Chapter 6: First Encounter
Chapter 6: First Encounter
"Good boys gooood boys… who are the good boys you are yes you are… " Raven said as if talking to a toddler while taking steps back slowly one at a time.
Five massive hyenas were lumbering towards him each one the size of a juvenile elephant, with thick fur covering their bodies, matted and unkempt. Their fur is a mixture of grays, blacks, and browns, blending into one another like camouflage, their jaws hang open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth that glint in the moonlight, and long, menacing canines that protrude from their mouths, dripping with saliva. one can hear the saliva sizzling and popping as it drips to the ground, sending a chill down the spine.
As they approach, Raven can hear the sound of their heavy breathing, their chests rising and falling with each deep breath. Their muscles ripple beneath their thick fur, and their paw pads make a soft thud on the ground with each step, causing the earth to shake beneath his feet.
[Name: Dirt Hyenas]
[Mana: 200/200]
[Level: 2(120/300 exp)]
[Health:150/200]
[Strength: 20]
[Agility: 14]
[Stamina: 15]
[Intelligence: 5]
[Defense: 15]
[Ability(s)] (Update [Intution])
Raven realized that he was in grave danger. He was still unaccustomed to his new body, and now, in his very first battle, he had to fight not against one,not two, but five enormous monsters.
"Shit, I should have used perfect pitch outside of this forest. I think my howling and growling attracted these monsters," Raven thought. His eyes remained focused on all five hyenas. It was nighttime, so his visibility was compromised, but same could not be said for the hyenas.
What can I do...should I make a run for it? It's pretty dark here; maybe I can lose them. Or should I try to fight them? Their stats are lower than mine, but the only thing I am concerned about is whether this body will react to my instincts," Raven thought to himself.
While he was weighing his options, all five hyenas suddenly jumped in his direction.
"Fuck, fighting it is," Raven exclaimed as he jumped away from the charging hyenas.
One of the hyenas lashed at Raven before the others could cover the distance between them. Its wet mouth opened to a size that could easily fit half of Raven's body in one bite.
"Disgusting. Right, here goes nothing," Raven dodged the creature and punched its side with all of his might.
"Whammm!"
The impact of the punch reverberated through the area with a loud, sharp thud. It sounded as if a heavy object had slammed into a solid surface, jolting the air with a sudden burst of energy.
The hyena's body slammed into a tree, shattering some of its trunk, shocking Raven as well as the rest of the hyenas.
"That was unexpected," Raven said, looking at his fist which took some damage.
The hyena's cry echoed through the night, a haunting sound that sent shivers down the spine. Sensing one of them was in pain, all the remaining four hyenas jumped on Raven at high speed.
"I didn't mean to do that," Raven uttered, seeing four hippo-sized hyenas rushing toward him.
All the hyenas attacked him simultaneously, giving him little to no time to react to this attack.
One of them bit his arm, but luckily Raven rolled away, resulting in only a graze from its teeth. But the wound was a little deep, and blood started to come out of it heavily.
"Fuck, this will take some time to heal," Raven ran with all his might away from the hyenas. The abundance of trees helped him, working as hurdles for the giant hyenas.
Raven tore his shirt off and bound the cloth on his wounded arm to stop the non-stop flow of blood.
"Shit, why is my luck so shitty today?" Raven saw that the area in front of him had fewer trees, which would surely work in favor of those bloodthirsty creatures.
"I guess there is no way out of it," Raven stopped running and looked back at the horde of hyenas. He took a deep breath and roared like a beast, "Rrrrrroooooaaaaarrrrr," halting the horde of hyenas for a moment, which was enough for him.
"Activate Harrowed,"
Raven said in his mind, and a surge of energy was felt in his body. Mana from the surroundings started to get absorbed in his body, and his silver eyes shone brighter.
Without wasting any time, Raven took advantage of the hyenas' confusion and charged towards them, punching a hyena straight on its skull, and bursting it open. Before the remaining three hyenas could know what happened, he leaped towards another one, kicking it in its abdomen, sending it flying like the first one.
The two remaining hyenas hesitantly took some steps back. Fear could be seen on their faces, but Raven didn't think for a second and dashed toward the hyena on his left. He grabbed its tail and pounded it into the ground a couple of times until there was no movement left in it.
The remaining last hyena couldn't figure out what happened in a span of few seconds and but following his survival instinct it turned to run away from the menacing figure in front of it.
"No, you can't leave, not when you made me do this much work," Raven ran towards the fleeing hyena and jumped high in the sky, landing on the back of the creature. He grabbed its ears and pulled them as hard as he could, crashing the hyena into a rock beside it.
Raven punched the hyena several times on its back and then landed on the ground.
"You can't leave when you are on the receiving end, that's basic etiquette," Raven said while lifting the head of the creature, looking straight into its eyes with blood all over his body and eyes glowing like a full moon.
"Hee-hee-hee," The hyena emitted a pitiful sound as if begging for mercy, but Raven paid no heed and thrust both his hands inside its mouth, clutching each jaw with a firm grip and began to pull with increasing force until the sound of bones fracturing echoed in the air.
Creak…craaak…snap.
Raven let go of the hyena's head, exhausted and wounded. He fell to his knees, panting heavily, and deactivated 'Harrowed'. His adrenaline rush was wearing off, and he felt the pain in his arm and bruises all over his body. With his silver eyes, Raven scanned the area, looking for any signs of danger. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he sat down and leaned against the dead hyena.
"Huff…Huff…Hufff… That was tiring," Raven said, adjusting his breathing.
"Status"
{User Information}
[Name: Raven Whitelock]
[Age: 24]
[Level: 1(500/1000 exp)]
[Health: 60/100]
[Mana: 400/1000]
[Strength: 21+2]
[Agility: 10+2]
[Stamina: 20+2]
[Intelligence: 45+2]
[Defense: 15+2]
[Ability(s)]
[Perfect pitch(C)]
[Intuition(A+)]
[Harrowed(B)]
"One of these monsters gives 100 exp, huh," Raven said as he checked his status.
The sun had almost risen, and the darkness had vanished, giving a refreshing feeling to Raven. He closed his eyes and leaned on the body of the hyena.
Rustle…rustle…rustle…
A rustling sound of someone walking in his direction was heard from a little distance away. Raven's ear twitched, and he looked in the direction of the sound.
"What now," he said in a complaining tone.
After a few minutes, a couple of humanoid figures could be seen coming out from behind the trees. Raven let out a relaxing breath, seeing that the sound was not from another monster.
"Everyone, be alert. Monster death bodies in sight," a loud feminine voice was heard.
A group of twenty people made their way toward the dead bodies of the hyenas. Raven was not visible to them from their angle and distance, but he was seeing every movement of every member of the cohort.
[Name: Frida Holl]
[Age: 24]
[Level: 3(1100/4000 exp)]
[Mana: 300/300]
[Health:300/300]
[Strength: 20]
[Agility: 18]
[Stamina: 18]
[Intelligence: 15]
[Defense: 17]
[Ability(s)] [Update Intution]
[Name: Max will]
[Age: 26]
[Level: 2(100/3000 exp)]
[Mana: 200/200]
[Health:200/200]
[Strength: 15]
[Agility: 11]
[Stamina: 15]
[Intelligence: 15]
[Defense: 18]
[Ability(s)][Upadate intution]
"Their stats look different from mine. Even though they are a level or two higher than me, they are weaker than me. And my mana capacity is also ten times higher than theirs. Is it because of the long exposure to mana shockwaves in the crater?" Raven pondered, looking at the status of the unknown group.
"Who killed them?" one of the members of the team asked Frida.
"I don't know, but looking at the condition of the bodies, it was done by a human or something with a body similar to that of a human," Frida uttered while carefully looking at a corpse whose skull had a dent in the shape of a fist.
She looked at all four corpses on the ground and studied the type of wounds on their bodies.
After some time, she looked at a girl and asked, "There were 6 hyenas remaining, right? Where are the fifth and sixth ones?" She looked around but could not find anymore dead body.
"Be on guard!" Frida shouted.
"There could be hyenas the size of a hippo somewhere here. Five of you, go search if there is something more around here." She pointed to the five group of people standing with assault rifles in their hands.
"And radio or whistle us if you encounter anything. Don't engage alone."
"Yes, Ma'am," all five nodded and went on their way.
"What do you think happened here? Is this the work of some group of Awakeners we don't know or is it the work of some monster?" Max asked Frida.
"I don't know, but looking at the wounds on the corpses, it must be the work of at least a group as large as ours," Frida said, lighting a cigarette.
"A group as large as ours, but there is no one else other than us who does things like this," Max said in disapproval.
"You can't say anything for sure max the wor…"
Whee!...Whee!...Wheeeeee!!
Suddenly, a shrill whistling noise interrupted Frida mid-sentence, coming from a few meters ahead.