Hunters bond, p.7
Hunter's Bond, page 7
“I guess we’re not going to have a chance to get to know each other,” Arheis said, his shield held in front of his body, spear ready to strike the moment the creature leapt at him.
At the sound of his voice, the beast lifted its head, its ears twitching as it regarded him. A trilling sound echoed from its throat, and for a moment he thought he’d somehow managed to convince the animal that he wasn’t worth eating.
Then two of its spine-vines shot toward him, slicing through the air and snapping around his legs. As though it was controlling two more limbs, the creature’s vines closed tight and it yanked hard enough to upend him, sending him crashing to the ground once gravity had a say in the matter.
The breath was knocked out of him as his back connected with the jungle floor, and Arheis wheezed, struggling to regulate that basic, life-giving function. Before he could get his bearings, the plant-panther was pulling him closer with its tentacle-like limbs, and Arheis clung to the shield and spear he’d managed to keep ahold of.
Little more than a stone’s throw away, the beast opened its maw, ready to crunch his bones into dust.
That fight or flight instinct kicked in, his death feeling imminent. And since Arheis had no chance of fleeing unless he escaped the strong vines, he opted for the former. Thrusting his shield in front of him was the safer move, but it was his dominant arm that acted first, his spear aimed for the creature’s mouth.
While most mobs would have just let him pierce away—and probably do critical damage in the process—this one was too smart for that. Teeth and tusks clamped down, striking metal as the creature bit the spearhead and grabbed on tight.
For a moment Arheis was afraid it would break clean off, and he frantically tried to wrestle it away from the beast before he was left all but defenseless. Fortunately its teeth weren’t quite that powerful, and a well-timed jab sent the spear into the creature’s sinuses.
> You pierce Unknown Beast for 124 points of critical damage.
It roared in pain, reeling backward, and the vines wrapped around Arheis’ legs finally released him.
Pushing the front of his shield into the ground, he used it and his spear to get back to his feet, guarding himself from the follow up attack that came shortly after. The plant-cat leapt at him, not angling to attack with its claws, but rather its mouth. The vines protruding from it lashed out, striking against his shield. In his rush to defend himself, Arheis focused less on timing his block and more on just not being turned into a meal for this creature.
Like before, the force of the beast colliding with his shield knocked him back and a vine that managed to sneak through sliced at his side.
He recovered quickly, thrusting his spear at the plant-cat. It connected with one of the creature’s legs, slicing open the bud that limb was growing out of. A viscous fluid stained the beast’s fur, that same putrid smell coming in even stronger.
“God. Is that seriously your primary defense?”
His eyes were watering so bad he could barely keep them open. As if answering him, the beast let out a high-pitched roar and went for him again, using its vines like forelegs to try and pin him down so it could sink its oversized tusks into him.
This time, Arheis was ready. He thrust his shield in front of him and successfully blocked the attack, following up with a counter-attack that hit the beast’s shoulder.
> You pierce Unknown Beast for 49 points of damage.
> You have learned Counter-Thrust. After a successful Iron Guard block, use your momentum to strike when the enemy is weak.
A strange purple fluid he guessed was blood burst from the wound, but the smell didn’t get any worse, thank God. With the element of surprise no longer on the creature’s side, Arheis was able to fall into a rhythm of blocks and counters, getting in a poke or two when he could.
The creature caught on to the fact that his shield was by far his most valuable tool, though. When Arheis thought its vines were going for his arms to forcefully take his spear, it instead gripped his shield and tugged hard.
Momentum threw Arheis forward, and he was barely able to recover as his shield was ripped from him.
> You have been disarmed!
“Yeah, no kidding,” he muttered.
His heart pounded, his brain conjuring images of this creature wielding his shield with its vines. As cool as that concept was, he really didn’t want to be subjected to it. Fortunately, the beast’s intelligence only went so far. It tossed the shield aside, the bulwark landing somewhere deeper in the jungle, bamboo snapping as it was hurtled into the foliage without care.
Arheis barely had time to hold his spear in front of him as the creature lunged again, its mouth closing around the haft, its vines slicing through Arheis’ armor.
Wood cracked, the force of its powerful jaw threatening to break his spear in two. He pushed forward with all his might, shoving the beast back, the haft of the spear slamming upward. With the wound he’d inflicted earlier, it was enough to make the creature flinch, its mouth going slack just long enough for him to pull his weapon free.
This time Arheis didn’t wait to see what it was going to do next. Those vines were causing him serious problems, and he had a hunch that without those, its primary means of attack would be all but useless.
He thrust forward, aiming a Precision Strike while the beast was still reeling. Because there was no way he could easily slice off the appendage, he went for the knobby bit of flesh it was protruding from—and hit paydirt.
Something shattered with the force of his spear, and the vine instantly withered and died. It was such a satisfying feeling that Arheis swore he was hit with a rush of energy, even though the game didn’t mention he’d gained any kind of tactical advantage.
> You pierce Unknown Beast for 124 points of critical damage.
> Unknown Beast is staggered.
The beast let out a pained cry, the damage of that strike sending it to the ground where it thrashed and flailed, all but useless. Getting in a few opportunistic jabs, Arheis mostly waited for his opportunity to do the same thing to the other vine.
Lunging forward, he wrapped both hands tightly around the haft of his spear and aimed for the other vine. Bone shattered, flesh ripped, and the second vine instantly turned a sickly brown before dropping to the ground.
The creature was reeling, and Arheis knew it was now or never. Summoning all of his strength, he thrust his spear forward with a fierce yell, the strike easily sliding past flesh and bone to rupture the sensitive organs beneath.
The wail that came from the beast’s mouth was almost deafening, but he must have hit something vital because it collapsed, unmoving as he pulled his spear back out. The system message confirmed his victory.
> You have slain Unknown Beast! You have gained 80 XP.
> Congratulations, you have reached level 2!. You have gained 2 stat points and 3 ability points to distribute as you please.
Arheis was panting from the encounter, blood still trickling down his armor from where the creature had cut him. But the pain was a dull hum amidst the feeling of accomplishment.
The Lamica was one thing—he’d had help figuring out how to kill those. This creature was something he’d taken on all by himself, and his fast thinking had gotten him through the battle even when it seemed like the tide had turned against him.
Adrenaline surged through Arheis’ veins and he let out a laugh, the sudden high making him feel nigh untouchable. Nothing he’d experienced before had ever felt as rewarding as that fight. And while that maybe meant his life as Simon was especially pathetic, Arheis decided to take it as a sign that this game was just full of moments like this, where the rush of battle would carry him through.
He was still riding that high when he remembered his hunting knife. Retrieving his shield first—just in case—Arheis knelt beside the creature and examined it. His joy deflated a little when he realized he probably could have carved the vines—if they weren’t dead already. But there looked to be plenty more to gain from the beast.
After toiling for a while, Arheis came up with several new crafting materials to add to his pack. Gathering them up, he took inventory before stowing them away.
> You have carved:
[2x Chipped Tusk]
[4x Clump of Fur]
[1x Unknown Beast Frond]
[3x Sturdy Bone]
[1x Unknown Beast Gland]
[6x Chunk of Meat]
The materials that included the beast’s name—which he still didn’t know—were the rarest, appearing in blue where the other pieces were white. He had no doubt those would make some nice upgrades, but he probably needed to identify the creature first.
After jotting down some notes and making sketches in his journal, Arheis noticed a small alert:
> Your quest Out-Hunting the Hunter has updated.
He opened his journal and found the new text waiting for him.
> Out-Hunting the Hunter
You discovered the creature that has been decimating the Lamica’s primary food source. Report to Treyous for your reward.
Quest Level: 2
Reward: 750GC in currency and 100XP.
So that was the creature disrupting the balance of life. It definitely seemed tougher than the Lamica, and he could see how it might edge others out in the food chain. But in the end, it hadn’t been that difficult to defeat. Now that he knew the weak spots, he was sure he could bring down more. Later. Definitely later.
Right now, he had two more Lamica to kill before he returned to the beach.
Chapter 6
“Already finished, eh?”
Treyous spotted him before he even reached the sands, though he wasn’t exactly hard to miss. While eating restored his stamina, it didn’t do much for his health. He needed some kind of healing item for that, and right now he was fresh out.
So when he made his way back to the beach, he was covered in cuts and gashes and longing for a heal. So much so that he didn’t pay any attention to the noise he was making or the sight he must have presented to Treyous’ crew as they stared at him.
“Not without paying for it, I see!” Treyous let out a hearty laugh, though by that point Arheis’ adrenaline cocktail had run dry and he wasn’t finding it nearly as funny. “Come on, let’s get you healed up. After that, I’ll take you to the smithy. Bet you’ve got a heap of materials you’re dying to use, yeah?”
That brightened Arheis’ mood considerably. “I didn’t realize you had a smith on board.”
“Not usually,” Treyous admitted, leading him up the ramp and into the ship, “but Brahm needed passage back to Lacerda, so you’re in luck.”
He wasn’t going to balk at the serendipity. In the end, this was a game, and all games needed some kind of introduction to the basic systems. Crafting had always been a huge part of previous Apex titles, and he was sure it would be given ample attention in this one, too.
The thought of augmenting his weapon with the materials he’d gathered had his mood greatly improving, and the heal he received helped exponentially with that. It was amazing how much better he felt, how much clearer his head was, and how focused he could suddenly be on tackling the next task.
Speaking of…
“Oh, I thinned out the Lamica population a bit. I also found out what’s competing with them for food.”
He described the creature he’d fought, and even showed off some of the pieces he’d carved from the body, including the small tusks. Treyous took the item in hand, his thumb smoothing over it. His brows furrowed, and there was a look of concern in his eyes that worried Arheis.
“You’ve seen these before?” he asked.
“Once,” Treyous confirmed. “A lot bigger than this, though.”
He turned the tusk over in his hands, measuring it with the help of two fingers. By Arheis’ guess, it was about three inches long. He had no idea what size constituted “a lot bigger.” A creature with seven inch tusks? Twelve? Twenty? In another game, it wouldn’t have been a problem. There would have been no chance of him facing the creature until he was absolutely ready.
But Apex never had those artificial gating techniques built into the gameplay. Zones had a range of wildlife, from noob friendly fodder to fearsome, destroy-a-whole-village beasts. The third game in the series had even made it possible for players to beat the most powerful creatures right out of the gate—assuming they had god-like reflexes and an insane amount of patience.
Arheis was perfectly fine following a more obvious progression track, but now that he knew these creatures came in larger sizes, he’d keep an eye out. And work on gearing up so he wouldn’t take an instant hit to his Morale as soon as he encountered one.
Just to confirm everything, though, Arheis showed Treyous the sketches he’d made in his journal.
“That’s a Nepondus all right,” he confirmed. “Can’t be more than a month old. Little strange, yeah? They aren’t usually born ‘til after a pretty sizable rain.”
Arheis blinked at that. What would rain have to do with…? Oh. “So they’re… grown?”
“Oh yeah. Out of buds. That’s what I’ve heard, anyway. Not something I’d want to stick around and see, you know?” Treyous handed the journal back to Arheis, his face losing some of its color, that humor in his eyes all but gone. “In fact… Oi!” He barked at his men, most of whom stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to their captain. “Let’s get this finished up, yeah? I don’t wanna spend any longer here than we have to.”
Well that doesn’t sound good.
“I appreciate you helping us clear a path,” Treyous said, untying a coinpurse from his belt. He fished out some credits and handed them to Arheis. “You be careful of those Nepondus, yeah?”
> You have completed: Learning the Ropes!
You have gained 100 XP.
You have earned 500GC.
> You have completed: Out-Hunting the Hunter!
You have gained 100 XP.
You have earned 750GC.
> Augmenting is now available for all weapon types. Speak to a weaponsmith to learn the basics of how to strengthen your weapon using the materials you’ve gathered from your hunts.
Arheis watched as the men hustled, seeming to pick up on their leader’s unease. And the longer he studied the man, the longer he, too, felt unsettled. That creature—that Nepondus—had been a tough fight, but it would be easier now that he knew how to deal with it. Once he figured out its weaknesses, it would probably be as routine as killing Lamica.
Could a larger version really be that terrifying? He thought back to the creatures he’d fought in previous games and remembered a lumbering, almost rock-like beast that had been three times the size of his character and not easily exploited. Then he’d met the mature version of that same creature, and he’d practically been killed by the friction of rocks passing over one another.
Maybe there was cause for concern.
As if sensing his worry, Treyous turned back to him with a broad smile. “Not anything you need to worry about, yeah? You’ve got good materials here—nicer than I thought you’d have. Off to the smithy with you!”
The itch to craft warred with the heavy dread settling in the pit of his stomach. If there was a creature in this jungle that could basically farm him without breaking a sweat, he needed to get the hell out of Dodge. On the other hand… badass weapons and armor. The choice was an easy one, and in his defense, new equipment might help him survive for a few seconds longer. If he was lucky.
Treyous must have noticed his excitement, because he let out a raucous laugh. “Brahm’s further down the beach. He’s got a temporary forge set up—a favor I called in for the crew. Go on and get that spear of yours fixed up.”
With one last glance at the beach and Treyous’ crew, Arheis packed away his haul and headed down the beach, searching for the smith Treyous had spoken about. He found the man with little trouble, and if there’d ever been anyone more suited to the role of blacksmith, Arheis couldn’t have pictured them. The man who stood before him was stocky, with most of his bulk concentrated in his upper body. His shoulders and arms were well-formed by a lifetime of swinging a hammer, and his skin was darkened by soot. The light of the forge glared off of his very bald head, and his messy grey beard served to make his expression almost unreadable as he worked a long piece of metal, hammering it into something that resembled a sword.
“If yer gonna stand around with your mouth hangin’ open, might as well put those scrawny arms of yours to use.”
Arheis had the decency to stop staring, convincing himself the sudden flush he felt was the heat of the forge, not his own embarrassment. “What can I do?”
“Get you some gloves, and hold this steady. I need both hands to hammer it out.”
Arheis did as he was told, pulling on a pair of thick gloves that honestly didn’t do much to protect from the sweltering heat. He was almost afraid to touch the edge of the blade, but the metal was cool enough to work with on that end. He held it angled down as he’d seen the smith do, and watched the man prepare his hammer.
The smith swung, and Arheis felt the impact of the hammer as it shuddered through the metal, shaking all the way into his hand. He tightened his grip, holding the blade as steady as he could despite the weird sensation that made his palms itch furiously. The hammer connected again, striking the glowing end of the metal and drawing it out the way a rolling pin might draw out dough or a mallet might flatten meat. It was fascinating, and as Arheis watched—and held—the smith “added” what looked like another few inches to the blade before it became too cool to work easily.
