I followed the stale scent of bugn for a short while until I lost the last whisper of it. I would've been more disappointed that I didn't pick a right direction to track, if I didn't find so fresh water at where I got. It was just a tiny trickle that seeped out of the wall, but it still tasted diving, and there beca more of it after I carved a wider hole in the wall with my claws.
Then I went to track bugn again. I had the scent, and I had my claws with which I marked the place I had been. Now that I was circling the sa caves, it beca both harder and easier to understand where I was. There was an actual fear now that I would have to dig my way outside if I planned to ever get there…
The bugn weren't the first thing I found when I went in the other direction, either. Instead, it was a furrypede, just like the one I've seen on the other side of the human fortress. They seed to be a pretty common monster. That one, though, was smaller than the ones I've seen before, and just from the way it scuttled around, I could tell that it wasn't as strong.
I extended my claws and took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of its fur, chitin, and the sweet at underneath. I was going to test my newfound abilities on this creature. One of its kind almost killed once, now it was my turn to return the favour with percents.
Despite my attempts to be quiet, when I drew closer, the furrypede noticed my presence. It turned around , twisting its long body. Its fur stood up on its ends, and the creature warned with a clatter of its mandibles. Or maybe it was just tasting the air, too. I wasn't sure about this monster's intelligence.
While it stood nice and still, I whipped my hand, letting the claws on my fingers—not the bone stuff, but the air magic things that covered my fingers—detach and fly forward. Unlike a normal throwing knife, these claws didn't have much weight to draw them towards the ground and skew off my aim.
It was still poor, though. Instead of piercing the beast's head like I intended, the blades of wind cut through its body, severing several legs. The furrypede jerked in pain, and the tallic scent of the blood that spilled out of its wounds filled the cave. But it was still alive, and now angry enough to advance at .
I raised my hand up. My claws were back again, and I was ready for another shot when I felt it. At the mont when the clarity of the battle trance should've descended on , instead I was plunged into…
It was hard to describe with words. There was just the sharpness of the mind and my perception that I got in battle trance as well, but stronger this ti, and then there was sothing more. Sothing that ca right from my soul. It was like suddenly, my resolute desire to prevail and to succeed beca sothing I could turn into a material thing at will.
I gave into that feeling and expelled it outward. Power surged in , and the clarity I had helped to understand its extent. I beca stronger, faster, harder to kill. I knew that no pain would stop in this state, and the furrypede seed to crawl barely faster than a snail. It wasn't the enhanced on rainbow water creature the likes of which I've seen before, but I judged it was still as fast as Frost Griffins.
It didn't even have a chance to get closer to . I turned it into minceat—a literal puddle of finely chopped at and blood—with my wind blades, at the sa ti sharpening my aim. It took hours, but I was patient. It was better to train on sothing like a living—or dead—target than just shoot at random things, I believed. A few tis, the scent of blood attracted other predators, but they just beca new targets.
Only after I was satisfied for now with my results did the enhanced state left . By then, I could reliably hit a critter with a wind blade from ten steps, which was good enough in these cramped caves. Later, I would have to train more.
When the trance left , I fell to my knees. I felt exhausted, but not on a physical level. I just spent what felt like half a day repeatedly sharpening my aim, like there was nothing more important. And while it WAS important, my body was sure that food was much more so. The sll of at and blood around drew almost insane.
I ate all I could gather and felt much better, partly because my stomach was full, and partly because food was just a nice help for ntal exhaustion. 'Steel Soul'… Would I enter this state every fight from now on? No, this wasn't just about the fight. The enhanced state fell on not when I attacked, but when I decided to train my aim on the furrypede.
I imagined, if I made it a goal, I could approach anything this way. I had to learn how to control it. In this state, the needs of my body were sowhere down there, and it was just tiring overall.
There was nothing better for so grind, though. I scoffed. There was a reason I didn't like grind, and this was because I didn't like repetitive activities. Hunting, now that always was exciting. Each ti, it was sothing different. Easy or challenging, short or long, chase or ambush…
I shook my head. And there was another thing, too. With the ss I made from the furrypede, the scent of bugn was completely lost in the scent of blood.. If there were any nearby, I would have harder ti searching for them.
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