Xion CH18: The Hunt

"When tracks are this deep, you can tell the beast is heavy even when it's dry. Those claw marks prove that it's a predator as well. Three claws mean instead of five mean it's unrelated to the forest god. So, it's well within the established limit for hunting. Now come on, let me show you something even more interesting." Mekael said.

She took me to a massive pile of shit filling up a ditch. Mekael sniffed the pile and smiled like it was the most pleasant thing in the world. "You can tell it's a predator by the smell. It has a very meaty diet. That means its meat will taste even better. The beasts that only eat plants absorb a tiny fraction of the forest god's power and concentrate it. A predator that has eaten many other beasts has even more concentrated power. So it will be very beneficial to eat it." Mekael said.

"Sure, but if it's collecting a lot of qi, won't it be too much for only the two of us to kill it. I'm sure you're confident in your abilities, but I haven't mastered constant breathing yet." I said.

"You aren't scared to die against a sadist like Samael, so this shouldn't be a challenge. So relax; this is your first time, and I will help you through it." Mekael said.

We barely met this morning, and she's already teasing me. Either this girl gets close to others too quickly, or she trusts me because of Zosimael. Either way, this special treatment felt undeserved and made me feel uncomfortable. I hardly did anything to deserve it. It was also possible that her dislike of Samael carried over to liking anyone who opposed the sadistic chief's daughter.

Motives aside, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to fight a T-rex or this world's equivalent. Worse, it felt like we were about to take on a shiny freak of a T-rex with spears. So I did the only rational thing and armed myself with another weapon.

Buying a gun felt like it would push against believability. Against a T-rex, I would rather have a cannon than a hunting rifle. So instead, I purchased a compound bow and a quiver of four-prong steel razor-tipped arrows. The compound bow had a good 400lbs draw, and I recalled carbon shaft arrows hurt to fire more than aluminum. On the upside, the carbon shot further and faster. The bow and arrows would be handy if the animal didn't have indestructible hide. On the other hand, I didn't want to get too close to a mother fucking T-rex.

"I'll try to relax while we're running for our lives from a giant lizard," I said.

As I recalled, most paleontologists estimate that a T-rex could run around 17mph. That wasn't much, but this wasn't the normal T-rex. We were hunting a shiny cultivation version of the standard T-rex. The odds were great; the dinosaur was at least 10 times its estimated speed.

We neared a few more dung piles, but unlike the one before, these glowed faintly. I really didn't want to know why they were taller than me. Killing such a large animal with my bow felt more impossible as I tracked it.

"I can already taste smell the meat crackling over an open fire. Then, after we kill it, we get our pick of the cuts. Can you imagine how much meat something like this has on it?" Mekael asked.

The ground shook, and Mekael disappeared behind a tree while I struggled to follow her. She stressed the need for me to always wear the weights while training. Even if they nearly crippled my speed, I eventually needed to adjust to wearing them. Taking them off to do mundane things like hunting would only hurt me in the long run. But, of course, if I was too slow to defend myself, what was the point. Ultimately, it was my decision, but how could I hope to win if I didn't get used to them?

Of course, I recognized a distinct possibility she wanted me to be slow enough to be a sitting duck for the T-rex. While weighted down, there was no way I could move with my average speed. I wasn't functioning where I should be, and despite not deteriorating much anymore, I wasn't on the upswing yet. My physical capabilities were just a little below my pre-breathing technique levels.

So, when a glowing, almost gold T-rex pushed itself through a tight group of trees and turned its head to the side to look at me, I felt nervous. It hadn't roared or made any aggressive moves. The creature didn't see me as a threat or even prey. Such a large beast probably thought I was too small to be a worthwhile meal. Why would such a large predator hunt something too small to be worth it? Chasing me down to eat was like running down the road for a single french fry.

Of course, that was ignoring a single factor. Elves were crazy, and Mekael seemed more than willing to throw her spear from cover if the T-rex had its eyes on me.

Light from the lizard's body peeked between a densely packed group of trees. It reached out not with tiny, clawed limbs made for dicing meat but long, heavily anchored limbs clearly used for offense. The creature's opposable thumbs were off-putting, especially when tipped with claws. It moved carefully through the dense foliage and eyed me for a moment before turning its attention away. The giant might not be a kaiju, but it was a massive predator. The ground shook from its every step, and if my eyes weren't deceiving me could easily be 90ft from snout to tail. From where it stood, it was easily 4 times might height.