I sat on a tree close to our pond. From my position, I could overlook most of the clearing and it was very difficult to spot me at the same time. Vivi had tried to find me and only succeeded after I told her where to look. The sun was just starting to rise above the hills and I had been waiting for quite a while but my targets of interest finally showed themselves.

The herd kept close together, the deer nearly touching. It was led by the stag who paid careful attention to the space in front. He was not the only one looking around, though. At least one pair of eyes and ears was looking for danger in every direction. Some animals in the middle of the herd were even looking up. It was a good thing I was not just relying on my elevation but had hidden properly.

My senses were also stretched taut. I wanted to know as much as I could about this herd. I was specifically looking for any magic they used. The stag was obviously the biggest threat but I did not want to underestimate the deer. The first thing I noticed was that they used the aspect of senses to do something. Strands of energy shot back and forth between the animals, most moving towards and from their leader. As he stepped onto the clearing and all the animals relaxed slightly, I figured out what they were doing. They were sharing information. A form of telepathy, possibly. Though it was not looking very detailed. I would try to hijack the connection but that required getting too close to stay hidden.

The second bit of magic I noticed was a field of earth mana aligning with their pelts. The animals had to have some sort of protection from it. That might make things more difficult. Especially since the stag had the highest concentration around itself. It might not be easy to even injure him. As the deer started to absorb more water mana from the crystals, I wondered why the herd was here. They had definitely used a different node to get access to sensus and earth mana. What happened to that? Did they break it by draining too much? I could definitely imagine it with how much mana they could absorb as a group. I also noticed them keeping the communication up while drinking. The group standing watch was constantly sending mana to the others, most of it passing through the stag's antlers. Were those antennas, or what?

Once they had their fill, the animals left quickly and moved into the forest. They were not as fast as Vivi, mostly because they moved in a group and had to let their slowest members keep up. Of course, I followed them. I had filled my storage with a bit of extra food, leaving some books and the big cauldron with Vivi. She also had the Thaumonomicon and was reading to learn more language. Or thaumaturgy. I was not too sure which she was more interested in. Maybe I should figure out how to get her a Thaumonomicon so I could keep my own for myself? A question for later, now I had to keep watching our potential targets.

I followed the herd through the trees making sure to keep [Sneak] up to hide any noise I made. They stayed on the move for most of the day only stopping occasionally to eat a bit of greenery. There were two stops near water but no more at the pond. Always, some of the deer kept watching their sides and backs. It was near impossible to get close without being noticed. As night came by, the animals found a spot of thick undergrowth not too far from the pond and settled down. They huddled close and the stag walked around them once, spreading mana into the air. As soon as he finished his round, the animals disappeared. They were hidden better than I had been the whole day long. Even Vivi who had a [Camouflage] Skill could not disappear from my perception. She was only able to make herself look like her surroundings. The herd was there one moment and the next I could not see them anymore. The only sign of their presence was the occasional leaf and branch bent in an unnatural way.

The stag had to have some serious magical power to create such an effect. But I was wondering how much of it could be used in combat. It seemed to need some considerable preparation. Another weakness was made apparent once the sky started to lighten. As soon as the first deer moved, the whole herd was perfectly visible again. I breathed a sigh of relief. They would not be able to fight while invisible. Though, remembering our first confrontation, they were still able to mess with our senses. We should be careful of that.

I followed the herd back to the pond where they once again drank and the deer each absorbed a water crystal. This was the most consistent place for setting a trap. We should definitely use this place. Since it was close to Vivi’s home, we would have an easy time preparing the area.

Just as the last group had finished absorbing their crystals and were resting, protected by the rest of the herd, I decided to go for [Identify]. The most important target was the stag so I started with it.

[Identify]

Species: Forest Stag (mature)

Age: 20

Name: -

Gender: male

Level: 73

That was a high level. At least, my [Hidden Identify] triggered properly and I avoided detection. If he had spotted me it might have spelt trouble. I followed up on a deer.

[Identify]

Species: Forest Deer (mature)

Age: 8

Name: -

Gender: female

Level: 38

This was the smallest and weakest looking of the animals. A few more uses of the Skill brought my mana down quite a bit but I could gauge their levels to not reach over 60. Besides the stag of course. They were between eight and fifteen years old making me wonder about the gap in age and why there were no young. More importantly, none of them were sapient and none had a special species. They had not evolved. Their communication had to be either a racial ability, which further inspection of their race disproved or something coming from mana enrichment. Only, where had their original node been?

I was satisfied with this first round of scouting and returned to the underwater den for some rest. Vivi gave me a sleepy greeting from her bed. It was no longer placed against a wall and instead surrounded by books. Had she been learning other languages?

“Don’t overdo it, Vivi” I sent.

She only nodded in answer and we got some rest.

The next night we began our planning. Vivi needed to make a proper trap but it was unlikely to knock out the whole herd so we decided to try and get the stag. I was doubtful a single trap would kill it. Both of us would hide somewhere nearby and be ready to profit off the distraction. Vivi could pump more poison into the animal and I could pelt it from range with [Winged Death] or try to get at a vital point with [Surprise Attack] and [Strong Grip].

My friend also had [Surprise Attack] as a [Hunter] Skill. She could empower it with something called [Clawing Water] or [Poisoned Edge]. The former was a racial Skill she had used to dig her den and carve into the walls. The latter was another [Hunter] Skill. Both could not be used together, since the water diluted the poison. I was hoping to get through the stag’s hide with my attacks. That would allow her to forgo the penetrating power of [Clawing Water]. But she was much faster in short-range movement when I did not have my shadows spread out. This early in the fight I would not be able to shift right onto the stag most likely so we decided for me to try using [Winged Death] with destruction mana. The large wounds that would hopefully create were the perfect setup for Vivi. If it did not work, she could still use her water Skill. It would waste a little mana getting the poison ready and then diluting it but it was worth the attempt.

Right after our first strike, I wanted to have the stag disabled or dying and be able to demoralize the rest of the herd. An [Intimidating Screech] would hopefully do it. Of course, I warned Vivi about the illusions we might have to face and to not trust her senses if the stag started acting. We already knew about his scream attack that had disabled me and his antlers and hooves were his strongest weapons for normal combat. The deer themselves would only be a threat with their hooves so I warned Vivi not to stay on the ground for too long.

We spent the next night preparing for the fight. Vivi had carved some wooden sticks into pointy spears and placed them near the pond in the trees. She made sure to dig holes to hide them in or place them beneath plants. The tips had turned green from a liquid secreted between her claws. The poison served as additional camouflage.

I was unsure which form to take. I would definitely fight in a specialized body. The metal form was probably not a bad idea. It let me use powerful talons and I could hold it for a long time restoring the mana I needed to shift in the first place. But if I went for a void or destruction based form I might be able to do much more damage. Though I could only use half my mana in combat because I had to shift right before and keep enough to shift back. I really wanted to go for void but the risk was just not worth it. Though I did decide to change the crystal part of my metal form for darkness. This would make it a lot easier to hide and hopefully also help my [Owl’s Shadow]. With that, our preparation was ready. The only thing left to do was wait for our target. Once the sun crested the horizon, we would strike.