Chapter 7: Hunting grounds
Felix Sythias’ POV (continued):
The forest was vibrant today. Insects fluttered and buzzed around without a care in the worlds, going from one flower to the next. Birds called out, warning each other of the big scary dragon and lizardkin walking through the forest.
“There’s so many trees. How can there be so many trees?” Alex asked.
The trees had befuddled Alex since the moment we had landed. This was the third time he had repeated the question in as many minutes. I guessed I would’ve had a similar reaction if I visited his home-world. I had seen paintings and pictures, but I couldn’t imagine the sheer scale of those deserts.
“The Boundless Forest is a forest world. The magic of this place literally makes them grow taller and faster, so they mature quicker and spread their seeds sooner, so they spread faster,” I explained for the third time. It was getting old fast. “Didn’t you say you left home seven months ago? Have you never been in a forest in all that time?”
“Huh?” He snapped out of his reverie. “No, I haven’t. When I left home, I went with a caravan to one of the bigger cities. From there, I hitched another ride to the next city, and so forth. I think I wandered around doing odd jobs for about four months until I met a mercenary from the Academy at the inn I was at. We talked, and he convinced me to try joining. I spent another few months traveling to the local branch of the Academy, where I took their test, and then they sent me off with one of the returning parties.”
“So you’d never seen a tree before yesterday?”
“No, I have. I saw them on our way in and whenever I looked over the edge of an island. But then it just looked like a thick green carpet. And we have some trees in the Dry Territories, mostly in cities. Watering them is expensive, and the oases have long since been paved over, so they are rare.
This is completely different. I’ve just never seen so many in one place. I keep trying to calculate the cost, only to realize that this is all free. We had maybe one wooden building in the entirety of my home village, and it was only a small shrine, but here there are enough trees to build a hundred cities from nothing but wood! It just boggles my mind.”
I chuckled. “I have the same problem with your deserts. Nothing but sand for kilometers in any direction is not something I can easily imagine. I hope to see it one day. It seems unlikely now, though.”
He didn’t comment on my last remark, and I was thankful for it. He probably already guessed what happened. Or maybe he hadn’t. I’m not sure I would have. The possibility of not unlocking the System hadn’t even crossed my mind before yesterday.
“How far still to that spot of yours? And why didn’t we just fly there?”
“Walking is half the fun, and everything looks different from down here. You wouldn’t get the same feeling if you just flew in from overhead. You said so yourself, it just looks like a green carpet. And we’re almost there, actually. It’s around that bend in the hillside.”
We had been slowly making our way to my favorite spot. It was a small glade in a small valley. Steep hills surrounded it on all sides, and large boulders and sharp rocks covered the tops of the hills. It only had one entrance, and monsters and animals were unable to get over the hills, so it was an excellent spot for fighting monsters and camping.
As we walked around the bend and into the small valley, Alex gaped in awe. It was certainly a pretty sight. There was a small pond to one side, with a tiny waterfall pouring into it. To the side of the pond was a large grass field, though the grass wasn’t much higher than ankle-height. The slimes made sure of that.
The slimes in question were grass-slimes. They were animals that only ate grass, like bulbous gelatinous cows. They didn’t produce milk, though. That’d be weird. About a dozen covered the field, slowly moving, leaving trails of even shorter grass behind.
“What are those?” Alex asked, pointing to one of the slimes.
“You’ve never seen a slime before?”
He shook his head. “Not as far as I can remember, anyway.”
“Oh, well, they’re slimes. They’re basically living balls of jelly. They’re usually not hostile, but be wary of them anyway as some kinds can dissolve your flesh faster than you can blink.”
He took a step backwards, away from the slimes and closer to me.
I smiled and suppressed a chuckle. “Don’t worry, these are harmless. They only eat grass. Just don’t step on one and you’ll be fine.”
“If you say so,” he said.
We continued walking, though I noticed he continued to stay close to me. Was he afraid? If he couldn’t handle simple slimes, why had he even asked to come? It wouldn’t get any easier from here on out. I decided to keep an eye on him and if it looked like it became too much, I’d take us back.
As we walked through the field, we swerved around the lazy slimes and I kept an eye out for monsters. There were a few bones sprinkled around, and from the sight of it, they were rabbit bones. That meant there were goblins here. Good.
About halfway through our trek to the field, Alex yelped and recoiled against my side. I caught him with a wing before he could fall and turned my neck to face him. He had a startled expression on his snout.
“What is it?” I asked.
He pointed at some trees near the edge of the field closest to us. “Are you sure we’re safe here?”
On the trees were deep gashes, like someone had clawed at the trees. Which is exactly what had happened. I laughed. “Sorry to scare you. Those are mine.”
He glared at me. “Why would you do that?”
“To scare off the local wildlife. They kept eating the slimes, and I like my grass short.”
This glade was a great first place for a hunt. There was a cave near the pond, and it was often filled with goblins. I knew they were in there now, and since I hadn’t been here in a week, their numbers would be high, too.
We set down our non-essentials at the edge of the field and made our way to the center of the field.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. “There is no shame in calling it quits.”
He shook his head. “I can fight.”
“I’m not saying you can’t, but just because you can fight doesn’t have to mean you need to. So, I ask again, are you sure you want to do this? You’ve been kind of jumpy since the moment we came down here.”
He smiled. “Thanks for the concern, but don’t worry about me—I’ll be fine.”
“Alright. Ready, then?” I asked. We’d already agreed earlier that I would take the first wave. Goblins never came out all at once, but only in smaller groups called waves. We’d take turns taking them on.
Alex nodded, so I roared loudly to announce our arrival. It didn’t take long for the little green bastards to come running out of the cave and towards us. There were only eight of them.
I took flight and swooped down towards them, crashing into their midst. I tore a talon through the nearest goblin’s throat and blood sprayed out; it collapsed to the ground. At the same time, I made the ground unstable with water and earth magic. With four feet, I would still have stable footing, while they would slip in the mud.
Like all instinctive magic effects, the scale was relatively small. I had intended to augment my magic with Skills, but that option was now out of the window. No! It was just delayed, that was all. Dad would find a solution. The slippery effect was good enough, though, and several goblins fell to the ground.
A group of goblins behind me screamed and yelled and charged at me with their sharp sticks. Not even bothering to look at them, I swiped my tail in a wide arc, tearing through the approaching group and sending them flying.
In front of me, some of the fallen goblins had regained their footing and jabbed at me with their crude spears. I blocked the attack with one arm while I jumped backwards, flapping my wings once to create some distance. A few of the frailer goblins stumbled and fell over from the gust of air I’d produced.
I landed on top of the goblins I had knocked down with my tail and tore them to shreds, their blood staining my talons red while chunks of flesh and guts flew through the air. Unnecessary? Yes. But stars, did it feel good to let some of the stress and anger out.
The four remaining goblins had climbed back to their feet, and I let them come to me. These were the weakest of the entire group, and some of them were already injured. They hesitated for a moment, seeing the carnage at my feet, but then they rushed at me. But because of their differences in speed and health, they made it to me one after the other, where I promptly cut them down in succession.
For the last one, which was especially slow, I rose on my hind talons, and brought my claws down upon its head, crushing it into a paste.
The whole fight had taken less than two minutes.
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“Whoa!” Alex called out. I’d completely forgotten he was here too.
Suddenly, I felt ashamed. It had been a brutal and messy fight. Most of my fights were. Instinctive magic wasn’t suitable for combat, so that left only my limbs to fight with. Nothing like the elegance of a sword fighter, or the beauty of a spellcaster. Just tearing up enemies like an animal. The only thing that set me apart from a wolf was that I didn’t use my maw to attack.
What did Alex think of me now? Would he fear me? Hate me? Would he be disgusted by how I basically dismantled the goblins like I was turning paper into shreds? With great trepidation, I turned to face him.
His face was lit up with a bright smile and was full of amazement. “You’re a real monster in combat!”
“I’m not a monster!” I snapped back, immediately regretting it. He probably meant it as a compliment, and didn’t know better. That was especially clear by his facial expression, which had now been replaced with guilt and worry. “I… sorry. I really, really don’t like it when people call me a… call me that.”
He looked down at the ground, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have said it like that if I’d known,” he said, then looked up. ”I was just trying to say how awesome you were. You tore through those goblins like they were paper!”
“You think I was awesome? Not brutal, or scary?”
“Yeah! Man, I wish I'll be half as good as you were when it’s my turn. The fight would be a breeze.”
A warm fuzzy feeling filled my chest, and a smile spread onto my face. “I’m sure you’ll do great. Let’s clean up a bit and then—” A roar so loud it shook my entire body came from behind me. Up ahead in the trees I could see birds fleeing and Alex’s eyes went wide at something I couldn’t see.
“Felix! Watch out!”
Before I got the chance to react, the world moved as the unseen monster slammed into me with the force of a mountain. It launched me across the field, and despite my best efforts to slow down, I slammed into a tree. Branches cracked and broke under my immense momentum and weight and I slumped to the ground, my head spinning.
My entire body hurt, especially my left wing, and I could feel I was bleeding from somewhere. I stumbled back to my talons and checked myself over. I was definitely bleeding, alright. There were three large but shallow gouges on my side—claw marks.
Fuck.
Gathering my scattered focus enough for magic was difficult, but I managed. I burned the wounds shut, hissing in pain. My flesh sizzled unpleasantly, and the smell of burnt meat and scales made me gag.
The sharp pain brought back my focus with a jolt that left me reeling. It was then that I remembered that whatever had launched me across the glade was still out there, and so was Alex.
I looked towards the field, where a monstrous black bear stood near Alex, who laid on the ground at least half a field away from where he’d been standing just moments ago. The bear, only slightly bigger than a normal black bear, was slowly stalking over to him, only stopping to crush and eat the slimes that were between them.
I couldn’t see how Alex was doing from here, but I had to assume he was still alive. And I had to make sure he stayed that way.
I spread my wings out to launch myself into the air with a powerful beat, but when I tried to, the motion sent searing agony through me while I barely left the ground. My knees buckled under the pain and I collapsed. A sharp throbbing pain and a terrible grinding sensation came from my left wing, telling me something was seriously wrong, but my eyes were locked on Alex.
I had to stop the bear. I had to kill it.
No, that wasn’t right. I had to get Alex out of here, get him to safety.
With an enormous effort, I climbed to my talons. I wasn’t stupid enough to try flying again, though. I looked around to inspect my wings and was met by a horrible sight. It was clear that not all the cracking sounds had come from the tree itself. My left wing had broken near the base and was now hanging limply at a disturbingly wrong angle. It had twisted and was now the wrong way around.
I looked away and retched. This was bad. This was really bad. Without my wings, I couldn’t fly, and if I couldn’t fly, I wouldn’t be able to grab Alex and flee. I’d have to fight the bear that was able to fling me hard enough into a tree to break a wing.
Not having any other choice, I took a stumbling step forward, only to feel the broken wing dragging behind me. Horror dawned on me as I realized I wouldn’t be able to fight like this. The wing would keep dragging behind me. It would make an easy target for the bear to pin me down with, and it would hinder my movement. Images of myself stumbling over my own wing and getting mauled flashed across my eyes as I imagined the fight.
I looked back at Alex, who laid unmoving on the ground. The bear was still stalking over to him. In a blink, I had made the decision—I could grow a new wing, but I couldn’t grow a new friend.
Looking away, I brought my talon down on the base of my wing. My claws tore through the scales and the thick layer of muscle that covered the bone with an awful squelch. The bone had already broken, but I hit the exposed nerve endings on the way through, sending waves of immeasurable pain coursing through my entire body. Not for the first time, I thanked the stars for the enhanced pain tolerance I’d been born with. With a gut-turning tugging sensation, the wing fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
I resisted the urge to retch and waste time and almost missed how the bear had turned to look at me. It huffed and growled.
I took a step forward and my hind talon grazed my wing. A shudder went through me and I focused my gaze on the bear’s ugly furry maw with its terrible yellowed teeth to distract myself and very purposefully did not look back at the wing.
I breathed heavily from the pain. I gave myself one more moment to recover and then seared the wound shut. Breathing deeply to calm myself down, I started walking towards the monster. I was off balance without my left wing, but I was able to compensate as long as I kept the remaining one folded on my back.
Satisfied I wouldn’t immediately stumble and fall to the ground, I sent a small prayer to any god paying attention and started sprinting towards the bear.
I went slowly at first, but I quickly picked up speed. The bear roared at me and raised up on its hind-legs to assess the approaching threat. I wasn’t sure how I was going to defeat the monster, but if I did nothing Alex would die, and I wouldn’t let that happen.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Quickly taking in the monster’s appearance and weak points, I noticed it was actually smaller than I was. Size could be deceiving though, as it had proven with its immense strength. I could only hope it had been a temporary boost like many monsters had.
Other than that, I could only spot one possible weak point—its large, currently exposed, belly. I had to be quick; the bear was already dropping back down.
Not having had the time to plan anything, I lunged at the bear the moment I was within reach. It was still partially standing on its hind-legs so it swiped down a paw at me. I tried dodging with my wings but realized too late it wasn't an option anymore. The failed attempt at correcting my trajectory gave me a spin, which made the attack miss, but also made me crash into the bear at an awkward angle, sending both of us tumbling down the field.
Still rolling, I grabbed hold of the bear and dug my claws deep into its tough flesh. With my hind talons, I started digging into its unprotected belly like I was digging a hole in the sand, gouging large chunks of flesh from its gut.
At the same time, I bit down on its shoulder. The metallic taste of blood spurted into my maw, and fur covered my tongue. The bear roared with pain and swiped at me. I didn’t let go, but the monster’s blow tore me free, leaving deep gashes in its hide. I rolled down the field and only came to a stop a few meters away.
Climbing back to my talons, I took in the bear. It was breathing heavily, and blood streamed down its fur in several places. I hadn’t come out of the exchange unscathed either. Blood gushed down my rump from the gouges left behind from the bear’s swipe. I held my talon over the wounds and cauterized them. But while my bleeding had now stopped, the bear’s hadn’t. This had just turned from a game of strength, into a game of attrition.
Half walking, half stumbling, I stalked sideways across the field so I had trees behind me. That way it couldn’t rush at me without risking crashing into the trees. I hoped it was smart enough to realize that.
Eventually the monster bear had enough of me staying outside its range and charged at me, proving my idea wrong. Luckily, I had thought of that possibility.
At the very last moment, I jumped up and over the beast. It hadn’t expected me to dodge upwards and couldn’t stop its charge in time. Its momentum carried it forward, straight into a large tree. The tree shook, but held. The monster shook its head, dazed from the impact.
I landed and spun around. Jumping forwards towards the beast, I struck it with both my front talons, giving it a few more places to bleed from. I then turned around and, as fast as I could, limped away into the forest before the bear could recover.
In here, I would hopefully have the advantage. Or at least, less of a disadvantage. I was currently slower than the bear, so I wouldn’t be giving it any chances for charging at me in a straight line. Looking behind me, I realized with a start that the bear had disappeared. Where it had been was only a small puddle of blood, crushed grass, and broken twigs. I scanned around, but it wasn’t elsewhere in the clearing, either. Luckily, monsters weren’t likely to change their target, so Alex would be safe for now.
Having no other choice, I walked deeper into the forest. It was strangely quiet and gloomy in here, more so than it should’ve been. I wasn’t sure if it was actually the case, or if it was just my fear surging beneath the surface of my determination.
There was no sign of the bear, or of any animal for that matter. There was only the occasional rustle in the foliage, but when I looked, nothing was there.
Minutes passed, and I was growing increasingly unnerved and anxious. Unnerved because the bear was great at hiding, and anxious because Alex could be bleeding out and here I was, playing hide and seek with a dire bear.
There was more rustling, closer this time, but when I snapped my head around, there still wasn’t anything there. It wasn’t until the sound of the rustling was almost upon me and a drop of blood fell onto my snout, that I realized I’d forgotten one very important thing. Black bears, and any monster based on them, were very good at climbing trees.
I immediately dodged to the side, almost crashing into a tree. Where I had just been, the black bear had jumped down claws first, landing with a heavy thud. It spun around and lunged at me again. The trees proved to be an overall disappointment today; I couldn’t dodge any further, the forest blocking my path.
The bear crashed into me, its long claws skidding across my scales as it tried to find purchase.
We fell to the ground, both of us wrestling for grip. But while its claws continued to fail to get a handhold, my talons easily sunk into its flesh.
The blood loss had weakened the beast a lot, but I still wouldn’t be able to win a contest of strength, so I took advantage of the only thing I had going for me right now—my strong grip on the bear’s body. Without a second’s hesitation, I went straight for the throat.
My longer snout gave me more reach than the bear, so it was unable to do anything while I tore its neck open with my teeth. Disgusting, hot blood gushed into my maw and down my throat, but I couldn’t let go. I kept tearing at its neck, even as it pushed me and struck its claws at me. I could feel my flesh and scales bruising and cuts opening up, but with each heartbeat, the strength of the hits lessened, and the blood gushed slower and slower.
Eventually the beast stopped struggling, and then its breathing stopped.
Relieved, I collapsed to the ground next to it, panting. All the blood that had gone down my throat didn’t sit well with me, and I threw up. To my disgust, significantly less blood came back up than had gone down.
I wanted to just lie there, to relax and sleep. But not only would I bleed out, Alex would die too—if he hadn’t already.
With an effort worthy of a level up, I climbed back to my talons, cauterized my most grievous new wounds, and began the seemingly impossibly long journey back to the glade.