27 The Leap Deer
"..."
Enzo and Saiph responded to Velvet's declaration with silence, each processing the information and contemplating their own plan of attack.
"Do you think that they'll still be nearby?" Saiph was the first one to break the silence.
"Probably not," Velvet answered. "One Leap Deer is not enough to feed a whole pack, so they should have chased after the rest of the herd of deer."
Saiph and Enzo solemnly nodded along with her words.
"We need to set a trap to catch these bastards," Enzo commented. Being met with no disagreement, he continued, "So I think that we should try to capture a Leap Deer."
"Yeah," Saiph nodded. "I can use my Zap Spell to put one out of commission."
…
The trio finished discussing their plans to catch the wolves off-guard and set off to initiate it.
Saiph's duty was to hunt down a Leap Deer and catch it, which didn't seem too hard to him. After all, a Common Beast was a Common Beast- even a normal human could kill one with enough effort.
Still… Saiph wasn't dumb enough to not do his research beforehand; he knew that Leap Deer, despite their names, were actually built for sprinting. While he would out-endure one, it would probably lose him before that happened.
Hence, the quest to find bait for the bait for the real goal started. According to the field book, Leap Deer appreciated grazing in fields of tall grass. The only locations that were open enough to house large fields of grass were by the river, so he set off for it.
His mindset was that there were possibly some rare Flora Magicae that would be attractive to Leap Deer. If he could grab some, attracting them would be all the easier.
The trio had traveled up the river for most of the trek of the mountain, so finding it once again was only a matter of a few minutes.
The running water was peaceful, slowly trickling along. It was somewhat comparable to a creek at this size, but Saiph didn't know or care about the nomenclature involved with designating bodies of water; he dubbed it a river.
After moving upstream for a few minutes, slowly enough to not scare off the wildlife, Saiph found a large clearing filled with weeds and long grasses.
Carefully approaching it with mild trepidation coaxing him to leave, Saiph stepped into the long grass. He got down to his hand and knees, inching along low to the ground and using the grass as cover.
Saiph cautiously crawled to the center of the field, inspecting the different grasses and weeds he came across to see if there was anything valuable.
To his minor annoyance and dismay, there wasn't even any Flora Magicae; all of the vegetation was completely mortal and Mana-free.
Or, 'Mana-free' wasn't quite the right term. Mana existed everywhere and in everything.
One way that the concept is taught at the Academy is by telling the students to think of reality as one big body of water. Inside the water, plants and animals act like sponges; they absorb the water and have it in them. Hence, Mana is in a constant state of homeostasis.
To overcome that constant equilibrium and force more water into that sponge is what makes something magical. So, it's easy to see how some Mages prefer to zero-out the scale, setting the standard for what has and doesn't have Mana to that equilibrium.
Humans, naturally, can't overcome that barrier. That is why they have to cultivate to become Mages. However, Beasts and Flora Magicae can. Depending on their bloodline's strength, they can passively reinforce themselves with Mana, offsetting the homeostasis without issue.
Hence, none of the plants in this brush Saiph was crawling through had any magical properties from their bloodline.
Deciding that a change of plans was in order, Saiph settled down and anticipated the arrival of some Leap Deer for quite some time -- maybe an hour or two -- just sitting in the brush.
Rustle Rustle~
The grass shifted and swayed in the light breeze, not betraying the presence of any lurking animals or beasts. Saiph soon grew bored of the wait, looking up into the sky. The sun was lowering on the horizon, giving Saiph an estimated hour or so more until it set.
RUSTLE CLOMP RUSTLE
Saiph shot up from daydreaming, hearing the loud footsteps and passage of some large animal or beast just a few meters away from where he was sitting.
He slowly crept through the brush, closer and closer to the source of the noise. The creature seemed to have slowed down since Saiph didn't hear any more noise from it.
Saiph's heart tensed up in anticipation; what if it had smelled or heard him? He could very well be about to run into a Carnage Beast face-first.
Steeling his nerves and conviction, Saiph slowly pushed his head through the grass and into a clearing.
Inside he saw a large deer with checkered patterns of gold and brown fur. There was a large horn sprouting from its forehead, spiraling into a cone-like shape. Powerful hind-legs with eerily well-defined muscles were apparent as well.
'This is it! A Leap Deer!'
The majestic creature perfectly fit the description and rough illustration provided in the field book.
'Wait… now what?' Saiph's original plan had been to find some bait for the deer, not find the deer! He hadn't brought anything to haul it in or capture it with.
'Do I… just use Zap on it now?' He still had the advantage of surprise on his side, since it seemed like the deer hadn't noticed the boy just a few feet away yet.
The issue was that Zap was a pretty short-range Spell. Saiph would have to get at least two feet closer to the hulking beast to be able to zap it.
Furthermore, that was still a Common Beast whose strength came more from its physical structure than its soul. Leap Deer were some of the toughest Common Beasts on Arches. If Saiph just dove in front of it and the Zap Spell didn't take it down, Saiph wasn't sure if he would survive the counterattack.
Hell, he didn't even have any defensive spells. If that towering beast were to step on his head, he would probably be done for in an instant.
Saiph felt his hand go clammy and the blood drain from his face as he considered the threat before him.
'Screw it.'
Saiph dove from his cover into the opening while constructing a Spell Circle in front of him. 40 runes later -- all created in just a split second -- the Spell Circle was completed.
The deer was already rearing up onto its hind legs, preparing to stomp down.
"Argh!" Saiph shouted as he unleashed the spell.
BZZT
THUD
Saiph hit the dirt as he unleashed his Spell. He quickly raised his head and looked at the sight before him.
The deer was sprawled out on the ground, still.
"Hahaha," Saiph started laughing from relief, setting his head back down on the ground.
After a few moments of tranquil relaxation, Saiph got up off the ground and looked down at the creature laid out before him.
The deer was massive, truly. It was probably the size of a very large horse- one suited for war. It could easily weigh over a thousand pounds…
"How am I supposed to move you now?" Saiph complained to the unconscious creature. "I can't believe this thing went down in just one shot, though… Lightning Spells are truly powerful. The heart is defenseless in the face of lightning..."
Saiph pondered the possibilities awaiting him for a few seconds, trying to get a good read on the situation.
"Ah," he exclaimed. "That has to be it."
He reached to his waist and grabbed his shortsword. Examining the sharpness of the blade, he eventually nodded approvingly and took an overhead slash at the deer.
DINK
The blade harmlessly bounced off the tough hide, not even stirring the beast.
"Ugh," Saiph moaned. He walked around the deer, over to its head, and stabbed it in the eye with his sword.
Suddenly, the beast frantically flailed around, spasming uncontrollably and whimpering in agony.
The intense spasms forced Saiph to tighten his grip, lest his sword be flung away. It really wasn't easy to hold on with only one hand, but he managed.
Saiph wasn't sure if the deer was actually awake or not but he nevertheless thrust his sword into its eye socket harder and harder, until it stopped moving.
"Whew…" Saiph sighed and wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Tough."
After taking a quick breather, Saiph hacked and slashed at the desecrated creature until it was properly eviscerated.
The bloody sight of horror far surpassed the earlier scene of the Leap Deer corpse in terms of gruesomeness. Saiph felt a bit queasy viewing such a brutal spectacle but quickly shook it off, ignoring the rank stench of flesh and guts.
"Gotta hurry…" he muttered.
Saiph swung his backpack off his shoulders and pulled out some containers that were intended for alchemical purposes, stashing chunks of flesh and guts inside. After he was done filling up most of his spare containers, he quickly fled the scene in fear of any predators attracted to the kill, running back to meet up with Velvet and Enzo.
