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nStill Day 4 (In-game)

nStill somewhere in the draculkar highlands.

nStill somewhere in the southern end of the Urla Mountains.

nStatus: Being chased by a horde of jumping shaggy monsters who took exception to him using their leader as a trampoline.

n*

nThe lichenyak tossed its head as Krow fell.

nHe twisted in mid-air to avoid the pointed battering ram, grabbed onto a lower ledge and heaved himself up, spitting dust from the debris.

nA triumphant bellow split the air. Too close!

nHe rolled off, triggering doublejump.

nTwo monsters slammed onto the ledge he was on. Seven darkspears to see their corpses stumble and lay still.

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

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

nHe reached for a higher handhold, clambered onto the trunk of a tree bent nearly half to horizontal, growing out of a crevice.

nHe drank a Low Heal.

nHow many were left?

nHe squinted against the midday sun, the realism of the game causing sweat to roll down his temples and back.

nFour? Yes, four still following.

nThe expanding marks of lichen on their long fur gleamed in the sun, in what could only be magic. Krow grimaced. He had enough examples to know that mostly-decimating a group of monsters would Enrage the ones still left.

nOne lichenyak jumped up the ledge and saw the two carcasses.

nIt bellowed, loud and furious.

nShkav. Four bullets ended it, but it was already too late.

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

nAn answering bellow came from afar. The others he could see huffed smoke, all but breathing fire, eyes trained on him.

nOr maybe he was just imagining the red in their teeth…?

nThe leaves of the tree he was on rustled. The branches shuddered.

nThe stone must be thick, as the trees growing on the cliffs weren't rooted deep enough.

nThe thought only just crossed his mind when a root lashed around his ankle.

nHe made an inarticulate sound of shock.

nThe tree root tightened, and another reached.

nKrow shot the root around his ankle. It splintered. He jumped away uncaring of destination, kicking away the rest of the root.

nHe scrabbled for a hold on the boulder he crashed against, managing a foothold.

nOkay, he breathed. Lichenyaks were floral element aligned monsters.

nHe knew that. But he thought they only learned to control plants after Lvl 20. He eyed the lichenyaks on the peaks above him. Apparently, also when Enraged.

nHe'd only encountered lichenyaks in Redlands once before. They were generally Lvl 10-20 creatures, with the strongest rarely achieving Lvl 25-30. The game didn't advertise level zones, but it was rare to see monsters with massively different levels in one area.

nFrom the hundred-tail swallow and the lichenyaks, he'd assumed this was an under-20 level zone.

nHe wasn't expecting the plant control.

nA sound from above and he started running, eyes searching.

nHis MP was depleted from all the doublejumps, no chance to use Shadowbind.

nHe saw a deep and large crack in the rock, no trees or roots nearby, and jumped toward it.

nNot ideal, but Krow had to negate the advantage the lichenyaks had – their damnable mobility.

nSo far, he didn't think they were used to having an attacker as agile as him on the cliffs. He was certain the lichenyaks were using anti-bird-predator tactics against him…that is, harry the birds to below the peaks, then jump on them from above.

nWith them raging, he couldn't keep waiting for his MP to replenish enough for the Doublejump Spell.

nHe landed on a jutting rock, grabbed a handhold, and swung into the dark crevice.

nIt was larger than Krow thought.

nThe opening was large enough for two lichenyak to enter abreast. He could hear them in his wake, following still.

nWithin the crevice was a space large enough for half a tower.

nIt was a cave.

nThe small stalagmite and stalactite pillars told him that it had been here for a long time.

nThe sound of falling pebbles alerted Krow from his wary peering around the crevice. He looked toward the opening, revolver rising.

nA lichenyak charged, another not too far behind, bellowing.

nLichenyak Lvl 13 (17)

nHP: 800 (1100)

nMP: 30 (45)

nKrow emptied the cylinder into it before it tumbled, corpse coming to a stop less than a meter from him.

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

nThe trailing lichenyak stumbled on the falling corpse, giving Krow time to swap cylinders and distance himself.

nHe shot eight darkspears before the second lichenyak stilled. Then eight again at the one darkening the cave opening.

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

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

nSixteen darkspears one after the other.

nHe swapped cylinders and fired six upward, where a fourth lichenyak made its way through the upper part of the crack.

nThe monster fell, the last of the lichenyak's struggles fading mid-air. It thudded on the ground of the cave a corpse.

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

nIf this were a yakuza movie, he thought as he stood there with gun lowered slowly, the tail of his coat would be snapping in the breeze instead of just flickering a little, and the thundering sounds of the shots echoing in the far cliffs.

nToo bad the gun didn't roar like gunpowder revolvers did. The Starfall Revolver sounded more like the discharge of an shrouded airgun.

nThat was four, but he wasn't certain it was all of them.

nHe waited.

nNothing sounded; no new lichenyak on some ledge, glaring at him like he offended the shaggy goat gods. No tell-tale trickle of debris, no lowing or bellowing.

nKrow peered out the crack.

nAt least six corpses were visible to him.

nThe peaks were quiet.

nA bellow sounded, long and low, less aggressive than the rest.

nHis hand on the gun tightened, alert.

nBut nothing came at him.

nHe holstered the revolver, drank a Low Heal, and plopped down at the lip of the crack.

nStill cautious, ears and senses alert, he started reloading the other cylinders.

nLong minutes passed, and there was nothing more than wind hissing by.

nHe replenished the bullets of the cylinder installed on the revolver.

nThe lichenyak ram had given up.

nHe unequipped the Travelcoat and the Bonewood Gauntlets, replacing the latter with Plague Doctor's Gauntlets.

nHe touched the first lichenyak.

nYou've gained Shaggy Lichenyak Hide from a monster!

nThe lichenyak before him was now devoid of its greyish-green outer hide.

nKrow removed the smaller butcher knife from the thigh holster on his left leg. Gaining First Apprentice rank for the Butcher subclass allowed him to equip two butcher knives as offhand weapons.

nOh wait.

nHe removed the vid-eye owl from his Inventory. It immediately flapped its wings and flew to rest on a stalagmite.

nKrow shrugged and let it be.

nHe'd never had one before.

nBefore, he thought RedVisor was for high-level players to show off their skills and those who made short movies and music videos set against breathtaking Redlands geography and people.

nThe deliveryman-installer said it would add viewing angles to his recordings.

nHis first video was kludged together using just the view-angle of his avatar's eyes. It wasn't bad at all, in his opinion. The butchering style was clear and the voice-over he put together was gave all the data needed without being heavy or solemn.

nIt wasn't flashy, but he thought it showed the Butcher skills pretty well.

nKrow could make a good video without multiple angles, but he had the vid-eye owl anyway. Might as well use it.

nHe put it out of his mind and started on the butchering.

nThree lichenyak in the cave, and at least six more outside. Barring the ones that fell completely off the ridge.

nHe stroked the knife around the neck, then down the underside of the carcass between the breasts, across the legs. Peeling the inner hide off was a bit tricky, as the lichenyak was taller than him by at least sixty centimeters and heavier by at least three hundred kilos.

nYou've butchered a monster to acquire Lichenyak Skin!

nThe notifications kept coming as he slowly practiced motions he'd learned in Zushkenar. He'd learned to dress game, but it hadn't been his primary job.

nBeing in Redlands, some of the motions were unnecessary and a number of organs were missing. Obviously most of the insides of the beasts in Redlands were based on Earth animals.

nIn Zushkenar, they were…a bit further from the norm.

nAlso, the lichenyak was free of the parasites that Krow half-expected to be there. A bonus, that's for certain.

nThere was a Spell for removing parasites from game, but he didn't know it.

nA few skills and Spells in certain professions were not included in the standard subclass skill package and had to be learned from a master of the class, which could be an NPC or a craftmaster.

nThe carcass yielded a Bonewood skeleton, a hundred kilos of edible meat, and five kilos of edible tendon.

nAfter taking all that could be butchered, what was left of the lichenyak would, when he left, slowly begin to melt, like a mass of ice cream in the sun.

nHe got through the other two in good time and started on the lichenyaks laid out in the sun outside.

nOne of them unexpectedly yielded Flowercurl Horn which he thought came from bloomwool sheep in Amvard continent. They were a similar species? Bloomwool sheep didn't yield Bonewood though.

nThe horn was a D Common. Not very distinguished but useful in repairing floral-element armor. Also used to make several musical instruments.

nSomething huffed above him.

nHis eyes widened.

nHe tossed the horn into his Inventory and dove over the carcass he was butchering.

nDust and debris flew as the monster crashed down on the ledge.

nLichenyak Herdleader Lvl 21(27)

nHP: 1200(2800)

nMP: 110(150)

nHe slipped on blood.

"Gah!

"

nFumbled his equip of the Travelcoat.

nThe raging bellow of the lichenyak ram deafened at close range.

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"I said it was an accident!

" He drew the revolver.

nSixteen darkspears sent, and that only cut half off the monster's inflated HP. It had better defense than its herdmembers. It limped toward him, bellowed again, then charged.

nThe patterns on its fur glowed.

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"Shkav!

"

n100MP gone. But it had all its HP back.

nWho the hell knew lichenyak had HP recovery like that?!

nKrow switched to shieldbursts, hoping to topple it off the ledge. The herdleader charged through the shieldbursts with only minor stumbles.

nKrow gained higher ground in the meantime. Sent another sixteen darkspears, dodging all the while the roots and vines and tree branches lashing out at him.

nIt jumped after him, Enraged and ignoring its injuries.

nTwo sharp vines pierced Krow through the side. Ow.

n7% HP gone.

nHe flipped to hang off a crack in a plantless stone slope.

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"I don't suppose we could let bygones lie? I break your ribs, you spear my kidneys, we're even?

"

nA braid of vines dug into the stone he hung off of, his handhold crumbling.

nHe doublejumped to the top of a rock pillar.

"I see, I see. You're one of those death before dishonor types.

"

nHe tracked the leaping ram, shooting. Nine out of sixteen bullets hit.

nTsk.

n

"I've been the obsessive type, I know. Still am, really. I get it. But we must transcend!

"

nThe ram toppled a rock formation onto Krow's pillar, obviously just wanting to end him forever. 2% HP taken by the flying shards of stone.

nKrow flailed as the pillar fell. He jumped from stone to stone, senses alert. Huh. He was in fact, close to where he topped the ridge earlier.

nHe leaped free of the falling debris and doublejumped into air, arms wide, nothing below him. The herdleader followed, unwearying.

nKrow took a moment to savor the freefall.

nThen flipped and triggered a doublejump while throwing a grapplehook toward a crack in an overhang above. It snagged, changed his trajectory enough to avoid horns that were longer than his legs for the second time this day.

nHe grinned at the lichenyak.

"We must learn to let go.

"

nHe doublejumped again, his last for a while, used the rope and momentum to fly upward. He let go the rope and closed his eyes, smiling. He hit the highpoint of the parabolic arc and started to fall.

nHe flipped, bracing.

nHis boots crashed into the back of the herdleader, exacerbating the downward fall of the monster already caught in gravity.

nThe lichenyak slammed into the sharp crown of a naturally-sculpted minaret. Krow dropped down to his knees. Even cushioned (again) by the furry bulk of the herdleader, that fall had sheered off some of his HP.

nThe ram shuddered, impaled on a stone spike through the chest, bloody spike just missing the spine. It turned its head, bulging eye glaring still at Krow.

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"Or we fail to see the pitfalls around us, due to tunnelvision,

" Krow finished.

nHe swapped to his last full darkspear cylinder. Seven bullets before the lichenyak drooped. It was technically a waste of bullets, as the ram was going nowhere.

nIt was a mass of data, numbers and letters, but the least Krow could do for a creature so tenacious was to give a quick death instead of leaving it there to rot alive.

nKrow sat down on the fleecy carcass, a long breath leaving his lips. His hand touched the lichenyak fur.

nYou've gained Earthblow Gyrehorns from a monster!

nYou've gained ten (10) serpens from a boss monster!

nHe ignored it.

nHe'd just killed a Lvl 21 Enraged monster, he thought disbelieving. A Lvl 27.

nHe was Lvl 6, for sanity's sake!

nHe took a deep breath, then sprawled out on the soft grey-green fur, laughed breathlessly.

nThis time in Redlands was definitely way different from the last time.

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