Heroes of Last Resort (The Other Guys Book 1)
Page 5
Determined to be stealthy, he moved slowly down the game trail, winding his way through increasingly dense foliage consisting primarily of large oak and pine trees. After a while, he paused and closed his eyes, taking in the ambient sounds and smells. He heard crickets and birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the faint sound of running water. The forest smelled of green moss, damp wood, composting leaves, and pine. The sounds and smells reminded him of home, so much so that he could almost believe he was on his grandpa’s back forty, walking the trails with him. Opening his eyes, he shook himself out of his short reverie and continued following the tracks, losing them a few times but always stumbling upon them again.
While he moved, a couple of notifications popped into view.
You have gained a skill point in stealth.
You have learned the tracking skill. You gain a +4 bonus to this skill based on prior experience.
Hunting with Grandpa had really paid off! Practice clearly paid dividends when skills and stats tangibly affected the world. He wondered about the increased effort people back home would put in doing everyday things if they saw the direct benefit; maybe even Allen Iverson would practice? He continued down the trail for a few more minutes before catching sight of his quarry.
A ten-pointed buck with brown fur munched quietly on grass near the edge of a small creek. Jack diverted silently off the trail to hide behind an enormous cottonwood tree. He had no idea how to kill the deer. He was forty feet away from it, and while his new stealth skill might let him get close enough for a dagger throw, throwing knives wasn’t his forte—not like his buddy T, the unofficial master of cutlery back in the real world. To confirm a kill on this deer, he needed to be within striking distance.
With methodical slowness, he began creeping toward the deer, carefully avoiding rustling leaves, dry twigs, or anything else that could startle it. He got another twenty feet closer, and the deer continued eating the grass, its twitching brown and white ears the only sign of anything amiss. He was never this good at moving quietly before; the Rogue class was obviously giving him some help in this area.
After spending another few minutes maneuvering through the forest, he managed to position himself behind a tree about ten feet from the deer. Despite the autumn-like weather, sweat poured off Jack, stinging his eyes. He looked at his stamina and realized it had fallen to seven out of thirteen. Ugh, I really need to get into shape. Well, technically he had a shape already, but it was not conducive to physical activity.
He paused for a few minutes to let his stamina refill before gently easing his shortsword and dagger out of their sheaths and breathing out a long, deep breath in quiet anticipation of what was to come. He tensed his muscles, ready to leap at the buck, when out of nowhere, a large mountain lion leapt onto the deer from its hiding place in a nearby maple tree. By Henry David Thoreau’s hideous neckbeard, that was sudden! The deer crashed to the ground and let out a high-pitched shriek while it tried to get its antlers around for a strike at the large cat.
However, this was clearly not the mountain lion’s first rodeo, and it moved quickly to one side of the deer, its large claws scoring deep gashes in the buck’s back as it avoided the antlers. The deer began to stand, but immediately collapsed as blood from the multiple lacerations gushed out of its body, draining its strength. The mountain lion then sliced its large claws through the deer’s windpipe in a devastating finishing blow.
Not stopping to consider the stupidity of his next action, Jack leapt from behind the mountain lion and used his Dual Attack 1 perk, plunging his shortsword and dagger into its back for a spine-severing strike. However, the cat heard him coming and reflexively shifted its body in a lightning-fast move, avoiding the attack. Jack ended up cutting into the cat’s right hip instead, and it issued a mewling scream of protest.
Notifications flooded his vision, partially blocking his view of the large cat.
You hit mountain lion with your shortsword for 10 damage. Base damage 2 (1-5) +2 agility bonus, times backstab multiplier of 3, minus defense of 2.
You hit mountain lion with your dagger for 7 damage. Base damage of 1 (0-3) +2 agility bonus, times backstab multiplier of 3, minus defense of 2.
“Get out of my head!” he screamed, dismissing the damage notifications partially obscuring his vision and refocusing on the mountain lion, who had pulled itself off the deer and was slowly moving toward him, its right leg dragging along the ground, partially useless due to Jack’s strike on its hip.
“Let’s go cat, I didn’t hear no bell,” Jack yelled, weapons at the ready, using his typical bravado to shake away his fears. Like his grandpa always said, sometimes you gotta fake it ’til you make it. Spewing archaic incantations, he quickly analyzed the cat while they continued to circle around each other.
Name: Cooter. Race: Mountain lion. Level: 2. Hit Points: 9/26. Spell Points: 0/0.
Still circling, he wondered if he should make the first move. “Say when,” he drawled, channeling his best Doc Holiday, then tapped his shortsword and dagger together. With a loud roar, Cooter pounced toward him, claws and fangs extended in a truly frightening display. Jack’s body involuntarily belched the lovechild of a barbarian yaup and a soprano squeak as he thrust his sword and dagger at the beast, eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with the large mountain lion. Cooter’s claws dug into his face and right shoulder, cutting excruciatingly painful gouges as the beast exhaled its last breath. Giving credit where it was due, the mountain lion had done most of the work by impaling itself on Jack’s outstretched weapons.
Notifications again intruded into view.
You hit mountain lion with your shortsword for 4 damage. Base damage 1 (1-5) +2 agility bonus, times critical strike multiplier of 2, minus defense of 2.
You hit mountain lion with your dagger for 3 damage. Base damage of 2 (0-3) +1 agility bonus, times critical strike multiplier of 2, minus defense of 2.
Your critical strikes inflict 2 bleed damage every 10 seconds.
You receive 4 points of slashing damage from Cooter’s claws. You receive a bleed effect and will lose 4 health every 30 seconds.
You receive 2 points of slashing damage from Cooter’s claws. You receive a bleed effect and will lose 4 health every 30 seconds.
Jack quickly dismissed the notifications as the large cat struggled to attack again, despite being clearly weakened from the weapons lodged in his heart and stomach. Letting go of said weapons, Jack used all his meager strength to keep the mountain lion’s claws away from his face and waited for the creature to bleed out, watching the countdown timer on his own stacking bleed effects. With what sounded like a final, pitiful, “Meowhy?” Cooter stopped moving.
Jack looked at his health, noticing his total was only nine. Although not the math wizard his buddies Geoe or Gooch were, he could do simple subtraction and realized that he would be dead in sixty seconds if he couldn’t figure out a way to stop the bleeding. Trembling fingers pulled down his leather pants as he grabbed for the cotton skivvies underneath, tearing them off his body with a giant roar.
Tearing the undies in two, he used the first piece to staunch the blood coming from the gashes in his shoulder wound by pressing down hard on his arm, gritting his teeth at the pain. He then used his teeth and one good arm to tie a semi-tight tourniquet around the wound. Reviewing his bleed notifications, he noticed the first bleed effect had been removed, but the second one was still there, and he took four points of damage as thirty seconds passed. Grabbing his shirt from underneath the leather armor, he pulled hard, nearly screaming in frustration until a large piece finally tore itself free. He wadded the fabric up and placed it against his face, slowing the blood flow, praying he would be in time. Another thirty seconds and another four health dripped to the ground before he had finally staunched the bleeding. Jack had a single moment of pride at stopping the bleeding before he abruptly passed out.
Chapter 6
Jack wasn’t sure how long he lay unconscious on t
he ground, but the sun still seemed to be roughly in the same place as it was before his fight with the angry mountain lion. He held up his hand, watching it tremble, the fight with the mountain lion still taking a toll on his psyche. Earth’s greatest, check that, only hero on Rigara almost got killed by a mountain lion named Cooter. Or since he had a bit of an optimist complex, HE HAD JUST KILLED A WILD MOUNTAIN LION AND LIVED! He let out an ecstatic scream, immediately silencing himself by slapping his twitchy hands over his mouth as he remembered his situation. Still not ready to get up and wanting to ignore his still-jittery hands, he decided to review the notifications littering his vision.
You have killed Cooter, a level 2 mountain lion. You receive 54 experience points. You have gained 1 skill point in dual wield, small blades, and stealth.
You have learned the first aid skill. You gained a +11 bonus to this skill based on prior experience.
You have obtained beginner rank in the first aid skill and may choose one of the following perks:
Combat Medic 1: You can quickly treat wounds during battle. Bandaging or otherwise healing an ally in battle takes 20% less time.
Staunch the Flow 1: You have increased affinity for stabilizing wounds of a bleeding target. Applying first aid to a target will provide a 25% higher chance to remove bleeding and other associated debuffs.
Triage 1: You gain the ability to prioritize the injuries of those hurt in battle. At a glance, you are able to determine which injuries require immediate treatment or can wait for later.
Teaching CPR for a summer at the YMCA in Wausau was really paying off. He quickly chose Combat Medic 1; if his previous battle had taught him anything, it was that faster was always better when it came to treating gushing wounds.
Jack gasped for air before using a final surge of strength to roll the mountain lion off him. He lay on the ground breathing heavily for what seemed like an eternity, trying to focus on anything but the pain in his face and shoulder. His stamina was nearly empty from that brief battle, and his health was down to one. While his stamina would replenish in a few minutes, it would take many hours to fully heal from his wounds and the associated pain.
While still lying on the ground, he asked Alexa to turn off notifications during battle; they’d nearly cost him his life. He could always look at his combat logs afterward.
Once his stamina was partially replenished, he slowly stood and surveyed the carnage. Blood was everywhere, coating the ground, most of his body, and both the deer and mountain lion. Jack smelled worse than the Thundercats’ litter box, and he desperately wanted to jump into the creek and clean up, but decided he might as well skin the deer and mountain cat first. No sense in cleaning up twice.
He wasn’t sure how the weather worked on Rigara, but it seemed like early fall, as evidenced by the turning leaves. With the sun high overhead, he felt quite comfortable. The temperature was probably in the mid-sixties, more than warm enough for a chubby Wisconsinite. However, he was sure it would be much colder after sundown, and some hides to sleep on would provide insulation from the cold ground. In addition, meat from the deer and cat would provide meals for a few weeks. Good thing I like steak! He doubted that A-1 sauce would survive the trip through the portal, but if he could reinvent the Rigara equivalent, life would be complete. He also would not be too proud to claim the invention as his own.
Pulling out his dagger, he started processing the deer. He’d skinned many deer over the years, and while the dagger was more of a piercing weapon, its edges were sharp enough to allow Jack to cut away the hide on the legs and break the bones around its knees. Using some rope, he threw one end up and over an adjacent tree branch. Looping the other end of the rope between the Achilles tendon of both back legs, he hoisted the deer up, his injured shoulder making the process more painful than it needed to be. Once the deer hung a few feet off the ground, he tied the other end of the rope around a nearby tree to anchor it. He then slowly peeled back the hide, exposing the dark red meat of the deer’s haunches.
A notification icon appeared in the corner of his vision, and he mentally clicked it.
You have learned the gathering creatures skill. You gain a +12 bonus to this skill based on your prior experience.
You have attained beginner rank in the gathering creatures skill. You can now harvest hides and meat from animals 1% faster for each rank in this skill. You may choose one of the following perks:
Improved Quality 1: The chance to produce higher-quality hides increases by 10%.
Faster Gathering 1: Speed of the gathering process improves by 10%.
Bonus Food 1: You are able to harvest more potential meat from a creature, increasing the harvested meat by 10%.
By all that is good and holy, Jack hoped he wouldn’t be doing this very often, so he chose Improved Quality 1. Higher-quality hides could lead to higher-quality material after it was tanned. He continued skinning the deer, slicing all the edible meat off it and placing it into his adventuring backpack. Looking at his inventory screen, he noticed all the deer meat went into one inventory slot with a number denoting a quantity of twenty-one. He barely kept himself from doing a little jig. The stacking of items would drastically improve how much the backpack could carry. Repeating the gathering process with Cooter, he netted an additional fifteen pieces of mountain lion meat, a mountain lion hide, and an additional skill point in gathering creatures. He would need to dry the hides and cook the meat, but first things first.
He peeled off his leather armor and the shirt underneath and noticed that the cuts on his shoulder had already begun to heal in the time he took to harvest the two creatures. He wasn’t fully healed, but he had four health now instead of one. He took off his wool pants, boots, and socks and waded into the creek, regretting that he’d needed to use his shirt and underwear to stop his bleeding as his naked form touched the freezing water. He began scrubbing his body, removing the blood that covered his shoulder and face wounds. He grimaced as he rubbed icy water into the wounds, doing his best to clean them and wishing his backpack had come with soap. He scrubbed his leather armor, shirt, and pants, trying to remove the bloodstains sans soap, but it was an impossible task.
After tying rope around two trees to form a makeshift clothesline, he hung his clothes and hides to dry in the remaining sunlight. He found a few large rocks from the creek and put them in a circle for his campfire under the rope, planning to use the fire to dry out his clothes and begin the process of preparing the hides for tanning. He scavenged for dry branches and smaller twigs, placing them in the circle of stones, then carefully shaved off thin pieces of wood and bark with his knife to place on the pile.
Pulling out the flint from his bag, he began work on a fire. Thankfully, in addition to being an Eagle Scout, he’d worked a summer as a guide on the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, taking tourists on weeklong expeditions through the wilderness and winding rivers. His main source of income that summer was tips, and he would often start fires using only flint and steel to impress the campers. He used his dagger to strike the flint and, in a minute, Jack was sitting before a small fire and receiving another notification.
You have learned the survival skill. You gain a +24 bonus to this skill based on prior experience.
You have attained apprentice rank in the survival skill and may choose two of the following perks, or one perk twice.
Jack reviewed the options; most dealt with surviving off the land, using improvised tools, or surviving in terrains other than forests. As he was scanning through the list, one of them caught his eye:
Direction Sense: No matter where you are or how turned around you are, you are able to find north.
Taking this perk unlocked a new perk.
Never Lost: You always know where you are and cannot be lost. You know the location of any previous destination relative to your current location. This ability works above and below ground. Requirements: Direction Sense.
Jack chose Never Lost. His grandpa used to always tell him that he’d los
e his head if it wasn’t screwed on. He thought back to all the times he had lost his car when at the Wausau Center Mall. No more! Plus, he was scared to death that he would go adventuring and be unable to find the portal again.
With the fire going he began to warm up, and his clothes began drying out as well. After getting dressed again, he felt somewhat better. While the armor and clothes were not completely free of blood, they felt clean against his skin. Getting a piece of meat out of his backpack, he noticed no notable change from when he’d put it in. He knew from experience that the bag contained no air, which must help stave off spoilage. He decided to cook or smoke the meat, knowing it kept better that way. Unfortunately, he knew precious little about that part of the process; they always brought their deer meat to a local butcher, who made all sorts of sausage sticks, jerky, and whatever else Grandpa ordered.
When the fire dwindled to glowing embers, he placed the meat on the rocks. Less concerned about taste, he mainly wanted to make sure it was cooked properly and not just seared on the outside. There was no way on Earth, or Rigara as it were, that he would contract some sort of freaky fantasy world virus from such a rookie mistake. He normally preferred smoked meat but couldn’t figure out how to do that without an actual smoker and didn’t think he had enough time for that anyway. He settled for well-done steaks. Mmm, mmm, steak! When he finished cooking the rest of the meat, he received a prompt, because why the heck not?
You have learned the cooking skill. You gain a +2 bonus to this skill based on prior experience. You have an improved chance of cooking something not only edible, but tasty.