The Primal Hunter's
First Hunt
The group had previously considered their immediate action plan after reaching the ground, with the first goal being to find a safe place to set up camp. The artificial sun in the sky seems to have moved slightly during their brief visit, suggesting a day-night cycle.
Bertram had made a learned guess that night would prove to be more dangerous than day. If ferocious beasts filled this forest, they guessed that some of them must be active at night. One also cannot ignore the threat of other humans taking advantage of the darkness.
After walking out of the open where the pillars had sunk into the ground, they walked into the forest. Everyone's tension mounts when they find themselves in a much more confined space. The first goal is to hopefully find a source of water to put their camp near. Due to the dense crown of the tree, it was impossible to see anything from the top of the pillar, so they had to be blind.
As they walked, gawking around, Jake curiously relaxed. Despite his vigilance against anything that might lurk behind the surrounding trees, he had a feeling that no one would sneak up on them. He listened to the potential danger, of course, a difficult task because it was not a quiet type of forest. The birds were singing, the roar of ferocious beasts in the distance was often heard, and the rustling of leaves as the wind blew louder than usual. This is likely related to his slightly higher perception.
As their frontline warrior, Bertram, passed by a small hill, he suddenly stopped. Jacob quickly walked over to stand beside him. Jake is far behind, but he can still hear them because of their closeness.
"What are those things?" Bertram asked as he looked down the hill into another small open space. Jake walks beside them, becoming the last person to arrive. He looked down at the group of what he considered to be the mentioned ferocious beasts.
“They look like a big badger. Despite judging from the deer-like foods they ate, I think they have improved their diet a bit, ” Jacob replied, switching to the rest of the group. “We've agreed that we might need to hunt. These things don't look very dangerous, so we should be able to handle them. Any thoughts?”
Jake looked at the big badger. Four of them, each about the size of a German shepherd dog. From the way they ate deer animals, they undoubtedly had sharp teeth and claws, as they tore the flesh from the animal. The perception of their surroundings seemed uninspired, though, to say the least because no one noticed him or the others in his group, even though they were only about 30 meters away.
The feelings they gave her were completely harmless. In fact, he had a feeling that handling them would be easy.
Interrupting the mind of Jakes, the other archer, Casper, throws:
“I choose to hunt. From the roars in the distance, there seemed to be many more dangerous things around, and they might even be the source of our dinner tonight. They seem to be low-level animals, ” he said, getting a nod from Jacob. Hearing the word, level, Jake mentally slapped his own face today, wondering why he had not tried using Identifying. For this is the damn skill, he thought resentfully.
Focusing on the beasts one by one, as he halted the conversation around him, he got what he expected, somewhat.
[??? - level 3]
[??? - level 4]
[??? - level 3]
[??? - level 3]
“... I'm just saying, maybe they're closer to a ferret than a ferret!”
"I'm not saying they're not like ferrets, I'm saying that you confuse ferrets and ferrets!"
Jake eventually returns to the conversation, hearing Dennis, the light soldier of their small group, and Lina, one of the casters, arguing about something futile. Not too surprising. They are cousins and constantly, endless theatrics of pointless discussion ensue, days or even weeks before they finally decide to 'agree to disagree'.
Jake must admit that he cannot see the resemblance of the two creatures. But he was pretty sure of one thing. Ferret or ferret, arrow into the heart or head it's deadly.
Breaking up a stupid quarrel between two cousins, another middle soldier besides Jacob, Theodore, seems to have the same idea as Jake. “Friends, I just tried to use an identity on one of them, and it's level 3. But I can't see his name.”
“Oh, great initiative! Why don't I think about it!” Jacob cheered and patted Theodore on the back. Turning to Jake, he asked. "Hey Jake, do you have any thoughts on what to do?"
“No, but I also tried to identify them. Three of them are level 3, and one of them is 4.” Jake added. He had never done well in such a large group like this, especially when the other nine people turned around. Seriously, he only wished that useless chatter to stop and the battle to begin.
They're ten against four. They have a jump. Every advantage is theirs, so this attitude is felt.
“Alright then, it seems that fighting them is his decision. Now for our tactical approach..”.
A few more minutes passed to strategize and decide how exactly to engage the ferocious beasts. After the previous discussion, they retreated to the back of the hill again to avoid things seeing them. Peering up the hill occasionally, ferret-like animals - perhaps-at-luck-may-be-indicators don't seem to rush with their food.
The plan was simple, firing long-range attacks, trying to damage or perhaps kill one or two, with Bertram trying to advance forward with his shield and get their attention, he said, jacob and Theodore flank him to cover his sides. The plan had the assumption that the animal was foolish and aggressive if attacked.
Planning so much might be a bit overwhelming for a ferret that grows too big, but it seems like no one wants to risk anything. A sentiment Jake understands, but he disagrees with it. Wouldn't a fight without risk be a bit boring?
The only problem with the plan was that it seemed that the casters only had a distance of about 10 meters on their bolts, longer than that and they would disappear according to what Ahmed was, he said, the last caster in their group, had been notified during the introduction.
“So, Jaka. You got the confidence to hit one from here? ” Jacob asked, seemingly not believing too much in the plans they have made over the past 10 minutes. That planning was futile, Jake agreed. The savage beast would already be dead if it was up to him.
"Of course," Jake replied, again a little less awkward than before with everyone staring at him. His hidden frustration in the passive group outweighed his social anxiety.
He took an arrow from the tube on his back and examined it. Wooden rod, steel tip, with fletching made of a kind of feather that he did not immediately recognize. The weight is good and balanced, the arrowhead is sharp, and overall it looks like the quality is good.
"OK, be ready whenever you're ready" said Jacob, getting ready with the others. From the looks of everyone, a lack of confidence was all around. They are not fighters. The only one who seems to have some sort of proper training is Bertram.
Jake walked over a small hill, followed by everyone behind him.
He looked towards the beasts and pulled his arrows. He lifted his bow as he focused. His sight instantly sharpened, instinctively knowing that the Archer Eye had been activated. Time seemed to slow down a little as he pulled back the rope.
For the first time today, something feels right. Morning routines, jobs, introductions, and everything else is just wrong. But at this moment, as he held the bow, everything felt like it should. He smiled, took aim, and shot an arrow. Before even seeing the results, he had already taken out another arrow, preparing to shoot once more in one smooth motion.
The arrow had been directed to the neck of the strongest beast, which was at level 4. He briefly considered the heart or head, but he had limited knowledge of their physiology. The heart could not be placed where he had expected, and the hardness of the skull was too unexpected. The arrow flew in a straight line, with a higher speed, power, and accuracy than Jake had ever fired before.
The arrow hit the beast right in the throat as it lifted its head from the carcass of its prey just before the attack arrived.
It fell back, and before the other badgers even realized what had happened, the second arrow arrived, hitting the leftmost badger box on his chest, penetrating deeply. The two remaining ferrets looked towards the hill and directly attacked Jake, not caring about their lives.
Even before they moved 5 meters away, another arrow arrived. However, this time they were ready, and dodged the direct attack, leaving only a shallow scratch on the one on the right when dodging. Jake only managed to release two more arrows before they reached the group, both of which left only minor injuries on one of them.
Before the animals could stick their teeth at Jake, a large figure moved in front of him, carrying a large shield and a short sword, followed by Theodore and Jacob to each side. Jake flanks, still hiding behind the three men in front of him, trying to see if he can open fire again.
The first ferret to reach them was the uninjured, crashing into Bertram's shield, expected to be thrown backwards due to impact. Following right behind him was the injured, this one being a little more cautious as Jacob tried to keep his distance by pointing his sword at it, making a threatening gesture.
As Jake takes time to set fire, the beast that hit the shield is stabbed by Theodore, who somehow manages to get it on his hind legs. With the object disabled, the two soldiers quickly managed to hack it.
Jacob was still trying to grab the wounded ferret, swinging his sword forward and backward, with the beast jumping up and down trying to attack him without being hit by the sword. Jacob had already gotten some scratches on his arm, and the badger also seemed to have received some blows.
Jake directs his bow, and just as the badger jumps away from the sword sweep, Jake releases an arrow, hitting the badger on the side. Before the creature had a chance to gather itself, Jacobs' sword fell, cutting off his head, immediately ending his life.
Bertram and Theodore also managed to finish off the last ferret at the same time. Seeing the first two he struck, both of them also died. The first one he hit in the throat had died instantly, while the others managed to run several meters towards them before succumbing to his injuries. Judging from his blood, Jake has hit something important, maybe even his heart.
"Damn, we did it!" yelled Theodore, swinging his bloody sword. Behind them, Caroline rushed up to Jacob. He started muttering a few words, and a white light appeared around his hand as Jake watched the cuts and bruises on Jacobs' arm slowly heal. Jacob thanked her and looked at Jake with a strange look in his eyes.
Jake doesn't feel like he has unnecessary social interactions, and as the adrenaline slowly subsides, he sees a system message he missed during the fight.
*You have killed [Badger Cub – lvl 4] – Experience bonuses gained for killing enemies above your level. 8 TP obtained*
*'DING!' Class: [Harmer] has reached the level of 1 – Allotted stat points, +1 free points*
*You have killed [Badger Cub – lvl 3] – Experience bonuses gained for killing enemies above your level. 4 TP obtained*
*You have killed [Badger Cub – lvl 3] – Experience bonuses gained for killing enemies above your level. 2 TP obtained*
*'DING!' Grade: [Harmer] has reached level 2 – Allotted stat points, +1 free points*
*'DING!' Race: [Human (G)] has reached level 1 – Allotted stat points, +1 free points*
*You have killed [Badger Cub – lvl 3] – Experience bonuses gained by killing enemies above your level. 2 TP obtained*
Well, Jake thought. That was a little more than expected. He feels good. Is correct. The warm glow of the statistic increase did help, but it was more than that.
He has won. It was an easy battle, but it still felt great. The feeling when he hit each badger was still clear in his mind, the satisfaction that came with each killing. He wanted to hunt more.