POV: Cass

I didn't have to wait in the tree long before two of the beasts appeared running towards the area I tested the now dead animal. As they saw the corpse of the beast I killed, they veered towards it and came to stop looking, and sniffing around. While I waited for them to conclude what I could only describe as an investigation, I decided I should probably give these creatures a name. I was absolutely terrible at naming things, but I figured that something like Reliag was good enough, a simple mix between reptile, lion, and stag. It's not like I was going to go around telling everyone I met about my subpar naming skills, it was purely so I could refrain from mentally referring to them as beasts or animals, as I'm sure I will be meeting more than just these in the future.

While my eyes never wandered, my thoughts had, so I bring them back to the situation in front of me. The Reliags seemed to be finishing up, and considering they weren't trying to climb the tree I was in, I guessed that their sense of smell was not their primary sense. I wasn't complaining however, because that could only be seen as a net positive for me. One of the Reliags moves to the original location of the fight and picks up the dropped squirrel. That was not out of the range of my expectation, however what they did next was. The one without the squirrel bites down on the front leg of the Reliag corpse and tries to drag the body in the direction they came from. It doesn't get very far before the other one, with the squirrel pushed back into its mouth, latches onto the dead Reliags tail and helps to carry it the exact same way I saw the two hauling the deer earlier.

I'm unsure if they are developed enough to care about their dead or if they're going to eat it, I probably wouldn't be surprised either way. What is really interesting to me, is why they are so concerned with gathering food. There's the obvious, they need food to survive, but do they really need so much. All they seem to do is gather food, could there be another reason for the stockpiling efforts. After giving them enough room to be unheard and unseen, I follow after them. I want to get as close as I can again to see if I'm able to tell what is being done with the corpse.

After a several minutes of traveling slowly behind the two burdened Reliags, I'm again unable to make it close enough before there are just too many of them prowling around for me to make any further progress inward without killing my way in. With my inability to gather any more information it's time to start grinding. I chuckle to myself as I move to the more sparsely traveled areas and start picking off isolated Relaigs with impunity.

The fights are simple, with most of the Reliags not even aware that I'm around before they're dead. Despite that, when I find any further out with large distances between each other, I engage with them in melee. I find that their ability to learn pushes me far beyond what any of the dumb monsters back in the zone were able to. I even had to use burst to avoid being injured when one of them predicted my dodge. I had felt stymied before, only able to practice basic footwork, dodges, or strikes against robotically aggressive monsters. While those things were good for me to work on, being able to take those experiences and expand my horizons with intelligent creatures to spar against, I felt like I was improving at a prodigious speed.

Hours passed as I thinned the herd, the only breaks being a short lunch of cold noodles and the invigorating melee fights to hone my skills. I found that even though I was in more danger giving my enemies a chance to react I was truly having fun bettering myself. While my stealth and marksmanship were getting a good workout it paled in comparison to narrowly dodging claws aimed to eviscerate my throat and striking to decapitate my foe in a single efficient swing. As the rate at which monsters traveled outside the nest decreased, I found myself tracking the Reliags until they were far enough away for me to engage in melee combat.

Something finally changed when upon closing with the nest after taking out yet another Reliag, I felt a large group of energy signatures outside of the nest. I immediately moved in their direction trying to spot what they were doing. When I arrived, I found a group of 10 Reliags, with an 11th that stood out to me. Not only was its energy signature easily double that of the others, but it was considerably larger than any of the others I've seen so far. The thing was probably a third again as large, with a massive set of antlers on its head, and a fiery red mane. The big one was standing over one of the dead Reliags I had killed earlier. It was killed by a simple energy dagger through center mass, it having been too close to the nest for me to feel comfortable fighting it in melee combat.

The large Reliag roared and two of the regular ones moved to pick up the dead body. Without another signal they dragged it off towards the nest. After that the large Reliag led the remaining group around finding more bodies and ordering them brought back. After two more groups were sent back, I moved to take out the fourth. Following the group a short distance away, I killed them with two simultaneous energy daggers to center mass before retreating to watch the group of three. They found a fifth body and after ordering its two remaining normal Reliags to carry the body it walked back with them.

Too lazy to carry one yourself huh, or just too scared to be out here alone? I waited in a tree in line with their route back to the nest, and with the two normal Reliags busy, I readied two extra strength energy daggers. As the leader passed under the tree, I unleashed both attacks at its center mass. The first strike disintegrated part of its spinal column and dug a hole into part of its heart and lungs. The second strike was slightly to the side and annihilated half of its heart. I nodded to myself as it collapsed to the ground without making a sound, the second strike had likely been overkill, but overkilling something new can never be a bad thing. The two carrying the dead body turned at the noise, dropping their cargo before freezing in what I can only assume is shock.

I decide to push myself and drop down in front of them to try my hand at a 2v1. I only give them a half second before I launch myself towards the one on the right striking out and cutting through its front leg just below the shoulder. With a high pitch whine the Reliag with only three remaining limbs scrambles backward to the best of its ability. Its partner to my left seeing my weapon dissipate into nothing takes the opportunity to lunge at me. I see this coming from a mile away, not only did I have my eyes on it from the start, but almost every Reliag I had fought so far began the fight with a lunge, seeking to end the fight with a swift kill. To me this was a sign of an animal that thought it was at the top of the food chain, never having been truly challenged.

With an easy sidestep to the left, I manifest my energy blade and cut a furrow down the length of its body, giving special attention to its hind leg where I dig deeper, attempting to disable the leg without inflicting more damage than necessary. While it is difficult to deliver a cut of this magnitude without killing the Reliag outright, precision is an aspect of skill, especially with a sword. Also, it wouldn't be any fun if I had just decapitated the first one and cut the second practically in half with my first strikes. I hadn't had an opportunity to attack two at once since right after my first kill and I wanted to experience a two against one with opponents able to learn, adapt, and work together. I had no desire to get myself killed though, which is why I took down the unknown variable before starting this fight.

Taking two steps back from the pair of Reliag in front of me, I wait to see their reaction. Would they team up or continue to try and take advantage of openings given by the injury of the other. It seems that both being injured they decide to work together, the three-legged Reliag begins a leap while the other, dragging its back leg, moves in to swipe its claws at me. I move into a position where the first is unable to get a direct line of attack to me without going through or around its friend. I dodge or parry blows from the slowed Reliag with the wound along its side while I wait to see what they will come up with to remedy the situation.

With a growl the three-legged Reliag launches itself at me looking like it was going to collide with the other. However, the one with the bad hind leg drops to the ground clearing the path for its leaping brother. I'm quite impressed with their problem-solving skills, but I've seen enough. Without further ado I manifest my blade, cutting through its wide-open mouth into the back of its neck and out the other side, decapitating the top half of the Reliag's skull. A simple burst later and I've killed the other before it managed to rise off the ground. I had learned quite a bit, but I could feel another group being sent out with a leader Reliag and decided to end the fight there.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It only took about 45 seconds before I was trailing the next large group, but nothing different occurred, and as there were only three remaining once more, I waited in their path. This time my two daggers were sent into the leading Reliags leaving the leader alive. The fight wasn't anything special, the leader beast didn't appear to be any smarter than the others, only stronger, but it was nowhere near enough to put any kind of pressure on me. I simply ended up decapitating it as it tried to lead my dodge but was unable to due to a burst in speed that it didn't know I had, it was time to watch over the next group.

Like this I spent 3 more hours, though I didn't waste time in melee, and I killed off the pairs separating from the group. However, as night fell, I decided to give myself a final challenge and attack a full group of 11 Reliags including a stronger leader. I wasn't going to overestimate my abilities and bar myself from utilizing my full capabilities, but I did want to stay at melee range. The fight started simply, with me getting their attention and killing two of the normal Reliags on the flank with energy daggers as I closed the distance. It was almost easier than dealing with two or three, because there were always friendlies in the way of their attacks. The smarter ones tried to spread out, but I killed anything attempting to flank me with prejudice. As their numbers reached four and they were able to form a semblance of cohesion, I lengthened my energy blade by two whole feet and made wide slashing motions that cut off anything daring to approach me.

The first of their losses was one of their legs followed by the death of a Reliag that tried to lunge at me from a 45-degree angle to my left. As the partially bisected creature landed the third normal Reliag tried to dive for my ankle, but with a quick repositioning of my foot and a swing of my blade, it lost the front half of its head. As the two remaining Reliags regrouped I dismissed my sword, watching the new three-legged Reliag and the leader closely. With a growl from the leader, they both lunged at me simultaneously, however the leader did one of those double jump things where it didn't put much into its first lunge and landed halfway to me only to bound into a second lunge. I acted quickly, launching a dagger at the three-legged Reliag before immediately bursting towards the leader, catching it before it could bound into a second lunge. I manifested my blade as I was moving towards the leader, with my arm outstretched, I ended the burst with my index finger half an inch away from its chest, and half of my blade sticking out the back of its body. I quickly routed more energy into the blade and then swung upward bisecting the creature from its heart to the top of its head.

I was nearly out of energy having spent most of the day intermittently using energy to kill before short breaks to regenerate, that last fight took most of what I had left. As I stepped back, I spared a glance to ensure the three-legged Reliag was indeed dead as I assumed. With night truly falling I activated night vision and sped out of the area, a meal and a rest were in order.

The next day, I hopped down from the tree I had slept in last night, I had found the largest tree I could, and made my way up until right before the branches became too small before going to sleep. I only woke up once when I felt something odd, but it was only a bird that had landed in the same tree as me and was watching me intently before flying away when I woke up. Breakfast was the same as dinner, cold canned goods. I'm not too bothered by the cold soup; I just think of it as nutrients and get it down the hole before moving on, while I could probably make a fire easily enough, it's just not worth the effort right now.

On my journey back to the Reliag nest I find multiple bodies lying around, I had honestly expected them to be retrieved by the time I came back. There were obviously less than yesterday, but had I really killed so many that they were unable to haul all the bodies back to the nest? As I finish closing the distance I can sense the nest, or what I thought was the nest. The mass of energy signatures appears to be ... moving? I carefully enter into visual range and see that every remaining Reliag is out in one large pack, and they're not moving the bodies ... they're eating them. Well, that's certainly one theory confirmed. I shake my head in morbid amusement. It's then that I notice something, considering the energy signatures I had assumed that there were at least 30 Reliag leaders in the center of the group, but to my surprise there are only 15, with the other half of the energy coming from three massive Reliags. These things are more than double the size of the regular Reliags, and still tower over the leaders.

Those will be an interesting fight! I chuckle to myself. But how to get them alone? That's when I have an idea. I'll simply play the predator of a herd, picking off the weaklings at the side and moving away before I'm caught, only to come back and repeat until only the three big boys are left. I don't waste any time before getting to work. The following two hours are spent killing all of the normal Reliags, while avoiding being pinned down by the leaders and their larger counterparts. By this point they are simply roaming around looking for me, but it's simple to track and avoid the large group with my energy sense while I kill off one Reliag after another. An hour later, and I've killed all the leaders. It's time! I smirk to myself in anticipation.

As I step out from behind a tree, the three remaining Relaigs lock their gazes onto me. They were furious, having been turned from apex hunters into mere prey, being toyed with and unable to release their fury on anything as they watched their pack die around them. They do not waste a second all three throwing themselves at me with their maximum speed. I nod before getting serious, these three are each at the level of a Night Stalker, though severely less dangerous in my opinion. Their reach, speed, and precision seem lacking to their walking nightmare counterparts, and even their teamwork is only slightly better.

As the three Reliag close the distance I don't move an inch, staring them down. At the last second, I use burst to move several feet to the left, putting me on the outside edge of the furthermost left Reliag. It charges right past me, potentially not even having noticed my movement, though even if it did, there was no way for it to halt its momentum. As it flies past, I manifest my energy blade and cut deeply allowing the Reliags momentum to sheer it in two. I turn and burst once again before either of the other two can turn or even stop. Every ounce of nerd in me wants me to jump on this thing's back and plunge my energy blade down into its heart. Unfortunately, I know that my movement and dodging capabilities are sincerely lacking in midair, not to mention that I would likely lose my footing as its momentum dragged it forward and I stood still.

With my fantasy instincts tamed, I used burst to move slightly ahead of it and cut down, severing its head from its body cleanly. By that time the other managed to stop and turn to face me, its anger palpable, but looking into its eyes, I can see something else. I see fear starting to fester in its very soul. I wait, staring into its bloodshot eyes, finally it finds the courage to make a final attempt to kill the monster that has slaughtered its entire pack in the last 2 days. With a mighty roar it closes the distance, though it does not lunge. I can see it focus waiting for me to make a move, to dodge to the side and attempt to strike it. I internally laugh, considering I could easily just launch an energy dagger down its throat and end the fight in a second, but I stand my ground, manifesting my energy blade. It happens quickly after it closes half the distance it suddenly launches forward. All that power put into a single move; the thing is fast. I barely have time to take a step to the right with my right foot, planting all my weight on that leg and pushing off the ground with my left, spinning my body out of the way before coming around the other side with full momentum, pumping my energy blade full of energy increasing its density and length. With a final swing I bisect the Reliag straight through the middle, cutting through its spinal column and coming out through its stomach.

Watching as the last Reliag quickly finishes bleeding out, I look down at my left arm. Damnit, my left bicep again. I groan, though I let it be audible as there's nothing around anymore. There was a single cut going across my left bicep, about 1/8th inch deep. I had miscalculated and earned myself another wound, it wasn't anything bad and would repair itself soon enough with my vitality, but I was disappointed, and annoyed. It was time figure out how to get a damn shield. However, a smile slowly formed on my face, there was a notification waiting for my attention.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 10.

For reaching level 10, you have received stats according to your class.

+5 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +4 Agility, +3 Dexterity, +4 Free stats

Name: Cassius Heart

Titles: Primus

Class: Void Tainted Spell Blade (Lvl 10)

Unallocated Stats: 0

Strength: [22] +20% effectiveness

Vitality: [22] +20% effectiveness

Endurance: [22] +20% effectiveness

Dexterity: [40] +20% effectiveness

Agility: [48] +20% effectiveness

Intelligence: [62] +20% effectiveness

Wisdom: [54] +20% effectiveness

Skills:

Energy Blade

Energy Control

Burst

Void Tainted Sight

Void Tainted Cowl