I started at the sound of growling from behind me. For a moment I stood uncomprehending of the situation, then I realized I was in danger. I spun to face the noise, fumbling with the straps of my pack as I did so.

It only took seconds for me to turn and free myself, yet it was still enough time for the creature to cross more than half the distance between us. I fumbled again, this time with my holster, trying to get the strap holding the gun in place loose.

Why didn’t I practice this, I thought desperately. Then it was free, and I drew the plasma pistol in a surprisingly smooth movement. I looked up as I did so, getting my first look at my foe.

At first, I thought it was a wolf or dog of some kind, it was the right size for that at least. However, the appearance was all wrong, its body disproportionately long and its neck longer still. Its mouth gaped open as it charged, revealing four huge fangs.

A memory of the pub I was in earlier bubbled to the surface. Is that a giant ferret? I thought, bemusement helping to stave off my fear.

By this point, it was only a few feet away. I shakily trained the pistol on it and took a shot, sending a bolt of green plasma from the end of my gun. It flew, sizzling through the air, and landed with a splash against the ground next to the Beast.

Then it was on me, its fangs ripping into my right calf.

I screamed in agony, unprepared for just how much it hurt. The Beast dragged my leg back and forth, trying to unseat my balance. The autumn leaves covering the ground made footing difficult at the best of times. With its weight added to mine, I slipped and fell backward.

Terror gripped me as I realized the path to my throat was open. The Beast recognized this as well, it released my leg and darted across my body.

Its claws dug into me painfully, however, I didn’t have time to worry about it. This struggle had quickly escalated into a life or death situation.

I’d at least been aware enough to keep a tight grip on my pistol, I still clutched it in my right hand. I could see an opening, however, the timing would be key.

As the Beast lunged the last few feet towards my throat, I pulled the gun up, barrel facing its head. Wasting no time, I took the shot with the barrel less than an inch from its face.

Plasma spewed forth, melting the side of its head off. The Beast didn’t even have time to make a sound before it collapsed on top of me, dead.

"Urrg", I groaned, trying to push the corpse off as melted flesh and worse spilled over my shirt. Eventually, I flipped it over, scrambling back as best I could as I did so.

I’d won, I would live to see another day.

As the adrenaline of the fight cooled, the pain in my calf demanded my attention. While the scratches on my upper legs and chest hurt as well, they paled in comparison to the much more severe injury.

Blood was leaking from it at a disturbing rate and I didn’t know long it would take for blood loss to become an issue. Luckily, I was only a few feet from my pack and the medical kit within.

I awkwardly dragged myself over, trying to keep my leg as still as possible. I groaned as I pulled the pack open, remembering how I’d stuck the medical kit down at the bottom.

It took more than a minute for me to fling the rest of the stuff from the back and pull it out, time I might not have had in an even worse emergency. Kit in hand, I flipped it open to see what was inside. I hadn’t even thought to go through it earlier, again showing the lack of proper preparation I’d made for this trip. I would have to do better in the future.

Inside were several medicine bottles, fabric scissors, and a much larger container that was connected to a flexible tube ending in a spray nozzle.

Where are the bloody bandages? I thought, desperate to stop the blood flow. Tucked into the side of the kit was a small book, the first physical information medium I’d seen since arriving. Groaning at the delay, I grabbed it and started flicking through.

It was made of thick, glossy paper, almost laminated in its texture. On the second page, I found what I needed, the container with the spray nozzle was listed as wound sealant.

I'd just have to get my wound clear in order to apply it. Wincing in pain, I dragged my pants down past my calf. While the fabric scissors would have been faster, this was the only pair of pants I had with me.

With my calf bare, I could see the wound. Four puncture marks on each side of my calf, all of them spewing a steady stream of blood. I blinked in shock for a moment, wondering how there were so many holes. Surely it would have only had two fangs on each side of my leg.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Then I realized the truth with a surge of horror, its teeth had gone all the way through.

Shuddering, I dragged the box over. The wound sealant had a long enough tube that I could still spray my leg with it in the kit. Hoping for the best, I aimed the nozzle at my leg and pressed the button on the side of the tube.

A thick spray of liquid hit the wounds on one side of my leg. It hardened into a thick, springy goo a moment later. To my relief, it seemed to work, that side was no longer bleeding.

I twisted the pipe as fast as I could to reach the other side, repeating the procedure. With the major wounds dealt with, I made sure to get the smaller cuts caused by its less pronounced teeth,

A few moments later, I’d covered most of my calf with the goo, I was at least safe from bleeding out.

I flicked through the rest of the booklet's pages, looking for a painkiller. One bottle in the kit was what I was after, while another was for healing internal injuries. I was pretty sure having something pierce through your entire leg counted, so I took a dose of each.

They acted quickly, the pain fading only a couple of minutes later. I sighed with relief before reading through the documentation in more detail.

The wound sealant goo would apparently stay on till the skin healed before flaking off. It must have some kind of healing tech in it, as the book estimated the process would only take a day. The painkillers would last ten hours before I’d have to take another, and the internal injury pills would supposedly heal me in one to three days, depending on the severity of the injury.

Thank god for future medicine, I thought with a tired grin. This would have gone badly without it. I was a little curious how they were able to heal me so quickly, maybe I’d ask a Doctor when I got the chance.

As I relaxed, my attention was drawn to a notification flashing in the corner of my vision. It seemed the System had something to say.

Combat Report

Outcome:

You killed 1 x Dire Ferret

You have been moderately injured

Reward:

You gain 10 XP

Well, at least I get something, I thought with a sigh. I suppose the XP will probably be worth it in the end, that’s as much as I got for finishing my first quest.

Then my head snapped to the side as I heard more growls. No, I thought in despair. This can’t be happening again, not now.

It turned out that it could indeed happen again as two more of the Dire Ferrets slunk into the clearing I was in. They came from different sides, approaching me from both the left and right at once.

I was still sitting on the ground and didn’t even have pants on, I was far from ready to fight again. Still, I had no choice, it was fight or lose all my equipment.

They seemed cautious at least, advancing slower than the first one had. I must have worried them by taking out their friend. That gave me an opening as I slowly lined up a shot, bracing the pistol with both hands. I fired, and it skimmed past one’s head, striking it in the shoulder.

It screeched and darted back, rolling to try and put out what it must see as fire. The other lept forwards, crossing half the distance in an instant.

I wasn’t confident of hitting a target moving that quickly, not after I’d missed earlier. Instead, I grabbed my empty pack and tossed it into the Beast’s path.

It skidded to a stop, trying to avoid the bag. While It succeeded, the move cost it its momentum. It would have to move around the bag to get to me and going to the right would be the shortest route.

I'd started lining up a shot as soon as I let the bag go. I fired as soon as it came around the bag in the direction I was expecting. The bolt launched forwards, exploding its head with a direct hit.

That left one, and I turned my head to look at it. It looked like my earlier shot had done more damage than I thought as it was trying to limp away using its three functioning legs.

Sorry Beast, I thought. No XP escapes. I missed my first shot, however, I compensated and hit it in the side of the chest with my second. It fell and didn’t get back up.

Safe, I sighed as I lay back. That had gone much better than the first fight. Part of it was their cautious approach, but the rest of it was down to how I handled it better.

I’d kept my gun near at hand the whole time and when the fight happened, I’d reacted much faster. From hitting with my first shot to my idea with the bag, I’d handled myself better all around.

Unsurprisingly, keeping calm was key in combat, I’d have to remember that in the future.

Several minutes later, another notification appeared, the fleeing Beast must have taken a while to die.

Combat Report

Outcome:

You killed 2 x Dire Ferret

Rewards:

You gain 20 XP

That took me almost halfway to level two. It was nearly enough to make this entire experience worth it. I wonder if they’re worth anything, I mused as I used my watch to pull up the data from my scanner.

I’d left it in passive mode since I arrived, just gathering information for the guild. I started kicking myself for that as it opened. A circular map of my surroundings was hovering over the top of my watch, showing three red markings nearby. They matched the locations of the three bodies around me.

So I had a bloody mini-map with enemy detection the whole time? I thought, angry at myself for not investigating it earlier. If I’d been paying attention to this, things may have gone better from the start.

I pressed one dot, and it changed to reveal what looked to be a bestiary entry. It described the Dire Ferret in considerable detail, including that it hunted in packs and was more than happy to attack humans.

It also turned out they were valuable, having something called a Beast core inside their chests.

I fumbled through my strewn-about gear until I had the carving knife from my cooking set in hand. I looked at the small knife, then at the corpses in front of me.

This is going to get messy, I thought, not looking forward to the butchery ahead.