An Unexpected Encounter

'What were the memories of this body?'

'They must have been pretty tragic considering the last guy drank them away.'

'How is this body so fit if it's one of a drunk?'

These were all thoughts Ollis was pondering while he was daydreaming instead of reading his book. Time seems to fly by when you're left to your thoughts and staring at a book. Ollis almost walked straight into the stopped carriage that he was tailing.

"My loyal subjects, the wild beast is somewhere in these woods. We, Orson Forrest of Oakvale, shall slay it… but we must find it first. SCOUTS!!! Comb the forest for any traces of a beast. Droppings, scratch marks, ANYTHING! In the meantime, everyone else sets up camp."

"Huh, we're already at the forest? Maybe I should just stumble into their camp and offer a hand," Ollis mumbled to himself. He forgot that he has long, unkempt hair, scraggly facial hair, dirty clothes, and is covered in filth. He looks like a hobo.

'I highly advice against that. Have you seen yourself? Have you smelt yourself?! You need a bath. Go and find a lake, you might get your grimy fingers on some rewards,' the system started to bribe Ollis. Ollis had no clue that the system could smell his stench the entire time.

"Are you saying I could earn myself some points? For bathing? Count me in. I can even smell a lake in that direction." Ollis took off running in a direction.

'You can smell a lake but not yourself?' The system whispered to itself, quiet enough so that Ollis couldn't hear it.

***

Ollis arrives at a small, clear river. Leaving his clothes on a rock, he bathes in the river. He rubs off all the dirt and grime, and gives himself a clean shave and a new haircut. Once he goes back to where he put his clothes, he notices something is off.

"Didn't I just put my clothes here? Where could they have gone?" Ollis asks himself. He wonders if they fell into the water, so he treks downstream, searching the entire way.

Eventually the small river opens up into a lake. The perimeter is covered in overgrowth and trees. In the center of the lake, there is a towering rock.

"Ah, a natural vantage point," Ollis says, swimming over to the rock. He manages to climb to the top to search for his missing cloths. "These clothes are pretty old, anyway. It doesn't matter if I can't find them, but it would be pretty embarrassing if I walk into the prince's camp naked."

While Ollis is looking off the rock, he starts to get a bad feeling. He feels like someone is watching him. "I've got to hurry up and find my clothes. My gut is giving me a bad feeling and it's usually right."

*ding* 'Initiated branch-type quest: encounter rabid beast-kin'

*ding* 'Awarded 10 points for completing quest: mysterious beastman. Now, all you have to do is best it in combat!'

"What?! Best in combat with a rabid beast-kin?!" Ollis was surprised and looked all over. A feeling of deja vu rushed over him. He looked down at the water and noticed a figure under the water getting larger. It was just like in his dream.

Ollis realized that "best in combat" was probably not a good thing, so he got ready to fight. The colorful blob was getting larger and larger, closer and closer to the surface. The water tension broke and the vibrant figure was continuing to get larger. It was heading straight for Ollis.

Of course, Ollis, being the agile and generally smart person he is, jumps into the water. The same source of the rabid beast-kin.

*Sploosh* Ollis splashes into the water, bubbles rising around him. He swims back up to the surface at a pace much slower than the colorful beast. Once he collected his bearings, he looks back up at the towering rock.

Staring back at Ollis was a pair of bulbous eyes, reminiscent to those of a goldfish. The owner of the eyes is a rabid beast-kin belonging to some kind of fish, or half of a fish at least. The lower half of this rabid beast-kin is human!

"WHAT IS THAT?! It's a fish… on land… walking… WITH LEGS," Ollis shouted out loud with bewilderment. "And those scales! No wonder the prince wants to kill this thing. It's scales will probably catch for a pretty penny."

*gurgle gurgle* The rabid beast-kin started to make angry gurgling sounds. It didn't like Ollis thinking about selling it's body parts.

With it's rainbow-colored scales shining in the sunset, the rabid beast-kin jumped off the lofty rock. It was advancing towards Ollis at breakneck speed. Considering that Ollis is a creature of the land, there was no way he could avoid the beast fast-approaching.

Ollis almost managed to clear the monster's head, but just as he thought he would escape unscathed, the spines on it's back fanned out and sliced up Ollis' thigh. Ollis, who was already a slow swimmer to begin with, had a leg injury. The situation was dire.

'Sir, you've sustained an injury. Perhaps the 10 extra points you gained earlier might be of some use.'

*gargle* Ollis tried talking, but his mouth was submerged in the water. Instead, he remember he could interact with his system through his thoughts. 'Right. I have 10 points and I need something that could help. I've been reading about water magic recently, but to no avail. Purchase magery 0, that might give me the kickstart I need.'

'Alright, this might hurt a little bit,' the system explained. Ollis was looking all over for the rabid beast-kin, but his blood clouded the water too much. He couldn't see through it. That meant the beast probably couldn't, either.

Ollis waited for a couple seconds, but nothing has happened.

'My apologies, sir. We've occurred a problem, attempting to troubleshoot.' After this happened, Ollis immediately started to feel pain. More pain than what he's feeling in his leg. His head hurts. His eyes hurt. Everything hurts.

*** In Orson Forest's camp

An old scout approaches the largest tent in the camp. "Sir, it is reported that we have eyes on the rabid beast-kin."

"Alright, you may disclose to us, Orson Forrest of Oakvale, the intel."

"Sir! Just north of here is a lake. It looks to be the current home of a rabid fish beast-kin. It is extremely agile, in and out of the water. Our mages report that it can use water magic."

"That is very good. You and your team can expect very good things in the future."

"Oh! One other thing, sir. Our mages also report that the subject you're looking for may be fighting the rabid beast-kin," the commanding scout adds.