Author Notes:

Hey! Here's chapter 8, two chapters in one day :D

Well, I'm insanely tired, so I plan to sleep in the near future, took an all-nighter last night, like I explained in chapter 7

Shoutout to the 3 reviews made so far, love them all

But I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 8: Is this Why People Love to Hunt?

Waking up at dawn as usual, I walked outside my tent. It wasn’t anything special, just some fabric that was waterproof and a few sticks.

Outside I noticed the Human priest being on watch. Her name was Cecelina, she’s tall, slender, has short black hair, and a positive outgoing personality. I had quite taken a liking to her, she was easy to approach, and had nothing to do with the bad things I had heard about Humans. Actually, while we traveled I had learned that she was opposed to it.

Apparently, she was a priest of the Goddess of Intelligence, Wisdom, Insight and Knowledge, Synd. And her teachings were that all races are equal in regard to knowledge. Humans were genius inventors, tacticians, etc., Fae were the best artisans, Demons were the best soldiers, Beastmen were the best hunters, scouts, warriors, etc., and Demi-human had the best from all the races, though more balanced towards it all.

This led to that the church of Synd was shunned by many Human kingdoms and empires, but welcomed on all other continents, making it the most widespread one.

That’s what she told me at least.

Back on track.

Since it should be a few more hours before the others wake up, I told her that she could switch with me and get a bit more sleep.

At first, she was reluctant, but after a bit of persuasion and telling her that we Lizardmen only needed 5 hours sleep a day, she accepted.

The fact that we only needed 5 hours of sleep every day made life easier. It gave you more time to practice and hunt, while also reducing the amount of resting time needed when on hunting trips.

The first thing I did was walk around checking my traps.

Last night I had planted a few simple traps around the camp to try to warn us if something dangerous approached. They were simple traps my mother had taught me, nothing fool proof, but better than nothing.

None of the traps had seemed to go off during the night, and I found no traces of bigger animals or beasts nearby, meaning that no nocturnal creature has its hunting ground right here.

This was a good thing.

It meant that we could use this spot as our campsite for the rest of the hunting trip, and feel safe using it. We still needed to have a guard posted all night, just to be sure, but it would surely lessen the burden on the guard.

Returning I unsheathed my whip-sword and started practicing once again, all while remaining aware of my surroundings.

I made no big improvements, but I managed to speed up my transition between the sword- and whip-form.

Two hours later, everyone were awake.

They prepared a quick breakfast while I just ate my raw meat.

I tried some of the cooked meat last night, but for some reason it tasted worse than raw meat.

Equipping their weapons and armour, we set off.

Unlike me, they actually wore defensive equipment, while I was nearly stark naked, only wearing a ragged cloth over my groin area. Lizardmen rarely wore more, due to our thick scales, being our natural defence.

As we were approaching the Kyurn nest, I stopped the group.

I had received specific orders from mother on how to deal with a nest.

The method is simple.

You simply have a scout of some sort waiting near the nest, keeping an eye on them. And when said scout spots a group heading out, he will report it to the rest of the group. They will then follow the small group of beasts, and ambush them.

This is how you deal with nests.

Our goal wasn’t to eradicate the nest, but just thin them out a bit, gaining valuable materials on top of it.

Hearing this tactic, the others easily agreed.

These areas are Lizardmen hunting grounds. Therefore, if you don’t follow the rules, you will become the next prey.

The Elven archer was chosen as the scout, and it was an obvious choice, since she was clearly the only one with stealth and tracking skills.

After waiting for what seemed like half an hour, she returned, reporting that a group of 5 Kyurns left not long ago, heading north.

I asked about their general sizes, and she told me that the biggest one was only 2 and a quarter meters high, while the other ones were 2 or lower.

This meant that most of them were still young, so even if we fail our ambush, we will still be able to kill them without receiving too many wounds.

We followed the Elf, and after another half hour, we arrived to a clearing where 5 medium sized Kyurns were enjoying themselves.

Proceeding with the pre-planned plan, we surrounded the enemies.

I was stationed near the strongest of them, together with Har’Que.

Because of my agility and high damage, and his high defences, we were to focus on the strongest of them.

Waiting for the signal, I stood ready to strike it in the neck with my whip-form draw, hoping to use the ‘First Blood’ skill.

As I saw the signal from Har’Que, I instantly cut the neck of the biggest Kyurn the same way as I did with the Flurne. Except, this time I added even more ki, slashing harder and faster than before.

When my small combo was done, the Kyurn roared in agony and anger, I had clearly upset it with that attack.

However, just as it was about to charge at me, it was halted by Har’Que.

Not having time to look around, I rushed up to the Kyurn, circling it, and slashing the back of its neck repeatedly with my sword-formed whip-sword, deepening the wound.

After a few slashes I could feel a heavy resistance and some white splinters flying around. I concluded that I had reached the spine

Signalling Har’Que, he circled the Kyurn while I drew its attention.

The plan was for me to remove the pelt and flesh blocking the spine, and when it was exposed, he would cut through it, most likely killing the beast.

As I now had its attention, and Har’Que needed a few seconds to get in position and attack, I had to dodge, parry and block some of its attacks.

Most of them were heavy, but very slow, allowing me to easily duck under or jump over them. But when it suddenly started shifting between heavy and fast attacks, it became much harder.

It forced me to block and parry more often, leaving little time to dodge. I received a few scratches here and there, but only a couple of those went through my scales, drawing blood.

After fighting it for those few seconds, which felt like hours, Har’Que finally managed to land a hit, separating its cranium from the spine, killing it.

Confirming that it was dead, I turned to look at the current state of the battle.

The Elves were fighting one each, while the Beastman was fighting against the remaining too, with support from the Demi-human mage and Cecelina.

It was an equal fighting ground right now, but after killing their leader, we would now take the advantage.

I rushed over to help the Beastman, while Har’Que would help the Elves.

Agroing one of Kyurns, by whipping it in the side of the head, leaving a quite deep wound, it lifted some of the weight from the Beastman’s shoulders.

This Kyurn was the smallest of them all, only standing 1 and a half meter tall. It was clearly one the youngest one amongst the group, but I should be able to handle.

I started with charging me with everything it had, indeed young and inexperienced. This allowed me to dodge under its tusks, creating an opening for me to slash its right armpit.

And so I did, and the result was better than expected.

Not enough with leaving a deep wound, I also accurately hit the tendon going from the shoulder down into the arm, immobilizing it.

Instead of making it fear me, this only went to anger it further.

Again, it charged me, but this time much faster and with more strength. This must be their so-called ‘Blood Rush’ mother told me about.

It’s an ability that Kyurn activate when feeling cornered.

However, usually only young ones use it, as the amount of blood that pumps through their veins increase, causing them to bleed out if they have any deep wounds.

But waiting for it to bleed out wouldn’t be entertaining, and would take too long, so I started practicing a bit.

Now, I say practice, but it’s more like being careful, and when an opening presents itself, I would try something new.

When it finally reached me, this time it tried to bite me as well as stomp on me with its huge hooves.

To this I responded by parrying the stomp so that the leg would get in the way of the bite. And due to ‘Blood Rush’, it ended up biting itself.

Wanting to test something, I leapt backwards, creating some distance, and swung as I pressed the button, causing it to extent.

It was a bit slow and clunky, but I managed to get the whip-sword to curve around the right leg, just above the hoof.

Pulling it back as I pressed the button, I could hear, see and feel as the blade pieces cut the backside of the spot right above the hoof open, severing the tendon.

Now with two limbs immobile, it fell on its side, completely helpless, but still furious.

I walked up to it, with my sword-form whip-sword, preparing to finish it off, when it suddenly jumped at me.

Somehow, it was able to exert enough energy in its legs to launch itself.

Just as it was about to bite my throat, I forced even more ki to flow to my brain, speeding me up even further.

This was a dangerous method, which could leave to physical and mental damages, and even damage to the ki flow and nerves. But it was either risk this, or die.

Seeing everything slow down, I just barely managed dodge the sharp teeth of the Kyurn.

Not losing this opening, I strengthened my right arm with ki and swung it up towards its throat.

Apparently, I had used too much ki and strength, seeing as the blade cleanly went through its entire neck, severing its head in one strike.

This shocked me for a bit, since it felt as if I had been cutting through butter, but remembering that I wasn’t the only one fighting, I looked to the adventurers.

But what I saw calmed me down.

There was only one Kyurn left standing, and it was heavily wounded, while the adventurers only had a few scratches.

A minute later, the corpses of 5 Kyurn surrounded us.

We were all extremely happy that we managed to kill all five of them.

After quickly bagging them up, we went back to the camp.

On the way, I checked my status.

Stats Points GainedFor cutting the head off of a creature bigger than you with one slash, you have become stronger. +10 STR, +5 DEX.

16x Level UpFor assisting with killing a strong enemy, and killing an opponent stronger than you, you have leveled up.

Not bad, and it’s the first time I’ve gotten strength, must be because of the raw power behind that strike.

However, 16 levels. That’s low compared to the other times, but it does make sense, since I would have to slow down at some point. Doesn’t mean it’s bad though, in fact, it’s good, this way I will be even stronger.

Well, let’s dismiss these messages and see the Status Window.

Status WindowName:Li’???Race:LizardmanTitles:Little One, Survivor, Tribe Prodigy, The Lethal EyeLevel:77Class:???Age:0Gender:MaleBody and Mental Condition:Stamina Points:Current:1602Max:8525Stamina Regen:2,78/SMana Points:Current:2640Max:2640Mana Regen:1,39/SKi Points:Current:2871Max:6415Ki Regen2,42/SStats:Vitality:162 + 16Strength:172 + 17Dexterity:177 + 17Agility:175 + 17Wisdom:81 + 8Intelligence:81 + 8Insight:81 + 8Presence:125Magic Amplification:Casting time:-0,267%Mana cost:-0,267%Effectiveness:+0,267%Other:Racial Trait:Lizardmen get 2x Vit, STR, AGI, and DEX from leveling up.Blessing:Increases all stats by 10%.Blessing:Increases learning new languages by 1.000%.God Magic Skill:Identify: The ability see the information on any item, as long as it’s considered weaker than the caster.Title Skill:Survivor: When fighting against the odds, all stats increase by +3%. (Will still count as against the odds, even if the +3% makes your odds equal or greater than theirs.)Title Skill:Detect Life: You’re able to detect life around you depending on your level of mastery of the skill.Title Skill:First Blood: When you’re the ones who initiates the fight, drawing the first blood, you damage +200% more damage on the initiating hit.Title Skill:Detect Weakness: Using this skill you will be able to see your enemies weaknesses. When using this skill, enemy’s weaknesses will be highlighted by a red glow. The stronger the enemies are, the higher mastery you need in order to detect their weaknesses.

Not much changed, except I got a bit stronger.

Both my stamina and ki is somewhat low, and I feel a bit groggy. I guess this is what happens when you forcefully use too much ki.

When we made it back to the camp, we decided to rest a couple of hours before going hunting again.

It was enough time for me to take a decent nap and fully recover, and so I did.

Before falling asleep, I thought about the fights today.

I need stronger enemies, but it was still fun.

The thrill and excitement of a life and death battle.

The thrill of the hunt.

So this is why people like to hunt…

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Author Notes:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, tried to include some more combat, but will also have combat in the next one :D

Loud music really helps you concentrate on staying awake, only thing keeping me from dozing off

So leave me them juicy comments and reviews ^^ BAI!