I frowned and bent down, grabbing a handful of sand from the ground. There was no wind to interfere with this plan, thankfully. With a heave, I tossed the sand towards the lure beast’s corpse and watched with mild surprise to find the sand collided with something in midair, barely three feet away from me.
I quickly stepped backwards a few feet while readying my bow, but the lure beast did not move from its position. Did it not comprehend the sand trick? Had it no understanding that it was now exposed, a few pieces of sand still atop its head, suspended in thin air? I was lucky that this was the case.
I glanced behind to ensure that I was standing directly in front of the pit trap. The lure beast would probably charge once it realized that it was no longer invisible to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, firing another arrow at the creature. I heard the thunk followed by the kafwoom of the flames igniting the beast’s body again.
Just as I had predicted, the lure beast let out a shriek and then barreled towards me, its long hooks stretching out to pierce my skin again.
“Not today,” I muttered, crouching down and firing off one last shot, listening to the scuttling sound of the beast’s legs running at full speed. As the lure beast lunged at me, I leapt backwards, clearing the six foot wide pit without a problem.
In spite of my perfect landing, I opted to slide down and act as if I had fallen onto the ground, dropping my bow in the process. The lure beast shuffled forward to grab hold of me, now that I was on the ground and helpless. Yet, as it placed its front legs on the sand in front of it, the ground suddenly opened up and the large beast tumbled down into the pit, headfirst.
Grabbing my bow off the ground, I leapt to my feet and began firing shot after shot into the pit. The beast was near useless in such a deep hole. I had placed spears on the ground, but they hadn’t inflicted much damage to the creature. Rather, the problem was that the lure beast could not get back up due to the position of its legs. It merely writhed and shrieked at me as I riddled it full of holes.
I reached for my next arrow, surprised to find there was nothing left in my quiver. The smell of smoke was rising up to meet my nostrils and I gazed down to see that the beast was long dead. I had been so determined to kill it for good that I had shot every last arrow in my possession, not only striking the beast’s body, but the ground, the walls and the area around it, just to ensure that it was gone for good.
“What a fight,” I said with a sigh as I stared down into the hole. Fifteen feet had quite the impact on the beast. Rashar had told me that when setting traps, it was better to overprepare than to be caught underprepared.
As I gazed over my handiwork, wondering how I was going to cut this monster open, a hand from behind shoved me forward, into the pit. I cried out in surprise, but managed to catch my footing and landed safely. Despite the distance of the drop, my Safe Fall ability simply made it feel like I had fallen off the third step of a stairwell. I didn’t feel an ounce of pain.
“It’s gonna take a lot more than that to kill me,” I called, looking up while readying my bow. Eight men were standing above me, armed with spears of their own, pointing them down at me, ready to throw at a moment’s notice.
“Will this be enough?” replied a man I vaguely recognized. It was the mayor’s son, I realized. Higgins? Was that it?
“Hey, take it easy,” I said. “I just did your village a favor by putting this beast down.”
“Yes, we see that,” Higgins replied, his voice a little shaky. He was trying to put on a brave face, but no doubt he remembered my bow skills quite well. “You were also dangerously close to our west side entrance. Why are you here?”
“I’m interested in talking trade,” I said, lowering my bow somewhat. “I know things got a little heated earlier, but trust me, I’m not here to get into any more fights.”
“I should order my men to kill you,” Higgins said. “But…that meat you provided us went a long way. Lay your weapons down and we will take you to our village.”
I opened my mouth to argue about my weapon status, but decided against it. These people were nervous enough as it was. Maybe going in unarmed would be the right gesture, to show that I wasn’t here to cause any trouble. Besides, a bow wouldn’t be much use in melee combat. If I ran into any problem, I’d have to rely on my own strength to get through.
“Alright, fine,” I said. “I’ll come unarmed. Just give me a minute with this corpse. I need to get something important from it.”
Chapter 22
1,500 Bloodpoints hovered in my vision as I was escorted by Higgins and his men to their underground village. 1,500 was quite the reward for a single kill and I was certainly going to be spending it on some second Tier upgrades. My three choices were Safe Fall II, Perfect Balance and Acrobatic Training I. Augmenting my movement abilities was imperative, especially if I was going to be fighting a Titan sometime soon. Running, jumping, climbing and balancing on trees would be necessary to face a beast that large. Buying all three second Tier Acrobat abilities wasn’t cheap, but I felt each ability was essential (especially the 20 foot safe fall.)
I quickly glanced at my Hunter’s Profile with the new additions.
Avery Lorn
Stats
Skills
Traits and Abilities
Health: 63%
Strength: 2
First Aid: 5
Clean Retrieval
Mana: 0
Dexterity: 4
Stealth: 1
Dodge Reflex
Total Bloodpoints: 4,205
Intelligence: 3
Tracking: 2
Light Step
Current Bloodpoints: 50
Perception: 3 (2+1)
Ranged Weapons: 4
Archer’s Eye
Firnin Points: 20
Charisma: 1
Navigation: 4
Safe Fall (20 ft)
Estoan Points: 0
Equipment:
Trapping: 2
Fast Movement
Kaos Points:
Bone Bow
Slots: Weak Fire Affinity
Acrobatics: 5
Search I
Light Scale Leather Armor
Slots: 2
Alchemy: 1
Pit Trap Blueprint
Piercing Shot
Home Territory
Skilled Extraction
Perfect Balance
Acrobatic Training
My health was looking a little low and, frankly, the wounds in the sides of my arms were growing worse with each passing minute. The potion had allowed me to ignore the pain and effects of the injuries, but once an hour had passed, the pain was growing worse. I didn’t have any medical supplies on hand either. I couldn’t quite bring myself to take supplies from Hunter’s Hope. Now, I was beginning to regret that noble decision.
“You don’t look so good,” Higgins said as he walked alongside me, bringing me deeper into the underground caverns. These tunnels were much wider than the ones back home, with many mineshafts leading to deeper parts of the earth.
“I took a bad two hits,” I replied, pointing to my blood-soaked shoulders. The beast had stabbed right through the tops of my arms, knowing that my actions would be completely restricted with the loss of my limbs. It was smart and probably had taken down quite a few humans before me.
“I see that,” Higgins said, squinting as he examined the wounds. There was a grimace on his face at the sight of such injuries, betraying the stoic way that he held himself. The man was no more than the age of 25, but had grown out his beard to perhaps look a little older. Dette had not spoken kindly about this man, alluding to him being the favorite of the mayor. “We have a surgeon in the village. They can tend to your injuries.”
“I’ll be fine,” I replied. “I don’t want to waste your supplies.”
Higgins shrugged and faced forward, continuing to follow the two guards who were leading the front. We were beginning to descend and I could see a large gate made of stone
at the bottom of the decline. “You really killed that thing…” he mused as we walked. “You actually killed the Helper.”
“Helper?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the name.
“We call him that because he always calls for help,” Higgins said. “Our scouts name the beasts after the sounds they make.”
“Clickies…” I muttered. “Well, Venators call them by their real names.”
“And what is that thing’s real name?” Higgins asked.
“I’ll tell you after I make a Wood Charm out of the thing,” I replied as we reached the great stone gate. There was an ornate carving on the grey gate that showed a horde of people digging a great mine, then building a settlement in that mine. Atop the mural were the words ‘Olmstead.’
“That’s the name of your town?” I asked as we passed the guards at the gate and entered the village.
“Indeed, named after my great grandfather, Tarkin Olmstead,” Higgins said. “Our people dug every last one of these tunnels here. They built great structures out of stone and declared this to be our home for good.”
Emerging from the gate, I gasped at the sight of the village. There were dozens of massive buildings made out of stone, complete with doors, windows and balconies. I could count 16 buildings that could easily hold hundreds, if not thousands of people each.
“Amazing!” I said. Our buildings were made out of wood, not stone. And they certainly were not so numerous.
“Don’t get too excited,” Higgins replied, shaking his head. “Those buildings are abandoned. We don’t have the capacity to fill even a single floor. It was the dream of Tarkin that all remaining survivors be brought to Olmstead, and that our people would forever be looking for newcomers to join us.”
“What happened?”
“Tarkin knew a great deal about architecture and mining, but not much about growing food,” Higgins said. “You can’t eat a building.”
I nodded at that sentiment, thinking of all the empty space in Hunter’s Hope. We only used the space we needed and our numbers only dwindled, leaving a few buildings empty over time. “It’s a real shame.”
“Indeed it is,” Higgins replied. A silence fell between us as we moved past the large buildings. These towering structures weren’t in use by the population, rather I was surprised to find that these people lived in huts not too different from my own, albeit they built theirs with brick and stone while we used wood.
The huts were congregated at the foot of a large statue depicting a chisel on stone, a disembodied hand holding the tool in place. There were a few women and children about, carrying baskets filled with stones to a large storehouse in the center of the village. Their faces were weary and weak, similar to the faces of my own people back home. No one seemed to pay any mind to us, at least, until they saw my face.
“A stranger,” someone whispered, pointing at me. A few others poked their head out of homes and windows to see what was being said about the stranger outside. I saw many dirty and worried faces, looking at me as if I were some kind of monster. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized the sheer number of people who were staring at me. Venator or not, escaping this place would be a nightmare.
“Go back to your work,” Higgins said, waving a hand at the basket carriers. “This outsider is under my care.”
The people glanced at one another, with nosy smiles and half-whispered jabs towards Higgins. A few returned to their duties, but the majority merely continued to stare at us, motionless and curious. I tried to keep a pleasant face, but in truth, being the center of attention was not something I enjoyed. Normally, at functions with large crowds, Dr. Jace would be the one commanding the room with his boisterous stories. No one had ever looked to me for anything other than basic medical aid, and frankly, I was happy with things being that way.
“The people don’t bite,” Higgins mentioned to me as we walked into the center of the village. There was a large circular building with ornate carvings that continued to tell the story of the village’s creation. Apparently, there was a terrible monster that lived within the cavern network and this particular mural was covering its destruction. I wondered if this was a true tale, or perhaps something that was invented after a long time.
“I’m not afraid of them,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Are you sure? Because you look pale as a ghost right now,” Higgins said. We stopped at the thick, red doors that made up the entrance to the round building.
“I’m fine, just a little woozy from the blood loss,” I lied. My heart was beginning to pound a bit harder and I found myself nervously looking left to right. The people had lost interest in me after a few minutes and had resumed their regular activities, but I was still on edge. As if I could be attacked at any moment.
“Well, we have an excellent doctor here,” Higgins said, patting his knee. “She patched me up after our little ‘duel’. I thought I’d be unable to walk, but frankly, you didn’t hit any vital areas.”
“Just the spot that would hurt the most,” I remarked. “I…I’m uh, sorry, you know. About shooting you and all that.”
Higgins shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been so kind to strangers trying to take my food either,” he said. “Forget about it.” I could tell that his expression, cool and collected, was earnest. He bore no ill will about my decision to shoot him.
“So…is this the mayor’s home?” I asked.
“Mayor Trent Higgins the 3rd ,” Higgins said, putting his hand on the brass, polished doorknob. “My father and our supreme leader. He has the final say on anything here. Nothing is done without his permission. All operations are his concern.”
“I see…” I said. “So he’s the one who made you all come after me.”
Higgins let out a deep sigh. “Yes. He’s a man who has had to make some hard decisions in recent months. Food shortages and the loss of scouts have caused a greater amount of stress on the man. He’ll be dead soon; his heart won’t hold up. Then it’ll be my job to take on that stress.”
“A bleak outlook,” I said. “Aren’t mayors elected?”
“Who the hell would want this job?” he asked as the door swung open. I was surprised to see that the round building had only one room, filled to the brim with bookshelves that circled around us. In the middle of the room was a large desk, several filing cabinets and a distressed, skinny man. The man was wiping the sweat from his head profusely as he flipped through page after page. Despite his skinniness and lack of hair, the old man had the exact same facial features as my escort.
“Dad,” Higgins said, walking forward, catching the old man’s attentions.
“Ten plus…” Mayor Trent said, trailing off as he realized his son was in the room. He sat up and smoothed what little strands of hair on his head back, wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief at the same time. “Ah! Higby, a pleasure!
“It’s Higgins now, Dad,” the son replied, his voice both irritated and distressed. No doubt he didn’t want to be called Higby in front of the esteemed huntress from another place. “And I’ve brought the woman from the other village.”
Trent frowned as he stood up to scrutinize me. “So you’re the one who was irritating that Helper outside.”
“She’s the one who brought us a hundred pounds of Clickie meat,” Higgins said, walking over to the set of chairs in front of the desk. The open floor plan of the office had many chairs scattered about, with short little desks to lay books and other documents on. While it was an office, there were a few children sitting in the corner, quietly reading books as if this were also a library. “And she killed the Helper.”
Trent motioned for me to come over. I was still standing a good distance from the old man, unsure if I should approach or not. Our own customs were to treat the Elder with respect by waiting for them to call you forward and I was unsure what Higgins and his people practiced. The last thing I wanted was to ruin my shot at trading over something so menial as manners.
“You killed the Helper?” Mayor
Trent asked as I walked over to him. He sat down and pointed to the chair. “Sit, sit, no reason to be so stiff around me. I’m no one worth revering.”
I slowly sank into the chair. “Yes, I killed the lure beast outside,” I said. “A terrible creature that was trying to dig into your territory.”
“Ah yes, our very own guardian angel,” Trent said, sarcasm dripping from his lips. “Do you know why I summoned you here?”
“You summoned me?” I said, sharply glancing at Higgins. No wonder they had been so accommodating in bringing me to their village.
“Did you tell her nothing?” Trent grumbled. “Higby, if you want people to take you seriously, you’ve got to actually—”
“Dad, this is not the time for that,” Higgins said. “She said she wanted to meet with you and I figured it would be better for her to think we were doing her a favor.”
“I would appreciate you not talking about me as if I weren’t here,” I said, raising a hand to interrupt them from fighting. “And I’m not that upset. Why do you want to talk to me?”
The mayor responded by leaning back and opening one of the file cabinets up, digging through the files for a few moments before producing a large, thick map, wrapped with twine. He dropped the map on the table with a loud thud and began to unfold it, covering the entire table with a map of the region.
“I have a few things I wish to discuss,” Trent said. “Extremely important matters.”
Higgins started to stand up, but Trent waved for him to sit back down. “Sit down, boy!” he bellowed. “If the heart gives out, this’ll be your problem, so you better learn about it now, rather than later.”
I frowned at those words and leaned forward, curious to see what the old man had to say. I could recognize the map of our own region, although this one had borders drawn up around several areas, including my own village.
“So, let’s talk business then,” Mayor Trent said, pointing to the borders on the map. “During the great migration period, when we were all fleeing underground, six villages all agreed on borders, assuming that there would be a time that we would return to the surface. These borders represented our hope that things would someday return to normal, but more importantly, also gave us a clear precedent for legal matters in the future. Between villages.”
Monster Hunting 101: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination) Page 14