Chapter 3: Pakkas x Predator

The two of us traveled quite a distance from Pineshear and made our way into the mountains. But I had to admit, for as far as we had come, it looked to me like we had a long way to go. We were almost at the timberline and I still hadn’t even glimpsed where we were supposed to be going.

Marie informed me that the guides live in such a secluded area on purpose and that they have always been very wary of outsiders.

After a long stretch of walking, we got enveloped by some of the fog clouds that seemed to perpetually obscure the mountaintop. And what I found on the other side surprised me.

We were practically right on top of our destination. A small home sat on a gentle slope of the mountain. And in the distance a herd of animals dotted the landscape.

One of the dots started approaching us as soon as we appeared and as it got closer I could see that it wasn’t one of the animals, it was a boy.

From what I could tell he was probably about eleven years old and was wearing simple but well maintained farming clothes. Oh, and he also had animal ears. Dog ears if I were to guess. I also couldn’t tell if he had human ears in addition to his animal ones or not. Maybe not knowing was for the best.

He made a commotion when he approached us when he tackled Marie and the two exchanged loud and rough pleasantries.

The commotion was enough to alert the rest of the family that came out from inside the home.

As such, Marie introduced me to the whole family. The father was a normal yet hardy man named Braiv. His wife politely introduced herself as Kin.

They had two children, Rio: the boy I had just met who had a sort of auburn hair like his mother, and Bloom: their daughter, who was the same age as Marie and I, and who had deep blue hair like her dad. She was also very cute, and I did not think that just because she had a bigger chest than Marie, but it was one factor to consider.

Marie explained to me that they were a race known as demi humans, which was partially why they live so far away from society. They also raised pakkas, a rare breed of magical creature. I would describe this species as the result of a sheep and an alpaca who loved each other very much.

All of these factors combined with the fact that the family operates as guides for the bronze adventurer exam makes them highly sought after, but rarely found.

They welcomed me warmly enough after Marie explained to them who I was, but even with all of their smiles while reconnecting with their old friend Marie, I couldn’t help but notice that the entire family had a slight air of gloom.

After a while, the sun began to set, and Kin started making dinner. Things were actually nice for a change. And then, a terrible screaming sound came from outside.

Marie and I grabbed our weapons and rushed outside. We saw on the ground disturbingly close to the house a large pool of blood, but when we scanned our surroundings, we saw nothing.

“What was that?” Marie asked, arrow still nocked.

Braiv answered. “The beast. None of us have seen what it actually is, but for the past couple weeks it has been killing our livestock. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous, and it’s getting bolder. Usually it only attacks at night.”

“Has anything happened to you guys?” Marie questioned.

“Not yet, but we think it’s been watching us.” Braiv said.

Bloom added. “Not just that, the bronze exam is going to begin soon, and you two are the first people we’ve seen in over a month.”

“Anyone else on their way here might have gotten lost and become easy prey.” Marie analyzed. “Alright, I’ve made up my mind. Hiro-kun, stay here and protect the family. I’m going after this beast.”

“What, right now?” I wondered. “It’s almost dark out!”

I tried to stop her, but she was already gone, fading into the distance that was quickly darkening.

And just like that, I was left inside a small house in the middle of nowhere with a family of farmers that I had only just met. This was definitely a horror story about to unfold.

“So, tell me more about this beast. I want to know as much as I can in case Marie needs help.” I told the family.

“There are no natural predators this far up the mountain.” Rio said. “But dad says that it might be a monster from down in the forest that was wounded. That’s why it’s so far from home and only goes after easy targets, like the pakkas.”

I looked around the house. “It also comes in pretty close to hunt.” I said. “Do you guys have any defenses if it decides to attack any of you?”

“No, like I said, predators and other people aren’t an issue out here.” Braiv said. “We have a couple shepherd crooks, but that’s it.”

“Ok, Braiv, grab those and be ready for anything.” I said. “I’ll keep watch over the front door.”

Once I was by the front door I realized that they had a lock on it, but that it was broken. I didn’t like this situation one bit.

I tried to fix the lock. But I wasn’t exactly a locksmith, and the fact that I had to leave the door open to work on it made not just me, but the entire family anxious. I decided I would have to wait until morning to properly fix it.

I kept watch over the front of the house with my lantern and Sashimi to keep me company. A number of pakkas also came close to the house periodically. When Bloom brought out dinner for me, she mentioned how pakkas have some kind of empathic sense.

“I’m impressed by how quickly they’ve come to trust you.” She said. “I know I had a few reservations when Marie showed up out of the blue with a strange man. But when Marie told me more about you, and how much she trusts you, I realized you truly are a kind and trustworthy person.”

I might or might not have choked on my food a little bit when she said that.

We talked a little more, but I was worried about her being outside with the beast still presumably on the loose, so I thanked her for her company and asked for her to go back inside. Although, I was mostly worried about Marie being out there all alone.

It got very cold up in the mountains, at night. Something that I was evidently ill prepared for. But, some of the pakkas huddled up close to me for warmth and protection which was very nice. A small one in particular curled up on my lap and slept soundly. I got to experience first-hand just how soft, fluffy, and warm its fleece was. I could definitely see the value of this rare animal for sure.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

After a few hours of nothing important happening, I started to feel myself dozing off. Until I heard a slight rustling of footsteps. I perked up and readied for a fight, but it turned out to be Marie.

She told me that she lost the beast’s trail. She also offered to finish off the night watch and let me return inside for some sleep.

I made sure to give her the leftovers from dinner and chatted with her a bit, the same as Bloom did for me before getting some much needed sleep.

Morning came and Marie got a bit of sleep during the day. I had Rio keep watch over the house and the pakkas while I worked on fixing up the door. Which felt much easier in the daylight without the pressure of some unseen beast lurking in the shadows ready to tear me limb from limb as soon as I let my guard down. Fear had no part in it, it was the light. Yeah, the light.

I also worked on making some more arrows for Marie, and sharpened and repaired my blade’s edge. I needed to have a sharp edge to surpass this beast.

When all that was finished, Marie and I spread out and searched the mountain for tracks or evidence.

Marie ended up taking a more aggressive approach and tried to find where the beast might call home. I mostly stuck around the herd, in case the beast attacked one of them during the day again.

And then a horrible thought occurred to me, what if this beast was some kind of wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“It makes perfect sense.” I said out loud. “No one sees the beast because it blends in with the herd.”

And then, my thoughts became even more insidious. I was surrounded on all sides by pakkas, potential enemies. “Who’s to say every member of the family is genuine, or even Marie for that matter. She was gone for a long time last night.” I could only trust myself and Sashimi.

And then my logical mind returned. “If that were true, I still would have noticed things being off with Marie, and the other pakkas in the area would know exactly which one of them was an impostor. Not to mention, Bloom seemed to be telling the truth that pakkas have some form of herd empathy.

“It seems the most dangerous aspect about this beast is that it gets into your mind.” I revealed to my trusty confidant who also happened to be a fish.

As the daylight slowly started shrinking away, I made my way back to the house. On my way, I suddenly felt like something was watching my back, so I whipped my body around and back stepped away from the feeling, but I couldn’t see anything that looked even remotely like a beast. Also, none of the pakkas were acting suspiciously.

No, whatever this beast was, it had some other method of hiding that was not in plain sight.

The pakkas were giving me funny looks. This was because they saw me back stepping. It helped put my mind at ease a little.

When I returned, I made sure everything was in order. All four family members were present. They hadn’t seen or heard any signs of the beast. Marie was back. Except, wait, Marie wasn’t back yet.

“Oh no.”

If Marie hadn’t returned by now, it could only mean one thing, she encountered the beast. This also meant that I would have to go out and find her, and probably the beast as well.

I made it clear to the family that I was leaving to go find Marie, but that they were under no circumstances to leave the safety of the locked house.

Less than a minute had passed since I left the security of the house myself, and I was already alone and afraid inside the darkness and the mountain fog.

This beast was one of my worst match ups. An opponent that I couldn’t sense until it was too late was always worrying, but even more so because this beast seemed to ambush from behind, making my back step almost useless.

I didn’t even use my lantern. I couldn’t see my surroundings or the beast anyway, so there was no use in limiting one of my hands. Gradually, the darkness closed in around me to the point where I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.

I focused solely on Lock-on. The blade became my world.

And then, in a fraction of a second, before I could even register consciously what had happened. The beast revealed its presence as it leapt toward my back.

I swiveled around and unsheathed Lock-on. It caught my sword in its jaws and forced me to the ground.

For the first time I saw what the beast actually was. A big cat, like a leopard, with fur as dark as the night and the eyes of a man-eater hovered over me.

It struggled for a few moments with me before it gave up trying to bite through my sword. I slashed at it as it jumped off of me.

It doubled back to try again, but I was already on my feet. I back stepped away from it as it pounced at the spot I had been a moment earlier.

It seemed like we were evenly matched now. As long as it was in my sights, I could back step before it would hit me, but that also meant that it could slink back into the darkness and flee if I went on the offensive.

That’s what I thought at least. Then it stood still right in front of me, and I could feel an attack of a different kind come at me.

The beast was attacking my mind. My vision swam, I felt thousands of hot needles all over my body, and my mind could only process one word, fear. In that state, it was easy for the beast to slip away into the night. But it wasn’t through with me.

The darkness around me was suffocating. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even think. There was no way for me to defend myself.

But just then, when my perception of reality was as small as it had ever been and my heart was about to give out, I felt a strange warmth radiate in my chest and a shining light coming from the same area.

Like magic, my mind returned to normal and the darkness wasn’t so dark anymore. In fact, my senses felt so sharp and clear that I knew exactly where the beast was going to attack me. I turned 180 degrees, planted my feet firmly in the ground, and released my sheathed blade in an instant.

The animal fell right into the edge of my sword. It tried once again to escape me, but with my mind clear and its wounds bleeding. There was no hope for it.

With it now turning its back on me, I back stepped in towards it with Lock-on at the ready. I stabbed into it a few times, and it was finished. This was the first time I had ever killed anything other than a fly in either of my two lives.

“Level Up!” Flashed in my face once again.

The light subsided. I uncovered my lantern to find that the light was coming from the strange crystal bead. I also found out that the beast had been injured. Its mouth was in very bad shape. Playing tug of war with me probably didn’t help, but it looked like they were some older wounds. Not only that, there were some broken arrows embedded in its body. Marie had gotten to it first, and dealt damage. If she hadn’t weakened it already, I doubt I would have been able to kill it.

“Marie.” I thought, remembering why I had come out here in the first place. I called out her name and flashed my lantern all around. Thankfully I didn’t have to look too hard or for too long. Over the ridge a flock of pakkas gathered around the form of a familiar female archer.

“Marie.” I called out to her.

She respond. “Hiro-kun?”

I ran over to her as fast as I could. I propped her up a little bit.

“Is that really you, Hiro-kun?” She asked.

“Yes, it’s me.” I answered.

She coughed up a bit of blood. “Did you get the beast?”

“Yeah, I killed it.”

She closed her eyes and smiled. “Damn, I wanted to finish it off.”

“Don’t worry about that right now, just take it easy.” I told her as I rummaged through my pack and pulled out my healing potion.

I administered it and let the healing effect of the potion do its work.

After the potion brought her back up to good enough health to move around, Marie insisted on retrieving the corpse of the beast and returning to the house.

Marie told me when we examined the beast that it was a Lethe Leopard, a monster that could conceal itself through normal and magical means. She also explained that it had some kind of permanent injury to its mouth that was probably from some other adventurer who failed to finish it off.

“So what do we do with the corpse?” I asked her.

She said. “Help me get it in my pack, I can get a lot of value out of this.”

The two of us managed to stuff the corpse of the big cat into Marie’s bag and headed back to the house to inform the family that they were safe from the menace of the beast.

The family expressed how they couldn’t thank us enough for saving them. They offered a large quantity of their finest pakka fleece as a gift. I graciously accepted it, seeing as it was very valuable, even though Marie said it wasn’t worth as much as the corpse or the guild reward.

Truthfully, I was always more interested in the fleece ever since I touched it. Bloom informed me of all of the benefits of pakka fleece aside from it being incredibly warm, soft, and rare. It was also hypoallergenic, cool in extreme heat, strong and durable, water repellent, difficult to ignite, and even slightly magic resistant.

The more I heard, the more I became in love with it. As soon as possible, I was going to turn this fleece into the perfect adventurer clothing.

But first, I needed my bronze license.

The next day, Braiv and Bloom left to escort me to the site of the bronze adventurer exam and Marie stayed behind with Kin and Rio.

Marie insisted that she needed a few days to rest up after her tough fight, but when I was leaving I saw her playing outside with Rio, so who knows.

I think she just wanted to spend some more time with them and make sure they were safe until the whole family was back together.

After a long, hard trek, we made it to the capital city of Silverbergh.

Braiv led me to a large, rundown building in the downtown area, and told me that we had arrived.