I shrugged. “Look, it’s getting late and I don’t know how far your village is. But you better get going. Unless you have a group of people who can help me move these bodies back to my village, you have nothing for me.”
Dette looked at me and squinted. “You want the Kinru bodies?”
“I need them for hunting.”
“And…you can lead us to your village?” Dette asked.
I laughed at that. “I wasn’t born yesterday; I’d just lead you close to my village. I could handle the rest from there.”
“May I see the bodies?” Dette asked. “I need to figure out how many men we need.”
I shrugged at that and slung my bow back over my shoulder before turning around. “Come on,” I said. “They’re over here. I’m warning you, it won’t smell pretty.”
Dette nodded and gingerly smiled, dropping back behind me. I wasn’t worried about her trying anything funny, namely because she left her knives in the tree while climbing down. My enhanced senses could hear every shift of her fabric and her steps. If she tried to pull something, I’d have plenty of time to react to an attack from behind.
“So why are you out here?” I asked as we walked through the jungle to the banyan tree where the fight had occurred.
“I’m a surveyor,” Dette said. “We run some mining operations and it’s on me to map and chart out the natural caves. I got lost in a tunnel a few days ago and popped out of some random cavern half a mile from here. Thought I was still underground until I saw the sun and a pack of those clicking monsters. They chased me all the way over here. I thought I was dead.”
“Miners?” I asked. Our old mining operations had ceased when I was just a girl. I never knew why they stopped, but there were rumors that a burrowing monster had been encountered, killing the entire mining team. I never knew if that rumor was true.
“Yeah, we’re pretty much a mining village; our scavengers have the best tools. I just wish they gave their surveyors a better map,” Dette replied.
“Aren’t you the one in charge of the mapping?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not the only one who does it,” Dette said. “Besides, I’m much better at spotting ore than I am at drawing maps.”
“Apparently,” I said as we reached the first corpse. The Kinru had been killed by an arrow to the eye and was sprawled out, motionless, inert.
Dette whistled. “I’ll be damned. You really did kill them.” She rushed to the side of the monster and knelt down, touching the corpse with her hand. “There’s got to be months’ worth of food in just one corpse.”
That remark gave me an idea of how big her village was. They had to be on the small side if a single Kinru could be a month’s supply of meat. “I’ll happily share some with your people,” I said. “If you can get the bodies close to my village. I need the organs and skin, but I’d be willing to part with some meat for your troubles.”
“You save me and offer us meat so freely?” Dette said. “You are not like the horrible cannibals my brother used to tell me stories about.”
I shrugged. “My village told more stories about monsters than humans. I didn’t know any other villages were in the region.”
“You’d be surprised how many villages are out here,” Dette replied. “We get the occasional visitor who is desperate for our metal. Trade’s impossible with those beasts roving the area.”
“Well, not for long,” I said, patting the woman on the shoulder as she continued to examine the corpse. “I’m here to help everyone. Not just my village.”
“Thanks,” Dette said as she stood to face me. “I’ll go grab the workers. We’re only a half mile away from an entrance.”
I nodded and bid Dette farewell for now. It would have been better for me to escort her, but she said that the village had many entrances that were well hidden. As long as no Kinru would intercept, she would be fine. I hoped that I would see her again. It was so strange, talking to a person from a different village. But Dette was friendly and warm, just like any other person from my own village. No doubt she was putting up a bit of face, to keep me from learning too much about her, but I could understand the pragmatism. Perhaps her own village had suffered from strangers in the past.
With Dette gone, I turned my attention to beginning the first steps of butchery, drawing Bloodpoints. The first two corpses were worth 300 Bloodpoints each, but I was surprised to see the words 600 Bloodpoints rise up as I opened up the Alpha’s body. The big Kinru was worth two small ones. Quite a prize!
As the red energy from the corpses continued to seep into my body, empowering me, the bone charm around my neck began to vibrate, soaking up power of its own. Charm Requires Attention appeared in front of me and I focused, bringing up the charm’s display.
Aspect of the Kinru
Available Essence Points: 3
Ferocity (0/2): Increases Strength by 1
Swiftness (0/2): Increases Dexterity by 1
Hunger (0/2): Increases Perception by 1
Slaying all three Kinru had given me enough essence to make one bonus permanent! That meant I could switch the focus to a different area and increase my stats even more. I allocated 2 Essence Points to Ferocity. The bone charm began to glow bright yellow as it soaked up the essence from the slain creatures. Then, I felt a massive shift in my body. My muscles began to grow and change, twisting and contorting once again, as it had so long ago. I felt stronger and sturdier; flexing my arms revealed muscles I had never seen before, bulging as if I had worked out every day of my life.
“So much for lifting weights,” I muttered. Now that the Ferocity Aspect had been learned, I could take either Swiftness or Hunger. My dexterity was still quite high, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to increase that any more just yet. Perception would serve me better; seeing opportunity, weak points and hearing my surroundings was more than important for long-term survival.
As I selected Hunger, I could feel an animal instinct come across me for a brief moment, a desperate urge to kill and to devour. I shook my head and groaned, trying to resist this animal feeling in my mind. Images of biting and chewing chunks of meat came to mind and I found myself salivating. Sounds grew clearer, noises became easier to locate and I found that if I focused on an area, it was as if I were looking through binoculars. My perception had become superhuman.
“Three dead,” said a familiar voice behind me. I spun around to see Rashar leaning against the tree, smirking at me. Half a dozen dead hares were hanging from his pelt and he was idly munching on a rabbit haunch. “Very good.”
“Rashar!” I said, smiling wide. I wanted to hug him, but as I took a step towards him, my legs began to burn, almost buckling from the pressure of my step.
“Careful now,” Rashar said. “You are weak.”
“Why?” I said, looking at my hands. I felt as if I were beginning to sink downwards, the space slowly spinning around me.
“From the scent of it, you had a potion, didn’t you?” Rashar asked. “Those things can be nasty when they wear off.”
“There were no side effects listed in the recipe,” I said, staggering forward to meet the tigerman. I couldn’t quite make it and was forced to simply take a seat on the ground.
“Perhaps not a side effect of the potion itself, but a side effect of how you went past your limits,” Rashar explained. “Potions do not suspend the laws of nature. You ran quite fast, fast enough to outpace three Kinru. Moving at those speeds meant you ran the equivalent of a marathon in a matter of minutes.”
“Oh, right,” I said, gasping as I began to massage my legs, trying to get any feeling back in them.
“When the adrenaline wears off, so does the pain and exhaustion return,” Rashar said. “And since magic is what powered your body, your muscles will not learn. They will not adapt. Be cautious when moving past your limits.”
“Now he tells me,” I groaned. “I wouldn’t have…” I trailed off. Even if I knew the dangers of pushing so hard, getting into that fight hadn’t been my decis
ion at all. Dette was in serious trouble and it was on me to rescue her. The cost had been well worth it.
“You are doing well,” Rashar said, still munching on the haunch. “Rabbits have returned to the region. Actual wildlife! Can you imagine? Keep up the good work!” The tigerman took a few steps to leave me alone, but I called out to stop him.
“Wait! I have some questions!” I said.
Rashar did not turn to face me but did stop walking away. “Speak them, then,” he muttered, chewing the meat off the leg bone.
“What does Cartography do?” I asked. “From the Navigation tree.”
“Oh yes, you can make maps,” Rashar said, chuckling to himself. “It’s a fancy word for map making.”
“I know what the word means,” I snapped. “I mean is it any special?”
“The Cartography skill will let you make maps,” Rashar said. “Maps that the Hunter’s Sight will show in your vision. You can’t get lost with Cartography. There are plenty of abilities to learn under that skill. It has value. But I wouldn’t consider it to be a must-have. Alchemy, now there’s the way to go.”
I nodded at that. “Thank you, Rashar.”
“Anything else?” he patiently asked, still facing away from me. I was unsure why he was being so elusive…but I suspected he had been watching me for the entire fight. What did he want?
“If I got jumped right now, I’d be in serious trouble,” I said. “How can I prevent potions from burning me out?”
Rashar sighed deeply. “Build a regimen that will get you home. Be cautious with how you act when under their power. But frankly? I’ve seen more Venators die from misuse of potions than I’d like to admit. You got a taste of true power, sure, but now your legs are useless. Find a balance.”
The tigerman reached into the satchel hanging from his left side and produced a small bottle, then tossed it to me. “A relief potion. It won’t cure, but it will delay what you’re feeling for a day. After that, you’ll be in bed for two. But this will get you home.”
I caught the bottle and examined the red liquid. It shimmered as if it were a small light source. “Thanks!” I said, taking a swig. The burning in my legs faded. I didn’t feel restored. I simply felt like I could walk.
I tested the theory by standing up and was pleased to see that indeed I could still walk. I looked up to see that Rashar was gone. My mentor had slipped away while I was distracted. I wanted to follow after him and inquire as to what his motivation was for helping me but decided against it. He had just popped by to help me out a bit, that much was clear. I didn’t want to ruin any goodwill he had towards me. I could wait for his agenda to be revealed on its own time.
Chapter 16
Once Rashar left, I didn’t have much time to apply the Bloodpoints that I had just acquired, for a group of strangers emerged from the tree line, following Dette. I swallowed at the sight of these people, for they were numerous and armed. I counted 22 men, with metal spears in their hands. 22 was far too many to carry the Kinru bodies, which could really be dragged by two people each. Perhaps they were not here to help me take the corpses home.
I squinted at the sight of them and instinctively grabbed my bow. Something in my bones told me this would be trouble and I wasn’t keen on getting any kind of surprises. I waited as they stopped walking about fifty feet away from me. Dette was the only one to proceed, moving as if she were under some level of duress, constantly looking back at the group, who prompted her to keep going.
“What’s going on?” I asked, bow in hand. Dette’s face was grim and she did not look too pleased with the situation.
“Our mayor has…” Dette said, clearing her throat. It was clear that she was terrified of me. “Our mayor has decided that those corpses should be ours. A team was sent here to take them.”
“Take them?” I scoffed. “Those men would have been torn to shreds by one Kinru. I killed three by myself. You seriously want to take me down?”
“Avery, I didn’t want to do anything!” Dette said. “I tried to explain that you helped me, but all they could think about was the meat. Listen, we’re starving, okay? I tried to play it cool, but our scouts have vanished. I was the first person to set foot on the outside in weeks.”
I scowled at her. “Look, I said I was willing to share. You guys can have one corpse, but I need everything other than the meat. I’ll come to collect the ingredients in a few days. Does that sound fair?”
Dette shrugged, helpless and on the verge of tears. “It’s not my decision. I was told to deliver the ultimatum to you. All three bodies…or else. Please, Avery. There’s no need for bloodshed.”
“I have mouths to feed too,” I replied, raising the bow. “I won’t shoot you, but I’ll kill the first person who takes a step towards me.”
In response to this, I saw the men drop their spears down into a formation for a charge attack. Their faces radiated with a stoic determination. They had families to feed as well. My heart began to pound. I could snap off a few arrows, sure, but I couldn’t kill all of them before they reached me. They might win purely by numbers. But what was my choice? I couldn’t let this village bully Hunter’s Hope and take food out of our mouths. I couldn’t let them just walk all over me. What would happen if they found our village somehow? What if they decided that they wanted our supplies? If they didn’t fear me now, they wouldn’t fear me then.
“These men are fathers and sons, young and able to do the work,” Dette whispered. “You’d be in the right to fight back…but you’d kill the rest of us back home. Can you do that?”
“And if you all kill me, you’re killing my village,” I replied. “This isn’t one-sided. I’m not a wealthy baron eating meat while the rest of the people starve. Without these bodies, my village will go hungry. Is your mayor willing to do the same?”
A call was given by one of the men in the distance. Bodies shifted and it looked as if they were preparing to charge. What was I going to do? Killing all these men would be a death sentence for those in Dette’s village. Could I really go through with this, even if it were in self-defense? I glanced at the only man in the group who was wearing armor. The only resource they had to protect from arrows, and the plate metal only covered his torso. They didn’t even have full suits.
I took a deep breath and continued watching the armored man. I realized that he was issuing commands and had a whistle in his mouth, preparing to give the order for the charge. He was the only one who seemed to be sure of himself, the rest of the men were green. Even though their faces were determined, my enhanced vision let me see the twitches of fear in their eyes, the shaking of their limbs. None of these men had seen combat before, not like the man in the armor. The new perception was paying off.
“I have an idea,” I said. “A fair one.”
“What are you thinking?” Dette asked, her voice filled with the hope of avoiding a massacre.
“A duel. Pit your best guy against me. Whoever loses gets the bodies,” I said. “Only two people get injured that way.”
Dette frowned at those words. “I don’t think they’ll go for it,” she said.
“Well, it’s either that or a full fight,” I said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to kill all of them, sure, but I can wound them. I’m sure you have plenty of medicine to care for them.”
The reluctant messenger nodded at that, understanding the situation at hand. Perhaps all of this was just one big bluff. Maybe all of these men were hoping that I’d just roll over. My duel idea would give them a chance to simply retreat if they were bluffing.
Dette made her way back to the group, and just as I had suspected, began to speak to the armored man. He listened to her speech stoically and then nodded. I could read his lips. “That’s acceptable,” he said. The man then turned and walked two feet forward.
“Avery! I accept your chall—” His words were interrupted as I shot him right in the knee. He buckled to the ground, gasping for air as the arrow embedded itself deep into his unarmored f
lesh. The spear rolled out of his hand as he screamed in agony. A few of the soldiers hurriedly grabbed him to pull him out of the line of fire, but I didn’t shoot anyone else.
“I just took your best guy down at fifty feet while the sun was in my eyes,” I shouted. “You know how hard it is to hit a joint like that from this distance? Imagine how easy it would be to hit your hearts?”
Everyone stared at me in disbelief, shocked at the deceptiveness of my tactics. I had injured the only trained warrior and, judging by his screaming, it was doubtful he was as experienced as he told the others. He shouted a few times for them to charge, but no one listened. The brave, armored captain had been rendered immobile within seconds of stepping forward. It was doubtful anyone was willing to follow his orders any longer.
I kept my bow raised, another arrow lined up and ready to make a display of force. I wouldn’t kill them, but they certainly wouldn’t be able to walk home.
The group broke quickly. The oldest of the men decided against the danger and simply took their captain home, carrying him as he still cried out in agony. I must have dealt some serious damage; for I had struck the exact shining weak spot on his knee. Turned out that since I was human, I could easily see all of the spots to cause the most amount of damage. A useful thing to have in situations like these.
Once the older men left with their captain, six in total, the second wave departed, both the really young boys who had been so eager to get into a fight and the fearful ones who had most likely been goaded into attacking, leaving only eight behind. These were strapping young men who had the worn faces of coal miners, with calluses on their hands that came from years of swinging pickaxes. They stared at me for a while, defiance in their eyes, but Dette was desperately motioning them not to risk it.
One took a half step forward and I fired an arrow right into the hard part of his boot, showing that I wasn’t about to play around. If the first shot had terrified them, the second one, so perfectly precise, had proved that I could hit a heart with no trouble. They grumbled amongst themselves and started to head back to their home.
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