Party System (Cont.)

The forests around Vale were home to a number of different types of monsters and I knew them all on sight. Being the son of two famous Hunters, I'd grown up hearing about the Grimm, even before I'd had to sit through lecture after lecture at school about it. I knew about the Beowolves and the Ursa, the Nevermore and the Boarbatusks, all of them—and I'd heard what must have been a thousand stories about how to fight them and kill them.

Nonetheless, my first day of fighting them myself proved to be a learning experience for me in a number of ways.

For instance, it was often wondered—in schoolyards, at least—which Grimm were the most dangerous. Kids would get together and talk about the Grimm and Hunters and the topic inevitably seemed to come up and I'd always be dragged into it because of my parents. And there were a lot of obvious answers, mainly the greater creatures of Grimm like the Nevermore and the Deathstalkers, which were both correct. But excluding the truly massive monsters that were thankfully rare this close to civilization, who did you need to worry the most about while wandering the woods at night?

We'd never come to an agreement, but today I found out for myself. My usual luck had held true—leaving me to yet again wonder if it qualified as good or bad luck—and I'd stumbled across the Grimm shortly after Adam faded into the shadows, presumably to watch over me. The first creature I ran into was an Ursa, a powerfully built creature with a level in the upper-twenties and massive strength even for that level.

Yet there was another thing I'd realized about the Grimm. As creatures without souls, they had no Aura to protect them or give them strength—which was another way of saying that anything they did, they did with sheer strength, speed, and durability. That monstrous power was something to keep in mind when fighting them, especially when you're fighting them with your hands like I was.

But despite all that, I'd torn that Ursa to pieces. Literally, to pieces. It had taken a lot of punishment before going down and it could hit hard, but it didn't have any special powers or amazing speed or any real range. I could Lunge in and out of its reach or withdraw and shoot at it from a distance until it went down and there was nothing it could do about it. It was the same story as the fallen Nevermore, really; so what if you're bigger than me and stronger than me if I can just kit you to death? If I can hit you and you can't hit me back, that pretty much means I win by default if I can actually keep it up.

Furthermore, most of the Grimm hunted alone, without others of their kind to compensate for such weaknesses, at least most of the time. Ursa were usually solitary creatures and only rarely seen in groups of more than two, although even that was a relatively uncommon thing to see. The same was true of Boarbatusk I'd found later and even of the King Taijitu—which I'd thankfully avoided, nonetheless—though I supposed they kept themselves company. Although there were murders of the Giant Nevermore in the harsh wilds and the Nemeans to the West, they were kept from approaching civilization in such large groups, which meant that most of the Grimm within a stone's throw of Vale were Lone Wolves.

Except for, ironically, the wolves—which was why I'd say that the Beowolves were the most dangerous of the lesser Grimm around Vale. They weren't as strong as an Ursa. They weren't as durable as a Boarbatusk. They couldn't run as fast as the Nevermore could fly. On the whole, they were probably the weakest of the creatures of Grimm.

But they traveled in packs of twenty to forty.

I ran through the woods, the wolves at my heels. I was pretty sure I wasn't truly in any danger with Adam watching over me, but that didn't necessarily mean I was enjoying the experience. Despite their relative weakness—if you could even call thirty-six creatures from level seventeen to twenty-three being led by an Alpha at twenty-nine weak—they moved like a well-oiled machine. If my mask hadn't made the night so clear, I wouldn't have even been able to see the creatures stalking me or even hear them. If not for my power and my training, I'd probably be dead by now, too. Individual 'weakness' aside, they had great strength in numbers.

I guess I admired that, a little bit. Now that I could create parties, I wanted one that could move that smoothly together—no, even more smoothly. But for now, I was being hunted by a group of monsters that moved swiftly, silently, and in eerie unison. I was pretty sure I was stronger than any one of them, maybe even including the Alpha, but I wasn't so sure it would matter if I let myself get caged in right.

I focused on what was ahead of me, relying on my other senses—and my skills—to keep track of my hunters. If nothing else, running for my life was a good way to train Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality, as well as develop my skills, old and new, such as Sense Danger and Detect Bloodthirst.

In response to sensing an overwhelming amount of bloodlust, you unlocked the skill 'Detect Bloodthirst.'

Detect Bloodthirst (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

An instinctive ability to sense bloodlust directed at the user. Detects bloodlust within 30 meters of the users location and alerts the user to its origin.

Detect Bloodthirst was one of the new ones—and one I was somewhat glad to develop, alongside Sense Danger. The abilities were similar and complimentary, though it had taken me awhile to truly get a feel for the distinction. Detect Danger told me when someone was attacking me; Detect Bloodthirst told me when someone wanted to, within a certain range. Better yet, it alerted me to the location of the source, and if I kept track of it mentally, I could almost make a map in my head of where they were, even without looking. With my INT above fifty now, it was easy enough, especially since they were following me. By tracking bloodlust and responding to impending danger as I sensed it, I could keep ahead of the pack and monitor them.

The original range of the ability had been a whole thirty meters, but it was a passive ability, meaning I could train it by simply using it—such as, oh, by detecting the horde of monsters hunting me—and I'd been doing so a lot. Sense Danger improved, similarly, by sensing attacks. With my armor putting a constant strain on my body and the boost my Aura, itself boosted by Mana Affinity, gave to all my physical stats, I could train the two enormously useful abilities and my stats this way, while also getting experience. Though, honestly, I thought I deserved some Crafting experience for manufacturing my own silver lining, too.

I felt something stir—a rise in bloodlust, a flash of impending danger—and twisted out of the way as a rush of black and white came towards me, teeth and claws flashing at my face, my throat. If I hadn't had prior warning, it probably would have hit me, but instead I danced back a step, even as I felt other surges rise, the pack responding as one. The original attack meant to slow me for a moment, one way or another, followed by the others surrounding me, hedging me in. The first attacker overstretched; a sacrifice for the sake of the pack.

Even knowing that, I accepted it. I reached out and grasped its throat, felt flesh break and burst beneath my enhanced strength and slick blood flowing over Crocea Mors. In that moment, I calmly observed the forest around me and accepted it as probably the best I was going to get. I wasn't afraid of this fight, but I'd have preferred it to be in a situation where it'd be easier to withdraw and still have a clear shot at a distance. Instead, I was in the part of the forest where the trees remained close together, roots breaking the ground and leaving footing treacherous; yet another thing to watch out for.

If not for my mask, I wouldn't be able to move so freely in the forest at all, but even though I could see clearly, it just meant I could better see the set up the Beowolves were running. Besides the one who had attacked me, six others were in sight and closing in—clear dangers meant to surround me or, failing that, draw my attention. The rest moved through what would have been the shadows, using trees and cover to break lines of sight and attack as they further surround me, a trap closing in.

I considered that carefully, but briefly, drawing a deep breath.

Then I roared again, probably catching the attention of everything within a mile. But the wave of terrifying sound fulfilled its purpose and I sensed bloodlust flicker for just an instant, clear and sharp in my head—

By repeatedly instilling fear in others, you unlocked the skill 'Intimidate.'

I ignored the window for now as the Beowolves, heartless creatures of Grimm, were only momentarily paused by the sound. I took advantage of it all the same, pointing a finger at the nearest.

"Magic Bullet," I said clearly and a white candle flame carved a hole in the fell creature's chest even as it tried to dodge. I followed behind it, Lunging into the creature as it attempted to flee the first attack, bladed fingers sinking deeply into the open wound. I slipped fingers between ribs, grabbed ahold, and tore a hole out of the front of the creature's chest with the Jaws of the Tiger. I sensed danger from three directions and turned towards the nearest, ducking low under a strike aimed for my head, grabbing the creature by the ankle and breaking it even as I pulled its leg out from under it, stepping away and dismissing it as an immediate threat.

The second attack came in the form of a charge, a blow aimed to knock me back and off balance rather than kill, which was to be left for another attacker. The Beowolves had reacted quickly to my counterattack, positions shifting at the edge of my thoughts, but I focused on the fight before me, right hand reaching out to touch the rushing creature's shoulder. I turned with the force spinning out of the way of the attack by using the creatures own power as a base, blades hissing against boney plates as the creature ended up rushing passed me. The third Grimm came on the heels of its brother, running upright. I sensed the attack before my eyes could even focus on it and jumped back from it, but the Beowolves weren't new to this and it jumped with me.

We met in midair and I felt claws slide up my armor and then across my face before catching it by its throat and tearing it out with the blunt fingers of my left hand. We hit the ground in a tangle of limbs as the Beowolf sought to hold me down even as its life's blood slipped away, dying to enable the rest of the pack. I fought against its death throes, throwing it free, but other Grimm were already upon me, claws and fangs coming down—

"Razor Wind," I snarled quickly, clawing at the air. There was a distortion, a shift, and the Grimm were flung. I came to my feet quickly, reaching out with my senses to find all the bloodlust being directed at me, checking it against my memory of the forest around me. A glance to the side showed me my MP bar, basic division told me how many attacks I had in me, and Wisdom and Intelligence together plotted a path.

I had to be careful both in situations like this and in what may be to come. Bai Hu's art gave me tremendous power—but only for a short time. The idea was to give yourself such power that you could destroy anything in your path in that time frame and maybe that had even been the case for Bai Hu, but for me…I had to make every blow count, stretch things out as much as possible, and use all of my advantages. With my power, I could make up for weaknesses with other strengths, like I was trying to do with Sense Danger and Detect Bloodthirst now and my other combat skills. Still using short bursts of power, but with precise application and between other attacks.

For now, this was the way I needed to fight, because it was the only method I could use to fight at this level. It should be enough as I shouldn't need to fight if things went well—which they almost certainly wouldn't, granted—and all I needed to do was make it through whatever I was faced with until Adam and Blake could assist, if it came to that.

But since my luck was so amazing, I was trying to extend my fighting ability as much as possible. All I needed to do was buy time or escape or, if neither of those were possible, make an opening.

Kind of like this one.

Thirty-four targets, I thought even as I moved in a Lunge, landing atop one of the downed Beowolves. I slid the clawed finger of my right hand in at an angle, driving it deep under its ribcage, up towards a heart I seized tightly in my hands and tore free as I moved away, flipping in the air to land behind another creature that had been charging at me, before landing a smashing blow to the back of its neck and bearing down hard to crush it.

Six more were reachable in a single bound and died swiftly, but then it got more complicated. In ideal conditions, I could have gone from one to another in Lunge after Lunge. With the power of the White Tiger, the boosts from other skills, the Grimm Slayer title, and Crocea Mors making my claws diamond hard despite being razor thin, I could take down a Beowolf with one good hit, but conserving energy was the issue. With Razor Wind and Magic Bullet as they were now, it wasn't yet possible to kill opponents of this level with one hit yet, either, so I couldn't use them to cheaply slay hard to reach opponents until I trained more. I had to make do with conventional jumps or, when they didn't work, expensive Lunges.

In this case I had to use the latter to get in position fast enough. I bounced off one tree to make a normal leap to another before falling hard in the midst of eleven more of them, just a slight ways away from the Alpha. I roar again and the sound caused the Beowolves to reflexively draw away—and then they died, fast and brutally. I crushed and tore out organs, throats, and whatever else I could get a hold of, flying between them with the speed of my Air Aura as I ripped them to pieces. I kept an eye on my steadily depleting MP bar all the while, flashing between trees, back across to the other side, hunting the Grimm down one by one until my MP was close to depleted and only the Alpha remained.

I'd done the math and taken some guesses and I wasn't going to be able to take the much large Alpha down in one shot the normal way, but I had the choice of either killing him and leaving a dozen little Beowolves around or taking out all the small fries with maybe just enough left over for this. I'd put all the distance between us that I could and now I took a deep breath and gathered what I had left.

My Magic Missile began forming in my hands and I counted the seconds, feeling the bloodlust of the Alpha rising to a boil in the wake of his pack's slaughter—but he didn't back off. The Grimm weren't ones to run from a fight, even when they were outmatched; I didn't know why. Maybe they were too feral to. Maybe they were fanatics to whatever strange cause motivated them. Maybe they knew something I didn't. But I felt it moving, circling me slowly in the dark before acting, buying me a second.

But then it charged me. Again, I wasn't sure if it somehow knew I needed time to prepare my attack or if it had gone completely feral, but it didn't matter; it charged and I held my ground. I could take one hit, I was pretty sure, I just had to stand my ground and make the shot, whether before or after it attacked.

I met its eyes, drew back a hand, and readied myself as it closed the distance with inhuman speed. It approached with enough force that I could feel its footsteps, but I didn't back down. I was at five seconds when it closed in upon me, swinging one massive arm at my head. I lifted my free arm to block reflexively and Crocea Mors held without a problem, but with the last of my Aura drawn into my next attack, I thought I felt my arm break down at the elbow, passed the covering material of my ancestral 'sword.'

I ignored that as unimportant and threw my attack, bolt of light tearing a hole larger then my head in the Grimm's chest right where its heart would be and then I threw myself back before it could hit me again in its death throes. It turned out there was no need, because it didn't so much as twitch, then, but looked at me with red eyes as I backed away, the bloodlust I'd been keeping track of all this time abruptly fading, even before it died. It watched me that way, in total, unreadable silence, as the last of its life fell away and I had no idea why.

But when it finally died, I exhaled and straightened, looking around.

Your level has increased by one!

You have defeated 50 enemies with the ancient arts of Bai Hu! You've obtained the title 'The Tiger'!

You have defeated 50 Grimm! You've obtained the title 'Amateur Huntsman'!

"That was close," Adam said, abruptly behind me. My heart tried to jump out of my mouth before the Gamer's Mind put it back in its proper place. "I thought I was going to have to step in there at the end."

"I thought so, too," I said, looking over his shoulder with a shrug. "But it was a good test for me, so I know what needs to be improved. The little guys aren't a problem individually anymore, though, and the big guys I can play dirty against and kill in transit. It's just groups that are an issue and the ones strong enough to wear me out."

"Human opponents are different," He stated. "We have more options than they do, thanks to Aura and Dust, and that's how we drove them back in the Great War. You won't be able to win just by staying a few steps ahead or climbing a tree."

I shrugged and smiled at the barb—hey, so what if it wasn't the most dignified approach? It had worked on that Boarbatusk.

"I know," I said aloud. "Ranged attacks, Semblances, Dust…dealing monsters is easy, but dealing with people is hard, whether you're fighting or not, huh? But that's why I'm training, isn't it?"

Adam snorted.

I glanced up at the sky and judged that it was probably getting brighter outside, because it seemed to be getting darker to me. Then I looked down at myself, drenched with sweat in exhaustion that I couldn't use my Aura to ignore anymore.

"Give me a bit to see if they dropped anything and meditate and I'll get back to work," I said, shoulders hunching slightly at the weight I was only now truly feeling. "Let's give it another hour and head on back, okay?"

Adam didn't reply, looking over my shoulder quietly. I followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow at what I saw, walking over to my opponent's corpse.

"I'm pretty lucky today…maybe?" I wondered aloud. "I figured there'd probably be more, but none of the others dropped them…"

You have obtained 6000 Lien!

You have obtained the item 'Lycaon.'

By collecting two Grimm Masks, you have begun a quest!

What Lies Beneath—What Is Hidden?

Slay mighty examples of the creatures of Grimm to receive their fell Masks. Bring together all of the Masks to proceed. No time limit.

Completion Reward: ???

Failure: Death.

I frowned down at the Beowolf mask in my hands.

"Um," I said. "Maybe later."

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