Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure

by Andrew Karevik

  The Griffin let out an angry, ear-piercing shriek and began to slash at me with its four claws at once, bladed nails striking my midsection with incredible speed and precision. I grunted at the impact, but thankfully my armor held! Brimley had not oversold the strength of this skintight armor, for the beast’s claws could not break through, no matter how hard it struck me.

  With the first attack having failed, gravity yanked me down hard, but I held onto the ropes with all my might. I fell only ten feet down, the grapple cables perfectly secured into the hindquarters of the Griffin. The extra weight did not throw off the beast’s flight, however and it sailed upwards, higher and higher, trying to throw me off, but to no avail. I held on tightly and began to climb my way up, feeling the cool wind whipping across my face as the beast flapped its mighty wings.

  “Just…gotta…get…up…” I grunted as the beast spiraled in midair, trying to barrel roll me off. The cables whipped back and forth, but thankfully they were made out of sturdy monster sinew and steel combined, making them both sturdy and stable. I weathered the wild whipping of the cables easily enough, relying on my expert dexterity to pull me all the way up to its hind legs.

  But just as I reached its rear, the eagle head let out a shriek and delivered a sturdy kick to my face with its hind legs. My head, unarmored, absorbed the full force of the blow and for a brief second, everything went dark. The world vanished and all I could see were flashes of light in my eyes.

  When my senses returned a moment later, I found myself hanging upside down as the beast flew in circles, trying in vain to get me off. Tying the ropes to my wrists had been the only thing to save me from plummeting down into the darkness.

  “Urgh,” I grunted, feeling the blood pouring down my mouth. That thing kicked me so hard that I had literally seen stars. My brain was in no state to give my body instructions. All I could do was hold on as I recovered.

  The beast rose higher and higher, unsure of how to get me off of its body. It wasn’t smart enough to try and attack me; instead it continued to try and shake me off. Perhaps the benefit I had here was that even though the creature was fully grown, it didn’t have experience yet. After all, it was only a few hours old at the most.

  I took a moment to catch my breath, activating my Endurance Surge ability. Pure energy rushed through me and the fogginess of the head injury faded. I grabbed the cables once more and began to scurry up, this time careful to keep my head tucked into my chin, to avoid another blow to the braincase.

  The Griffin was growing winded from its repeated attempts to get free from what it couldn’t understand. Though it continued to climb upwards, higher and higher towards the sun, it stopped bucking wildly. This was my chance.

  I climbed all the way up and leapt onto the creature’s back, clinging onto it with all of my might. The beast immediately grew angry and wild at this, and it began to try and slash at me, wasting even more energy. But being on the Griffin’s back more or less made me immune to its attacks. Its claws could not bend backwards like that, nor could the eagle head do much other than shriek and hiss, snapping its large beak open and shut.

  “Nice and easy,” I grunted as I climbed up the beast’s back, gripping its wet, slick fur for support. Oh how I wish that it would dry out a bit more, for the sensation was quite disgusting. But I made it to my target, to the head of the Griffin.

  The beast did not settle, still thrashing and writhing in the air, spinning around a few times to try and buck me off. But my legs held firm, wrapped around the torso of the Griffin, keeping me steady. My strength really worked here, for I could just squeeze my legs and stay in position, freeing up my hands for a risky maneuver.

  Disengaging one of the grapple cables, I was quick to pull it free and tie it into a lasso, the loop about the size of the creature’s beak. I had no clue if this would work, but if anything, it would stop the damn thing from shrieking at the top of its lungs. Who knows what kind of sky creature could be attracted to its struggle? The last thing I needed was a wyvern to join the mix.

  I waited a beat, for the eagle head to twist in the right direction, and whipped the rope around the beak, pulling the lasso tightly. The cable tightened and the beast bucked up and down some more, but was unable to shriek. I yanked the cable, forcing its head one way, and then gave it some slack.

  A few times was all it took to teach the stupid beast that it could only move its head when I wanted it to. It would turn one way and immediately I’d tug on the rope with all my might. Soon it began to realize that the rope wasn’t going away. It tried to claw at the cable a few times, but it lacked the fine motor skills to avoid striking its own face.

  The Griffin flew circles in the air, wings beating slower and slower. I wasn’t attacking it, so the adrenaline eventually stopped pumping. What was left was a rather docile beast that seemed confused about what to do next.

  My plan was working! Sort of. I just needed to figure out some way to get the beast to fly me to the mountains. Below, I could see the billowing darkness, covering the entire forest region. The top view revealed nearly 30 miles worth of shadow, covered in a perfect square. We were flying away from the mountains, moving at a slow, crawling pace, for the Griffin had run out of energy at this point. All the fighting, clawing and spinning had drained just about every last drop of willpower from the beast.

  I pulled on the reins, forcing the head backwards. The beast began to spin to the right as a result of this force, trying to lessen the tightness of the rope. Huh…I could try and steer like this, I think. With a shrug, I began to carefully pull and release on the lasso, forcing the creature to move in a full circle so that we were facing the mountain. It took a bit of work, but I was able to create a rudimentary steering method.

  A few times, the Griffin tried to get back into a fight mode, spinning upside down to shake me off, but my Acrobat’s Grip let me hold onto the reins without a chance of falling. Soon, we were over the top of the mountain, at a staggering height. With a quick cast of Bless Boots, I was able to leap off the beast and sail down towards the open pathway without fear of taking any fall damage. My plan to tame the Griffin had worked! Or so I thought…

  Chapter 20

  The Griffin, it turns out, had not run out of energy at all. It was instead merely playing along with my actions, waiting for an opportunity. And when I jumped off the beast, sailing towards the ground, it took full advantage of my exposed state.

  My biggest mistake was not removing the lasso from the beast’s face. Thinking it would be prudent to stop it from having a bite attack, I had left it on. But I had also removed the beast’s ability to shriek as it attacked, rendering it completely silent. I had figured that it would pursue me on the ground, once it regained its energy, but I was very, very wrong.

  One moment, I was diving towards the exposed path of the mountain, the next a pair of claws had sunk into my shoulders. The armor ignored the piercing effects of the claws, but in a cruel twist of fate, I was now the one restrained. The beast had tremendous strength in its grip, and I tried to raise my arms, but my shoulders were completely pinned down.

  The ground beneath me began to shrink as the Griffin flew upwards, higher and higher, turning towards the darkness. It was trying to bring me back! No way, I couldn’t let that happen. Not when victory was so close. But what to do? My arms were firmly out of play, for the damn thing’s legs were incredibly strong, restraining my shoulders. I wasn’t heavy enough to hold it down, and my Weigh Down spell wouldn’t do much to a flying creature here…but wait! What about that new charm of mine?

  As I brought the charm to mind, the Quiverling dutifully swapped out my extra strength charm for the Poaruck charm. I would have preferred to keep my extra strength, but I needed the mental immunity provided by the Fylk charm. Even this far from the Shadewood, I couldn’t be sure of the Eldest’s range.

  I activated the Density ability of the charm, praying that this would work. The Griffin was strong, sure, but could it c
arry a thousand pounds without breaking a sweat? I felt a shuddering shift through my body, followed by a strange feeling of sturdiness. As if I were made of steel, unmovable and unstoppable. Nothing about my body contorted or twisted, but I could definitely sense some changes happening.

  Once the transformation completed and my weight skyrocketed, the Griffin began to stop its ascent. Its wings began flapping hard, harder than I had ever seen, yet to no avail! We were sinking rapidly towards the mountains. The Griffin was too stubborn to let go, refusing to release me, but also refusing to admit defeat. It tried to fly forward, eschewing ascending in favor of simply powering us towards the great shadowlands however doing so was a fatal mistake. The moment the wings stopped straining to move us up, we plummeted towards the earth with astounding speed.

  The legs of the Griffin released me, but I wasn’t about to let it get away. I grabbed hold of its clawed feet and sank my grip around its ankles, pulling it down towards the earth. The beast tried to fight me off, but we were just moving too quickly. The both of us crashed into the mountain at the same time, my dense body creating a huge crater where we landed.

  Thankfully, my blessed boots worked at a thousand pounds just as well as my regular weight. I touched ground without a scratch. The Griffin was not so lucky. The impact of the fall, combined with the angle of the landing had smashed it clean into the ground, shattering its bones upon impact. The beast was on its back, trying to move, to get up, but a fall like that had broken just about every limb.

  Climbing up to my feet, I walked over to the creature, placed a foot on its head and pushed down with a grunt. My enhanced density easily snapped the beast’s neck, killing it instantly. I let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto the ground, feeling the earth shift beneath me as I landed. That was an exhausting fight. But I must admit, it was nice to look up and see the sky.

  I couldn’t tarry for long, however. I needed to find Brimley and the Stabwagon. Switching back to my strength charm, I climbed up and grabbed hold of the dead Griffin’s leg. It was a strange thing, to see the beast being hatched just for the purpose of fighting me. This spoke to some kind of intelligence in the hatching process. This monster could not have just attacked me on instinct alone, for it had tried to drag me back to the Shadewood. Something must have been giving it orders. But what? And how?

  These questions seemed to just bounce around in my mind as I dragged the corpse through the tunnels of the mountain, searching for Brimley’s shop. Thankfully, the old man had painted a few arrows on the cavern walls, leading me to the right openings that would take me to his place. Best of all, he clearly marked traps with words, figuring that monsters couldn’t read, but humans could.

  “Who’s there?” came the call as I hauled the body of the beast up to the shop front. I could be heard from a mile away for certain and the old man definitely was aware of the dragging sounds.

  “It’s Avery,” I said, pounding on the locked door. “Open up. I’ve got a lot to do and barely any time.”

  The old man was quite bewildered at my presence, but was more than accommodating, unlocking the shop and granting me access. I had precious little time to get things done. First and foremost, I was quick to cut open the Griffin and yank out whatever I could get my hands on to distill.

  8,000 Bloodpoints greeted me as I cut open the creature. Quite a useful amount to have. Should I continue down my alchemy path, to hopefully unlock Level 3 potions? Maybe there would be something for resisting mental attacks.

  “So…is Trig, gone?” Brimley asked as he hovered outside the door of the alchemy lab, watching me with curiosity. I paid him little mind as I continued to pull guts, lungs and liver out of the beast, throwing all the organs I could into the bubbling cauldrons.

  “No, he’s alive,” I said. “But there’s some serious trouble brewing.”

  “I see. Well, help yourself to my amenities,” the old man said, leaning against his cane. There was a slight irritation in his voice. No doubt he didn’t appreciate me just barging in without explaining anything. I paused from my work to look at him.

  “Sorry, sir, it’s just things have grown a little complicated. I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “I have all day,” he said. He then pointed his cane at the now bubbling cauldrons. “As do you. A haul that big will take the day to cook. Might as well tell me what’s going on in the meantime.”

  With a shrug, I turned my attention to the charm bench, taking a moment to cut out the beak from the Griffin. The glistening yellow shell would make for a fine bracelet. As I worked, I explained everything that I had seen to the man. He listened in awe, not saying a word as I explained the strange horror of the Shadewood. As I spoke, I found myself growing increasingly more alarmed, as the pieces started putting themselves together.

  The Eldest, the hatchery, the intelligence of the Griffin—all signs of there being a greater influence within the woods. But what was that influence? Was it the Shadow Beast? I was beginning to get the feeling that whatever was behind all of these things would unlock the key to finding the Vessel. But I only had a few pieces of the puzzle. I still needed to figure out what the picture was first.

  “An intelligent monster?” Brimley said once I had finished telling him my tale. He rubbed his chin. “I’ve not heard of such a thing. Some speak, sure, but to really, truly think? Enough so to feed off of a human village in a sustainable way? Hard to believe.”

  I nodded at that, continuing to work away on the charm. “Agreed. I still think there’s some kind of tomfoolery going on. But I have no idea what it could be. Either way, you can see that I need to figure out some way to stop that thing from reading our minds.”

  “I may have a charm that could help,” Brimley said. “But you’d need to pay for it, and it won’t come cheap.”

  I growled at that. “Really? The lives of innocent humans are at stake and you want to make some money?”

  “It’s part of the rules!” he said, throwing his hands up helplessly. “I can only accept coins in exchange for charms.”

  “Why not just break them?”

  “Because then those hunters will break me, I’m sure,” Brimley replied. “Look, I’m sympathetic to your cause as can be. But I’m not going to risk my knees or worse to help a bunch of strangers out.”

  “Well how about helping me out?” I asked. “I am no stranger. Neither is Trig.”

  Brimley sighed at that. “I’m afraid I just can’t do it. I’m a man of my word and I swore never to give hunter gear away.” He paused. “Though, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you what charm it is.”

  “What good would…” I trailed off as he smirked a little and motioned for me to follow him. Oh. He was inviting me to rob him. How curious of a man, to refuse actively aiding me, but being perfectly fine with me pilfering his wares. But whatever. I had far more important things than his eccentricities to worry about.

  Chapter 21

  The Stabwagon rolled along, the wheels a little squeakier than I remembered. I sat atop the vehicle, staring down at the two charms in my hands. The first was my Griffin bracelet, a small yellow band made of beak. The second was a curious silver ring with a small black gem in the center. There was an engraving on the inside of the band. It read Summer’s End. What those words meant, I had no idea. But this was the charm that the old man had conspicuously pointed at during our conversation.

  After he retired for the evening, I was quick to take the charm and the ingredients that had finished distilling from the Griffin, though not all was complete. It didn’t matter, my time was too limited, so I’d have to take a half haul of only 150 Firnin and Estoan.

  With a shrug, I slipped on the first charm to see what interesting abilities the noble Griffin had.

  Aspect of the Griffin:

  Swift (0/2): Gain +2 Dexterity.

  Windswept Charge (0/5): When running, you may leap in the air, generating strong gusts of winds that follow after you, knocking foes
over. The forces are equivalent to 4 points of strength.

  Updraft (0/3): You gain the ability to glide. The distance you can glide is based on the height of your descent x 5. For example, a 10 foot drop allows you to glide 50 feet.

  Gliding seemed really useful, especially when combined with my ability to jump exceptionally high distances. This was almost a pseudo-flight ability in a way, though I guess I’d have to see how fast the descent was to determine if it was any good.

  With that charm out of the way, it was time to take a look at the ring charm that Brimley had so graciously ‘provided.’

  Aspect of the Tyndel

  Ironwill (0/2): You are immune to all mind-affecting abilities, regardless of strength.

  Telekinetic (0/3): You may expend 10% of your health to gain 2 points of telekinetic strength. This may be done multiple times. Your telekinetic range is 50 feet and this effect lasts until you wish it to end.

  Absent Presence (0/5): You may become ‘invisible’ to an enemy mind. It cannot perceive you, regardless of your actions. This effect lasts until you take an action that is too overt for the enemy to ignore, such as attacking, making loud noises or speaking.

  Whatever the Tyndel was, it seemed to have a powerful set of psychic abilities. Telekinetic and Iron Will were absolutely perfect for what I needed. I could give Trig my Fylk charm to insulate himself in the meantime, holding onto this charm in case I needed that extra telekinesis.

  Hope rose up through me at the realization that things were actually going quite well. With this new charm and the Stabwagon, we had a fairly big chance of saving that village and defeating both of the Eldestbeasts, whatever they were. The mystery of the Shadewood, while still present, was a bit less foreboding, now that I had figured out a way to escape. Hell, the glide ability all but guaranteed I’d have no trouble getting out of that accursed place again.