So far, Matheus didn’t have any luck with his search.
The Blue Lake was very easy to find. It was a short walk from the city, not 15 minutes away. First Matheus found odd a kid playing alone with that many monsters roaming around but he quickly learned there were regular expeditions done by other Hunters like him, in the form of quests.
He couldn’t understand those people. Their way of living didn’t make a lot of sense for him. The more he thought about it the weirder it got. And Matheus didn’t want to bring up the Contest with anyone again, until he was sure what they knew.
He’d started the day earlier today, wanting to make the best out of it. Once he got his breakfast from the City Hall, he saw the cat sleeping very near it, half hidden behind some bushes.
Not being able to help himself, he called for the animal and gave it a portion of his food.
Those few minutes of companionship made him feel more rested than the hours he spent on his new bed.
Strange, how those things worked.
He had spent the remaining of the day searching on a perimeter around the lake, trying to find the direction the boy could have gone. Something must have attracted his attention, and he either got trapped or kidnapped by some creature.
After hours of wandering, he had no clues.
Even with his new shoes, his feet were starting to hurt a little.
Matheus stopped, took his backpack from his back and got a Herb Mix.
An idea occurred to him.
Matheus took his backpack and stored it into his Inventory.
It only used one space!
He took it off, and tried putting more items inside it. Again, it was using only one space.
That would make his life a lot easier. The only disadvantage was, he wouldn’t be able to quickly summon anything inside his backpack. But that was ok. He still had enough space left to carry other items.
Matheus had barely finished experimenting with his backpack when a sudden noise startled him.
Something… No, many things were coming in his direction. Without a better strategy, he hid behind a tree, putting the boulder he carried next to himself. He stayed low, waiting.
Matheus watched as half a dozen of dog sized spiders crossed just a few meters from him.
When he got the chance, he analyzed one.
Giant Widow - Level: 9
They mourn by insatiably eating fresh flesh.
Health: 22/22, Mana: 4/4
One bite is enough to paralyze their prey . They always hunt in groups.
Matheus' blood went cold. Those monsters were way too dangerous for him. He remained a statue, not even breathing.
Even after they had disappeared from his field of vision, he waited a whole minute to move again.
Once he finally did, System notifications flooded his vision.
Hiding has reached level 5!
Skill Advancement has been reached!
You have three options!
Sneaking
Makes it easier to avoid trouble by getting through someone unnoticed.
Blending
For situations where you need to quickly disappear.
Spying
Find your enemies secrets before they even know about you.
Matheus didn’t know what to choose. He was thankful there was no timer this time, otherwise he would’ve panicked. He was still wary of those spiders, but since he was waiting for them to get further away, he could as well decide on his advancement.
All three options could help him in different ways.
He wasn’t expecting such straightforward, useful descriptions. Now, he had to decide what he needed the most: to avoid fights, to have more chances getting out of a fight, or to prepare for the fights before they happened?
Matheus was inclined to go with the Spying skill. Gathering information had helped him many times.
Still, a Blending skill could save his life if he got too overwhelmed. Probably not right away, but if the skills could advance at level 5, there was a high chance they would advance again. If it was improved enough, it could be an invaluable asset.
And yet, a Sneaking skill sounded like something a dagger wielder should have.
“Dubagugaguga?”
Matheus startled, turning to find something standing a few meters away, clearly watching him.
The thing had five arms, but only 1 leg. It was very hairy, brown and the size of Matheus’ head, and its body was round like a coconut. In fact, it wasn’t fur, but coir covered every part of it.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!” The beast screamed.
It attacked him before he could analyze its soul.
In one leap, the monster crossed through all the five meters separating them and was on top of him, spinning.
Even this close, Matheus could see no visible eyes, only a distorted mouth. It was just a ball with limbs. He barely dodged it, slashing blindly. Miraculously, he hit it.
His knife made a clanging sound, like he had just stabbed a wall.
Matheus was caught so off guard, he couldn’t hold his knife and watched as it flew away.
Then he felt his face being smacked by all sides.
-1HP
-2HP
-1HP
-2HP
-1HP
- 1HP
He fell with his back on a tree behind him, dazed. In just a single passing, the monster had managed to punch him half a dozen times. What the fuck was that.
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And worst of all, he was now unarmed.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!”
The creature was at him again, fists flying. Matheus threw himself to the floor and rolled, panic surging through him. Before he was fully on his feet, he had to duck as the monster passed flying over his head.
He still had his inventory full of Stuffed Koala’s heads. He had been too wary of leaving them in his room, afraid someone would find out about it.
They were probably worthless for him now, after he killed the Momma Koala, but he wasn’t about to just throw away items he had worked hard to get. He was still hoping he would be able to sell or trade it for something later on.
Now, they were all the weapons he had. Damn him for not keeping a branch in reserve.
As it attacked again, Matheus picked a head and smashed it on the monster.
It did him little good.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!”
The beast went through it like it was nothing. Even before the head touched him, it had already punched it so many times only small bits of fur remained.
It hopped at him again, and Matheus dodge to the left. Thanks to the Gods it had only one leg and couldn’t run at him, otherwise it wouldn’t be this easy to dodge its attacks.
A strike on the back of his head took him to the floor again.
-2HP
It had hit him as he escaped. Its many arms were giving it an incredible reach, and it was predicting Matheus’s moves.
Fuck. He needed to run.
Matheus threw himself to the side just as the creature attacked again. He couldn’t waste time, his life was dangerously low already. Just a few more hits, and he would be done.
Matheus started running straight ahead, not caring about where he was going. After 5 steps, he changed directions and felt as the creature flew mere inches behind him.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!”
Should he try climbing? There was no way he would get high enough before the monster finished him. Matheus ducked to the right and rolled, again avoiding the monster more for luck than skill.
He wasn’t getting any far from it. He couldn’t keep up, all this dashing around quickly tiring him. His body was begging for a rest.
Then he saw it, his knife on the ground, only a small distance in front of him.
Matheus rushed to it. Only a few more steps, and he would have a chance.
-1HP
-2HP
-1HP
-1HP
-2HP
It leaped straight to his back, caughting him off guard. Matheus fell on all fours, pain soaring through his body.
He watched as the creature landed ahead, turned, and jumped.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!”
No other choice.
Before it could reach him, Matheus clapped his hand as hard as he could.
“ECHO CLAP” He shouted and prepared himself.
A sound wave exploded, stopping the monster midair.
Matheus' whole body trembled like a bell, his teeth chattering. He felt dizzy.
But he was alive.
The weird ball lay in front of him, pulling its hair and rolling on the ground. It looked miserable.
His Echo Clap had not only defended him, it had affected the monster’s head. It seemed to have hated it much more than Matheus had.
Matheus got up, and went to his knife. He had only this chance.
He got closer, and slashed the monster’s leg. It was enough to cut it clean off.
“DUBAGUGAGUGA!” It screamed again, but the tone was different now. It was full of confusion and hurt.
It tried to move away, but it could only slowly drag itself.
Matheus slashed again, followed by another scream.
The creature’s sorrow echoed in the forest, a little weaker after every cut.
“Dubagu…gagu…ga”
When Matheus finished with the last arm, its howls almost sounded like sobs.
You’ve killed a One-Legged Coconut!
You’ve unlocked the Slash Skill
Echo Clap has reached level 2
Slash - Acquired Skill
The fine art of slashing with a sharp object
Matheus wouldn’t call a “fine art” maiming something to its death.
This time, he didn’t feel excited about getting a new skill. He felt tired, and nothing else.
He stared at the mutilated coconut.
Was this the monster that had gotten to the child? He doubted, since there were no changes within his quest.
It didn’t surprise him the kid went missing. Why the fuck was he playing alone when there were things like this around? It made no sense.
And where was the head for him to keep? The whole thing was just a ball.
The system allowed him to store the whole body on his Inventory, and he did just that. He had no idea if his Skull Collector skill would work this way, but it was worth the shot.
He started the walk back to the village.
If there was a “Kill a One-Legged Coconut” quest he had missed, Matheus would be pissed.