“Today was the first time I’ve ever met anyone from your race. None of the other villagers have ever seen a sherkh in person. Most of them don’t even know you exist. What do you mean, war?”
The girl cocked her head at the back of his.
“The veichs are gone.”
“So? What does that matter?”
“If you don’t get it, then ask someone wiser. Your Engineer or Philosopher.”
“You know a lot about the people of Pan’s Landing,” the boy said in surprise. The girl’s answer was puzzling and concerning.
“You humans can’t even imagine how much we know about you! My kinsmen are everywhere, and we keep a close eye on your every movement. Pan’s Landing is in my area of responsibility, and I know everything that happens there.”
I listened very closely to their conversation. I got the impression that Avelia had deliberately revealed this no doubt secret information to the human. Why? She knew perfectly well that Sergeant would take it up the chain. To the leaders of Pan’s Landing, or maybe even beyond, to the humans on the other side of the snowy mountains. Maybe that was just what she wanted? Did she want humans to take their defenses more seriously, to prove themselves a fearsome and powerful neighbor, so that the sherkhs would rethink their martial plans? Was she trying to avoid a bloody war before it was too late?
“Why a Hexxer?” Avelia suddenly asked.
Sergeant just shrugged.
“Hell, who knows? Whiskers goes where he pleases, he can look after himself. Only he knows what he gets up to on his nighttime adventures. Maybe he ran across a shaman and learned some voodoo.”
The Swordmaiden looked at me a while, then, carefully, as if fearing a burn, extended a hand and touched the fur on my chest with her fingertips. Once certain that the furry critter represented no danger, she stroked me with more confidence. I meowed happily.
Soothe skill increased to level fifteen!
“May I?” Avelia was bold enough to pick me up and hug me. “What a cute creature. It somehow reminds me of a small child. I wish to buy it from you. Name your price.”
What? That was such a surprise that I was at a loss. Did I want to change masters and go live with the sherkhs? I wasn’t sure. It would have turned my life on its head, not to mention my plans for the future. Moreover, if I accidentally revealed my human nature, then they’d surely kill me. On the other hand, I could become the first foreigner that managed to infiltrate the sherkhs and find out more about the mysterious people’s way of life. All the same, I sighed with relief when Sergeant refused.
“The cat isn’t for sale. He’s my good-luck charm.”
Avelia stopped smiling and handed me back to Sergeant. She switched back to her strict, official-sounding voice and got back to business.
“Yes human, we sherkhs know practically all there is to know about our neighbors. I was listening in on your recent conversation with the Engineer when you insisted on organizing an expedition to Hundred Skull City. And, as it happens, that mysterious place is of interest to me as well. My people have a challenge — to return from the depths of those ruins with something valuable. It’s a mandatory stage of our initiation. Without this confirmation of skill, no sherkh is trusted to command a squad. I tried to get into the depths of the ruins on my own in invisibility twice. Both times I was forced to retreat. It’s too hard. So I’ll be going with your group, whether you like it or not.”
Since the nighttime visitor was waiting for some reaction to her words, my master bowed his head in respect and spoke with mock ceremony.
“I… We would all consider it a great honor if such a capable Swordmaiden were to join our party!”
Avelia just snorted derisively in response.
“You misunderstand me, human. I don’t plan on joining your group. I’m just going to be near it. I’ll see how you humans handle some of the traps. Maybe even help you out a time or two. That’s all I wanted to say. See you in Hundred Skull City. And think about the cat — I still plan to get my hands on him. The easy way… or the hard way.”
After that unambiguous warning, the Swordmaiden disappeared right before my eyes! A new set of footsteps appeared in the wet grass, this time quickly departing into the distance.
Chapter 32 [Sergeant]
Speed and Teeth
THE SKY LIGHTENED. The seemingly endless night slowly retreated. Mist descended on the meadow. So thick, it was like I was swimming in a sea of milk. Whiskers got sick of being with me. When he woke up, the kitten fearlessly jumped off the reptile’s back right into the thick fog, disappearing from view. I wasn’t all that worried about my pet. Whiskers had grown a good deal in the last few days and could look after himself. The little furball’s limp hadn’t gone anywhere, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. Yesterday I saw him with a mouse in his teeth, so the ginger kitten had learned to hunt and was no doubt off to do the same again now.
In the meantime, it had gotten so cold that the game system kept offering me the Tenacity skill to fight the low temperature. Each time I refused — I could withstand the cold in my warm clothes. I wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t so bad that I had to give up and light a fire. A much bigger problem was the inexorable onslaught of tiredness. It was strange; while my cat was nearby, I barely noticed how tired it was. Now fatigue redoubled its attack. I yawned constantly and fought the onset of sleep as hard as I could. I told myself jokes, sang songs. An observer would have quickly assumed I was a madman. But I couldn’t stop — if I didn’t stay upright, if I fell asleep, the taming bar would grind to a halt, then start dropping. I’d have to start over again.
Suddenly, the giga-komodo stopped endlessly running in circles and switched to a more sedate pace. Was he tired too..? Finally! I perked up, not believing my luck. Yes! My armored steed was barely moving his legs now. Sure enough, soon he stopped completely. Before he curled up into a ball to rest, I hurried to untie myself and jumped down to the ground. I picked up some of the dew-soaked blue flowers my sister had left for me and shoved a whole bouquet into the creature’s half-open mouth.
“Chew, you dolt! Let’s finish this taming. I’m tired, I want to sleep just as much as you do.”
The huge beast mechanically closed its jaw, chewed thoughtfully… and swallowed the offering!
Taming skill increased to level thirty-two!
“Hey, don’t you dare go to sleep!” I shouted, even rapping the giga-komodo on its armored forehead. After its first portion, the creature was trying to curl up to rest. I hurriedly shoved another bunch of flowers into its mouth. Now we were getting somewhere! The giga-komodo gulped down its seconds and stared at me with its yellow eyes, waiting for thirds.
The progress bar had only reached thirty-eight percent from the ride, but now it was filling up rapidly. Each new bunch of flowers added ten or eleven percent. A little more, another handful of tasty flowers and… Done!
Taming skill increased to level thirty-three!
Your character is now level sixteen!
Reward: three skill points (total available: twenty-two) and one mutation point (total available: eleven).
My soul danced and sang. What an awesome new pet! He was noticeably bigger than the other giga-komodos, with unusual and stylish purple-black scales. He was fast, and most importantly, he had as much stamina as the mythical Atlas who carried the earth on his shoulders. Hey, that’s perfect! I’ll call him Atlas.
Atlas. Level 93 Male Giga-Komodo. Herd Bull. Male. Sergeant’s pet.
The name was blue. Varya had told me the day before that this meant a creature was stronger than the average for its level. But green and red and orange meant the same thing. I asked the Engineer’s daughter what the difference between the colors meant, but she didn’t know.
Since the tamed giga-komodo was still not sated, I took the steel loop from around its neck and walked away, allowing the hungry pet to trudge over to the stack of flowers my sister had picked.
“Now you can eat as much as you want! You dese
rve it!”
I took the loop off the stake, noting with alarm that the steel wire had worn almost halfway through the wood that I’d thought so strong. Another hour or two and the beast would have broken free, leading me on a nighttime gallop through the unexplored forest.
I rolled up the wire in rings, hung it on my belt and strolled toward the river bank, planning to see how the creeping crocodiles had spent the night. Brrr! The black water emanated cold. I couldn’t see my river pets. Only the black bags of rotten meat that I’d taken off them and the tracks in the wet sand marked our landing spot. I’d actually asked Shelly to take the entire lure into the forest, but the furry girl only took a couple of bags, leaving the others lying on the bank.
“Katy! Tick-Tock! To me! Heeey!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing in the silence.
Then, as if in answer to my cry, I heard a booming roar from the direction of the forest. The mighty beast sounded distant, but still gave me goosebumps, made my hair stand on end. All remnants of fatigue instantly fled. My heart began to pound in fear. Another roar came, this time twice as close. Was my scent lure working, or had the terrible monster just decided to come and see who dared to make noise in his domain? Either way, the beast approached.
Purple Atlas stopped chewing and froze, turning his head toward the woods and listening hard. Half a minute later, a third roar sounded out, this time far closer, just two hundred yards from me. There could be no more doubt that the terrible monster was coming closer. The giga-komodo dropped the uneaten flowers from its mouth and quickly rolled up into an impenetrable ball. Good boy! Atlas was a lot quicker than the brainless Dinotard.
But what was I supposed to do? The massive beast was so close now, and it was coming closer. I thought of climbing up to the bed the girls had built in the tree branches, but discarded the notion. If the monster was the one I saw before in that flash of lightning, then it could pull down trees easily. I couldn’t put the girls in danger! On the contrary, I had to lead the threat away from them. Swim away..? If only Katy and Tick-Tock had been there, I would have done just that, but my pets had gone missing somewhere. I had to escape! But how?
The trees in the nearby forest were already shaking and cracking, torn asunder by the massive body of the fearsome giant. I was out of time. I had to act. I cut open all four of the black bags left on the river bank and then ran as fast as I could along the bank upstream. I saw a fast black body flashing in the mist, then tried not to look back. I couldn’t afford to waste a second.
Tracking skill increased to level nine!
The perfect time for a speed boost, even a small one. And luckily, I’d just leveled up recently, so my Stamina points had refilled. I knew I could keep running for a long time, and I knew it didn’t matter; the faster predator would soon catch up to me. I had no doubt that the forest monster had seen me — I heard massive heavy footsteps crashing closer behind me. The beast only paused for a moment on the bank to wolf down the stinking lure. The Cartographer had told the truth — the rotting meat of the hairy crab really did seem to attract forest predators. Maybe it was a rare delicacy for them. Or maybe they ate it to get high, like how elk eat certain mushrooms?
After losing only ten or fifteen seconds on the bank, the beast let out another ear-splitting roar and came chasing after me again. Damn it! It seemed the creature’s height meant it could see me from above in spite of the mist. Or maybe it was following the easily noticeable tracks I left on the wet grass, the same way I’d spotted the sherkh Swordmaiden. Or was it following the stink of rot coming off my axe? Even I could still smell the acrid stench, never mind an animal with a good sense of smell. I threw away the axe and listened hopefully to the trampling behind me. Damn! The beast was still on course.
It must have been seeing my tracks in the wet grass after all. And that meant that even if I picked up the Stealth skill, it wouldn’t save me. For a moment I thought about investing my twenty-two free points into the Sprinter skill — that would have increased my speed by twenty-two percent. But I knew that even that wouldn’t save me, just delay the inevitable finale. It was looking like the end…
But… time went on. I could still make out the monster’s huge footsteps behind me, but for some reason they were no longer closing the distance. Naturally, that lifted my spirits, but I didn’t know the reason for it. A little more time passed and it even started to seem like the gap between us was widening.
Sprinter skill increased to level ten!
I doubted it was just because of that skill leveling up, although it sure helped. It seemed more like the giant itself was losing speed. Yes, that was it. The footfalls behind my back crashed down less often and now sounded uneven, like a drunk man walking. A little more time passed and I heard a heavy crash, now a long way behind me — the massive creature tripped over its own feet and fell down. It stood up, took a few more uncertain steps and fell again, this time unable to stand. The toxic lure had done its job. I stopped, breathing hard. For a while I just stood, ready to tear off again and keep running at a moment’s notice.
The dangerous monster was wheezing and growling, but it didn’t sound like it was trying to stand. I decided to risk going back on myself to check it out. A hundred and fifty yards later, I stopped again. This time I could see a long, huge and dark body wreathed in clouds of mist.
Chimeric Megasaurus. Level 17 Female.
Just level seventeen? Scary enough to be one hundred at least. The female chimeric megasaurus was as if woven from dark mist. Murky, wreathing, twisting, fetid and… dangerous, that I knew without a doubt. For some reason that dark smoke twisting around the massive monster disgusted me, and I suddenly felt a strong urge to avert my eyes. There was something reminiscent of the night beasts with their wreaths of hiding mist and the red haze of the Alphas.
I went closer. The forest beast was huge, but long rather than tall. Lean, with long back legs and short front ones like a T-Rex, but ending in sharp and terrifying talons. Its neck was nine feet long and its tail even longer. The creature lay on its side, its huge head full of teeth lolling in the grass. It wheezed and aimlessly waved its legs as if pushing something away or trying to jump. The rotten meat was definitely doing its job. The megasaurus was out of it, clearly intoxicated.
But what to do next..? Kill it? Seemed a shame… Not even so much for the huge beast itself as for wasting the effect of the lure. Anyway, just from a practical point of view, how could I kill something so big? Even with my axe, it would be no easy feat. Pointless even trying without it.
Then, while I stood and examined the megasaurus, Varya Tolmachyova suddenly appeared out of stealth a few paces from the beast. And Whiskers was on her shoulder! I gasped in shock.
“Are you going to tame it?” the Scout asked, delicately circling the forest predator while trying to keep a safe distance from its teeth and claws. “I have some meat and fish with me, if you want it. Both raw and cooked.”
The girl wore a hiking backpack and it looked stuffed to bursting. When had she had time to pack that..? And what was she doing so far away from the tree with the bed? I must have run a mile while the beast was chasing me. Had Varya walked all that way behind me?
Then it was like a lightbulb lit up in my head. I put two and two together. The thick mist. The Engineer’s tale. The strange girl. No anchor… Varya had planned to leave on her own! But then, why was my pet with her..? Was she planning on stealing Whiskers the kitten away with her?
The revelation must have shown on my face, and the Engineer’s daughter guessed my thoughts. Varya sighed heavily and threw down her heavy rucksack. First she suggested that I should stop wasting time and tie the stunned beast’s legs before it was too late. Then she told me her story.
“Yes, Sergeant, I’ve been planning to leave. Don’t look at me like that! Now I realize that I nearly made the biggest mistake of my life. But just an hour ago, it seemed like the only right option. I told you that Shelly talks a lot, right? Well, your girlfriend was c
hattering away before she fell asleep. She mentioned a few… let’s say, details of your relationship.”
My hand twitched. The thick steel wire I was wrapping around the megasaurus’s legs unfurled. I had to roll it up and tie it on again.
“I don’t know if she mentioned it on purpose or by accident… And it doesn’t matter. All I know is that it hurt. It wasn’t nice to learn that you guys have been hiding this from me. My two closest friends… Julie and Shelly fell asleep, but I couldn’t. I quietly packed my things, climbed down the tree and started wandering wherever my eyes took me, mentally saying good-bye to everyone. But your cat caught up to me.”
My brows narrowed in mistrust. My cat? What did my pet have to do with it? Incidentally, Whiskers was level eighteen now. Hunting mice must have been a great way to earn experience. The Scout stroked the ginger cat’s chest and Whiskers purred in pleasure.
“I’ve found a way to talk to him, Sergeant. I won’t reveal how exactly. You won’t be able to use my method anyway. This little critter of yours is smart. Far smarter and nicer than his owner! Actually, after my chat with Whiskers, I’ve changed my mind about leaving. I’m going to stay in this world. Forever!”
Chapter 33 [Kitten]
Cards on the Table
I STARTED AWAKE as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over my head. My tiny kitten heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest as if from fear. A strange and intolerably piercing feeling of impending doom gripped me. Something was wrong. But what was it? I climbed onto the big oaf’s shoulder, looked around carefully, listened. My furry ears twitched. All seemed calm. Early morning, practically still night. No wind. A thick mist had descended on the meadow. Sergeant was wrapped up warm and sat blearily numb on the armored reptile’s back as it ran in circles. The human was tired, but not asleep. He was singing Stairway to Heaven to himself under his breath, his voice cracking, occasionally forgetting words and replacing them with yawns. Sergeant didn’t seem to be the reason for my concern.
A Cat and His Human (League of Losers Book #1): LitRPG Series Page 27