Chapter 017 - Mine

Anna kept her head on a swivel as the crushed token vanished from her hand. She took a glance at her inventory and found her reward sitting in the sixth slot. She furrowed her brows and plucked it out, the item falling into her hands. It was both unexpected and pretty much on the nose at the same time. A helmet that completely covered the face. The front appeared to be made from panels of the same kind of wood the trees around her were made of but slightly darker and with a grayish tint. There were only two narrow openings for her eyes. 

She turned it over and examined the leather that was intended to wrap around the back of her head. Rigid leather plates were connected by springy material that reminded her a bit of sinew. Her nose wrinkled at the thought and she turned it back over to examine the most noticeable part of the piece of gear. The horns. Two slightly curved antlers jutted from the front, the ends honed down like spikes.

It’s a little ghoulish, she thought. At least they aren’t crazy long like the big guy.

Stygian Buck Warcaster’s Helm (Mortal-Uncommon)
This heavy armor helm is made from treated Stygian Bloodwood and fitted with the cured leather and sinew of a Stygian Buck Patriarch. This gear provides a high amount of physical protection and a small amount of magical protection. The reinforced horns can be used to gore enemies.

She clicked her tongue appreciatively, “Huh,” she murmured, “Not bad.”

Anna sent the item back into her inventory before using it to equip the item rather than going through the fumbling process of putting it on herself. In an instant her field of view narrowed with the added protection. It didn’t feel overly heavy on her head and with a few experimental twists she found it comfortable to move in. It didn’t protect her throat but it was better than nothing. At least she would be able to take hits to the head a little better. Speaking of, will this work? She reached back and pulled the hood of the Trapweaver robes over the back of the helmet and let it settle just behind the horns.

She tried turning her head again and found no problems with the added layer of protection over the helmet. Satisfied, she took stock. The arrowhead she had used to paralyze the alpha was well and truly used up so she had only nine left. She considered being stingy about using them but dismissed the thought. There was no evidence to suggest that the arrows would work on the undead and her priority was getting stronger before she left this place. That meant surviving and dominating every fight in front of her to maximize gathering essence.

That doesn’t mean I have to use them on scrubs, though. She glanced around the clearing and took a little time to think. Her eyes drifted to the base of one of the trees and she was reminded of the Trapweaver den. Do I have to face Smart Guy head on? I just need to crush him, right? Her hand clenched around the handle of her club and she took a moment to walk around the clearing. He keeps lying in wait for me, maybe I should do the same? 

She grinned and made her way out, focusing on her surroundings. She walked for nearly an hour, sweeping her eyes over the bases of trees as she moved. Those trapweavers couldn’t have been the only ones, right? There’s gotta be more around here. She spotted a few clouds of life beneath one of the trees and smiled, There you are!

The trapweaver trapdoor was a bit smaller than the one she’d encountered with the Alpha inside and she was happy to see that there wasn’t a big cloud of life down below, just a few small ones. She marched over to the patch of grass and readied her club before releasing her presence down towards the trapweavers below. The monsters reacted instantly and raced towards the exit in a frenzy. She took them one at a time as before, golf-swinging their heads off with little effort.

Until the last one came out, of course.

As the hideous creature leaped out of the hole into the killing ground she’d created, Anna snapped her arm out and grabbed it by the back of the head before slamming it down into the grass below. It struggled and squirmed, flailing in her grip as its foul mandibles snapped uselessly in the air. Little shit, hold still… She scowled and turned up the volume on her presence, using what she’d learned during her recovery in the previous trapweaver den. “Stop.”

The struggling spider let out a squeaking sound that could have been fright and went still, its legs falling limp as it stared up towards the trees above. She could still see the faint cloud of its life force so she knew she hadn’t literally scared the life out of it, which was good. She needed it alive for what she had planned. Pleased, she turned to the remains of the others and looted them. 

You have received: 36 Iron Coins and 64 Essence Points

Just a little more to level five, I don’t think I’ll be hitting it before I kill Smart Guy though, no big deal. This should even things out a bit between us, she thought and her blood began to boil. A rolling boil, like a purr of approval. Her smile widened behind her helmet and she dragged the spider with her back into the trees, looking for her next set of prey. It didn’t take long to find a small pack of Stygian deer. It took even less time to do away with them. She didn’t loot them this time and instead tried something new. She shoved them into her inventory.

At first she suspected it wouldn’t work but it turned out that the corpses were functionally items now that there was no life in them. The downside was that each individual took up a full slot in her inventory which was a bit of a pain. Even so, with them she had everything she needed to bring the third and final Alpha of the outer forest to its knees.

Anna made her way as close as she dared to the part of the forest where the prowlers frequented, finding trees close to the edge but not too close. The wall where the door to the lobby was embedded was just barely within sight. The first thing she did was toss the trapweaver she’d been dragging around to the ground. “Web,” she demanded and pointed to the center of the clearing.

The beaten predator looked up at her, no thoughts behind those primitive eyes, and she sighed. I should have considered this. Of course it doesn’t actually understand me. I better just kill-

The spider scrambled away from her, racing towards the center of the clearing and… squatted. Silk sprayed from its abdomen, sticky liquid turning into thin almost invisible fibers as it covered everything it could with webbing before it collapsed in a heap, heaving with the effort. She stared. Definitely not mind control, she thought, but it knew my intent. I think I’m starting to get what this heritage thing is all about. She smiled to herself, Would have been nice to have it back when I was in the student council, maybe those idiots would have listened to me.

She scowled at the memory. Another score to settle. Enjoy your cushy tutorial Chloe, Hale, we’ll see one another in a year.

She walked through the minefield of webbing, watching her step until she arrived at the creature’s side. Whatever she had done to it had been enough to send it into some kind of fit. A quick blow with her club finished it off and she looted it to get rid of blood and body. The last thing she wanted was a hint at what was waiting here. That bastard is smart, better not risk it. After that she tossed the bodies out of her inventory near the thickest portion of webbing and pulled a few of the bone-seizing arrows out of her inventory. She snapped them at the haft and drove them into the ground around the corpses. Four should be enough. Once he gets caught on the webbing he’ll struggle into them. I’ll collect any that survive.

Anna stood up and examined her grisly handiwork. Now I just gotta hope he doesn’t mind a free meal.

“One more thing to do,” she muttered before she turned back to the trees and broke into a jog.

It did not take long for the prowlers to take notice of her when she entered their territory. Blasting her presence out at full volume certainly helped. It had the added benefit of causing the weaker ones to know better than to approach, most fleeing further in the direction she was running. She kept her pace as steady as she could, not wanting to overdo it. Her stamina wasn’t endless and every point spent on running was a point not spent on the Alpha.

Then it came.

The Alpha Prowler leaped from the trees just ahead of her with a snarl. It was as big as she remembered, bigger even, its glistening fur shining a bit in the faint light coming from one side. It raised its head and looked down at her as if examining an insect or something filthy. Her blood boiled at the look in its eyes but she held herself back. Letting her anger get the better of her now would ruin everything. More importantly…

Alpha Stygian Prowler - Level 8

The bastard had leveled up as well. She was sitting at half it’s level. In a head on fight she was no match for it, her gut told her all she needed to know about that. Her blood seemed to disagree, though, and every inch of her skin itched to club that smug muzzle in. She let out a sharp breath to calm herself before raising her finger in a gesture that may not translate intellectually but certainly would demonstrate her intent. A blast of presence helped.

The prowler roared and she ran like hell.

“Come and get me fucker!” she shouted and pulled her presence back in as tight as she could. It wouldn’t help as long as it could see her but that wouldn’t matter soon. She pumped her legs as hard as she could, throwing herself into the mad dash and experiencing the kind of speed her leveled up body could put on for the first time. It was a little shocking. She was passing trees in a blur and almost tripped on more than one occasion as the roaring and charging beast pursued her in a blind fury.

Didn’t like that taste of my presence, did you, big guy? She laughed and hopped over a root. She checked where she was, Not far now. Just a little more.

Resources:
HP: 110/110 | SP: 68/99 | MT: 0/93

Okay, I can work with that, she thought and pushed herself harder as the illumination intensified. She was getting close. Everything depended on her hiding from the beast at just the right distance from bloody scent of the corpses. If she hid too far away then he wouldn’t zero in on them. If she hid too close it was possible he’d either catch on or even ignore them. Another pair of trees zipped by and she glanced back. He was still in hot pursuit with four of his companions with him. She hopped another root and dove to the left, activating stealth as soon as line of sight was broken. She raced to the next set of trees over and pressed herself into the shadows, crouching down and watching the clouds of their life forces.

She could smell the reek of blood in the air. The bait was close. He could definitely smell it too.

Come on, come on, take the bait.

The prowler howled with fury as it charged a tree and carved a divot of bark off of it in its fury. It snarled and spun about, sniffing the air. She watched it paw at the ground, looking for footprints, anything to follow. It sniffed again and tossed its head about. That smell is pretty annoying isn’t it? She thought. Come on… I ran away, you can find me later. How about a bite to eat?

The prowler snarled at its companions and they darted away, racing in the direction of the bait she’d left. Anna pressed herself closer to the tree and kept her eyes on the big guy, he was pacing, infuriated, snapping at the air and clawing the ground. Wow I really pissed him off, she thought appreciatively as one of the lesser prowlers landed near it. I wonder how they communicate, she thought absently as the Alpha turned and the two darted off. Got you.

Anna slipped to her feet and slowly made her way from tree to tree towards her planned killing ground. She scanned the trees, watching for any signs of the prowlers as she drew closer. Soon she arrived within eyeshot and returned to hiding. The Alpha was in the trees, looking down from above with his compatriots. Anna tightened her grip on her club just as the Alpha leaped and landed on the dead deer. Yes!

ROOOAAAHHHHH!

It threw its head back and howled, no doubt having landed on one of the arrowheads. It pulled its forepaw away and took some webbing with it. Anna hopped to her feet and moved as the other prowlers leaped down to assist their alpha. Big mistake. They weren’t nearly as strong as the big guy and were quickly entangled in webbing as the Alpha thrashed about, tugging at the webs as the poison worked its way through its body. Anna waited, and waited, but it didn’t stop moving. It slowed but that was just about it. She frowned, I guess the poison isn’t strong enough to lock him up. Fine, whatever.

She stepped out of the trees and brandished the club, blasting her presence out for all to feel. The Alpha whipped its head up to look at her. “Hey smart guy,” she said, “Remember me?”

It roared and pulled itself to its feet, the webs snapping against its raw strength.

It charged and Anna let out a roar of her own. She threw herself at the beast as her blood caught fire in her veins. She threw her back into the first power strike fueled uppercut that connected with its jaw. The prowler’s head was thrown to the side as it collided with her, bowling her over in a tangle of torn webs, limbs, and claws. She snarled and whipped her head up towards its underside while she spun her club around in her grip. Her horns drove into the beast’s flank and she stabbed it over and over until it pulled off of her and swatted her away with a blow that sent her skipping across the ground and into a tree.

Anna’s bones creaked as the air was forced from her lungs and the beast rounded on her, bellowing as it resumed its charge. She caught her breath and dove to the right, holding out her hand and casting a barrier to catch the claws aimed to prevent her escape. She slipped past as the prowler’s bulk struck the tree and swung again, delivering a power strike to its ribcage. She heard something creak and the Alpha howled again, pivoting and swatting her with a paw. She planted her feet and took the strike with another barrier. 

Anna didn’t fall.

She bore her teeth as a thrill raced up her spine and through her body. A wild excitement marching through her veins and into her mind. The prowler pounced again and she took a step back, swinging again. CRACK! Again, CRACK! 

AGAIN!

She hit it over and over as it threw in blows of its own, scratches and tears ripped into her body, marring her legs as blunt force sent tremors through her body. She forced herself to stay standing, though, stubbornly powering through the pain. It was nothing like what she’d endured in the pool of mana. Nothing could compare to having her flesh literally melting off of her bones. Her health dropped with each exchange, but the Alpha was starting to sway and its movements were becoming stiffer.

In a last-ditch effort, it swung at her head before pouncing with its jaw open wide. She saw its furious eye glowing with what could only be mana. Her mind was going a mile a minute, but only one destination came from each thought. Dominate. Kill. Destroy her enemy. She let it bite down on her arm as she raised the club over her head and turned it around one more time. Pain exploded in her shoulder as she drove the spike down into its eye with a scream.

“THIS FOREST IS MINE!”