Novels2Search
Will of the Beastmaster
03 | Creature from the Trees

03 | Creature from the Trees

After some time, the pantherian started to regain its consciousness. That was the time where I was brought back to reality that I am with an extremely dangerous being. Pantherians are described in books as not only aggressive but cruel monsters. They are heavily discriminative towards the weak and would ruthlessly kill any beast that it deems unworthy.

It is said as well that they like challenging beasts or monsters that they consider as strong and will not back away until the provocation is accepted. This has been reported to be always the case where either the pantherian or its opponent is dead.

“I see now why the population is relatively low. Damn battle maniacs.”

“Urgh. Grrr. Grrhaa. Grr.”

Just from the groans and muffled sounds that it produces, one can tell that pantherians are born to be fierce beasts. The ability to send shivers by just creating those meaningless sounds is shocking to a degree.

I wanted to run. I seriously wanted to run at this point. Who would want to be in a situation where you’re beside something that you saved but might also kill you? Yet considering my options, being near the river is probably my wisest choice right now, my last resort would be jumping in the water as the creature that’s presumably alone won’t be able to get near me. If this pantherian ever follows me, the blood would wash out and it would be attacked again.

“Ugh. Grrhaaa, who’re you?”

Huh?

“Grrhaa, grrhaa. Oy, didn’t you hear me?”

“I’m the one who pulled you out of the river because you were being attacked by a monster full of vines.”

That’s the simplest description that I can give to him since I’m not sure what answer this pantherian wants. I can’t still ease the feelings of fear inside me, but I can’t show weakness to a pantherian, knowing that I might die if I just whimpered about.

“Grr, haa, haa, Haaa. I remember—I remember going berserk. What happened?”

“Was that berserk? Well, you were being drowned by the monster and after you’ve gone berserk you suddenly had a boos— Wha—oy! What’s happening to you?!”

It was already suspicious that even after some time of recuperation, this pantherian was still panting as if it’s still in a fight. But right now, after it managed to somehow try to get up, it immediately fell down as if it just received a faint-worthy punch.

“Grr … Grrhaa .. Grrraaaaaah … GRRAAAAAAAARRRRR!!”

“Oy! What’s gotten into you?!”

“GRAAAAAAAHHH!! WHAT IS THIS?! MY BODY! MY BODY’S IN PAIN! MY WHOLE BODY’S IN PAIN! GRAAAHHHHH!!!”

Just what is happening? I had to think fast. It was just okay earlier and this pantherian was almost about to get up, then how it is that he just felt pain all over his body?

Wait, all over his body?

Oh, I see.

The blood. Must be the blood.

This would add reliability to my theory.

Thinking about it, removing the factor that he was tired from fighting and swimming earlier, the only possible thing that could bring pain to a pantherian’s body would be my blood. It’s all over its body so it must be what’s causing the excruciating pain right now.

“Oh.” If my blood is really the cause, would this also be a result for those who will be subjected directly to primordial blood? I, for one see this as an advantage since I’m in unknown grounds, this will even grant me a huge opportunity to have the forest under my rule if I use it to its optimum potential.

Yet I cannot be complacent, there are still several unknown factors at play here. There is the major concern of what might be the physical status of this pantherian before he plunged in the waters. But one thing’s for sure, I need this pantherian.

“Look! You got so much blood on you! Maybe there’s a wound somewhere that still did not close.” And here I was stopping myself from looking disgusted with how I need to keep up this act. I just hope that the immediate excuse that I made would suffice, I have no idea how intelligent these beasts are since the books only elaborated their physical might and personality.

“Grruughh, grrhaa. Graaahh. You, you’re not a native of the forest.”

Saying those words coupled with a piercing glare could’ve killed any ordinary beast. Just by having eye contact made me remember the berserker just a few moments ago. However, I can’t back down here—

“Yes, I’m from a place approximately south of the forest, I can’t really tell you the details but never mind that, you need immediate treatment with all of that blood on you!”

“Grrgh, grrughh, this is not my blood. I don’t kno—grraah, haa, haa—know what your motives are but you need to remove all of thi—grrugh gruugrrhh—this blood from me. It’s draining me—grraahh, groaaaahh—its draining me of life, of strength! GROOAAARRRR”

I smiled. Well, I almost smiled. Lately, I’ve been so easy to express my emotions.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Alright, I understand. Looks like the monster won’t be resurfacing soon so Ill just get some water from the river. Please try to hold on, Ill be as quick as possible.”

Work. And I just had my rest after that grueling battle. This better be all worth it.

I had some difficulties standing up due to the accumulated stress in my body. But I had enough strength to at least do this much; I’ll just use my clothes to absorb water and use that to remove the bloodstains. It appears that the pantherian suspects me of being a non-native of the forest, but on the other hand, it is also unaware of the source of blood all over its body; maybe it thinks that the blood was from the monster with vines.

I had torn a piece of my clothing earlier and dripped some of my blood on it to serve as my failsafe just in case I get attacked again by the vines. I have to think of other strategies to protect myself particularly on the instance that there are beasts that are immune to my blood. Kneeling in front of the riverbank and my blood-soaked cloth ready, I immersed my clothes in the water, I had to dip my clothes multiple times just to make sure I get the maximum amount of moisture, since I don’t want to be wasting my time and strength running back and forth from the river.

“Here, I will start wiping off the blood now, please endure a little more.” I started removing the blood first from pantherian’s head to its upper body, I tried to stay away from its limbs and plan to deal with it later because there’s still some lingering fear in me; I needed to be cautious just in case this pantherian attacks me once it is able to move.

“Grraaaaaaaaagghhhh!! Grraaaaaaaahhh!!”

Every time I moved my hands to wipe of parts of the bloodstains, the pantherian would let out a growl full of blood-curdling pain. And every time it does, it slightly moves some of its body parts, including its limbs, out of instinct probably. This is not helping my worries. Let’s just hope that it would be grateful for what I’m doing.

It’s a good thing that the pantherian is slumped with its back facing upward, since I’m not sure what expressions I might be making while removing the bloodstains and looking at its enormously muscular body. I should consider this as training for me since I might encounter other beasts in this forest, especially those that even the ever-aggressive pantherians would avoid.

“Grrrrr”

I heard a growl, a growl so deep and ominous it could have been mistaken for a curse. And it was not from the one in front of me. It came from the trees; the trees were hiding a creature, a creature that might be worse than the monster with vines.

A caught I sight of it, a glimpse to be exact. And then it looked at me, in the eyes. It had bloodshot eyes that saw through my very soul. There were only a few beasts and monsters described in books that were this fearsome. It’s akin to looking at death itself, where you can’t even do anything but just wait for it to take you. Whatever it is, it’s definitely something to run away from. My mind was screaming that I move, that I run away, but my body seemed to have submitted itself to its power. I just froze there, maintaining my eye contact on something that only eyes I can see.

Then all of a sudden, I was relieved of the intimidating sensation, I was able to look away from the predatory look that rendered me immobile for a few moments. Though I was confused on the cause of the release, I was able to understand something—

It was an ability.

The feeling that I had was probably a nature-specific ability. If I had to surmise, it’s an ability where it induces the target into a state of paralysis by intimidation. It was elaborated in the books that I’ve read that these kinds of ability fall into the class of what they call ailments.

[Ailment. A status effect of the body where one is subjected to the following: mobility impairment, senses impairment, ability impairment, intimidation, charm, weakening, or anything that would reduce a beast’s capability to fight. The strength and duration of ailments are dependent on its caster’s capabilities and proficiency, but they can still be countered by other abilities or natural defenses of certain beasts or monsters. Also, potions or elixirs of high value are able to generally cure, remove, or even immunize individuals from ailments.]

Now that I’m free from the ailment, I was able to look into the creature more. It’s still hiding in the trees with its eyes still locked with mine, I have a fair guess of what creature it is, but you can never be too sure. It might be one of those beasts that are masters of illusion and mimicry, it could also be one of those that produces disposable pawns for scouting.

Thus, I badly need more information. Knowledge is power and information will be my greatest weapon here. I can only be confident in surviving here if I have enough knowledge of the entire Forest and its occupants.

While I was pondering with my thoughts, I heard the gruntle of the pantherian in front of me and was instantly brought back to what my task is.

“Grrughh—what’s with the pause?”

Should I say it? I might trigger its battle instincts.

“You see, there’s another creature who seem to be full of hostility directed towards us. Its hiding in the trees just in front.”

Shock was evident in the face of the pantherian, and since it can now move its head, it immediately tried to look to the direction that I said, verifying the truth of my words. Once it saw the creature in the trees, the pantherian’s eyes enlarged with surprise but then instantly narrowed as if to measure its opponent. The instantaneous change of emotions prompted me to hasten my activity and assure the pantherian’s mobility.

“Gugh! – Make it quick, I’ll endure it, so just make it quick.”

“Yes, yes. I’m already doing my best here.”

Even though it was painful at first, the pantherian seemed to have redirected its attention to the creature that it no longer had to growl and shout from the pain. While I was wiping away the remaining bloodstains, its face is just focused on that spot of trees, eyes locked to whatever it is hiding itself from sight. I was almost finished wiping all the blood from its left arm when—

“Grrrrr”

That horrific growl was heard once again, and looking at its source, the creature in the trees started moving towards us. Its silhouette showing it has a muscular body just like the pantherian.

I almost smiled again. Just like I thought.

But I really need to fix these facial muscles of mine

“You can’t move.”

And what emerged from the trees is a creature with a large build of muscles and stripes of yellow and black all over its body.

It was another pantherian.

“I thank the Origin Beast for giving me this opportunity. Now, Hiten, I believe we were fighting, or something like that?”

So it was Hiten. Glad to know I knew its name before I possibly die by being involved in this conflict.

Since I was not restricted anymore with any ailments, I tried to still wipe away the remaining bloodstains on Hiten’s body. I need protection more so now that another pantherian is in play, because even if I have this blood, I’m not completely sure if it works on a berserker pantherian that defies physical limitations. Just as I was hurriedly finishing the stains, Hiten’s left arm that is now free from blood took the wet clothes and attempted to wipe off blood from its other limbs.

And as expected, a beast that waited patiently until the right time wouldn’t let its enemy recover from its impairment, it would obviously contradict its actions up this point. The unknown pantherian instantly ran towards Hiten at a speed comparable to how I first encountered Hiten, when it almost flew in front of me into the river.

“Do you honestly think I’d let you do that?”