—Orion—I was in the middle of investigating some possible tracks when I heard Sally scream, the noise grabbing my attention and snatching it away from my current distraction. I immediately got up and started moving towards where I’d left Sally, running through the trees as I readied my bow in my hands.
It took less than a minute to return to the clearing we'd separated in, and by then my bow was raised with an arrow appearing onto its string.
Using [Barbarika’s Quiver]MP: 14/25 -> 13/25
I was breathing heavily when I burst through the treeline, and I scanned the area as quickly as I could for Sally. A few things immediately stood out to me. The abnormal appearance of a pool of mist coating the floor of the clearing, Sally fleeing from a strangely aggressive deer, and the fluffy cloud-like substance stuck to the buck's face.
The deer was abnormally rge, its shoulders the same height as mine, and the bulk of its muscles made it much closer to a moose than its small cousins that lived in warmer climates. Its almost absent fur, and the shape of its thorn-like antlers only added to the budding conclusion of it being a species that I'd never seen before.
To get a clearer understanding of the situation before engaging with the beast, I decided to use [Appraisal] on the enemy.
[Using [Appraisal – Lvl 1] on: [Vampiric Deer]]
[[Hunter’s Senses] upgrades the level of [Appraisal – Lvl 1] when facing a beast!]
[Using [Appraisal – Lvl 2] on: [Vampiric Deer]]
[Vampiric Deer – Level 12 Beast]
[A herbivore twisted into a carnivore by the abundant mutagenic life energies currently lurking in the Divian Forest.]
Spoiler[The Divian forests, and its uniquely aberrant creatures, have been the subject of a many an academic discussion. The debates over the source of its vitality, and the extremely unstable evolution of its wildlife, haven't ever had a definitive winner. But whatever the cause, the creature in front of you is the product of its nonsensical processes.
The Vampiric Deer were once a species of ruminant that only ate vegetation, but with the extreme amount of animals of every size supported by the Divian forest's unique qualities, it was an easy source of food to exploit. And so, within a few centuries, a new sub-species of the stoic Divian-Deer had appeared.]
[Stats:]
Level:
12
Health:
62/62
MP:
---
Stats:
Value:
Strength
25
Dexterity
15
Constitution
31
Intelligence
5
Wisdom
3
Charisma
4
Soul
1
[colpse]A hurried gnce at the creature's stats—and the Path's description of it—had given me the information I needed to know. Its bel of carnivore should have been obvious from its horns, the usual candebra shape of a buck's club-like antlers had been repced with curved rapiers. Every tip arrayed at a different angle, such that a swipe from any direction would leave you impaled or gored with deep sshes.
I raised my bow to shoot the predator as it snarled, the sight of a deer growling like a wolf extremely off putting. With it distracted and blinded, I had the perfect opportunity to kill it before it was aware of me.
[Conditions met! Activating [Archery Mastery]]
[[Strength] Increased by 22%! 28 -> 34]
[[Dexterity] Increased by 22%! 24 -> 29]
[Using: [Power Shot – lvl 9]]
[Held for: 3 seconds]
[Damage increased by: 27%]
[Penetration increased by: 9%]
[MP: 13/25 - > 3/25]
With the added power of my skills, the arrow flew far faster than it did before, a blur that streaked into the beast's neck. I was impressed with the quality of the bow yet again as I watched the arrow fully pierce the deer's thick neck. Even more so when it penetrated its dense hide a second time on its way out. I watched the head of the arrow come to a stop partially jutting through the skin on the other side of its neck. I noted the blood seeping from the entry and exit wounds with a faint sense of satisfaction.
[Calcuting damage dealt.]
[.][..][…]
[Strike dealt to [Vampiric Deer]!]
[Damage: 23]
[[Power Shot – lvl 9], increases damage by 27%]
[Damage: 29]
[Damage reduced by armour at point of strike, 5%]
[Damage Reduction lowered by [Power Shot – lvl 9], 5% - 9% = 0%]
[Damage: 29]
[Vampiric Deer – [HP: 62/62 -> 33/62]]
[Inflicted [Conditions], [[Bleeding], [Choking]] on: [Vampiric Deer]]
I then tried not to panic when I realised that I’d wasted most of my MP and the perfect opportunity, and that it had only reduced its health to half of its max. I must've been mistaken in thinking that its neck was a weak point.
But as I began to move towards Sally it let out a pained bleat, blood gurgling and spluttering in its throat as it bellowed a ghastly noise. It sounded like the cry of a moose, a guttural, fleshy fog-horn noise that never failed to disturb me. It shook its head violently as I reached Sally, the clouds blocking its view dissipated under the mild stress, and evaporated into thin air.
Though, by the time it was ready to attack us, Sally was already safely stowed on my head, and another arrow was being summoned onto my bowstring. I had tried to pick him up, but he'd rocketed up my jacket faster than I could've lifted him.
Using [Barbarika’s Quiver]MP: 3/25 -> 2/25
Two more arrows… That should be enough.
I took a step backwards as the deer began to stomp towards us. It'd lowered its horns and angled them at us, the threat of them as obvious as their sharpness. I eyed its teeth, its open mouth dyed red as blood-mixed saliva dripped from its fangs.
I lightly shuddered as I decided to create some distance and obstacles between me and its horns. I knew full well that it could cross the few metres between us in an instant. I jumped backwards as it swung its horns, the tip of its antlers cutting a score of deep scratches in a nearby tree's bark. I took a few more steps away from it, until I had a tree that I could put between us.
I unched the next arrow at it by the time it turned to face us, aiming for its sor-plexus, and the heart hidden behind the centre of it. But I only felt disappointed as the shaft nded off-centre, the beast letting out another bellow of pain as the shaft was buried in its left shoulder. The deer's wild movements were making it hard to nd a clean shot on its vitals.
[Calcuting damage dealt.]
[.][..][…]
[Strike dealt to [Vampiric Deer]!]
[Damage: 15]
[Damage reduced by armour at point of strike, 5%]
[Damage: 14]
[Vampiric Deer – [HP: 33/62 -> 19/62]]
[The [Vampiric Deer] is inflicted with [Bleeding]!]
[Vampiric Deer – [HP: 19/62 -> 18/62]]
Not good enough.
I internally admonished myself as the deer moved to attack again, crossing the distance to us and swinging its horns. I barely hid behind the tree in time, its horns raking the air where I was just standing. As inappropriate a time as it was, I couldn't help but admire how the deer's neck was a surprisingly complementary feature to its dagger-like horns. The thick muscles and length of the appendage gave the beast a dangerously long reach.
But my appreciation of its divergent evolution was cut short as Sally threw a ball of white fluff at it, my eyes catching the movements of Sally pitching it at the beast. My confusion over where the dragon could had gotten it was thrown aside as I saw the material coat the deer's face.
Using [Barbarika’s Quiver]MP: 2/25 -> 1/25
I abandoned the mystery of how Sally had summoned the tangible clouds. I instead took advantage of the opportunity he'd given me. With a brand new arrow prepared, I took a few steps, drew back the bowstring, and waited for my next opportunity.
When it opened its mouth to try to bite down on where I was a moment before, I released my arrow.
[Calcuting damage dealt.]
[.][..][…]
[Strike dealt to [Vampiric Deer]!]
[Critical hit! Damage increased by hitting a vital area!]
[Damage: 15 -> 62]
[Hit an unarmoured Location!]
[Vampiric Deer – [HP: 18/62 -> 0/62]]
[Killed: [Vampiric Deer – Level 12 Beast]]
[[Trickshot!]: Shoot ten unique, nearly impossible to hit targets with a projectile.] [2/10]]
[Experience Received: 42]
[New level: 15 ( 54/150 XP) -> 15 (96/150 XP)]
[Skill Level-Ups!]
[[Archery Mastery]: 22 -> 24]
[[Barbarika’s Quiver]: 14 -> 15]
[[Power Shot]: 9 -> 10]
I let out a sigh of relief as the arrow went straight through the back of its mouth, my shot flying between its teeth and exploding out the back of its head. The deer staggered backwards from the sudden mortal wound, and I watched the arrow nd into a nearby trunk with a thunk, pieces of shattered skull and brain matter coating its shaft.
It took a second for the Deer to completely go limp, but it fell to the ground quickly, dying too quickly for it to fight back. I was surprised it'd managed to stand for as long as it did, given that much of its motor-cortex had been violently removed. I was even more impressed when I noted that the parts of its neck responsible for air and blood flow had also been reduced to a gore-filled mush.
I pushed down the nausea at the sight of what I’d done to it, unable to stop the damp sensations that were gathering in my chest, borne from the act of killing such a tenacious creature. I knew that it had been trying to kill Sally, and that I had been looking for animals to hunt, but killing a creature was always somewhat painful.
A poke on my cheek reminded me that I had a passenger, one that was currently leaning in front of my face and trying to get my attention by tapping my face with a cw. I knelt and let Sally get off through his own volition, worried that Sally would be upset with how I tried to pick him up without permission earlier.
Fortunately that seemed to not be the case, as he didn't even acknowledge me immediately, instead deciding to run over to the cooling corpse. I watched as he sniffed the air over a growing pool of the Vampiric Deer's blood, and then tasted the liquid by pping at it with her, his forked tongue.
I was a bit surprised by the action, as I thought he'd have some reservations about drinking the blood of a fresh kill straight off the ground. He had been more… civilised, about food both before and after I knew of his humanness.
I brushed off the change in behaviour as he turned towards me, gesturing at the carcass with a cw.
"Did you want to eat?" I asked. The ravenous dragon pup nodded eagerly.
I put aside my reservations and began to cut out some steaks of raw meat from its back-right thigh. I gave Sally the deep-red slice of meat to enjoy, watching as he dragged it with his mouth to what I can only assume was a more comfortable location. As he began to lose himself in the act of eating, I observed his more… uncaring attitude to the mess. While it wasn't the cleanest affair before the evolution, Sally did still try to keep the juices and grease off of himself. But now I was staring at him as he coated his scales in gore.
He had started to stick his head deep into the meat to pull out his preferred slices of raw flesh, burying himself up to the neck in flesh. And like the vultures the action reminded me of, it'd coated him from nose to neck in fresh blood—along with his front legs and chest.
I decided to ask him about the change in behaviour ter, as I took advantage of the opportunity to do a test while he was distracted.
Using [Barbarika’s Quiver]MP: 1/25 -> 0/25
I used the st of my mana for the moment to summon [The Hunter's Anathema], eager to test the rules its [Sacrifice] enchantment worked under. Does it require the same amount of blood if it's from another source? Does it have a preference? How long could it store the blood?
I id the crystal in the pool of blood that'd formed from the three streams ebbing from where my arrows punctured its skin. I observed the puddle disappear almost immediately, roughly half a litre of liquid getting sucked into the gem in under a minute. But unfortunately it didn't result in much, only filling the gem by less than a fifth of its total volume. When using my own blood, it roughly resulted in an equal amount of blood in the gem, but this was a horrible conversion ratio. Maybe less than twenty to one.
I tested it further by inserting the artifact into the body itself, watching as the gem gorged itself on the whole circutory system of an oversized deer. I checked its progress in between checking if Sally's attention was still on the food, until I was certain it'd stopped, and was disappointed to see it unfilled. But with the blood-flow fully tapered off, and with—presumably—everything useful extracted, I pulled out the crystal. I noted that it was almost complete, with only a small bubble of air remaining. I wondered if I should just finish it off myself, before eventually dismissing it back into [Barbarika's Quiver].
Even if I filled it myself, it would be hard to hide it from Sally, and I don't have a question I needed to ask. Though it was still tempting, knowing that a correct answer to one of the many things I was unsure of was only a thought away. But I put aside the impulse to focus on more immediate issues.
I id a hand on each of the arrows lodged in the Vampiric deer's body, and returned them to [Barbarika's Quiver]. An unexpected benefit of the skill was being able to retrieve arrows without resorting to the messy task of ripping them out—and I used it for that every chance I got.
But a slurp reminded me of Sally, the disgusting noise giving me goosebumps as I turned to look at him. He had finished his meal and was… licking the blood off of his paws, cleaning his face and bloody legs with a forked tongue. It was… unusual behaviour for him.
"Sally… are you alright?" I hesitantly asked, unsure of what exactly was happening.
He paused, and slowly looked down at his talon, staring at his extended tongue and the cw it was in the middle of cleaning for a few seconds. He then retracted it and lowered the leg, leaving it half-cleaned as he turned to look at me.
Sally gave me a nod, and just… stared off into the distance.
Even I could tell that something strange was going on, but I didn't know how to speak to Sally about it without making it worse. I instead found myself noticing that Sally's physical form had changed once again.
The colouration of his scales, and the colr, had thankfully stayed the same this time, but his size had increased by a small but noticeable margin.
[Using [Appraisal – Lvl 1] on: Sally, Infant Cloud Dragon]
[[Hunter’s Senses] upgrades the level of [Appraisal – Lvl 1] when facing a beast!]
[Using [Appraisal – Lvl 2] on: Sally, Infant Cloud Dragon]
[Name: Sally]
[Race: Cloud Dragon (Infant)]
[Level: 4]
[Health: 4/4]
[No Pending Path Notifications]
SpoilerStats:
Value:
Strength
2
Dexterity
8
Constitution
2
Intelligence
25
Wisdom
10
Charisma
22
Soul
46
[colpse]I was happy to see that there were no strange conditions inflicting him. But what had been the cause for his sudden growth spurt? Oh, I forgot about that [Soul-Bond] evolution. A quick check confirmed that it made Sally grow with every level.
Well, the development had just happened before the chaotic escape from [The Mountain Dungeon]. But how did he receive four levels worth of XP? I suppose I was just used to receiving so much less for always fighting in a rge group.
I felt frustrated at how little I understood, the many moving parts of the situation making me feel lost and-
"I-Iegh" Sally abruptly—and loudly—spoke, both the suddenness and the humanness of the sound surprising me. If I didn't see Sally just make it, I would've assumed that someone had just stubbed their toe.
"H-Hgh-hII." Sally attempted again. I stayed silent as he slowly approached speaking an actual word.
"HI" Sally said, the greeting only sounding slightly strangled.
"Has it become easier to speak?" I asked him. I felt happy for Sally when he nodded.
"Well… I don't think we'll find more game today, and we have a lot of meat. Should we return?" I suggested, gesturing to the sky and the encroaching nightfall. Sally thought for a few moments before nodding his silent agreement.
I helped Sally clean off the st of the blood using some of the water in my fsk before he jumped on my head. With the hide still on the deer, and with the vilge nearby, I decided to drag the carcass as it was to the settlement. I could process it there much easier.
"EE-Agh-tH" Sally tried to speak, without warning, again.
I tried not to let it get on my nerves, but I do wish that he would warn me before doing it. It felt like someone was painfully spping my psyche every time he screeched.
Cherrys_chapters
[colpse]
