Chapter 22: Seduced
A figure leapt from one tree to the other as it surveyed the surrounding. It was a monster called the Arcula, a humanoid monster that had an ape like stature but sharp teeth like those of a shark. Its most worrisome aspect was its agility and the changing color of its fur making it blend with the surrounding. With sneak attacks and above the average intelligence, it was a primitive monster that many didn"t want to bother with hunting.
As it went through the forest, its nose smelled the scent of meat. It turned its eyes toward a tree that had a piece of meat hanging down. It looked at the ground below the meat and it could see that there laid a trap. Thick bushes covered the patch of gra.s.s making it all to obvious for a creature of its intelligence. However, it didn"t care as it planned to s.n.a.t.c.h the meat while it leapt from a tree to tree.
With the plan set, the monster started its action as it blended into the surrounding. Although only its color changed, the forest was a good place to hide. From one tree to the other, it found itself right before the dangling meat. With a powerful jump with its legs on a branch parallel to the meat, it was able to s.n.a.t.c.h the meat successfully.
As it was about to rejoice, it felt a force coming from above it. As it was mid-air, the monster couldn"t resist and it fell right into the trap.
"What? A monster fell into the trap? I didn"t see anything…" Arthur was hiding in the bushes as he was stunned by the turn of events. He was waiting for a monster to try and grab the meat to fall into the pit he dug. As the mana core he tried to fuse with the barrier skill but failed stayed with him, he made a permanent rune of the latest rune he got.
[Force-II: Applies great force in a one-meter radius at a specified target. The force is proportional to the mana supplied.]
This was the rune that made him pa.s.s the willpower test. After he studied the Force-I rune, he found that it wasn"t enough to pa.s.s the test. That"s why he tried studying the next rune and was able to learn it because they were the same. The Force-II rune applied a greater force than the Force-I rune for the same amount of mana supplied. Although Arthur could have used the Force-I rune for the same amount of force, it would have been a terrible investment. The Force-II rune was a lot cost-efficient.
As if this was the better version of the rune, the previous rune disappeared from his Legacy menu. However, Arthur could still use the previous version of the rune as a sub-rune from the current one. If he wished, he could imprint Force-I instead.
That"s why Arthur made this trap. He waited for a full hour before he saw something fall from the sky. He had spent most of his noon in making the pit as he needed to make it stronger than usual because of the rune. He used a piece of fabric he got at the camp and nailed it to the ground. He was sure the rune and the weight of the monster would make the fabric collapse thus trapping the monster.
With his sword in hand, Arthur dashed toward the pit as he heard the howls of the monster. As he took a look, he saw a green fur monster sprawled on the ground. The force of the fall had injured it and it seems it didn"t have a strong body to begin with.
With his sword, Arthur slashed the air in front of him. As a dark green liquid escaped from his sword, sizzling noises was accompanied by the howls of the beast below. This was the skill he got from the other primitive grade monster, Poison Strike. He slashed another time and the howls grew louder before being replaced by heavy panting.
The monster was heavily wounded but not dead. Arthur started his breathing technique and he refilled one point of mana. He was now able to slash on more time as the strike costed him two mana points.
The monster was banging on the floor in agony as the poison corroded its skin and entered its body. Although this was an F-Rank skill that wouldn"t even hurt monsters of a higher grade, it was more than enough for a primitive grade monster like this one. As defense wasn"t its strong fort, the poison proved incredibly effective against it. Usually it would have fled but the problem lied with the rune applying force on it. As soon as he tried to crawl out, the poison came.
Arthur decided that the monster was weak enough for him to kill. He looked down and saw it panting on the floor with its back toward the pit"s hole. Arthur gathered his courage and jumped down as he directed the sword toward its neck.
As he was under the rune"s area, Arthur felt strong force pushing him downward increasing the lethality of his strike. With these factors, the monster was slain.
[You have leveled up. Stamina-I rune had been gained.]
Arthur felt the rush of adrenaline in his body as he shouted standing on top of the slain monster. After he calmed down, he used his legacy to absorb the monster"s essence.
[Perception has increased by 1.]
[Perception has increased by 1.]
Arthur was sad that he didn"t get other stats as he felt they were more useful, but he changed his mind as he felt his sight becoming clearer and his hearing turning sharper. He was able to feel the change in surrounding more easily. However, the joy didn"t end here. As the monster"s core floated up, Arthur saw on more stone accompany it. It was a skill.
[Camouflage (F): decrease other"s perception of the host by 5 points.]
As Arthur activated the skill, he felt his presence grow fainter. The sounds he made while he walked also grew quieter. It seems this skill didn"t affect others, but reduced the visual and auditory information he made.
"That"s an interesting way of hunting." A voice coming from behind him interrupted his thoughts. As Arthur turned around in a hurry, he found the girl from earlier inspecting the trap he made. He could see her figure from inside the hole and he rushed outside after grabbing the mana core.
"Did you follow me?" Arthur scanned the surrounding looking for any other person. There was none.
The girl kept her eyes on the branch that Arthur imprinted the rune on. He wasn"t too worried as artificial runes and real ones couldn"t be differentiated unless the person was an expert. The girl"s black hair flattered through the winds revealing her neck. A scent drifted toward Arthur that made his body turn hotter. The girl then looked at him with her green eyes studying him.
"I didn"t know there was a runes master among this generation," She lightly walked toward Arthur who watched her every movement. As the distance between them grew shorter, Arthur knew something was wrong. An emotion that he couldn"t control was taking over his body. It was l.u.s.t.
His breathing grew heavier as his skin turned red. As he watched the girl get closer, he felt his heart race faster. Her fair skin and charming eyes drew him making him lose the ability to think straight.
"I see that you"re not that bad yourself," The girl was now in front of him and she held his chin with her finger. As the ringing alarms in Arthur"s mind grew louder, he felt his body lose balance as he crashed to the ground. Before he could lift himself up, a dagger was placed on his neck.
"Who are you?" The girl"s gentle appearance disappeared as she coldly stared at Arthur. As he felt his head turn clearer, the l.u.s.t from earlier disappeared as well. It seems he fell for the ability of this girl.
"You know who I am, I follow Haz…"
"That"s a lie. I know you"re not someone from the seven families nor are you among the current generation. Others might turn a blind eye to the teachings of the elders, but I don"t. The command was clear. Kill any strangers."
Arthur now felt dread for the first time. From her tone, he knew killing was easy for her. How could someone of their age be so accepting to such concept?
"I…" Arthur tried to cook a story he could slip away with but he didn"t know what to say. That this was all an accident? That he simply ended up here? He felt the dagger dig deeper into his skin as blood began to leak out.
As his mind raced to come up with a solution, a white figure suddenly appeared above the girl. Arthur couldn"t feel anything before the girl let go of him and turned to block the strike the white figure made. As the dagger and sword collided, the girl was flung away from him and the white figure descended.
"You…"
As Arthur heard the familiar voice, he looked toward the person who just saved him. It was the White Fairy looking at him with shock.