Chapter 8: Nurkos

Twenty minutes. That was how long it took Kaze to shoot his web farther than a few feet. He would’ve preferred if the range was longer, but he didn’t have all day to train. So this would have to do for now. Climbing up a nearby tree, he made sure he was quiet and careful. He did not want to fall again. Once he climbed up to the second branch of the tree he was on, he made his way deeper into the forest. He had some monsters to kill.

In order to avoid falling, Kaze would drop web on the branch below him every couple of feet. This way, if he were to accidently fall, his web should save him. It wasn’t strong enough to hold his weight, but it should be able to slow him down. As more time passed, he became better and better at traversing odd terrain. Sure he made more noise than he would’ve liked, but that was a sacrifice he had to make. If he had to sacrifice noise for balance, then so be it.

It only took him a few more minutes of traveling before he heard movement in the dark. Stopping quietly on the branch he was on, Kaze turned his head and listened. He could hear footsteps destroying undergrowth as the source of the noise approached him. Tightening his grip on his spear, he waited a few stressful seconds until a wolf like creature emerged from a nearby bush. As he examined the mysterious creature, a frown appeared on his face.

Nurko: lvl 5

This Nurko was a black, wolf-like creature, with armored plates covering its body. The first problem Kaze noticed was its color. If this monster decided to run away while he was fighting it, there would be nothing he could do about it. It he lost sight of it for a moment, then it would be gone, hidden in the vast expanse of darkness. In order to combat this, he needed to make sure to always keep an eye on this monster when he was fighting it. But even this would prove to be hard thanks to its natural camouflage. Still, until he fought the monster, he wouldn’t know how hard it would be.

The second problem he would need to deal with was the various armored plates that surrounded the Nurko’s body. From what he could see, a good majority of its body was covered with the plates. The wooden spear he had might be able to damage them, but not by much. Maybe if he had a better weapon than the poorly crafted spear he was using. But he didn’t. So he needed to figure out what to do.

Debilitating blow would be very useful in this situation. He was pretty sure he could get pass the armored plates with this skill. The only problem was the amount of stamina that would be used. It had taken him quite a while to take down a Frogera, and this Nurko was bound to be way stronger. Not only that, but if he was forced to fight two at once, his stamina would surely take a beating. Thankfully he had a couple stamina potions. Not a lot, but enough that he should be able to killed a few Nurkos before having to head back to the village.

The third problem was the creature itself. It seemed to be closely related to a wolf, and he was pretty sure most wolves ran in packs. He didn’t want to be fighting it only to have it howl for reinforcements. One was already enough trouble in this darkness. Three or four would be a disaster. He needed to figure out a way to keep it quiet while he was attacking it. Watching the Nurko walk slowly beneath him, Kaze came up with a plan.

Raising his two front legs slightly, he shot a glob of web at the Nurko. Because he was hidden, Kaze’s web was able to beautifully splatter across the monster’s head, trapping it against the ground temporarily. Leaping off his branch, he began charging his spear with energy. Landing on the Nurko’s back, Kaze lifted up his spear and slammed it into its neck. Thanks to the amount of power put into the blow, his spear was able to bypass the armored plate and sink into the soft flesh beneath it.

-60 HP! [Sneak Attack]

Lifting up his spear with both his hands, Kaze proceeded to jab it against the Nurko’s defenseless body again and again. As he did this, he dug his sharp legs deeper into its back and pressed all of his body weight against it. It was far too late for the monster to escape now.

-28 HP!

Target is Bleeding!

-5 HP!

-22 HP!

It only took Kaze a couple more stabs before the Nurko was dead. But although he defeated the wolf-like monster quite easily, he didn’t let it go to his head. There were several factors involved that allowed him to win as easily as he did. First was the sneak attack. Thanks to it, he was able to deal a considerable amount of damage. Without it, it would have taken him a few more hits before he would’ve been able to take down the Nurko.

The second was that it was alone. He was able to focus entirely on the Nurko since he already knew it was by itself. If there was more than one, then Kaze would have had to suffer some wounds in return for the Nurko’s death.

The third factor was his plan. The Nurko mostly likely attacked with the fangs in its mouth, and seeing as how Kaze had wrapped it up in web, it had no way to attack. It might have been able to attack him with its claws, but due to the way he landed on its body, attacking that way was impossible. If any of these factors had been different, then the battle could have gone easily in a different direction. Still, it seemed that his web would prove to be useful in the future.

Taking a glance at his stamina bar, Kaze frowned. He had spent too much on one enemy in his opinion. The only excuse he could think of for using as much as he had was that he wanted to kill the monster as fast as possible. If he used one or two debilitating blows in the same spot, the armored plates in that area would be destroyed. He was able to do this easily on this Nurko, seeing as how it hadn’t moved that much when he attacked. Whenever he fought multiple moving opponents, it would be quite difficult to land two debilitating blows on the same spot.

Crouching down beside the Nurko, Kaze touched the loot icon and watched the creature disappear in a mass of particles. Less than a second later, he received his loot.

Nurko Pelt Description: Armor plated fur of a Nurko. Effect: Crafting Ingredient

Similar to a Frogera leg, Kaze had gotten an ingredient from the Nurko. But unlike the Frogera leg, it couldn’t be eaten. However, this pelt could be used to craft something. More than likely armor, seeing as how the armored plates in the fur would provide decent defense against attacks. He wouldn’t be able to craft it himself though, seeing as how he had no training in armor making. When he got back to the village, he would need to remember to ask the blacksmith if he could make something from this pelt.

If he was being honest, Kaze preferred something like this as loot rather than gold. The reason was because although gold was nice, he really needed some armor. He could probably buy some gloves and a chest plate, but that would be it. Due to his unique body shape, he would need to buy unique armor. Nothing else would fit him. He had no idea if the small village he was in had armor for his race, but it was doubtful. Most of the people in the village were humanoid, so it made since for most of the armor being created to only fit that specific body type.

Placing the fur in his inventory, Kaze began climbing up a nearby tree. He didn’t know how long he would be able to use this method of attack, but he would use it as long as he could. The amount of damage he could utilize by using this method was too great to ignore. His only complaint was not realizing it sooner. If he had, the Frogeras wouldn’t have been that much of a problem. They were weaker than the Nurkos after all.

Kaze was able to use this method of attack to kill two more Nurkos until he finally ran into a problem.

Nurko: lvl 5 Nurko: lvl 6

Below the branch he was on were two Nurkos. Sure it was only one more than he usually fought, but he usually killed that one using stealth and surprise attacks. One of the Nurkos was also a higher level than him. Still, Kaze thought he could handle them as long as he was careful. So after a few seconds of watching, he struck.

Raising up his front two legs slightly, Kaze shot a glob of web towards the Nurko that was farthest away. As the web flew through the air, he quickly turned and shot another one towards the other Nurko. Due to him being hidden, his two webs were able to successfully stick towards their targets. They wouldn’t last forever, so he would need to act soon.

Leaping down from the tree he was in, Kaze stabbed the closest Nurko with a debilitating blow. Sadly he didn’t get the stealth attack since he was revealed when he shot his web a second time. Pushing all of his weight onto the wolf-like creature, he began to stab it with his spear as many times as he could. He was unable to kill it however, due to the other Nurko running towards him.

-0 HP! Attack Missed!

By leaping back quickly, Kaze was able to dodge the ferocious bite that came his way. Holding his spear tightly in his hand, he watched as the trapped Nurko slowly tore free from his webs. Its health was already pretty low, and it would only take a couple more hits to kill it. He wouldn’t be able to kill it easily however, due to the uninjured Nurko that was guarding it. With a frown on his face, he began to come up with a plan.

Shooting a web towards the uninjured Nurko, Kaze watched as it was easily dodged. Tch, it seemed that his stealth had helped him out more than he though. He was pretty sure the injured Nurko wouldn’t be able to dodge his web, but the uninjured one would be a problem.

Jabbing his spear towards the uninjured Nurko, Kaze tried to think of a plan. The one he had injured was currently limping, so he should be able to dodge its attacks with ease. It was the uninjured one he needed to worry about. He would’ve thought more about this Nurko, but his train of thought was interrupted. It seemed that the uninjured level six Nurko now had a small green glow surrounding it.

What the hell?

Kaze watched in confusion as the green glow began to cover the uninjured Nurko. Noticing the injured one trying to sneak up on him, he quickly turned and shot a glob of web at it. The moment he did this, the uninjured Nurko disappeared.

-40 HP!

Grasping his side in pain, Kaze noticed a series of bloody lines across his skin. If he had to guess, he would say he had been scratched by the uninjured Nurko. The question was how. He had only seen green glow in his vision, and the next thing he knew he was injured. This attack had to be some type of skill. It was probably similar to his debilitating blow except the Nurko’s speed was increased instead of its strength. Or its strength was increased as well. He didn’t know for certain.

Turning around to face his opponent, Kaze watched as the green glow disappeared from the uninjured Nurko. Could it only use that skill once? Either way, he wasn’t going to let this opening pass him by. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out a poison potion and lobbed it towards the injured Nurko. Since it was still trapped in his webs, the only thing it could do was watch as the vial crashed into its body. A few seconds later, it was yelping in pain as the poison did its work.

Holding a paralysis potion in his left hand, he waited for the uninjured Nurko to make its move. Once he hit it with the potion, he could just keep on shooting his webs at it until it was trapped. After that, he would be able to kill it quite easily. The only thing he had to be careful about was the Nurko dodging the vial in his hand. It had dodged the web he had shot at it, and he threw potions a lot slower than he shot web.

After a couple moments of dodging attacks and thrusting his spear, Kaze realized a something. It seemed that the Nurko was smarter than he thought it was. He had assumed that it would just keep on attacking him with no plan, and he would just need to wait for an opening. However, this was not the case. Whenever it attacked him, the Nurko always made sure that it was able to quickly retreat. This not only made it hard to hit it with his potion, but it also made it hard to hit. He would have to trick it or wait for it to make a mistake if he wanted to win this battle.

It was a few moments after this that the injured Nurko died. It seemed that it couldn’t handle the bleeding and the poison damage it took, and succumbed to its wounds. This was good since Kaze would now be able to focus entirely on the opponent in front of him. He would need to too, seeing as how this was one of the hardest enemies he fought.

Shooting his web towards the Nurko, Kaze watched as the monster dodged his attack. He shot off a few more in hopes of hitting it, but all of his attacks were dodged. After dodging his latest attack, the level six Nurko turned towards him with a snarl and began to glow. Holding the paralysis potion in his hand, Kaze waiting for it to make its move. The moment it hit him, he would try to hit it with his potion. If he was successful, he should be able to wrap this battle up.

With his eyes focused on the Nurko, he watched as it quickly began to approach him. Try as he might, Kaze was too slow to dodge the oncoming attack. Gritting his teeth in pain, he noticed a big gaping cut appear on one of his legs.

-40 HP!

If it kept on landing attacks like this, he would soon be no more. Still, after using this skill, the Nurko would be forced to stay still for a few seconds. The first time this happened, he had thought it was a fluke. But after a second time, he knew this was no coincidence.

Ignoring the pain in his body, Kaze lobbed the paralysis potion towards the Nurko’s still body. Once it hit, he began shooting as much web as he could towards it. The moment it was completed covered in his webs, Kaze approached and began stabbing it with his spear. He was forced to use his debilitating blow for the first couple of hits, due to the fact that his normal spear attacks would just be deflected. Thanks to the Nurko being trapped, Kaze was able to kill it quite easily.

As he drank a few health potions to regain his lost health, another Nurko quickly appeared. Shit, did it come because of the noise? As the Nurko charged towards him, Kaze grabbed another paralysis potion from his inventory. He usually didn’t like using this many potions in one battle, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Jumping to the left, he managed to dodge the oncoming attack and throw the potion in his hand at the moving body. Once the potion hit, the battle was over. He only needed a few seconds to completely trap his opponent in webs.

Downing a stamina potion, Kaze waited to see if any other Nurkos were coming. Once he realized they weren’t, he began to loot the monsters. The first one he killed gave him a couple of copper coins which he put into his inventory. Although he would’ve preferred a pelt, money was still better than nothing. Saving the level six Nurko for last, he approached the Nurko that he had just killed. Clicking the chest icon, he watched as the body disappeared and a pelt take its place. Nodding his head in satisfaction, he placed it in his inventory and approached the last corpse.

Clicking the chest icon, Kaze watched the corpse disappear. He hoped the loot from this monster would be good, seeing as how it was a higher level than the rest. It also took a lot of work to kill, and if he only got a couple of coins for the trouble he went through, he wasn’t going to be happy.

It turned out that the loot from the level six Nurko was just another pelt. He couldn’t really complain seeing as how he didn’t get copper coins as he feared. Still, Kaze wished he could get more loot like the necklace or gloves that he had on. He would definitely get this type of loot from a boss, but he didn’t know if he was ready to fight one. Only time would tell.

Wiping off the blood from his spear, Kaze stretched the muscles in his body. He had some more Nurkos to kill.

AN: Thanks for reading!