Max Dubovitsky raised a hand, calling for silence. Once sure that everyone was listening to him, the Engineer declared his decision.
“We’re still going to build the house. The veichs might leave in a week, in a month or next spring. They might even change their plans and stay. The information has to be confirmed. Therefore, after breakfast, Sergeant and Shelly will go to Orshi-Ur and try to get some valid information on what we can expect from our neighbors. Everyone else… Finish your breakfast and get to work! Actually, not everyone. Philosopher, you’re going to start making clocks, calendars and everything else we humans are going to need for the future!”
Chapter 26 [Sergeant]
Special Assignment
I’D FINALLY BEEN GIVEN a serious job! Until now, the leaders of Pan’s Landing had treated Sergeant like the greenhorn he was and not relied on him in the least. Even my successes in taming animals hadn’t influenced them much — for Grip, Max and all the others, I was still an inexperienced and clueless scrub. I suspected that relationship changed after last night, when I managed to replace Grip, the village’s best Warrior, in the fight against the Alpha and the night beast pack. That fight with Haze and his gang, too, when I managed to uncover the plans of the dangerous ‘newcomers,’ also played a part in altering the villagers’ view of me.
Before setting off for the werewolf village, I walked over to the Philosopher on the riverbank and gave him my nice shockproof watch.
“It’ll help with your experiments! Take these boots too — I don’t want our only scientist to walk around in rags and catch a cold.”
“Thank you, Sergeant!” The Philosopher put the boots straight on and walked up and down the sandy bank, trying them out. He nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect fit! But I see you want to ask me something.”
“Yeah. Tell me, what made you want to go to Hundred Skull City? You seem smart and clever, but it’s dangerous there!”
The man just laughed.
“I disagree! That is to say, yes, it’s dangerous there, of course. But it can’t be a coincidence that there’s such an unusual area so close to where new players appear in this world. I believe it’s some kind of challenge, a test or selection method of some kind for newcomers. Maybe it’s only for the bravest, the most daring, the luckiest, the ones that want to walk a less obvious path. I also wonder why the New Pharaohs warn everyone away from the place so insistently. What should the slavers care? Why not just let the noobs die and revive? If anything, they’ll be even more obedient as slaves. But no, instead they try to convince us to not even try to go there. Why? That’s what I was trying to figure out. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far with my minus two Luck Modifier. Just beyond the outer walls. Yeah, I solved two or three logic puzzles, avoided a dozen traps, but then I failed the first Luck test…”
You had to solve puzzles and be lucky there? It wasn’t for my Sergeant, then. Whatever interest Hundred Skull City held for me with its secrets and treasures, my character’s low intellect and extremely low Luck Modifier put my chances close to zero. Shame…
I went to the lake, called my creeping crocodiles. Orshi-Ur village was upstream, so why go on foot when it’d be a lot faster to swim on Tick-Tock or Katy? I was just done fastening the rope saddle onto the male when Max Dubovitsky walked up.
“Sergeant, I have a request of a personal nature. Could you ask the veichs if they could sell us a healing scroll? If they can, then find out the price. Varya is getting worse, and our Healer can’t help her. Before antibiotics came along, any wound to the stomach was considered deadly. Infection is pretty much guaranteed. And I haven’t found antibiotics in this world yet.”
Got it. I had to find something for Varya. Although… wait! I clapped my hand on my forehead. I’d forgotten all about the medicine I bought before I was thrust into this new world. I opened my medkit, took out a box of antibiotics:
Medicinal Product (12 doses).
ATTENTION! Your character does not have enough Intellect to identify this item’s properties.
I span the still-sealed box in my hands, gave it to Max.
“If I understand the new world’s game rules, this should help. I had some adder anti-venom and it worked against all poisons.”
“This is a greater treasure than any artifact, Sergeant!” The Engineer grabbed the package out of my hands and ran back home.
Before I set off, I went to the river to check the corpse of the hairy crab. I’d covered the six-foot armored body with stones the day before, to keep off carrion-eaters. The crab hadn’t gone bad yet. But that was no problem; the day promised to be hot. By tomorrow, I’d have a stinky lure for the forest predators. If, of course, the Cartographer was right.
I returned to the creeping crocodiles and told Shelly to saddle up and tie herself on. The girl started undressing, not at all embarrassed to be seen by the nearby humans that glanced at the naked furry Huntress with interest. Suddenly, Shelly yelped and hopped on her left leg. She examined her right paw and grimaced through pain-clenched teeth.
“I found lost needle. I will wash and rrreturn it to you. Orrr would you like me to sew you a nice jacket?”
My camo jacket already yawned with burnt holes on the shoulders and arms, with an especially big one on the back. I was embarrassed to be wearing it. I thought for a moment and took off my jacket, putting it away into my backpack. I’d decide what to do with it later. I took off my t-shirt too, undressing to my waist — it was a sunny day anyway.
“Keep the needle,” I said, and the Huntress put it away in her bag with the rest of her things.
At the last moment, just as I was about to climb onto the creeping crocodile, I noticed my meowing cat wandering along the bank behind me, his tail held high. Did he want to go with me? I put the ginger beast on my shoulder. Hey! Sharp claws! I moved the critter to my backpack. Why did I even bring the cat along? Hard to say. As a good-luck charm, I guess. I never seemed to die when Whiskers was near. He and I had gotten through some real scrapes already. And my last journey to the werewolves with the kitten had been a success. It wasn’t that I was superstitious… but why not take the cat along?
“Let’s go!”
At my command, armored Tick-Tock slithered into action and launched himself upstream, kicking up waves like a speedboat. Katy, who I hadn’t actually intended to take along, followed behind us anyway. I didn’t bother sending her back. Why shouldn’t she stretch her legs with us? There’s a limit to how much basking even a crocodile can do.
* * *
Shelly didn’t stay silent while we rode the creeping crocodile. She was basically incapable of keeping her mouth closed for long. The girl talked about nature, about her people, about veich customs and a thousand other things. The only subject she carefully avoided was what had happened yesterday when she climbed into my bed. She didn’t ask me her question again. That suited me just fine, because I didn’t know the answer. Really, who was Shelly to me? Just a burden, rejected by her relatives and packmates? Not anymore. I didn’t want Shelly to leave now. It was also clear that she was no slave or servant. I’d made sure the Huntress knew that from the start. But then, who was she..?
Shelly sat before me on the creeping crocodile. She was happy, wet from the river spray, naked and… alluring, I couldn’t deny it. I’d already gotten used to my friend’s unusual appearance and I found her very attractive. I suspected that the Huntress knew that and was trying to tease me. Just not openly, but as if by chance. First turning this way and that as if by accident, so that my arms on the reins brushed the side of one naked breast, then the other. Then pushing herself backwards, pressing herself against me a little more than necessary. Now running the tip of her wet tail along my chin or cheek or leaning her head against my shoulder. Maybe it was all by accident, of course, and I was just imagining that my companion was flirting.
Although I felt sure that Shelly wouldn’t mind at all if I decided to be a little more forward. But that meant I had to make a decision and give a clear
answer — who was she to me? ‘My woman,’ as the laws of her people put it? Or not, after all? For now, I wasn’t willing to answer that question. If it weren’t for Varya, who I liked a lot and who would certainly disapprove of me flirting with her friend of another species, I might have made my decision then and there. But in the meantime, I tried to just ‘not notice’ the Huntress’s little games.
“Rrriver split again soon…” Shelly’s comment brought me back to the moment.
Yeah, another fork. I needed to choose a path. The last two times, there had only been small streams on the left, and Shelly and I talked and decided to continue along the main branch. This was the same situation, only both flows were roughly equally broad.
I asked Shelly if she recognized anything. After all, we should be somewhere near her village, Orshi-Ur.
“Uhm… No, Serrrgeant, not rrrecognize. But I never swam in rrriver here. Usually walked over rrrocks. So you choose. With my luck, my choice will be bad!”
“My Luck Modifier isn’t that great either… Let’s try to trick it. Which path would you have chosen? Left, you say? Then let’s go right!”
Riding skill increased to level twenty-four!
The creeping crocodile obediently turned down the right branch, working his powerful tail like a motor. But fifteen minutes passed and we still hadn’t found the veich village. Then I was forced to point Tick-Tock toward the lush green bank — we’d come upon a big and thundering waterfall. The river creature couldn’t climb it. I remembered falling down a waterfall right next to Orshi-Ur. Did that mean we were going the right way?
But my companion looked around in confusion, seeing nothing familiar. Were we lost..? Ugh. I should have looked closer at the map I got from the Cartographer. Shame I didn’t have the map anymore — I’d given it to the leaders of Pan’s Landing.
We untied our safety ropes, jumped off the creeping crocodile and walked onto the bank. Then we looked around, spied a big meadow covered in flowers and knew where we were practically at once. I shouted in surprise:
“This is the spot where we tamed the giga-komodos! Damn, talk about a little detour! It’s at least an hour and a half from here to Orshi-Ur!”
Too late I realized that Shelly probably didn’t understand ‘an hour and a half.’ She’d never dealt with those units of time.
“I know the way frrrom the rrriver meadow here and can lead us now. On foot, without crrreeping crrrocodiles. But look, Serrrgeant!” The girl pointed a paw toward something in the distance. She looked frightened.
I turned, looked. Took me a while to see what it was. A distant cluster of big rocks. Then I suddenly realized what I was seeing — a whole group of dead giga-komodos! There were many corpses, at least thirty.
Eagle Eye skill increased to level thirteen!
What had happened? I rushed over to the site of the bloodbath. The Huntress followed after me, even dropping down on all fours to move more quickly. Ugh… The creatures had been brutally slaughtered. I saw stab wounds calculatingly delivered through the breaks in the giga-komodos’ armor, arrows deeply embedded in the animals’ heads. The attackers had aimed at the beasts’ vulnerable eyes. There were no darts or short throwing spears like the veichs used, but arrows instead. And some were more like bolts, short and thick as if made for a crossbow. This wasn’t the work of veichs… Humans? But how could they have gotten here across the snowy mountains..?
Eagle Eye skill increased to level fourteen!
Tracking skill increased to level seven!
Haze, Hulk and Badass immediately leaped to mind. They were the only humans that might be nearby. But they had no bows or crossbows… and why would one of the Pharaoh’s nobles want to slaughter giga-komodos? I walked around the massive armored corpses. The blood was completely fresh, not even clotted yet. And although the giga-komodos had been killed, no meat was taken. Their claws and strong bony plates hadn’t been cut off to be turned into all kinds of useful items. The aim of this attack didn’t seem to be hunting or getting trophies. But what happened, then..? Shelly was as stunned as I was. She gasped, covered her eyes as we walked among the corpses.
“It was not Hunterrrs that do this,” my long-tailed friend told me, horrified by the sight. “Hunterrrs not act like this. Not kill whole herrrd.”
I nodded in agreement, then walked by the river and examined some tracks I found in the wet sand right by the water’s edge. Not the clawed tracks of veichs, but booted human feet! Just as I was about to tell Shelly what I’d found, I froze open-mouthed; more footprints appeared right before my eyes in the wet sand! And more! Another two footprints! Someone invisible was creeping up behind Shelly!
Chapter 27 [Kitten]
A People Invisible
THE EXCITING SCENT of flesh blood blocked out all other scents, made it hard to concentrate. I’d already waved away the suggestion to pick up the Sharp Nose skill a few times, but the game system just kept offering it. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that those lumbering oafs forgot to feed the cat this morning. Everything was distracting me, including the unbearably bright sun and its scorching heat. But I still had to stay on guard. Something was wrong here.
Thirty peaceful and harmless giga-komodos were dead. They’d just been sitting here on the bank, not bothering anyone. Their bodies bore wounds from sharp blades and arrows, not teeth and claws. The obvious conclusion was that the attackers were sentient creatures, not wild beasts. And the killers couldn’t have gone far — the slaughter was very recent. Less than an hour old.
Radar Ear skill increased to level twelve!
I heard a barely audible rustle, but when I looked in that direction, I saw nothing. The sound was like someone drawing a blade from a scabbard. I also heard the sound of a footstep on wet sand. Someone was carefully walking right along the water’s edge. Danger! It was too late to go into Stealth, and that would have told the invisible attacker that I’d noticed him. So I just hopped on three legs over to the nearest giga-komodo corpse to hide myself from view. Then I went into Stealth and turned myself translucent.
Not seeing the approaching creature, but roughly knowing where it would be, I cast Slow in that direction. My mana went down, which meant the spell worked. I was right; there really was someone there! To make sure, I cast the spell two more times. I wanted to cast Weaken on the invisible prowler too, but didn’t have time; events started to unfold fast.
Sergeant, who had just been examining the deserted riverbank and peacefully talking to Shelly, suddenly rushed forward behind his partner’s back. An instant later, my master cried in pain. He had reason; the hilt of a knife was sticking out of his left shoulder! Holy shit!
But the prowler took a hit too! Sergeant had managed to grab the attacker by the wrist, pulled him in, then headbutted apparently empty air… and landed, judging by the dull thud and the groan of pain. Then, before the enemy could recover, my master swept his feet from under him and pinned down the invisible fighter. He felt something in the emptiness, grabbed it and started pushing with all his strength. A deep cut suddenly appeared on Sergeant’s cheek and he redoubled his efforts. The veins on Sergeant’s neck stuck out from the strain. He started growling through clenched teeth. It looked as if he was holding the enemy by his other wrist and keeping a second knife away from himself with his injured left arm.
I shook myself from my stupor and ran to my human’s aid. Weaken on the enemy! Another Weaken! Another!
Stealth skill increased to level eighteen!
Curse Magic skill increased to level fifty-three!
It worked! With great effort, Sergeant managed to press the enemy’s hand away from himself and smash the attacker’s wrist on the ground. Once, twice, three times. A thin and sharp triangular stiletto with an ornate pommel finally flew into the undergrowth.
“How should I help, Serrrgeant?!” Shelly cried, jumping up and down nearby.
“Just don’t get in the way! And get dressed!” the human hissed through gritted teeth, smashing his right elbow in
to emptiness repeatedly. He seemed to be landing hits. Someone else’s blood stained his elbow redder with each strike.
Then, just like we were taught in close-quarters combat training in the army, Sergeant twisted the enemy’s arm back and applied painful pressure.
“If you don’t surrender, I’ll break your damn arm!” he growled, but got no answer.
Since the enemy wasn’t surrendering or asking for mercy, Sergeant pressed harder, breaking the invisible man’s arm at the elbow with a crunch. They must have heard his scream of pain all the way back at Pan’s Landing. My delicate ears started ringing.
“AAAAAAAAAAH!” the enemy shrieked, suddenly turning visible.
He turned out to be a young man with long, disheveled snow-white hair. He wore a fine close-fitting bodysuit of black cloth. I would have said he was human if it weren’t for those long sharp ears, like an elf from a fairy tale. He was tall and long-limbed, with long aristocratic fingers. More on the skinny side than well-built.
Arvedo Un Ponar. Sherkh. Male. Guild: Eastern Garrison. Level 38 Scout.
His face was all bloody, his nose and left arm broken… But Arvedo was still resisting. He was trying to reach for another blade from a scabbard on his left ankle. Sergeant pinned the reaching arm with his knee, hung over the sherkh and started delivering calculated punches to his head. To the temple. To the face. To the neck.
“When are you going to give up, asshole?! Why the hell did you even attack me?! Humans aren’t at war with the sherkhs!”
“The sherkhs decide who they’re at war with!” a young woman’s voice rang out from nearby. A few paces away from the fight, a blond-haired girl in dark clothing appeared.
Avelia Un Ponar. Sherkh. Female. Guild: Eastern Garrison. Level 51 Swordmaiden.
The same long ears and snow-white hair, though this time in a ponytail at the back of her neck. The resemblance to the man Sergeant was fighting on the ground was clear on her face. And their names were very similar. Brother and sister? There was a small crossbow on her back alongside an empty quiver. At her belt was a pair of scabbarded swords. The girl hadn’t taken out her weapons. She was just standing with her arms crossed. All the same, I had the feeling she could send the badly injured human back to the respawn point in a second if she wanted to.
A Cat and His Human (League of Losers Book #1): LitRPG Series Page 23