I traveled down the slope and along the cliffside with Lily. Despite my injuries, I was finding myself with a little more vigor coming back, as I knew our long hunt was finally almost at its end. I suppose stats didn’t always tell the whole story of what one was capable of.
I looked back over my shoulder to see Genzo shadowing us from some distance away. It felt to me that he planned to stick around but was simply waiting for us to finish our business here.
My tail wagged softly, remembering how he had helped me before and knowing how powerful he was. If he continued to help us from here, we might be doubly free of these damn red masks hunting us. Maybe he could even help us find the rest of our family!
Genzo… I wonder if he ever really left back when we parted ways, or if he was watching out for me this whole time?
Thinking about it, it didn’t seem likely. It would have been hard for him to have stayed hidden in those caves. Kenshaw’s crazy fire attacks may have drawn Genzo over to us. Perhaps seeing everything we’d been through, then that the last of our prey would escape, he decided to help us.
But then again… Maybe he could have been watching us through the caves this whole time. Pulse Sense doesn’t work on him, and he does seem to be a bit of a sneaker… Not that I can talk!
It was possible, I supposed.
We were in no rush to finish off our prey at this point. In my mind’s eye, I could see he was already basically done for. He had broken his leg in the fall, and in an even worse way than I could achieve with a Crippling Bite. The bone had broken clear through his flesh, sticking out with a jagged, bloody end. If he had a healing potion, he would have used it by now. Instead, he was simply doing his best to drag himself into hiding, weaponless, and probably fully aware he wouldn’t last long.
When we found him, he was propped up on his elbow, eyes widening, teeth clenched in pain and hatred.
“You… You killed them all… Didn’t you?” he muttered. I wasn’t sure the question was for us as much as he just couldn’t believe it and had to repeat it out loud.
I lowered my gaze at him evenly. I didn’t feel so much hatred at this moment. Now that it was finally over, and I knew we would be safe for a while, I almost felt bad for him.
They laughed and drank together; they probably had their own kind of bond as fellow tribesmen. And now they were all dead.
To be fair, I could almost understand the red masks.
It’s a kill-or-be-killed world. Their version of that had a few extra layers to it, but ultimately, they were doing exactly what I was every time I hunted. Whether it was a rabbit, a frog, a fish, or a human. They were trying to survive, but my own survival made us inherently at odds.
When he flew down into the skylight cavern and realized what had happened, his first instinct was revenge. In that way, we were not so different, he and I.
I looked to my sister, who eyed the human, and I gave her a nod. “Make it quick.”
Lily charged ahead, diving for his throat. He tried to stop her, but there was little he could do with his broken body.
It didn’t take long before Lily tore through the vital veins along his throat, and he gave his last twitch.
Prey Eliminated - Lvl 14 Homo Sapien - Bloody Peaks Tribe
Experience gained!
[Show them what a real hunter looks like!]
Tier 3 complete!
-Epic bonus to stats!
-Major experience bonus!
-Major Development bonus
-Unlock a LEGENDARY evolution hint!
You have leveled up!
You are now level 15!
+5 Vigor
+6 Strength
+7 Dexterity
+9 Attunement
+8 Sense
You have unlocked a LEGENDARY evolution hint!
Would you like to view it now?
[Yes] < [No]
So now I had a new Legendary Path hinted to me, on top of the Epic one for the tier two reward I hadn’t had time to analyze yet in all of this fighting. Before I had a chance to check it, though, Lily started to change.
Her fur got that golden glow that came over me whenever I evolved. Through it, her silhouette got larger, a little at a time. When it slowed to her final size, she was still notably smaller than me but also notably larger than she was a moment ago.
Once the glow cleared, I took a good look at her.
Her tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth happily, and as I looked into her eyes, I saw there was a faint, purple, smoky miasma leaking from them. I turned my head and gave her a wolfy grin, and she yipped—notably deeper than her usual high-pitched yips.
Then, as she prowled forward a few steps, I noticed that same purple miasma coming from her paws, trailing behind each step for only a fraction of a second before it wisped away.
Okay, okay, I’m excited to check my own, but let’s see what you got first!
Name: Lily
Race: Hell Hound
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Level: 12
Path: Shadowfang Trickster
Stage: 4
Body Development: 0%
Vitals
Health: 110 / 210
Mana: 23 / 375
Stamina: 63 / 340
Attributes
Strength: 43
Dexterity: 85
Vigor: 42
Sense: 70
Attunement: 76
Active Skills
Decoy Strike lvl 3
Create a single shadow clone, then strike when your foe takes the bait.
Bonus damage if you strike directly after your clone is attacked.
Shadow Clones lvl 3
Create three shadow clones to overwhelm and confuse your enemies.
Slip Dash lvl 3
Slide along the ground in a quick evasive maneuver.
Cry for Help lvl 1 (new)
Mimic other species with a distressing cry to lure them in.
Flicker Mist lvl 1 (new)
Briefly take a mist form that is untouchable from physical attacks.
Passive Skills
Basic Fighting lvl 3
Enhanced Smell lvl 4
Balance lvl 3
Electricity Resistance lvl 1
Quick Reflexes lvl 3
Traits
Easy Stride lvl 3
Reduced stamina drain from running and movement-based skills and traits.
Wall Runner lvl 1
You can run along walls as long as you maintain your momentum.
Pack Bond lvl 5
You gain experience from anything killed by a member of your pack during a hunt in which you are involved.
You and your packmates regenerate mana and health 5% faster while resting together, the bonus stacking an additional 5% for every nearby pack member.
You and your packmates take moderately reduced damage while hunting together.
You have an innate understanding of your pack members' stats and abilities.
Mentally signal your intentions to pack mates.
Mist Step lvl 1(new)
Your steps are absolutely silent.
It was clearly still a trickster-style class, but now a little more predatory. Cry for Help seemed a little creepy, and particularly sinister. Well, we were hunters, after all. If humans were allowed to hunt us with flying creatures and electrified sticks, we couldn’t exactly turn down any of the advantages that may be at our own disposal.
Finally, I thought it was time to check on my own available Paths.
Let’s start with the Epic one.
Epic - Hellborne Fire Witch
Path hinted, further details currently unknown.
Hint 1: Locked (Seek the Serpent of the Black Pyre to reveal this hint)
Hint 2: Locked
Hint 3: Locked
Requirements
Stage 7 development
Attribute Requirements: Unknown
Required Achievements: 2 (Unknown)
Hm, so the system took my advice for once and finally gave me a hint for a hint… Wait, but this is kind of a rip-off, isn’t it? The quest said I would get a hint! Not a hint for a hint! That’s worse than getting a hint! Well… technically it is still a hint…
Grrrrrr… Are you just messing with me, System!?
If my theory that it only had conscious input through achievements was correct, then I supposed that wasn’t the case, and this is just how things were for this evolution.
All the same, I huffed a little disappointed. That Epic path was also Stage 7, which was two full developmental stages away. Though I suppose what the name of the Path implied sounded powerful enough to get me pretty excited, so I shouldn’t complain too much. Hellbourn Fire Witch. Definitely had to be a magic class. I wondered if I would get back some of my skills from Arcane Nightstalker if I unlocked it?
Well, time to check out the Legendary Path. Come on, System! Give me some useful information!
Legendary - Aberrant Triune
Path hinted, further details currently unknown.
Hint 1: The form is not wrong because it is many. It is wrong because it is not yet one.
Hint 2: Locked
Hint 3: Locked
Hint 4: Locked
Requirements
Stage 12 development
Attribute Requirements: Unknown
Required Achievements: 5 (Unknown)
I looked over it, focusing first on the hint that was a proper hint this time… Well, at least as far as what the System is supposed to give me.
Seriously, what is this? A riddle? That still doesn’t tell me anything!
As for the actual name of the Path… It was… interesting, to say the least.
Aberrant… What does that mean? I wish I had a dictionary handy…
Aberrant… Aberrant… Abhorrent?
It sounded kind of like a bad thing. As for Triune… was that even English!? Where’s a Google search when you need one!
Well, Legendary had to be a pretty big deal, so naturally, it wouldn’t be easy to obtain. Still, for the hell we went through tonight, I would have liked some more immediate benefits.
I shook my head and dismissed the window with a flick of my thoughts.
‘It is wrong because it is not yet one,’ huh?
Could it be referring to the rest of my pack somehow? I was a Hell Hound, which was basically a monster dog or wolf, which are pack animals. Us being separated as we have been is certainly abhorrent…
Aberrant…
Aberrant Triune…
Tri could mean three, right? That didn’t match my pack theory because there would be seven of us once I had my family back. Eight if Dad were still alive.
I looked up to the sky.
Dad had three heads, and supposedly, something like him is what we could one day become. Could this possibly be some kind of Cerberus Path?
“You’ve done well for yourself since we split. Ribbit.” Genzo walked over, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword as his other raised a pipe to his lips.
I wagged my tail. I would have jumped up and given him a lick if my body didn’t hurt so bad. Instead, I settled on a narrow stare that said, “You could have come to help us out sooner, you know!”
His lips curled subtly as he took a drag from his pipe and blew the smoke out in several narrow streams along the ridges of his wide mouth. The steady look he returned was almost like a reminder of his parting words.
Lily glanced between me and the frog man with her ears folded, and she backed away a couple short paces. Although she looked a bit more intimidating in her new evolution, she still had her small little Lily personality. Her instinct was to be hesitant to trust such a stranger, but she must have also realized he saved us, on top of the fact that I was friendly with him.
“I have something for you. Ribbit.”
My tail perked as he lifted his hand from his sword hilt and produced a bone from within his red clothing. If it was another of those bones he gave me before—
I was already salivating at the memory. That truly had been one of the best things I ever got to gnaw on!
However, he brought it over to Lily and crouched just enough to hold it out to her within his long webbed fingers. She sniffed cautiously, then slowly opened her mouth and tilted towards it, her eyes watching Genzo like a hawk as she did so.
As soon as she snatched the bone from his fingers, she whipped around and backed off a few paces, dropping her belly low and continuing to stare at him suspiciously as she held the bone in her mouth. Though her tail was wagging now.
Genzo smirked and then looked upward. “And you. There is no need to hide. Ribbit.”
I searched the cliffside, and it only took me a second to see a much smaller green being peeking from behind a rock. Grick came out hesitantly. “You puppy friend?”
“Perhaps not as much as yourself, small one. Ribbit. But I’d like to see these Hell Hounds find their way, and I believe you are a worthy addition to their pack.” He then turned, walking away. “Let's camp together for the night. Ribbit. You’ve earned yourselves a night of rest, with no fear of being hunted. I’d like to speak of a few things and advise you on your travels.”
My tail drooped at that. It didn’t sound like he planned on sticking around long-term after all. That was a bit disappointing, but I suppose what he had said before still held true. He had said he had his own quest he must go on.
Once I began after him, Grick and Lily followed my lead, Grick climbing down from the cliff first until they were both moving along beside me.
