B2 Chapter 41: Being Hunted

It’s day now. I know that because the sun was kind enough to stare directly into my face. The bright light shocked me back into consciousness just in time for me to watch myself being hauled across the sand.

I’d arrived at the island where I was going to be hunted. I couldn’t see much from the sac I was trapped in, but it looked similar to the others. A dense jungle surrounded by white sand. It was an interesting choice for a hunting ground. I guess the Shrikon wanted a bit of a challenge.

The one that had been selected to hunt me wasn’t one that I recognized. It was a relief to not face the Captain again, but I wondered how I’d fare against this one. He was taller and leaner than me, with orange and black scales. There was no sign of any armor or weapons, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t equip them. These things had inventories too.

The Shrikon dumped me on the beach and tapped the sac. I gasped as it collapsed around me and I was left covered in a viscous fluid that I was trying really hard not to think too much about. After wiping the goo from my eyes, a thin metal collar snapped into place around my neck.

*Item Identified!* [Helix Industries Tracking Collar, common: F-Grade] – Used primarily for livestock, these collars boast a range of over fifty miles and are guaranteed to last for at least ten cycles. But you don’t have that long. Because in ten minutes the owner of this collar is going to skewer you like a pig for Sunday lunch. Common tamper proof measures are active. Any attempt by the wearer to remove the collar has been known to cause them to rethink their past choices before the explosive device inside detonates (Current state: Excellent).

*Beast Identified* [Shrikon Footman (common)] Level 65.

The Shrikon held a small device with a screen that I assumed would be used to track me. He said something in his language and gestured at the jungle.

Right, I was to be given a ten minute head start. I guess he doesn’t want his hunting trip to be boring. Normally, I’d oblige and find some shadows to hide in. The tracking collar changed that for me, though. There was nowhere to hide and so I briefly considered fighting him here and now on the beach.

But something about his eyes made me reconsider. I’d fought these things twice now and even without weapons, they were no joke.

I decided to take his offer and ran into the jungle. There could be something in there that tips the balance in my favor, like a new item or a flock of Shanker Monkeys that prefer the taste of fish to human.

I glanced back, but the Shrikon didn’t move a muscle. He simply watched me from the beach.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. With my bracer secured, I could use blood to replenish my energy. As long as I had blood, I had an infinite amount of stamina. But I would still need to save some for the inevitable fight. It was just a question of picking my ground and using whatever the jungle could offer to my advantage.

The only problem was that the jungle all looked the same.

It was starting to feel hopeless.

I needed a better view, so I scaled the tallest tree that I could find and surveyed the area.

A low fog hung in the air above the treetops, obscuring the surrounding area. It was hard to tell how large this place was, but I did spot a tall hill up ahead that looked defensible.

Maybe these fish men weren’t great climbers?

I’d have to take the chance. I had to get out of this dense jungle before the timer ran out. This place was an ambusher’s wet dream.

I dropped to the ground and made my way over to the hill. By my rough count, I still had around five minutes left.

As I was running, I felt a cut on my arm open up. I stopped and whirled around, summoning my sword.

There was no sign of the Shrikon. Odd. I backtracked a little and saw that I’d run past a plant with unusually shiny leaves that were sharpened to a point.

I grabbed one and nearly sliced my fingers off.

*Item Identified!* [A Jade Cutlass Plant, common: F-Grade] – A green plant that grows metallic leaves with razor sharp tips to protect the base of the plant so pick with care (Current state: Good).

I did just that and found that they could be gently pulled off at the stem. I grabbed a ton of them and put them in my inventory. These would make for good throwing knives.

When I reached the base of the hill, I was a little disappointed. It had looked steeper from further away. An easy climb for me would mean an even easier one for The Shrikon, but I had nowhere better to go.

Three minutes left.

I scrambled through my inventory. There wasn’t much there that would offer immediate help, but I did cycle through some of the bodies to fully replenish my blood cache. The problem was that I had no Shrikon blood left, which meant penetrating his skin would be difficult.

Two minutes left.

I started climbing and then nearly fell over. It must have rained recently, and the mud made it slippery. What should’ve been an easy climb turned into a struggle and I was only halfway up when The Shrikon made his appearance.

They still held no weapon and as soon as they saw me, they put away the tracker. It wouldn’t matter. Those claws of his were more than likely up to the task.

He started to climb after me.

I pushed myself harder, forcing myself up the hill. I glanced back, and the thing was gaining on me. I picked a dead body from my inventory and threw it at him. Six feet of dead human tumbled and rolled down the hill, striking the fishman and knocking him back to the bottom of the hill.

He picked himself up, more annoyed than hurt, and shouted something.

“There’s plenty more where that came from!” I yelled back.

As he resumed his climb, I threw more bodies at him. Some missed, and some knocked him back to square one. It was actually kind of fun, but I knew it couldn’t last. If only because I was running out of bodies.

Just when I thought that was it, the Shrikon, instead of climbing again, turned and ran back into the jungle.

I stared down, confused for a moment, until it dawned on me that he was going around to try and sneak up on me.

I scrambled up the last of the hill, slipping and falling until I was on all fours, clawing my way to the top.

Once at the peak, I was disappointed to find no sign of him. So I waited. And waited. Heavy rain arrived after the first hour and I had to put away my blood sword lest the water dilute and weaken it. By hour 2, I was sat huddled and shivering. I couldn’t afford to waste the blood I had left making myself comfortable, so I suffered through it. By hour three, I was up and moving around to keep my own blood flowing.

A part of me wanted to leave the hill and try to provoke a response, but the rain had turned the hill from a slippery mess into a dangerous slide. Even at the top, my feet sank deeply into the sticky soft mud, hindering my movements.

He's trying to tire me out. Waiting for me to get desperate or for me to succumb to exhaustion. Well, if that’s what he wants, then why not give it to him?

I set a plan in motion at the top of the hill. At this height, he wouldn’t be able to see what I was doing and if he checked the tracker, it would just look like I was moving around to keep warm.

With the plan finished, I laid down on my stomach and lengthened the cloak around me. I grew it until it wasn’t clear where exactly I was under it, and then I waited.

It took another hour, but eventually the Shrikon crawled over the top of the hill. He moved slowly, already wary of a trap. The tracker in his hand confirmed that I was somewhere under the cloak, but he remained cautious.

He had seen me fight the Captain and knew that I was capable of abilities like my Crimson Domain. He probably expected me to try something like that again and was ready to leap away at the first sign of a blood pool.

The bad news was that I couldn’t use that ability often, and it needed time to recharge. The good news was that he didn’t know that and kept his eyes firmly fixed on my cloak as he approached.

The Shrikon took a step and suddenly shrieked in pain. He had just stepped on a Cutlass Leaf. One of many that I’d planted in the mud like a minefield.

While distracted, I threw my back my cloak and launched two more leaves at him from different angles. He turned, dodging the one I’d aimed at his shoulder but missing the second one that stabbed into his leg.

Enraged, the Shrikon growled and charged at me. Several more leaves stabbed his feet, but he didn’t care. The fish man barreled into me, knocking me off the top of the hill. I landed on my shoulder with bounce and cried out as I rolled down the hill.

I think I dislocated it. That warranted blood. I used the cache and felt it painlessly pop back into place before I got to my feet.

The Shrikon was at the edge of the hill and, after removing the last of the leaves, began carefully sliding down towards me.

I sprinted back into the jungle. Back into the place where he could strike from anywhere. It didn’t matter, though. As long as I kept moving, he’d stay behind me.

As I was running, I threw several quick looks over my shoulder, but there was no sign of him. Not surprising though, given this stupid collar.

I was so busy with running and looked backward that I almost ran right into a statue. It featured a man standing on a platform holding a snake in its hand, but the face was missing.

Weird. Why would there be a statue here?

As I moved past it into a more open area, I encountered more statues of various shapes and sizes, although almost all of them were bigger than me.

Okay, this is it. This is where I’ll make my final stand.

I activated Heightened Awareness and winced. Suddenly my ears were picking up this fuzzy static sound that had the same effect as nails on a chalkboard. The sound was to my left, but when I looked, there was nothing there.

A patch of grass near the sound then juddered in and out of existence like a glitch in a videogame. I stared at it and after a moment; it returned to normal.

Is this some new environmental danger the Tower was throwing at me?

I didn’t have more time to ponder. The Shrikon confidently strode into view. He put his tracker away and was coming right for me. I guess after getting stabbed multiple times; he was tired of the games. Now he wanted a straight up fight.

The rain had stopped now. I could use my blood powers, but the blades wouldn’t cut its skin on their own other than my knife. I’d already used Crimson Domain once and wouldn’t be able to use it again for a while.

Still, I used Blade Weaver to enhance my knife and held it up in front of me. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

The Shrikon was fast though. Too damn fast. Again, he slammed into me and the knife slipped out of my hand as I went flying back. I crashed into another statue and knocked it over in the process. These damn things were everywhere.

The Shrikon stood and watched. He allowed me to pick myself up to give me a fair chance. But without my knife I was out of moves. So instead, I retreated deeper into the maze of statues to buy myself time to think. I used the largest ones for cover, hoping that the tracker wasn’t too accurate or that he wouldn’t bother to bring it back out. It was frustrating, being able to know exactly where I was at all times. It made things too unbalanced. I needed a way to track him as well.

And then it hit me. The wounds on his leg and feet were still bleeding. Wounds that I’d inflicted. I concentrated and sensed his blood was twenty feet to my right. I felt it move as he hunted for me the old-fashioned way.

I remembered how I’d controlled the blood inside my own body. Could I do that to him? I concentrated on the connection. No, it was too weak. At best, I might be able to partially damage his feet and leg, but the wounds weren’t deep. I doubted that it would be enough to kill him.

I crept closer. He was nearby on the other side of a massive statue that reminded me of a giant buddha, which gave me another idea.

I’ve only got one shot at this. Here goes.

I turned the blood in his wounds into barbed spikes. The Shrikon howled and tried to claw into his leg to make it stop. While distracted, I activated Cardinal Arm and a blood gauntlet formed around my fist and stretched down my forearm to reinforce my attack.

I punched the buddha statue as hard as I could. Dust exploded in my face as the statue broke in half and the top half came crashing down onto the trapped Shrikon, crushing him instantly.

*DING!* You have slain [Shrikon Footman (common)] Level 65 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 63 – Experience Acquired.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 64 – Experience Acquired.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 65 – Experience Acquired.

I got a lot more bang for my buck on this kill. Though it made sense since this time, I’d earned it on my own.

I laughed. I’d done it. I’d killed one of these things on my own and gotten a massive boost for it too. The hunt was over.

“Your celebration seems premature,” said an unfamiliar voice. “Next time they’ll just send two.”