dread, “I’ll distract. You escape.”
The Lunar Hare dashed out from his hiding spot and rushed towards the raging boar. Her hopelessness morphed to sheer panic as her bond–miniscule in comparison to their enemy–leapt directly towards the Steel Boar’s face, feet first. She watched the hare extend both legs for a kick just as her tree trunk fractured and began to lean precariously.
The Lunar Hare’s kick resounded with a loud crack as it connected with the boar’s right eye–one of the few unprotected points on its body–and the orb burst in a small shower of viscous fluid and blood. The boar howled in agony and instinctively jerked away from the impact, her bond twisting mid air to land gracefully and continue the fight.
Seeing her companion fight to protect her, Samantha felt both deeply touched and inspired. They had only been partnered for a few weeks, but she could feel the Lunar Hare’s determination reverberating through their bond. She couldn’t let her bond face the boar alone. She gathered her strength, and–seeing an opening during this moment of painful distraction–she launched herself from the tree and aimed her spear at the boar’s exposed back.
She plunged through the air, doing her best to put her full weight behind her weapon as she fell. To her dismay, the beast’s coarse fur was even more resilient than she had expected. Instead of a deep, piercing wound, her attack only briefly caught in the boar’s skin before sliding off to the side. A shallow, foot long gash was left behind, but it did little more than irritate the creature. She landed heavily on the boar's back before being bounced to the ground in a heap, and quickly rolled to avoid a retaliatory stomp from the creature.
It looked back at her with its good eye, pure hatred seething from its glare as it began rotating its body to face her head on. Samantha stood up and pointed her spear towards its head, doing her best to circle the boar so she would remain on its blinded side.
“Fight together?” Samantha offered to her bond.
“Together,” he agreed.
And then they struck in unison.
While the hare harried the boar and distracted it, Samantha lashed out at any weak points. They focused on the blinded side and tried to hinder limbs however possible, but all they managed to do were inflict superficial wounds. They had had some practice fighting together from previous hunts, but were not yet experienced enough to work together in complete harmony. All it took was one glancing blow to throw everything into disarray.
Samantha was tossed into the trunk of a large tree after being batted aside. With her temporarily gone from the mix, it wasn’t long until a bucking hoof clipped the hare and sent it flying into the underbrush and out of sight. She could tell through their binding thread that the hit–though mostly avoided–had still been catastrophically damaging to her partner. She could feel his panic and pain flooding their bond as she fought to right herself and stand to face her enemy.
The boar, not missing a beat, charged her.
Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, adrenaline and terror freezing her in place for a split second. She still had a chance to run if she used her remaining qi to flee. However, she’d be abandoning the hare to a near certain death.
As the boar approached, she put two qi points into [Swift]. Then, she did what she was always taught to do when needing to make a final stand: she planted her spear.
Digging the butt of her weapon into the earth and wedging it somewhat against the trunk, she faced down the goring attack with one of her own. A split second before contact, she leveraged every ounce of speed and traction [Swift] afforded her and dove out of the way, rolling to safety. The boar impaled itself on the spear, the force of its mass giving the weapon enough power to punch through its thick hide but simultaneously shattering the shaft of the weapon.
The alpha's tusks punctured deep into the wood of the trunk, piercing with such strength that it briefly became lodged in the tree. The boar squealed and bucked, struggling to pull itself from the now ominously creaking wood as its blood turned the earth below it to mud. Seeing this, Samantha sprinted towards her pack and frantically dumped its contents on the ground, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. Hearing cracking, splintering wood, she grabbed the first thing that suited her needs: the broken, mortal grade spearhead.
Samantha ran back towards the boar with the spearhead held in a reverse grip like a knife. She aimed her makeshift blade at the ruined eye socket of the Steel Boar and stabbed with all her might. The boar jerked in pain and surprise, but the blunted tip of the spearhead failed to pierce its skull and end the fight. She watched with mounting dread as another pull from the boar nearly freed its tusks, and she knew that if she wanted to survive this fight then she’d need to do something drastic, and quickly.
Mentally steeling herself for what was about to happen, she flooded the mundane metal with her two remaining qi points to detonate it.