And the hunted
Del tumbled to the side, managing to dodge two arrows while the third one grazed his thigh. Realizing his assailant was a bowman who was hiding behind the safe zone's camouflaging barrier, Delvin wanted to close the distance between them but the archer wouldn't allow him.
A flurry of arrows kept pouring towards Del and he was forced to hide behind a small mound of earth. 'How is he keeping this barrage up? Isn't a bow supposed to be restringed after every shot?!' Delvin wondered how the assailant was rearming his bow at such high speeds.
Del noticed that the fired arrows scattered about his vicinity were slowly becoming transparent before disappearing. 'Some kind of special loot or enhanced skill most likely, this means he'll run out of time or resources while I'm hiding down here. I'll wait for that moment and create some kind of distraction while making a run for at him.'
The rain of projectiles continued on for a short time; sounds of swishing and swooshing reverberated round Del as he sat patiently behind cover, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. Delvin summoned two items from his inventory and remained still until the noise of arrows stopped.
That moment came shortly after; Delvin, wasting not a single moment, jumped at the opportunity by throwing a sparkly, green crystal to his left and a ragged-old pair of pants while he himself burst straight ahead towards the mouth of the cave.
Del's heart rate spiked when he noticed the diversion partially worked as he heard a *chink* sound coming his left, but the pants fooled no one; instead, an arrow found its way into Del's left bicep inflicting burning pain and decreasing his HP by 14.
Undeterred, Delvin quickened his pace, determined to bridge the gap between himself and the archer. He crossed the barrier and noticed the cave had an angled roof which lowered the light level, a fact which helped the hidden archer.
Delvin suddenly heard the twang of a bowstring and a wheezing of an arrow and made a hail-mary leap forwards, dodging the arrow and landing on his feet while summoning the Eshewed Spear.
In one swift motion, he had dodged the attack, closed the distance and summoned his weapon, but he still couldn't notice the hiding assailant despite the cave being smaller than the one he originally found.
But then, Del barely made out the archer's humanoid form around the back-wall of the cave; the cavern's scarce shadows acting as beacons for Delvin. The archer's skin colour blended nicely with the environment but his bloodshot eyes glinted in the darkness, calling Del to close them forever.
Delvin heard another the twang of a bowstring and activated Dodge, avoiding the wheezing arrow and reaching the archer's position. "Here's Johnny!" Del yelled as he slashed at the opponent's mutated arm. 'This thing's not human!' Del thought when he saw the enemy up close.
On a closer look Delvin spotted visible bones hanging about the monster's chest cavity and head; there was almost no flesh to speak of, but where there was it was charcoal-coloured and filled with blisters, sores and rot. Delvin was nearly taken aback by the monster's hideous looks but he remained steadfast in his mission of slaying it.
The skeletal monstrosity was a feeble opponent in melee combat at best and Delvin's higher stats prevailed when he unleashed all of his skills upon it. A diving Thrust through the monster's chin finished the job.
[You have slain Lvl.6 Mana-crazed Human(Uncommon)]
[You have received 40% exp]
[Target cannot be looted]
"What in the hell is this abomination, plague hopper's and zombie-skeleton humans are not a good sign of the earthlings' prospering." Delvin crouched near the monster's remains to inspect them closely and scribe some information regarding them.
---
13. Monsters
-Plague Hopper: green, rabbit-looking, poisonous(teeth, spines; claws)
-Mana-crazed Human: skeletal, creepy, bow user(mana arrows?)
How does mana change living beings? Some adapt some lose their minds? (Differences and correlations!)
---
Del also wrote some experiences from the fights he had in order to create a data base of known enemies and their look, offensive capabilities and potential evolutions. He hoped this data base would, in time, grow into an encyclopedia-level glossary on every living being he had encountered.
'I can't remember everything about every enemy and also, having such a pool of knowledge regarding monsters could come in handy as a bargaining chip when negotiating with Earthlings… if there are any left.' Del wasn't too hopeful after this encounter.
Del dodged several kill-shot arrows by virtue of his above-average agility, reflexes and flexibility; sorry-ass level 1 humans could pray to their gods for a chance to dodge even one such arrow, let alone the dozen required to reach the monster's position.
The monster's weapon was the only piece of loot Del received from this fight but seeing as he had no arrows, nor the means or knowledge to craft his own, he put the bow into his inventory for now.
While his HP was recovering, Del took a moment to read up on the skills he got before the fight and as he did a small grin made its away onto his face.
"This confirms some of my theories." He said, cheeks lifting and lips curving upwards.
< Sprint > (Tier 0, Uncommon)
Effect: Boosts your movement speed by 15% allowing you to outrun most near-peer foes. Can be used in combat and exploration.
Cost: 5% Stamina per second
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Your consecutive and purposeful bursts of speed warrant your unlocking of this skill. Pursue your enemies or quickly escape your danger but be mindful of the high cost and cooldown of Sprint.
Level 1/10
< Throw > (Tier 0, Uncommon)
Effect: Miniscule increase to damage done by throwing weapons(or ragged pants) Miniscule increase to ranged weapons accuracy and precision.
Cost: Stamina/Mana
Techniques: N/A
Congratulations! You now know how to throw stuff…so did your genetic ancestors millions of years ago!
Level 1/10
---
The flavour text of the skills confirmed Delvin's theory that the system was constantly observing him; monitoring his behaviour in order to judge his performance and potentially reward him with skills or achievements.
"Your consecutive and purposeful…" Delvin underlined the word purposeful in his journal as this word meant that decisiveness and determination played a part in the system's calculations for giving out rewards.
"I'll keep on being proactive for you, system. I'm hoping you acknowledge this and keep on showering me in presents." Del said while looking at his map and setting off for his home base. "Deposit all of my loot and plan out tomorrow's endeavours while resting and trying to get my head around what's going on." Was Del's plan for when he returned home.
If Del lingered around the cave a short while longer he would have noticed the monster's corpse was being slowly absorbed into the earth by black, tentacle-like appendages which emerged from the rocky floor of the cave.
…
Delvin returned to his original safe zone having encountered only a single hopper on the hour-long trek back through the pink meadow. He had explored the area between the city and this safe zone in an effort to map out the shortest route to the city but in his estimates only covered a fifth of the distance.
Small mounds of green and black monster remains started forming on the cave's flooring, filling the place with a disgusting smell. 'Not my greatest idea.' Del said and retrieved the remains while only leaving the mana crystal he used to distract the archer.
"You seem to be too precious to be used as a decoy in combat, but that arrow didn't even leave a mark on you." Del pondered, examining the crystal closely to his face. "Some kind of dormant energy eh… I guess I'll be carrying you around in my inventory too."
Delvin proceeded to make a small bedding of large, palm-like leaves which he placed on the far side of the cave. His real bed was a small rock-strewn crevice hidden in a corner, rough pebbles and sharp stones acting as his pillow and mattress. 'If anyone stumbles into this place I'll have a few prized seconds to react and respond as needed.'
Despite it being only 8 PM Delvin wanted to rest properly as tomorrow's plan involved him venturing further out towards the city which meant getting up earlier. As Del was shuffling about his gravel-filled cradle a resounding BOOM resonated from the outside.
Del leapt from his hole while equipping his spear and stepping outside the zone's barrier. He quickly checked his surroundings, noting nothing of importance before he realized the sound came from the sky.
In the distance Delvin could see what seemed to be a pair of aircraft fighting off a swarm of bat-like monsters. The twin fighters were barely staying afloat as heaps of monsters climbed aboard their wings and cockpits, damaging them and sending one of the planes into a high rise hill
A loud explosion signalled the end of the first plane while the second one barely maintained altitude. Delvin unconsciously started running when he saw the second plane crashing into the western edge of the Blossomwood, in hopes of getting there in time and making contact with an actual earthling.