n

n

nDay 4 (In-game)

nSomewhere in the draculkar highlands.

nSomewhere in the southern end of the Urla Mountains.

n*

nNavigating by major geographical feature was harder than Krow remembered. The foothills of the Hallagons had a less sensational landscape than the draculkar highlands.

nIt was less populated as well. He'd been days in the wilds and hadn't come across a single village.

nIt was getting to him a bit.

nWhere in the damned name of Norge were the villages?

nHe missed the plains.

nThe fair yet boring plains where you could reach a village or town every ten or so hours of walking.

nEven the view couldn't soothe him.

nThe high places looked close together, but navigating from picturesque feature to picturesque feature was an unexpected pain.

nKrow was sure that by this time tomorrow, he'd have mastered Doublejump already.

nIt was the only way to gain ground with any appreciable speed.

nHe doublejumped twice to gain the top of the ridge.

n

"Finally.

"

nThen his eyes saw the vista spread before him, even more dramatic and striking than the maze full of ravines, rock pillars, woodland, and peaks that he'd just traveled through.

nHe kicked a rock.

n

"It's even more of a mess!

" he yelled to the vast beautiful sky.

"What is wrong with just copy-paste?!

"

nHis voice echoed against the many crags, mocking him by extending his indignation to the horizon. He glared at the Map.

nThe nearest town was still Nyurajke. The next one, the one he was aiming for, was still further down on the mountain range than where he was.

nTowns followed rivers, right?

nThat was basic geo-sociology.

nSo villages, presumably, also followed water.

nWhy in blazing asses were the rivers not marked on this udrekk of a Map?

nOkay, he'd been wrong to go in a straight line. But he'd been frustrated, alright?

nHe took a deep breath.

nStudied the landscape below. If he kept to the ridge, it looked like he'd avoid most of the ups and downs of the geography for a time.

nPeople on VRMMO-News who gush about Redlands geography having 'grand personality' evidently never had to deal with the immense bipolarity of the draculkar highlands.

nKrow dusted his hands off and started bounding along the ridge. His STR and DEX were good enough that he could hurtle through mostly flat landscape on his own.

nIn places where it wasn't possible to run or climb, he used a grapplehook to swing past obstacles or doublejump to reach precarious handholds and footholds.

nLike the one before him.

nHe bounced through two doublejumps in a row, used a grapplehook to run sideways on the side of a boulder then jumped from crumbling ledge to crumbling ledge, to flip to a stop on a sloping rock.

nHe exhaled an exhilarated laugh at the success of the particular tricky maneuver, starting to smile again, even more when he glanced down and saw rockspires hidden under an overhang that might have skewered him if he missed a step or the timing and slipped down.

nHe vaulted a hillock, did a somersault to gain air, landed on a soft mossy rock.

nGhk! –grooahw!

nKrow yelped when the rock let out a sound and moved.

nHe unbalanced and fell backward.

nThrowing a grapplehook to wind around a tree root jutting out above, he caught his weight on the rope and swung away. He looked back – a ram-type monster stood and roared at him resentfully.

nHe couldn't help but cackle.

"Sorry!

"

nThe monster looked familiar, in fact. But the name couldn't quite come to the forefront of his mind.

nHe spent a little too long wondering that he reached the zenith of his swing and the momentum swung back.

n

"Shkav!

"

nThe ram lowered its head, glorious three-pronged twisty horn poised to skewer Krow. Other rocks around the ram started to shake themselves off and rouse.

nIt was a whole tribe.

nKrow pulled himself hand over hand up the rope – closer to the hook was farther from the monsters.

nThe ram tossed its head as Krow swung past. Too close! He spread his legs, letting all six points pass between his knees, missing by centimeters.

nHe never thought himself so brave before.

nHe looked down.

nLichenyak Herdleader Lvl 21

nHP: 1000

nMP: 110

nOh! He remembered now!

nThe downswing had his eyes widen in alarm. He eeled himself higher on the rope, but still had to pull his legs up to avoid the horns.

nSafe!

nHe let go, triggering doublejump to change direction and land on a tufty knoll.

nHe scampered away from the landing zone until he came to a tree he could hide behind, only then peering back warily.

nThe knoll was ram-free.

nHe leaned against the tree trunk and huffed out a laugh.

nHe was seeing more and more monsters he knew.

nThe nighteye caterpillars, then a flight of hundred-tail swallows the other day, and now the lichenyaks.

nHe only assisted on a lichenyak hunt once. Not a whole group though. They were one of the few animals that were floral elementals. He glanced at his gloves. The Bonewood used in them was from a floral-aligned monster.

nKrow must have cracked a few ribs in that lichenyak ram, or it would have been using its famed circus-level jumping ability to follow and gore him.

nGood that it wasn't.

nHis mood better, he surveyed the area.

nIt was a small grove of about twenty trees just under the peak of the ridge. The breeze was pleasant, ruffling through purple and blue leaves.

nHe rested awhile.

nThe sound of multiple lowing caught his attention. He cut short his perusal of the pretty bark patterns on the tree he was leaning on and edged cautiously to the knoll.

nPeering down, he didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.

nIt followed after all.

nThe lichenyak herdleader stood tall atop a boulder, head lifted in call, the low sound it made rumbling around the cliffs. The others of the herd were with him, on precarious ledges, rocks, trees around him.

nWhy?

nHe was pretty sure he was out of the monster's aggro zone.

nThe ram caught sight of Krow.

nIf he didn't know better, he'd say those eyes went red with rage.

nIt bellowed, a long foghorn-like sound.

nThe herd turned toward him, almost as one.

nKrow lifted his hands, almost automatically.

"It was an accident!

"

nThe ram may not be able to jump, but the others weren't so constrained.

nHis heart started to beat faster at the sight of a dozen intense eyes trained on him. Predatorily, he imagined.

nNorge, can your ruminants not be so bloodlusting?!

nHe readied his revolver.

nAnother time, and Krow would've admired the grace in which the herd leaped up impossible places.

nNot when they were coming for him, though.

nHe aimed.

nOne darkspear wasn't enough to down the lead charger. Two wasn't enough. It was the third that knocked the monster down, enough for it to slip to its knees and scrabble at stone as it lost balance and toppled from the peaks.

nYou've gained two (2) serpens from a monster!

nEven then, Krow knew it wasn't his bullets that finished it off.

nTwo reached the knoll. Krow shot as he backed away. They were not as tough as the first, seven darkspears downing them.

nYou've gained two (2) serpens from a monster!

nYou've gained two (2) serpens from a monster!

nThe fourth was smart, gaining the top of the ridge before jumping Krow from sideways and above.

n2% HP gone.

nLichenyak Lvl 14

nHP: 550

nMP: 30

nKrow retreated behind a clump of trees, downing the smart one in three shots.

nYou've gained two (2) serpens from a monster!

nThe distraction allowed three to charge Krow.

nThe first of them was on him before he could bring the revolver to bear. His left hand went to his leg, where as a First Apprentice of the Butcher subclass, he was allowed to wear butcher's knives as offhand weapons.

nHe slashed at the lichenyak.

nIt didn't buy him much space, but it was enough. Three bullets to kill it and the other two took advantage to ram him even as it fell.

nYou've gained two (2) serpens from a monster!

nKrow crashed against a rock pillar.

n5% HP gone.

nAnother lowed challengingly above him, while one other followed the two who got the hit in.

n

"Do you want to trample me to death?

"

nHe leaped to higher vantage, knife slashing at the lichenyak above.

nIt didn't faze it.

nThey followed still.

n

"What did I ever do to you all, huh?

"

nHe actually did want to know. Just jumping on their leader wouldn't make herbivores this angry, right?

nHe swept his gaze over the peaks, eyes quickly marking a trail.

nHe fixed the route his mind, then turned back to shoot.

nThe gun clicked on empty.

n

"Oh, come on.

"

nKrow leaped backward, foot accurately coming down on a barely there jut of rock, braced and pitched himself upward. He triggered Doublejump, flinging himself higher still.

nHe dropped the empty cylinder, swapping it with another, before swiping the empty one out of the air and into his inventory.

nHe flipped, landing with barely a flail on a tree branch, grinning.

"Did you see that?!

"

nBackwards hopping on these peaks was ill-advised. Doing that while swapping one cylinder out for another?

n

"That was pretty extreme, right?

"

nHe flipped backward out of the way as a stubby horn slammed into the branch.

nKrow laughed. The horns of the other lichenyaks weren't as magnificent as that of the herdleader.

nHe aimed, still following the route backward in his mind's eye.

nHe clipped a jutting root, losing balance mid-leap.

nHis shot went wild.

nHe doublejumped to a ledge, glancing down into a crevasse he almost fell into.

"Okay, that wasn't as cool, but nice recovery, right?

"

nThe lichenyak in the lead coming at him had its mouth open, tongue hanging out, eyes bulging.

nWas it tired?

n

"No answer? Oh well.

" He shot the lichenyak out of the air as it jumped for him.

"I guess you're not a conversationalist.

"

nHe smiled widely at the two of its compatriots following the first closely as he leaped onto a mass of roots.

n

"I don't suppose you could tell me why you all are stalking me? I'm minding my own business here.

"

nThe crack at his feet was unexpected.

nHe looked down as the roots broke free of the cliff and tumbled out from under him.

nHe fell, debris all around him.

n*

nChapter End

n*

nPlease don't copy and post on other sites.

nIf you see this work on other websites, know that the author Jin Daoran posts exclusively on NovelFull. If you like the story, please support this misfortunate author by voting and reviewing on webnovel(dot)com. Thanks!

n