Chapter Thirteen - 013

Chapter Thirteen - 013

He felt bad as he walked away from the Henaari explorer. After all the help they had inadvertently given him, Felix felt they deserved a proper burial, not to be just left in the woods.

When I come back, he promised himself. For now, let's see what my new spells do and get some experience.

Watching the ground avidly, Felix searched through the multitude of tracks in the soft earth of the embankment. As what was probably the main source of fresh water in the area, he assumed there were tons of beasts close by, which made him both nervous and excited. Felix began to follow set of paw prints that were small, maybe the size of a big bunny. He might be eager to try out his power, but he wasn't insane.

Felix tried to move as stealthily as he could, but his sword sheath kept tangling in his legs. He had to keep a hand on the pommel at all times in order to walk normally. It was very frustrating. However, due to his focus and effort, he was able to raise Stealth by two levels.

The small tracks quickly led off into the brush, and they were singular, without any other small tracks around it. Hopefully that meant it was a small lone beast that wasn't too terribly high level. There were even a few places where he could tell the creature had run, probably from the other things in the forest.

You Have Learned A New Skill!

Tracking (Common), Level 1!

You have taught yourself to read the world around you for signs of life. Increased utilization of Perception per Skill Level.

Felix pumped a fist. Another Skill always seemed to help. In fact, as he looked down at the tracks again they appeared to light up, as if the prints were glowing. He could see the glowing tracks for about five feet before it cut off.

"Ooh, yeah. Very useful," Felix grinned and crept forward.

The landscape around the lake was the same as nearer the coastline where he arrived, temperate forests in the height of summer. The air was hot with a slight humidity that made his woolen shirt stick uncomfortably to his back. The plants all around him were green and vibrant, filled with colorful flowers and fronds. Distantly, he could see insects and small beasts flit through the air and branches, but they were entirely too fast for him to Analyze. He wondered how high their Agility was to be so speedy, likely more than twice his own.

A half hour later Felix found himself in a grove of Caplan Sprouts, massive twenty to thirty foot plants that had a proliferation of leafy fronds at their tops and thick, banded trunks with mazes of heavy roots that piled around their bases. But the most interesting thing about the grove wasn't the immense vegetation or even the spicy yet appetizing scent they wafted on the breeze, but of a large creature covered in a heavy brown pelt. It was shaped like a weasel in that it was long and sinuous, but it was the size of a sedan. As Felix watched from behind a rocky outcropping he could see the fluid grace in its movements. The monster had six, no, seven legs, each tipped with black claws that looked razor sharp. A short bushy tail stuck up in the back, whipping about as it attempted to burrow under one of the Sprouts.

Felix threw a quick Analyze at the thing.

Name: Seven Legged Orit

Type: Blood Beast

Level: 20

HP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Lore: Strengthened by dire rituals, the Seven Legged Orit has altered itself beyond its limits. Be wary.

Strength: Agility

Weakness: Unknown

This thing is way bigger than what I was tracking. And what's up with that Lore entry? Felix watched it carefully, barely tilting his head beyond the wide wall of the Sprout he hid behind. Does this count as a threat?

He toggled his Quest list.

Active Quests

Advance Five Spells To Apprentice Level!

0 of 5 Apprentice Spells

Home Sweet Home!

0 of 5 Threats Eliminated

An eight foot expanse of acidic mud separated Felix and the Orit in a semi circle, with the rock shelf guarding his back. The Orit kept well away from the acid, which was great because Felix's vision was blurring intermittently and his legs felt weak from blood loss. Still, he was able to finally get a good view of the creature, and it was terrifying. It was all of the worst qualities of a snake and a rat somehow combined and magnified. It's neck was serpentine in its movements as it inspected the mucky earth before it. Watching the monster snort at the still bubbling terrain, Felix carefully reached into his satchel and pulled out the hard leather potion case. Just as he was easing a red potion from the case, he heard something he hadn't expected.

"Why...do you...fight?" The Orit growled at him, it's voice a basso rumble.

Felix blinked, so surprised he stopped fiddling with the wax seal on his health potion. "Uh, what? Why? Why am I fighting you?"

The Orit nodded, it's black eyes never leaving Felix's face, and it's knife sized teeth showing as it panted.

Felix stood there, unsure how to respond. The Orit could speak! It was sentient! Felix had a sudden spasm of conscience. Had it just been hunting, like himself?

"Why are you attacking the, uh, that beast?" he waved in the direction of the small creature. The Orit made a horrible grinding noise in its throat, and it took Felix a moment to understand that it was laughing.

"Fun."

Felix grimaced. "Fun? How is that fun?"

"Screams...Pain....Fear...it all tastes so sweet, mmm," a tongue the length of Felix's forearm slurped out and licked its snout, tasting it's own blood. "A scent I cannot resist. Hunger...gnaws at me."

Felix's skin crawled at the naked lust in the Orit's face, a disturbing mixture of appetite and libido that he had no desire to decode. Then it snarled, hackles rising as it prowled the other side of the muddy pool. The Orit shook its head and sneered, something Felix didn't know animals could do, and looked Felix up and down. He felt a thrill of fear, cold lightning that crawled up his spine.

"You too smell...gooood." The Orit's black eyes bored into him, and it's wounded nose twitched. "Too good for this blasted waste."

Felix frowned, confused. Waste? What does that mean?

Another grinding noise in its throat, and it shook. "You will stay, I think." Then the giant weasel began to bark in sharp, high pitched whines, raising it's head up toward the sky.

That's ominous.

Felix immediately broke the seal and quaffed his health potion. He could feel it immediately begin to work on him, flesh reknitting and pulling taut. It was both intensely uncomfortable and a significant relief. Carefully, he stored the glass bottle back in his satchel as he watched a sickly red glow surround the Orit, gathering a mist-like ambient light around itself like a shroud. It felt violent and spoiled, like a river of coagulated blood, and Felix barely stopped himself from retching.

Is this Manasight? He chewed back bile. It's godawful. But thanks to his Skill, he could see the bloody Mana gathering around the Orit as it continued to bark rhythmically. As it collected it formed a funnel above it's body, like a small tornado of bloody energy. Whatever it was doing, it was very very bad.

Manasight is level 2!

Manasight is level 3!

Felix pulled out his only blue potion, broke the seal and chugged it. It felt like electric fire as it raced down his throat, scouring his veins as it went. A sudden weighty sensation appeared in his core, and his Mana bar rocketed up. Felix considered his options; he had trapped himself on a small island, his sword was wedged in some roots about thirty feet away, and he had barely 100 Mana left. The Orit's strength was it's Agility stat, and it was definitely faster than him. If he was going to have any sort of chance, then he needed to slow it down or....

He had an idea.

It was a terrible idea.

The Orit's strange ritual was reaching a crescendo, and some instinct told Felix that he didn't want to be here when it finished. He took a single, steadying breath. Pouring everything he had into his last spell, Felix channeled his Mana up from his core and into his arms and legs. He cast Tides of Vellus, except this time, he focused on putting all of the force down and behind him.

That's when the beast's ritual ended. "Mine!" It roared, and a torrent of blood-red energy blasted toward him.

Felix felt a pressure in his head and chest but willed his power to obey, threw his arms back and released.

Felix exploded from the ground, thrown ten feet into the air at an angle. The focused force of his spell launching him well over the shocked face of his enemy. He landed in a roll, coming awkwardly to his feet at speed as he raced toward his fallen sword. Behind him the bloody power smashed into the rock face, scorching it black as the Mana transformed visibly into crimson fire.

"NO!" The Orit roared again, quickly spinning around and running toward Felix. "Mine!"

Felix had angled toward the hiding place of the small beast, the creature that had started this. He pushed himself, trying to use all of his Strength and Agility to get just a few fractions of a second ahead, but he could hear the monster gaining on him. The terrible sensation of a bloody quagmire suddenly surged behind him, and Felix made a final desperate leap over a section of roots. Even as he fell, he activated his last spell, one he hoped he understood.

The world lit up in surges of blue white and bloody crimson before it all went dark.