The beast’s ugly head shoved its way through the small crack in the door and began to wriggle violently, its large body pushing through the small hole, forcing the door to open wider and wider until, finally, it was able to get inside. I held perfectly still; my body blended with my surroundings.
The flaps on the beast’s nose were going wild, opening and closing as it swept the room with its green eyes. Its front paw was only a few inches away from the tripwire to the first trap, but it wasn’t charging forward just yet. There was nothing to attack. That would change.
I raised my right hand slowly and began to create the arcane symbols that had burned into my mind thanks to those potions. “Over here you jerk!” said a loud, mocking voice on the other end of the room. The beast, hearing a human so clearly, ran forward despite the fact that it couldn’t see anything to eat. My phantom voice had worked as I planned and the first spear trap fired up from the ground, stabbing the beast in the underbelly.
The panther beast shrieked at the top of its lungs, the voice supersonic and overwhelming. I felt the entire room spin and I stumbled to stay upright as the monster let out its agonized yelps and shrieks. I tried to keep still, but the sonic attack had disoriented me, forcing me to stagger a few steps forward, covering my ears.
The beast recovered from the attack and stepped back from the trap, bright green blood trailing across the floor as it limped. It shivered intensely for a moment and I heard a strange stretching sound. The beast stretched out, like a cat, and I could see that its wound had repaired itself. The damn thing could regenerate from attacks?
In spite of my disorientation, I had not caught the attention of the Ur-beast. It was too focused on recovering from the injury to notice me and I was able to crouch down, to hide better. The beast was now preoccupied with the spears that had suddenly popped up and it began to slash its long claws at the metal trap, tearing the whole thing to pieces. This was enough of a distraction for me to slip over to the exit.
The fire was still burning and I could see that the concoction was now bubbling over. Bow in hand, I nocked an arrow, gritting my teeth as I aimed at the beaker. This had better work. I loosed the arrow, watching as the flame streaked through the air, striking the glass beaker. The glass shattered at the force of the arrow and the liquid immediately became a gas, filling the room with bright green smoke.
As soon as I fired the bow, I rolled backwards, out the door, and shoved my entire body against the stone, pushing it forward as hard as I could. The crashing sound had caught the attention of the panther beast and it began to cough and gag as it inhaled the poison. In spite of the toxic chemicals in the air, the creature did not go down however and instead merely turned its head to look at the door that was now sliding itself shut.
Letting out a hideous yawp, the Ur-beast charged at the door. I gritted my teeth and let out a yell, throwing all of my strength against the door, all the while regretting my choice of picking a dexterity-based class. The beast was much stronger than me, but as it pushed against the door, sliding me backwards, it began to hack and wheeze. I took a deep breath, knowing that if I didn’t get this door shut, the poison would be coming out to get me next.
The panther reeled back, injured from the noxious gas. With the last of my might, I shoved the heavy, thick door into place. Gasping for air, I leaned against the door, feeling the repeated thump thump thump of the beast smashing its entire body against the stone barrier. The poison was taking its toll on the creature and the thumping grew less loud until, finally, there was nothing. No sound, no snarling, no yapping. I could not see through the door, meaning I’d have to risk my life opening it up to check if the beast was alive or not. The door was damaged, but there was no smoke or gas coming out, meaning that it was still airtight.
Could the creature survive in the poison gas for that long? I didn’t know. It could regenerate and that was nasty business to deal with. Perhaps the poison would only slow it down. I glanced up at the top of the stairwell. I had enough rope to climb out of here for good. I could pack it up and leave, knowing that at the very least the beast was sealed in. But would this door realistically hold against an Ur-beast, especially when monsters didn’t need to eat in order to live. It could slam its body against the door forever, until finally it broke open and gave way. How long would that be? A week? A day?
My job wasn’t finished. I had managed to trap the beast in an unfavorable environment and could even gain a height advantage over it by using the rope to climb…but was this the best idea? I shook my head and took a deep breath. I had to try to put an end to this thing. At the very least, I needed to learn if it had any weakness that I could exploit.
So, using the last of my rope, I devised a way to climb up the broken stairwell and ensure I could get back down and up quite easily. There was more material in the immediate area that I could use to make spear traps. A quick ten minutes of preparation couldn’t hurt.
Once the spear traps were ready to spring and the escape rope was tied around my waist (so I could have the rope with me when I climbed up), I grabbed a hold of the thick, heavy door handle and took a deep breath, holding it in case the poison was still active. The door was just as hard to pull the second time as it was the first and I slowly slid it open to find that the beast was still alive, waiting for me as if it knew I would come back.
The gas had dissipated and I could breathe freely without fear of being poisoned. The panther rocked back and forth a little, wobbling from the effects of the gas. It was wounded—poison seemed to be a great weakness and it didn’t seem to be regenerating from that damage. If I got out of this alive, I’d invest more points in alchemy so I could have a whole stockpile of poisons at my command.
The beast did not rush or lunge at me, as I had been expecting. Instead, it merely stared, growling and raising the flaps on its nose. Its piercing green eyes seemed to know my intentions and I shivered. If it wasn’t going to rush at me, I’d have to give it a reason.
I raised my bow slowly at the beast, waiting to see it if would comprehend that I carried a weapon. It did not react; it merely continued to snarl. Taking a breath to steady my shaking aim, I lined up the shot and went to release the string. In the split second it took for me to let go, one of the metal spears from a destroyed trap suddenly lifted itself into the air and fired straight for me.
My enhanced reflexes allowed for me to roll backwards, out of the way and away from the door, missing my shot entirely. As I sprang off the ground and back onto my feet, another spear came flying faster than I could react. The long metal pike impaled me in the stomach, throwing me back into the wall. Pain shot through my entire system and I gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of me.
I struggled to dislodge the spear, but the weapon was firmly jammed in the wall behind me. The weapon had pierced me all the way through. Blood was pouring from my stomach now and I felt half-faint from the pain. A numbness was starting to overcome me and I was beginning to feel as if I were stepping away from my body, looking at my hands as if they were someone else’s.
“Come on,” I grunted, grabbing the spear and trying to pull it out with all my might. The beast had staggered forward through the opening and was now staring at me, grinning with a fiendish smile. Its wicked, pointed teeth seemed most pleased with my suffering and it began to coil its body to charge at me.
I glanced down to see that my metal spear traps were still in place. The Ur-beast’s charge would set them off, but only if it hadn’t learned its lesson from the last time. I gritted my teeth, feeling the world begin to fade. No! I couldn’t go down like this, not yet. If I had to die, so be it, but I wouldn’t go down without taking the Ur-beast with me.
Summoning all of the strength I had left, I focused, channeling the arcane energy to my fingertips, preparing the dazzle spell. There was only one shot at this. I motioned my fingers, making the symbols to blind the beast, and waited for it to act. My timing had to be perfect here.
The beast, seeing that I
was indeed trapped and unable to move, coiled back its entire body and lunged forward, rushing at me with full speed, hunger and murder in its eyes. I waited one, two and three beats, then completed the spell, letting a little flash of light escape from my fingers. I could see a strobe of bright, blinding light appear in front of the panther, causing the beast to rear back in utter surprise, stopping its charge right as its hind leg pulled the tripwire forward.
The spears thrust upwards and caught the beast as it was rearing up on its hind legs. It let out a sonic shriek once again, but the flashing lights blinded it, causing it to thrash violently, falling onto another spear. I began to cough violently, pain shooting through my body with each cough. My vision faded for a second, but I forced my eyes to open back up. It wasn’t over yet.
The Ur-beast had collapsed onto the spears, lying on its side. The attack had overwhelmed it and it was no longer breathing or moving. But I could hear the slightest gurgling and shifting sound, same as before. The beast’s body was putting itself back together. Soon it would be standing back up and finishing me off, no worse for wear. I had to perform the extraction ritual by cutting it open. I had to get to the body before it woke back up.
“Come on,” I grunted as I grabbed the spear once again and began to pull with fierce determination. My muscles were burning, but I ignored the pain. I had to finish this. I had to save the food. With a loud cry of agony, I tore the spear out of the wall and out of my stomach. I dared not look down at the damage. Instead, still holding the spear, I staggered to the Ur-beast. It was slowly beginning to stir. The healing process was almost complete.
Each step was more painful than the last, yet somehow, I managed to press on. All reason had left me. All thoughts, all plans, all ideas simply vanished in my mind. There was nothing to think about, nothing to fear. I just had to finish the beast off. I just had to end this.
The beast woke up and began to thrash about, still stuck on the spears. It worked to free itself from the trap as I approached. I raised the spear high, standing behind the beast so that it couldn’t see me. It flailed and slashed at the air until it sensed my presence, at which point it began to turn towards me, even though doing so would cause the spears to tear its insides up more. Nonetheless, the monster wanted to kill me, to harm me, more than anything. It turned over, green blood gushing everywhere as it slashed a paw at me.
I couldn’t dodge the blow; I didn’t even think about dodging it. The long, razor sharp claw raked across my face, but I ignored the pain. Instead, I merely brought the spear down into the Ur-beasts’ glowing eye as hard as I could. The creature shrieked for a second then ceased to move entirely. It was dead.
I sank down to my knees, blood covering my eyes, making it impossible for me to see clearly. I fumbled in my pouch for the harvesting knife. I could hear the Ur-beast’s brain begin to gurgle, repairing the damage that I had just dealt. But there wasn’t enough time for that. The beast had no chance, for I dug the blade deep into its skin and opened it up.
3,000 Bloodpoints appeared in my blackened vision, almost taunting me at this point. I glanced at my health on the Hunter’s Profile to see that I was at a mere 4% and the number was dropping slowly.
“Not yet,” I gasped as I continued to open the beast. The body was rapidly regenerating, even though I had cut it open, confirming my fear. Unless I performed the charm ritual, this thing would just be coming right back. Unable to see, simply feeling around at this point, I found a solid piece of bone and with all the might I had left, I cut it out, hearing a strange schwoom sound as I removed the piece.
Wiping the blood from my eyes, I could see that the body of the beast was now growing fainter, turning into tiny little pieces of energy that soaked into the bone that I had pulled free. The creature was fading away, its source of power now gone. The apartments were safe. The Ur-beast was dead.
“There’s still time,” I muttered, grabbing hold of the rope that was still tied to my waist. I had to get my body outside, in the streets, so they’d at least know that I had overcome the monster. I tried to pull on the rope, still kneeling on the ground, but my arms were useless at this point. I had done my duty as best I could. At the very least, Trent’s village wouldn’t have to worry about the Ur-beast ever coming out of its territory. I could live with that, I suppose.
The darkness began to engulf me and I began to lose consciousness, but before I drifted off, I felt the most curious pressure around my hips, as if something were pulling on me.
Chapter 28
Light aggressively touched my eye, jolting me awake. I yelped out in terror, slowly returning to the land of the living. My arms were heavy and I couldn’t move to get away from whatever foul creature was touching my eyelids.
“Hold still,” came a soothing, purring voice. “You don’t want to reopen everything I just stitched shut.”
“Rashar?” I gasped as the blinding light gave way to the familiar orange figure I had not seen for quite some time. The tigerman was opening my eyes to inspect them, carefully shining a light stone to check if I could see.
“Yes, yes, it is I,” he grumbled, still examining me. “Foolish and desperate. That is what we call those who hunt Ur-beasts.”
I waved his hands off of my face and leaned up to look around. We were in a medical office of some kind. The room looked long abandoned and the walls were the same color as the rest of the apartments.
“You followed me down here?” I asked.
“In a way,” Rashar said, leaning back and crossing his arms. He was scowling and tense, greatly displeased with me. “Healing you was not easy. It cost us greatly.”
I looked down at my stomach to find that my wounds had been stitched up. The work was quite impressive, far better than anything I had ever done. The healing was almost…supernatural. In an instant, memories of the tapestry came flooding back.
“You faked your death,” I said, looking up at him. It hurt to move, but I had to get some answers now. “I found a tapestry that depicts you fighting some kind of Dread Beast.”
Rashar chuckled. “Faked it? Goodness, no. That would have been way easier than actually dying.”
I tilted my head, wincing from the pain in my neck. Taking a hit from that Ur-beast had seriously injured my neck, and now that the shock had worn off I was feeling every little motion. “You…you’re dead?”
“Imagine my surprise,” Rashar said, shrugging. “I suppose you’re in too deep to back out now, so I best tell you the whole of it.”
“You lied to me,” I said quietly, adding everything together at once. “There is no human colony on the toplands, is there? There aren’t Venators wandering around either.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Two different villages have secret workshops with Venator gear and histories,” I said. “But no Venators left to tell any tales. Both village leaders are fearful and skeptical of Venators. If they really were around, still fighting and protecting, I would have heard of them. We all would have.”
“You certainly are perceptive,” Rashar said, sighing again. He lowered his head and shook it. “I’m not a liar, however. Being in my current state has made things…difficult to understand. I see spots in time that have not happened yet. The outside village was one such thing that I have seen as happening one day. It just hasn’t happened so far.”
“What do you mean?”
“I see a beautiful building filled with Venators,” Rashar said. “Venators who are unified in their mission. Regulated and licensed. They plan hunts, pay tribute and take their oaths as was once done. And when that building is created, the first topside village appears shortly after. And then another. Then another. Then farms. Townhouses. Cities. Everything returns to the way it should have been.”
I listened carefully to Rashar’s words. He was not trying to pull anything over on me here. He was truly convinced of what he foresaw. The vision was beautiful. A license system would prevent imposters and, with a unified Venator guild, we could pro
tect entire regions from the Titans and their cruel kinfolk.
“That’s a worthy dream,” I said.
“It is no dream, it is the reality I have seen,” Rashar said. “And it is the reality that you must bring about.”
“So what, I’m the chosen one? Was there a tapestry about me too?” I asked, almost scoffing at the idea of such absurdity. Rashar responded by merely poking my stomach with one of his claws, causing searing pain to surge through my body.
“Do not flatter yourself, child,” Rashar growled. “The truth is…somewhat complicated. There was, at one time, a terrible monster that was attracted to the scent of Bloodpoints. The Dread Beast was insatiable, killing any Venator it could find, able to sense its targets at any distance. One by one, most Venators fell to the beast. Many hunts were conducted to kill it, but the beast gained the strength of all it killed.”
“Meaning the most powerful Venators, caught off guard, would give the Dread Beast the power to fight just about anyone…” I remarked.
Rashar closed his eyes and nodded. “Indeed. My kind was not safe either, for the Dread Beast, once it had its fill of humans, turned to my race and feasted on them all the same. I was one of the last ones, a sorcerer who practiced great mystic arts. I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell against the Dread Beast and so I made a few arrangements.”
“You became a ghost?” I asked.
Rashar shrugged. “It’s much more complicated than that on a magical level, but in short, yes, I chose my corporeal form to be destroyed and took on a spiritual nature, like a ghost as you would call it. My intention was to appear before the humans underground and train them in the ways to reclaim the surface.”
“And the Dread Beast? Did you kill it?”
Rashar shook his head. “No. The beast, regrettably, still lives. It hibernates, waiting for another Venator to rise up.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me about that?” I asked, leaning up despite the pain. I shook a finger at the tigerman. “I never would’ve agreed to this if I knew an unstoppable killing machine was coming at me.”
Monster Hunting 101: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Titan Termination) Page 18
