Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
Monster Hunting 101
Titan Termination: Book 1
by Andrew Karevik
Monster Hunting 101
Copyright © 2020 LitRPG Freaks
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
Chapter 1
Blood. Was it my blood? It had to be. Dripping down the side of my leg, cut open from that nasty fall. Better to fall than to be caught. To be eaten. But they’re still here. Still following me. Playing a game. Is this the end?
I limped along, trying my best to ignore the burning pain that seared through my entire leg. My eyes swept the landscape, left to right, searching for a place to hide. Yet, there was nowhere in this jungle that would give me shelter. Not against the Kinru.
I staggered forward, towards a large tree. “Come on, Avery,” I whispered, pushing forward with all of my might. They were still in pursuit, still waiting for me to fall down. Kinru liked to poke, to slash, to cut. But they never fed until the prey fell. At least, that was what Tino had told me. I had to keep upright.
My vision was narrowing, but I could hear the sounds of clicking behind me. Three Kinru were stalking me, moving carefully through the woods, their footsteps perfectly silent. The clicking was how they talked, how they coordinated. They were not alarmed, of course. A human stumbling in their territory, injured by a nasty fall, was of no real threat. They would follow me for a time and, if I had not fallen down, one or two would venture forth to deal the killing blow.
Where was I going? I continued staggering towards the largest tree in the dense jungle, for no real reason. I had never been trained to scavenge on the surface. My job in the village below had been to tend to the injured and the sick. But times were growing lean and the food was almost gone. Many a desperate man or woman had fled to the surface to save themselves from starvation, but I was here to find something that could sustain those who were too sick or weak to move to another village. No, I was far from a scavenger. My first adventure in the outside world was certainly going to be my last.
I stumbled forward, tripping against a root in the dirt, and caught myself against the tree, gasping for breath. I fumbled through my pouch and pulled out the only weapon I had, a measly slingshot. Unable to do much else, I spun around and leaned against the tree.
“Come on!” I shouted to the trees. “I know you’re here. Come get me, you bastards!”
This was it. My life would be a short one, but at least I had died trying to accomplish something noble. I held the slingshot up and waited for the first monster to emerge. I didn’t know much about Kinru, other than they were slightly lazier than the other monsters in this region. Perhaps if I put up a fight, they might decide against attacking me. I winced as another surge of pain shot through my leg. I hoped that I could keep conscious long enough to shoot at least one of them.
Finally, from the dense tree line, a Kinru emerged. I had never seen one fully; all I had was a glimpse from earlier, when they began to chase me. The beast was scaly, with two long legs, a hunched back and two arms, outfitted with claws for slashing and cutting. Its reptilian eyes glared at me with a longing, an ancient hunger to feast on the most savory of all meats – human.
“Come on!” I bellowed, doing my best to sound intimidating. My hands were trembling like an old woman’s, but I still raised the slingshot and readied to fire.
The Kinru let out a short, hideous burst of screeching, as if it were laughing, before it began to run forward, its long legs allowing it to bound with incredible speed. I aimed the slingshot, but before I could fire it, I heard a clicking from above. Another Kinru had somehow managed to slip past me and was in the tree above, its arms and legs holding onto the trunk with ease.
I didn’t react in time; the attack was too well-coordinated. The beast above dropped down and crashed onto me hard, its talons digging into my stomach as it hissed and screeched. I cried out in agony and tried to fight the Kinru off, but despite its smaller size, it was surprisingly heavy. The beast raised a claw and slashed me across the face, cutting my cheek with a glancing strike. It was still playing, still poking and prodding, rather than simply killing me.
As it raised another claw to swipe at my face again, I grabbed the stitching needle in my pouch, the only sharp thing I had, and stabbed it as hard as I could into the leg of the monster.
The Kinru shrieked at the sudden influx of pain and leapt off of me, spinning around in a circle, as if looking for something else that had attacked it. The other Kinru took this opportunity to move towards me, but my assailant was quick to begin hissing and snapping its jaws at its subordinate. So confident these creatures were of my helplessness that it did not realize I had been the one to stab it.
The two beasts began to snap and hiss at each other more, feinting charges at one another until, finally, it broke into an all-out fight between them. They clawed and bit each other, fiercely striking and charging until finally, the weaker Kinru, the one who hadn’t attacked me, slunk away, injured.
I wished that I could have used this distraction to flee, but my legs were useless by now. My stomach was torn up and I couldn’t see out of my left eye. The only thing I could do was give this Kinru a parting gift, something to remember me by. I carefully raised my right hand up, gripping the needle tightly. I would play dead long enough to strike the beast.
As I lay on the ground, motionless as I could be, the Alpha Kinru crept up to me, sniffing. Thinking that I was dead, it began to cackle, before its face came close to my own head. As it opened its jaws to eat, now confident of an effortless meal, I took this opportunity to say my goodbyes to the beast, taking the needle and stabbing the monster right into its eye.
“Take that!” I shouted as I skewered the unsuspecting Kinru. It let out a hideous, shrieking roar and leapt back, its long tail swinging left and right wildly as it thrashed its head. The Kinru’s screams were loud, perhaps too loud, for in response to its own screaming came the deep, bellowing roar of something much, much bigger.
This roar interrupted the Kinru’s cries, for we could both tell that this bigger beast was close. The Kinru became hushed and glanced out at the trees behind it. It appeared to be making a choice and, in the end, it abandoned self-preservation in exchange for a meal. The Kinru turned back to face me and began to hurriedly limp towards me, its own face bleeding profusely now. I readied the needle for another strike.
T
he Kinru stopped a few inches away from me and coiled its body, preparing to leap at me. With my last bit of energy, I was readying to roll out of the way. Yet, the Kinru abandoned its plan suddenly, turning on a heel and running headlong into the woods. But it was too slow. From above, a gigantic clawed hand came crashing down, grabbing hold of the Kinru. The beast yelped as it was lifted out of sight and I could hear shrieking as something began to devour the Kinru, bones and all.
I shivered as I listened to the munching and crunching of some monolithic being far above me. I used the last of my energy to roll closer to the tree, so I could not be seen. The crunching eventually ceased and I could feel the ground shake as the titanic creature made its way somewhere else.
Somehow, I had survived. But was this survival? I gasped as I looked down at my cut and maimed body. The Kinru’s claws had made short work of me…it was only a matter of time before I bled out. My eyes began to close as the last of my life force began to fade. While I struggled to keep them open, I started to hallucinate. Several small red orbs were hovering a few inches away from me, shining with some kind of power. They slowly drifted over to me, touching my hand and vanishing in a flash of light. Words somehow hovered above me reading 5 Bloodpoints Earned . What a strange thing to see before you die. I took a deep breath and let the darkness of the end overtake me, knowing that at the very least, I had died trying to save my people from starvation. That was a good way to go.
Chapter 2
The smell of meat was the first thing to greet me upon my return to consciousness. The meat was freshly cooked and, for a moment, I thought that I was indeed in the afterlife, for meat was never available back home. Yet, when I tried to sit up, my entire body was wracked with pain and I was forced to cry out in agony.
“Calm yourself,” came a soothing, rumbling voice from beyond. I realized at once that I was not in the jungle, but was instead lying on a small cot inside of a room. Was I underground? Had a scout found me and brought me to safety? My wounds were bandaged and cleaned—certainly a good sign. “It will do you no good to reopen your injuries.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything, a cluster of words appeared in my vision. You have 5 unassigned Bloodpoints . Wherever I moved my head, the letters followed me, floating. I frowned and swiped a hand at the words, but my hand passed right through.
“Are you okay?” asked the voice from outside the room. I could hear more sizzling as meat was being cooked in the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” I finally replied, realizing that these hallucinations weren’t going away any time soon. Was this the side effect of blood loss? Or was I simply losing it? “Where am I?”
“The Jungles of Zinoss,” the voice replied. “Or at least that is what I call it. You little ones might call it something else.”
“Little one?” I repeated.
“Yes…I would ask that you look at your bandages and see that I have taken good care of you,” the voice replied. “And I would ask you to reflect on your safety and survival before you glance upon me.”
A nervousness fell over me as I realized that the being speaking was not talking like any human I had ever met. “Who…what are you?” I asked.
“I am Rashar,” the voice said as he finally entered into my room. I tried my best not to gasp, but still, some noise escaped me. Standing in the room was an eight foot tall tiger with the face of a man. He stood on two feet, just as a human, and had hands instead of paws, but he was covered in orange and black striped fur.
“You’re a beast?” I gasped.
Rashar’s expression indicated one of mild amusement, thankfully unbothered by my blunt question. Between my severe injuries, the hallucinations and now this, I was certainly feeling unfiltered.
“I am a Sogorn,” Rashar said. “A mighty creature who lives and hunts in this jungle. There are few of us, but our deeds are great.”
“I’m Avery,” I said. “A healer and scavenger for the humans who live in the darkness below.”
Rashar nodded at that and vanished from my sight for a moment, stepping out of the room. I could hear the sounds of pans being moved about. “I have seen a human or two in my time,” he said as he returned, carrying a plate full of cooked meat. “That is why I know that your meat must be cooked. I myself prefer raw food.”
He carried the plate to me and placed it on the table beside me. “You did well out there.”
“You were watching me?”
“I was hunting the Kinru for a meal, but you lured them away from my trap,” Rashar said. “Still, you were the victor in the end.”
“How was almost dying a victory?” I groaned. I tried to reach for the meat, but my right arm was almost completely useless. Instead, I was forced to move my less adept hand to grab a piece of it.
“You obtained the blood, was that not the goal?” Rashar asked.
“What are you talking about?”
Rashar grinned at this, watching me silently as I took a bite of the meat. There was so much flavor that my mouth ached at the first taste. I hadn’t had meat since I was a little girl, so this was a real treat. But as I chewed this morsel, I realized that there were people who could do better with this food than I. I’d eat what I had and bring the rest to my village. Provided I could get back to the cave safely.
“Are you not a mighty Venator? Seeking Bloodpoints to empower yourself?”
“I’m a glorified nurse who’s pretty much the only one who’s able-bodied enough to come out to the surface,” I replied. “I don’t know what a Venator is or what a…” I trailed off, realizing that the hallucinations in front of me might not be hallucinations after all. “What are Bloodpoints?”
“Eat up, human,” Rashar said. “You will need to be strong.”
“I can do without,” I replied. “Tell me what a Bloodpoint is.”
Rashar shrugged. “There are those in this land who have learned the secrets to slay those monsters that walk this land. They are either of great might, cunning or intellect. They have all learned that there is a powerful magic that runs in the blood of these beasts. The magic contained within a monster’s blood is capable of giving a human great abilities.”
“I injured one of those Kinru and gained five Bloodpoints,” I said. “But…I’m seeing something in my vision, telling me that I have those points. I don’t understand.”
Rashar chuckled. “There is secret knowledge in this world, hidden from the eyes of all normal folk. You’ve been given the Hunter’s Sight, which will grant you that knowledge.”
“I’m guessing you are a Venator?” I asked. “Since you know all of this.”
“One time, I was concerned with ridding the world of its many ills,” Rashar replied. “And I took the mantle upon myself. But…such things were too much for old Rashar. I retired to this region, a place where any Venator could make short work of the Kinru and the Fitzons that wander the place.”
I glanced at the beast. “You knew I was just running away from those monsters, didn’t you? You knew I wasn’t interested in Bloodpoints.”
Rashar chuckled. “So easily you see through my ruse. Yes, I knew upon watching you stumble into that Kinru nest that you were not seeking Bloodpoints.”
“Why not save me?” I asked.
“My kind does not reward failure,” Rashar explained, a stern expression upon his face. “There were nineteen things you could have done to avoid that situation. You did none of them. Am I to run in and save every human when they need help? Nonsense. I’d rather see what you would do in your desperation. And you fought back as hard as you could. Earned a few Bloodpoints out of the situation. That was worthy of me helping you after the fact.”
I looked back at the bold, glowing words in my vision. “Will you teach me how to use them?” I asked.
“Hah,” Rashar laughed, shaking his head. “I did not save you to be your teacher. I am not interested in being the grizzled mentor who advises you in all matters. I rescued you because you earned my admiration du
e to your ferocity in a losing fight.”
“At least tell me how to activate these points,” I said. If what he was saying was true, then I could use this power to become a better scavenger.
“Very well,” Rashar said. “Focus your mind on the words you see. Think about the Bloodpoints and that you want to use them. Concentrate.”
I did as he instructed, turning all of my thoughts to the Bloodpoints. As I focused, something began to form in my vision; it looked to be a chart of some kind. My eyes widened as I inspected it.
Avery Lorn
Stats
Skills
Traits and Abilities
Health: 25%
Strength: 1
First Aid: 5
None
Mana: 0
Dexterity: 2
Total Bloodpoints: 5
Intelligence: 3
Current Bloodpoints: 5
Perception: 1
Charisma: 1
I scanned the chart and realized that this was a summation of my own abilities and status. Even my own health was listed in some kind of percentage. Why were my stats so unbelievably low? Did I really only have the one skill?
“You seem confused,” Rashar said, chuckling more. “Right now, you are seeing your normal, fragile self. Weak and without Bloodpoints. No doubt the Hunter’s Sight has revealed just how insignificant you are in this world.”
“You can say that again,” I whispered, shaking my head at the realization that a 3 was my highest stat. I never thought of myself as a particularly exceptional person, but seeing my averageness on display was disheartening.
“Come now,” Rashar said, “do not be so discouraged. For you have the very elements that will grant you the power to become more than what you see here.”
“How do I use these points?”
“Simply focus on growing,” the tigerman instructed. “Close your eyes and see your own potential bloom.”
I shut my eyes tightly and focused on changing, just as he said. Though my eyes were shut, I could still see the sheet, clear as day. It began to shift and change, offering up multiple options for me to advance.
Monster Hunting 101: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination) Page 1
