I hear the engagement before I can see it. The gnarled, spiked pines block most of my view as I speed around the perimeter of the bloody ritual site. The Sawtooth lets out an ear-piercing call as my mentor grabs its attention.
Catching glimpses in my right peripheral of Thorpe deftly dodging as the Sawtooth charges, slashing out with a brutal kick from one of its powerful legs. The attack carves up chunks of earth that scatter and pelt the trees like hail.
The old man retaliates with quick stabs from his spear, but the Sawtooth leaps back out of the way, just to sweep its claws again while Old Guard is overextended. Thorpe quickly kicks his own leg out from under himself, dropping down low so the sweep of claws splits the air above him.
Old Guard rolls back, using his spear for leverage to vault himself back up to his feet. But his solid stance is short-lived as he immediately has to leap back just as the Sawtooth tries to stomp him into the ground.
I’ve never seen Thorpe kept on his toes like this before. And by the look of his highly concentrated grimace, he certainly seems like he has to be very focused to fight this thing. Which makes me all the more nervous.
And yet, a wide smile is creeping onto my face while watching him.
I have no doubt that Thorpe could probably have killed this thing already if he wanted to. But he’s holding himself back in order to make an opening for me.
But still. The idea of fighting something that is making Old Guard sweat a little is kind of exhilarating.
So I won’t let this chance be wasted.
I finally stop next to a group of trees and kneel down. Getting a decent view of the current fight. Just in time to see Thorpe pull his spear back, the tip of the blade flashing. But just as he is sending it forward, the Sawtooth’s feathers puff up, and it spreads its short wings. The monster quickly beats them forward, creating a strong gust that blasts the ground and sends it shooting backwards. Thorpe’s spear striking out where it was, the attack kicking up wind and causing a muted VOOSH that I can feel from here.
I can hardly believe my eyes. That’s the same attack that he used against the adult jackelope. Something he did with the same blinding speed, and this thing anticipated it!
The monster lands a few yards away, keeping its wings spread out, and is now acting far more cautious of Thorpe as it tilts its head more fully to focus one of its eyes on him.
And that’s when it clicks. I shoot to my feet and immediately tilt myself into a low sprint. Speeding past the rest of the trees with vigorous determination. Finally breaking into the edge of the ritual site. Hopping once to land onto my left leg at a slight forward angle, turning into it as my knee bends. My right hand is pulling my sword from its sheath on my back. My eyes fixed on the Sawtooth’s throat.
THUMP
I [Leap Stride], blasting out from my position with a spin. Corkscrewing towards the monster as my sword leaves my sheath and swings out into the momentum.
One turn.
Two turns.
I sail over the right wing of the monster, catching sight of its feathers puffing up again as it senses me and starts to try to dodge out of the way. But it’s too late.
Into the third spin, I swing wide, my blade impacting and slashing through the back of its neck where the folds are as I pass over.
But I can tell I didn’t cut in deep enough to decapitate it. My face forms into a grimace as I tuck and roll on the opposite side of the monster. Rolling to my feet with a turn while skidding back to a stop. “DAMNIT!”
Although I didn’t decapitate it, it certainly isn’t shallow. The Sawtooth’s body twitches and stumbles as dark red blood pours from the deep gash a quarter of the way through the back of its neck. The monster screeches hoarsely with blood splattering and dripping from its beak while keeping its head on a swivel. Unsure of who to focus on.
Thorpe approaches it as he calls out. “Good hit, Liore! It’s not gonna last long, just keep focused. It’ll act erratically in this state.”
I swiftly nod without taking my eyes off it, raising to a stand with my sword at the ready. Slowly strafing to the side with Thorpe doing the same on the other side. Keeping it encircled.
The monster rotates slowly to try to keep track of both of us. Its panicked caws are getting weaker as it stumbles with almost every step.
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Looks like it’s not going to put up much more of a fight.
And as if it had heard that thought, the Sawtooth whips around from facing Thorpe and pounces towards me with both feet poised to latch and stomp me into the ground.
Thankfully, I was still paying attention. Changing my direction to roll to the left as it pounces to my right. And as soon as my feet touch the ground, I tilt myself back towards the monster and swing out while shooting myself upwards with [Leap Stride]. The momentum of my swing gives me enough of a spin to slash back through its throat on my way past its shoulder. Cutting the rest of the way through from my earlier slash.
I tuck and roll onto the ground behind it, skidding to a stop while turning to watch the Sawtooth’s body stumbling around aimlessly as its head and neck now hang loosely from threads of thick flesh. Blood gushing from the open neck hole, painting the dirt beneath it.
Both Thorpe and I flinch as the monster accidentally stomps and squashes its own head into the ground with a sickening crunch. Which causes the last threads of its throat to tear free before its now headless body tumbles over with a THUD.
Both of us stand there in silence, eyes scanning around the trees. Listening closely as the general sounds of the forest resettles.
A shared sigh of relief, before I am suddenly lifted up in the air and hugged. Shaken around as Thorpe laughs loudly.
“Good fucken goin kiddo!!” He yells out, squeezing me tightly. A smile widens on my face underneath the mask.
“WOOO! I did it!” I yell, raising my arms up high. Indescribable joy fills my body. I feel like every fiber of my being is pumped with energy.
I feel…strong. And it feels GOOD.
Thorpe swings me around a couple more times before dropping me onto my feet. Ruffling my cloud-like hair. I can’t see his smile beneath the mask, but it’s easily apparent how wide it is by the creases near his eyes. “That was clean, Liore! I got worried for a second when it changed targets, but you were LOCKED in.” He pats me on the shoulder. “How are you feelin? Doin alright? Nothing loose or broken?”
I shake my head, chuckling. “I’m good. I feel great.” I answer proudly. “That was…that was such a rush. I haven’t felt like this since I fought my first monster.”
The old man gives my shoulder another pat. “Yeah, that’s the adrenaline. You’ve been pitted up against mostly smaller monsters aside from that adult jackelope, but you got injured during that one.” He pulls a rag from his belt and hands it to me. “Sit down, clean up your sword, and check your window. See if you got any new skills. Cause I can definitely bet you did with a kill like that.”
I take the rag from him and lower it to the ground, sitting cross-legged and laying my sword across my lap while I use the rag to clean the blade. “May the blinded see.”
---
[[LEVEL-01]]
//Name: Liore Perro
//Age: 12
//Class: [Farmer]
//Status: Healthy
[[STATS]]
//Strength: 2
//Dexterity: 2
//Intelligence: 2
//Perception: 2
//Stamina: 2
//Resilience: 3
[[PASSIVE]]
[???]
[Slayers Aspect]
[Favored]
[Battle Theory] -> [Sword Theory]
[Threat Detection]
[[SKILLS]]
[???-???]
[Leap Stride]
[[CLASS QUESTS]]
[Plant A Seed]
---
I lightly gasp seeing the two new skills. Calling out to Thorpe, who has moved over to check out the Sawtooth's body. “I GOT SWORD THEORY!”
Thorpe pumps his fist in the air. “Hell yeah! Called it!”
I’m smirking so wide it hurts the corners of my mouth, willing the two new skills to open.
---
[Sword Theory]: Your dedication to the Sword has granted you access to Specialization and Core Memory of Sword stances, techniques, and maneuvers. You are now able to learn Sword based Passive and Active skills for continued use of this weapon type.
---
---
[Threat Detection]: Power harvested from a Butcher Bird. This Passive skill creates a 360-degree radius of danger sense with its distance multiplied by one’s Perception stat. Allowing one to sense active threats around them, even when the threat is unseen.
---
“Ooooooooooooooh. I think I just got a new monster skill too…and it’s pretty crazy.” I call out while still reading it over.
Thorpe stops his poking on the Sawtooth’s corpse and jogs over. “I figured you would. That thing was pretty tough.” He kneels next to me. “Lay it on me, what’s it say?”
“It’s called [Threat Detection],” I respond before reading out the full description for him. My brows furrow. “But it called it a Butcher Bird? So it wasn’t a Sawtooth?”
The old man whistles low in his mask. “Hot damn. Yeah, we saw that skill in action, didn’t we? That is gonna be a handy one.” He nods at my question, though. “It is a Sawtooth. But that term is more of a blanket name for several types of Bird monsters that have similar characteristics. This one, I guess, is more specifically a Butcher Bird. I don’t think all Sawtooths do their mating rituals the same way.”
I nod slowly. “That makes sense. I guess not all forests have trees like this to easily hang the corpses up. Butcher Bird is a bit more of an apt name for it.” Checking my sword over to see if I missed any spots before sliding it back into its sheath on my back and standing back up.
The old man rises back to his feet. “Now’s the fun part…we gotta cut all the good parts off of it and drag it back.” He says while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
All my energy suddenly fades as I hear him say that. “Ughhhhhhhh…”
The old man chuckles. “Hey, now. Death must have purpose. You are responsible for what you kill. It is our job to make sure we can use as much of it as possible. We owe it that much.” He says a bit more sternly.
Oh…I guess that does make sense. I mean, we did just kill a creature while it was simply working hard to build a nest. Even the small creatures it slaughtered served a purpose. Although macabre as it is. We should treat it no differently.
I nod at Thorpe, giving him a more serious look. “Okay…let’s do it.”
He smiles lightly and gives a thumbs-up. Likely glad to see me understand his point of view.
We start making our way over the Sawtooth’s body. The sky is beginning to darken somewhat. Probably those storm clouds are finally coming in from earlier.
Actually, it’s getting even darker than that?
Isn’t it midday…
A chill rolls down my spine. Hair on the back of my neck stands on end. A strange prickly sensation washes over my shoulders.
My head quickly whips around…
…just to see the massive set of talons inside a shadow closing in on me.
