Chapter 7
I tried not to grimace as I watched Rashar gnaw on a Kinru leg bone, picking the meat off in between sentences. We were in the small shed he kept in the back, where the majority of the meat was being salted and dried by a curious type of furnace—all for the purpose of making long-lasting jerky. I had already butchered the Kinru, getting most of the usable meat off the body, while Rashar had taken the organs for his own alchemical uses. All that had remained were the bones.
“These bones,” Rashar said as he ate, “have been immersed in powerful magic for their entire existence. As such, they hold secrets of their own.”
“Really?” I asked, looking at the skull of the Kinru. Even without flesh or scale, the beast’s head looked terrifying. I shivered a little, momentarily forgetting that I had been the one to kill it.
“Indeed, child,” Rashar said. “Or adult. I forget how to tell a human’s age.”
“I’m an adult,” I replied.
“You’re an adult?” Rashar grunted, shaking his head. “And you will stay that size?”
“As far as I know,” I said. “Although talk to me after I’ve had some meat for a few weeks and we’ll see if that changes at all.”
The tigerman laughed at this and returned to gnawing for a moment before finally cleaning the bone off of all remaining meat. “There we go!” he said, holding it up high for me to inspect. “A skilled Venator learns to use all of the prey for the betterment of herself and the world,” he said. “We use the organs for alchemy, the meat for eating, the skin for clothing and the bones for charms.”
Rashar reached into the satchel hanging from his side and produced a small hand drill—a wooden crank attached to a metal bit that could be used to cut deep into wood or stone. I had seen them used before by the carpenters in the village and once when Dr. Jace had a gruesome idea of how to drain blood from an unfortunate head injury. The procedure had worked, much to both of our surprise.
“This is one of the few tools a Venator must own,” he said, handing the drill over to me. “It will allow you to open a hole in the bone of your slain enemies. Once the hole has been created, it will draw the excess energy from the rest of the bones in this pile.”
“Interesting,” I said, holding the hand drill up. “Why does it work that way?”
“Who knows?” Rashar said. “But it works and I’m not about to question the practice. So go ahead, take this bone piece, then make a hole.”
I looked at the drill in my hand, then at the long leg bone being offered to me. I suspected that this might be some kind of joke, perhaps a hazing of sorts, but I certainly wasn’t about to say that out loud. Instead, I took the bone between my fingers. The weight was surprisingly light. I placed the bone on the ground and pressed the hand drill over the top of it. This would be the first time I ever broke a bone, as opposed to the many I had reset.
The drill was easy to operate and within a few seconds I had cut a sufficiently sized hole in the leg. I leaned back and waited, curious to see if Rashar would start laughing at me for believing something so ridiculous. But, as I leaned back, I could see small wisps of blue and red energy begin to leave the bones of the Kinru and make their way to the hole.
“It’s working!” I gasped.
“You thought I was joking?” Rashar said, kneeling down beside me to inspect the hole. The strands of energy poured into the leg, flowing like water. It took a few minutes for the energy stream to die down, until finally, the process was finished.
“Perfect,” Rashar said, holding up the leg bone to inspect it. “Now, we have unified the magical essence of the creature. All of its own power, its instincts, its blind hunger, everything is trapped within this bone.”
“Wow,” I whispered, looking at it closely. There was the slightest hum coming from the bone itself, a low pitch that I could feel when I touched it.
“Now, whether you use the bone to create a charm or not, it is vital that you do this to every monster you slay,” Rashar said. “Because if left unattended, this creature will return to life.”
“What? “I said, snapping my head to the left, looking right at Rashar. “They come back?”
“The magic that sustains them is regenerative in nature. Over time, it will knit flesh and bone back together. Even in a heap like this, if the magic is not drained, they will eventually come back together. Not today, not tomorrow, but in a few hundred years? Certainly so. And those that return are fiercer and more cruel. They eschew their weaknesses and, worse yet, they become far more aggressive. We refer to such creatures as ‘Ur’. So you would say ‘Ur-Kinru’ when referring to one of these. Facing an Ur-beast is…not for beginners. Or veterans. They are only for a specialized kind of hunter who has lost all fear, or perhaps their will to live.”
“So that’s why we lost,” I whispered, looking at the seemingly innocuous pile of bones. I had heard stories of the first attack from so long ago, passed by our forefathers who had been the ones to settle this village. Many horrendous monsters had arrived, but the people of Xar were not weaklings. We slaughtered them with ease and returned to our lives. Then half a century later, the creatures returned, stronger than ever. It was then that the Titans had arrived and drove us all underground.
“Perhaps,” Rashar said. “So, even if you don’t wish to craft a charm, perhaps because you have slayed a weaker monster than you, as a service to others, you must still carry out this ritual. The land cannot be cleansed without it.”
I nodded at that. “I’ll never forget.”
“Good,” Rashar said. “Then let us begin your formal lesson on how to carve a charm. It will be a long process.”
“Before we start, I need to know something,” I asked, standing up and looking Rashar right in his eyes. “Why are you helping me so much? I want an answer.”
Rashar merely smiled at me. “Don’t be so impatient, Avery. You will learn in time. But you keep saying that I am ‘helping’ you. The life I am showing you is not a pleasant one. It is not a fun one. It is brutal, grim and horrible most of the time. You’ve noticed that your Hunter’s Sight tells you how healthy you are. You can never increase your base health. Your body will always be fleshy and weak compared to even the weakest of monsters, such as the Kinru. You say I am helping you, but I feel guilt that I am condemning you. Still, these things must be done. Your village is important and you lucked your way into Bloodpoints. This is the only way forward.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
“You will see.”
That was the end of the confrontation and Rashar warned me not to bother him again about this matter. Instead, we turned our focus to crafting my first bone charm. The process was long and complicated, but thankfully he had a full assembly of tools available. His workshop, as he called the shed, was always open for me to use for crafting new charms.
The process to make a charm required the bone to be cut down to proper size, cleaned, soaked in an alchemical bath of unknown chemicals for preservation, then carved into a shape I found pleasing. I was no artisan, but Rashar had a few charms to show me as examples, and under his direction, I was able to make a small circle charm.
“Now is the moment of truth,” Rashar said as he held up the now gleaming charm in his hands. The silver chain he had affixed to it was long enough for me to hide the charm beneath my shirt when worn, a common practice. While Venators were the only ones who could craft these bone charms, anyone could wear them and receive their benefit. It was important to keep such things concealed.
I tilted my head down as I allowed Rashar to place the necklace around my neck, clasping it together quickly. The moment he let go of the necklace, I felt a shock of power rush through my entire body and, for a moment, I thought I had been struck by something in the head, for everything went quiet. I heard a loud ringing and I took a half step back, feeling the ground moving up and down beneath me.
“Be calm,” Rashar advised, reaching out to grab my hand in order to steady me. “You are f
eeling the primal power of the Kinru within. Don’t let it overcome you.”
A searing heat came across my face and, for a second, I thought I was going to pass out, but I held onto Rashar’s hand and let the feelings move through me. A moment passed and my senses returned to normal.
Kinru Bone Charm active said the Hunter’s Sight, the words hovering before me. Select Aspect .
“What does Aspect mean?” I asked, releasing Rashar’s hand now that I was able to concentrate again.
“You can take on the aspects of those you hunt,” Rashar explained, “in order to grow stronger physically. Bloodpoints increase your skills, but Aspects will increase your physical abilities. Look at your options.”
I nodded and turned my attention to the Hunter’s Sight, bringing up the Aspect Menu. There were three options:
Aspect of the Kinru
Ferocity (0/2): Increases Strength by 1
Swiftness (0/2): Increases Dexterity by 1
Hunger (0/2): Increases Perception by 1
“What do the numbers in parenthesis mean?” I asked.
“Those are the permanent bonuses you can gain,” Rashar said. “You achieve this by slaying other Kinru. Your charm will soak up the power from their bones without the need for a hole or a new charm crafted. Once you have slain the amount of Kinru displayed on the right-hand side, the bonus will become permanent, regardless of whether you wear the charm or not.”
“You said I could only wear one charm at a time…” I said, examining the options in front of me. “So, it would make sense to max out each charm’s bonus before I take on another one.”
“Or you could build a collection and swap them out as needed,” Rashar said, turning his attention to another bone that had some meat on it. “These will make for an excellent stew,” he mumbled, losing all attention towards me.
With the knowledge that I could increase the charm’s abilities by slaying more Kinru, I wasn’t nearly as worried about making the right choice. I took a quick glance at my Hunter’s Display to see which of my stats would benefit the most from a boost at this exact moment.
Avery Lorn
Stats
Skills
Traits and Abilities
Health: 100%
Strength: 1
First Aid: 5
Clean Retrieval
Mana: 0
Dexterity: 4
Stealth: 1
Dodge Reflex
Total Bloodpoints: 305
Intelligence: 3
Tracking: 1
Light Step
Current Bloodpoints: 0
Perception: 2
Ranged Weapons: 1
Charisma: 1
Navigation: 2
Trapping: 1
Acrobatics: 1
I was surprised to find that I had a new skill added to my sheet: acrobatics. But then again, I had taken an acrobatic ability, which must have increased the skill level. That was pretty nifty. I wondered how many skills I could learn with this class, since each time I took a Tier, it would open up new branches for me to learn from.
A cursory glance at my stats showed that my biggest weakness was Strength. I wasn’t a particularly strong woman, but I never thought myself weak either. However, it would seem that compared to my Dexterity, my Strength was certainly lacking. Going with my plan to prepare for the worst, I decided to increase my Strength by 1.
Selecting this option did not cause my muscles to begin growing and changing. Instead, I merely felt a surge of energy through my arms and my back, as if something ethereal were reinforcing me. “This is different,” I said, stretching out my hands and examining them.
“Magic powers the charms, so they won’t have a physical effect on you,” Rashar explained. “At least, not until you are able to slay enough Kinru to make it permanent.”
Chapter 8
I left Rashar’s abode in the early morning, fresh and ready to return to my village. I had a backpack filled to the brim with fresh meat, salted so that it wouldn’t spoil as quickly. Of course, I wasn’t too worried about spoilage. No doubt the people would be quick to finish off the first bag I was bringing them.
The jungle felt different to me, now that I had gained the power of a Venator. The sounds and shrieks of the monsters which roamed this area no longer startled me. Instead, I was beginning to think about ways I could find these creatures and slay them, so that I could both grow in strength and supply my people with more food. Perhaps I could find some kind of beast with fur that could be used for warmth.
As I traveled through the dense and dark jungle, carefully listening for the sounds of hissing or footsteps, I became acutely aware of the most wretched possible stench. The smell was like vinegar and rotted flesh mixed together. My eyes watered in response to this smell and, as I made my way closer to the cave that led to the underground network, the stench only grew stronger.
Gagging, I took out a piece of cheesecloth from my satchel and wrapped it around my mouth and nose. It did little to ward off the smell, but fortunately I was able to breathe a little better with the mask on. Quickly, I crouched down and began to examine the ground, searching diligently for any clues of a nearby monster.
The clues weren’t hard to spot. There was a long trail of green slime on the ground and against a few trees, trailing upwards to indicate that this beast could climb without a problem. I glanced past the cluster of trees to see the open mouth of the Home Cave.
This cave was our only ticket into and out of the underground. We had carved extensive tunnels in order to delay curious monsters which were looking for a meal, but there were no other exits. Just eighteen tunnels leading nowhere, and a nineteenth that led to a small, defenseless village. Scavengers in the past would simply lure monsters away, leading them to other territories too far from the Home Cave to find again. But we were out of scavengers. It was on me to handle a nearby monster. And I certainly wouldn’t be luring it away.
Instead, I took a nearby stick off the ground and poked the trail of green slime. The stick immediately began to hiss as the slime burned it, bubbling wildly as it made contact. I pulled the slim piece of wood back to see that it was charred and blackened. The slime of this being was noxious, for certain.
Following the instructions I had been given by Rashar, I stared at the trail and tried to see what I could learn. There were no claw marks, rather a hundred small prints in the ground, indicating this was some kind of insect-like bug, perhaps a caterpillar creature. While I had only met Kinru before, many different legends passed through my tribe, speaking of all manner of monsters. What this thing could be, I had no way of guessing.
Instead, I began to carefully track the creature, relying on the trail of volatile slime to lead me through the tree line and up to the mouth of the cave. I could hear a horrid gurgling from inside, echoing throughout the many tunnels that had been dug out so long ago. The gurgling was high-pitched and frantic, like a madman laughing. I couldn’t see inside the cave, but I could tell the creature was close. Had it taken shelter from the hot sun that was beginning to rise above us? Or was it making a new nest?
I waited outside for some time, hiding against the wall so that it could not see me from inside. The burbling was growing louder and I ducked down low, moving beside a shrubbery so that I could be better hidden. A grotesque-looking worm finally emerged from the cave, nearly the size of a hut. It was long, almost twenty feet from what I could tell. The long, pale skin thrashed left and right as it walked on a thousand tiny little legs.
The wormbeast had a beak and long mandibles that jut out of its lower jaw, as well as a regular mouth. My skin crawled as it continued to search for prey, unable to see me. I noticed that the monster was not emitting slime from its body as it moved; instead, the trail was dripping from its mandibles. My instincts told me that this meant the creature had some kind of bile attack, where it would spray burning substance at its potential prey.
After a few moments of searching, the wormbeast found nothi
ng to eat and pushed into the jungle again, vanishing from sight. I let out a sigh of relief. The monster had not set up shop here; it was merely looking for a quick meal.
But just because the creature had not found anything yet did not mean that it would simply leave us alone. This was not a natural beast, but a monster that needed to be destroyed—especially if its home territory was anywhere near the cave.
So, I followed the creature, moving quickly but without making much noise, trying to get a feel for its weaknesses. One thing I noticed was that the beast could not climb trees. Rather it would sometimes heft itself up against a tree, with its head examining the low-hanging branches for a few minutes before moving onward. One time, it excitedly spotted something in the trees and tried its best to reach, but could do nothing other than slam itself against the wood until, eventually, it gave up.
I had an advantage when it came to this lack of mobility. I was quick enough to scramble up trees and fire arrows down at the monster. But would its skin absorb the arrows? I had no way of knowing…unless I tested it first.
Watching as the worm began to look up another tree, I was quick to move outside of its view, scrambling up a much taller tree. From a good forty feet up, I took aim with my bow and released the arrow, watching it sail through the air and crash into the side of the worm’s body. The arrow sank in and the creature let loose a hideous scream, its shrill voice piercing the air.
I sank down and hugged the branch, waiting for the wormbeast’s response. The beast turned its head around and it began to scan the area, looking for the source of the attack. Small droplets of red blood were pouring down its side, indicating that my attempt had penetrated its skin.
In spite of its frequent and fervent scans of the area, the monster could not see me. It had no clue what struck it and was growing more frenzied by the second, snapping its mandibles repeatedly, while climbing up on its hind legs like a snake, coiling for a strike. I could see that its underbelly was well armored with long, plate-like bone.
Monster Hunting 101: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination) Page 4
