Chapter 60 - Hunting

Max tried swallowing. It didn’t feel nice. His throat was dry. And it wasn’t entirely because of the dry and dusty Dreadlands. He was looking at the giant yak grazing along idly next to a hillside. All of the [Combatants] and [Laborers] that had come with him looked at him with expressions varying from eager expectation to disbelief.

Truth was, Max wasn’t sure how this would play out. He knew he could escape the beast if he had to. But he didn’t know how hard it was to kill them. How many shots would he need? How many [Tethers] to keep it from crushing him? He couldn’t just climb a tree, like he had with the bull-monsters long ago. There were trees, sure. But the yak, when angered and pained, would just bulldoze over any tree Max decided to climb.

No, this required a more intelligent approach. As Max thought of that, a clear sneer was to be sensed in Maverick’s soul.

Shut up. I’m willing to listen to any smart ideas you have.

Maverick had none, so Max kept watching the beast. It had noticed them, as Max had felt there was no need to hide from them. The great yak seemed to be curious and cautious at the same time. It sometimes turned its massive head towards them and bleated.

If I just start blasting at it, will it attack?

There was only one way to find out.

He turned to the people waiting behind him. “Okay. Don’t do anything. I will be fine.”

With that he approached the great yak with a careful step. When he was some thirty yards away from it, at a safe distance from all the other people watching, he started shooting.

The beast took a moment to react, but once it did, it immediately started barreling towards Max, bleating angrily as it did.

Max tried tethering the beast down with at least 7 spells. It did slow the beast down, allowing Max to get out of the way of its charge, but it did not stop the beast. Max kept shooting and slowing the creature down with spells. Using an [Alter Gravity] spell to make it heavier really worked well. Max got the inspiration to try to use it again on the beast, essentially increasing its relative mass to a point where it would be impossible for the muscles to create enough force.

It didn’t work. But Max did get a prompt

Skill upgraded: [Alter Gravity I] -> [Alter Gravity II]

Max didn’t have much time to revel in this, as he tethered himself away from another charge. He shot at it a few times, and the creature bleated again.

When the yak charged again and grazed Max, making him lose a good 60 Health points and tackling him down, Max got an idea.

He was still getting off the ground when the beast turned and charged again, deceptively fast. Max dodged the charge to the side and used [Tether] to latch on to the side of the great beast.

Max immediately got sucked into the fluffy, long fur of the beast. It snorted in frustration. The creature bucked around, tossing and turning its head, but it couldn’t reach Max, who was latched on to the side of the beast. Max just hoped the beast didn’t have the presence of mind to fall on its side, crushing Max. Well, it was too late for that now.

Max started blasting.

It did take a lot of shooting point blank at the great yak’s side to finally fell it. It let out a bellowing death rattle before collapsing on its snout. Max released the tethering, and immediately tethered himself a few yards further away, managing to slip away from the monster falling to its side. Max panted, letting the adrenaline pass.

“Well that was a wild ride,” Maverick said cheerfully. “You always take me on the most interesting little adventures.”

“You know you could sometimes help me and give me ideas.”

“I could,” Maverick said. “But half the fun is watching your mind work towards a solution.”

Max grumbled to himself as he watched his people jog towards them and the fallen beast. It had run a good half a mile before finally collapsing.

Christie arrived at the front. She had long legs and little to carry.

“You win again, darling,” she said and flashed a smile.

“I’m starting to learn how,” Max said, and gave her a wry smile.

She nodded and winked before the others arrived behind her.

“Nice one, Max,” Brian said, giving him a formal nod. “Unfortunately not something we can replicate anytime soon.”

“This thing has enough meat and bones for us to not need a repeat anytime soon,” Max said.

“Fair point,” Brian said and turned to look at the beast. He circled it around, as did many others following his example. It was a great, magnificent beast, Max could not deny. But he had been in enough contact with them for now to need to admire them more.

“It’s too bad we can’t take this lump to the camp and process there,” one of Brian’s men said.

“We need to chop it up here. Might even be a good idea to make a fire here and eat our fill,” another one said.

Everyone agreed to that and they got to work. Since most of them were combatants, they were relegated to the menial task of finding firewood. Not a hard task, considering the sparse but constant twisty trees around. Max suspected the trees to be so dry and brittle that they would make for quick firewood. As for himself, Max considered his portion of the job done, so he set up his focus circle and started to Cultivate to pass the time.

He and Maverick managed to get through one [Celestial Illumination Pill]. No levels were yielded, but it felt like they were close. Max decided not to ingest another pill. Maverick said he wanted one, and Max wasn’t going to say no to that. They had enough pills to spare, to not be optimal. Maverick was feeling miffed for not having reached that level, and he muttered something about having to show a good example for the sidekick.

Max smiled at that and joined the others for a meal of hearty, fatty yak meat. They sat down around a little fire they made, most of them hands bloody and sweaty, but every one of them happy. Max kept an eye on the surroundings so that they wouldn’t be jumped on by a group of Vilefiends, but mostly he allowed himself this little moment of joy and relaxation. He had been valuable again. That gave him pride.

                                                                   *

While they had been eating, Maverick had managed to push them to Level 9 of Quartz Cultivator (greater). Max gave him compliments aloud, so that the other people around heard them. He could feel Maverick’s soul swell with pride through their connection.

After the food, it was time for them to strip the great yak from anything and everything valuable. Which meant pretty much everything, barring for a few organs too nasty. Most of the organs, especially heart, tongue and liver were just as valuable as the meat itself. Of course the beast was skinned for massive strips of its hide, which could have many uses. Foremost they would be used to block the cave entrance to prevent any excess dust and wind from entering. The bones would be useful for the [Artisans] later. If nothing else, they would be good experience, but in an ideal situation tools and weapons could be carved out of them.

They decided that Max should watch the carcass. It would take a while for them to carry everything valuable from the beast to the base. The [Laborers] were sure to level up massively, but the [Combatants] would have to help too, or the meat would rot on the bone before it was all taken.

Which meant Max was left sitting there in his focus circle, while people worked on the carcass. If they happened to be attacked, Max knew he could react fast enough to prevent any accidents. Maverick groaned at the prospect of another few hours of Cultivation, but it couldn’t be helped. Max wasn’t too thrilled about it either. He would rather be having an audience with Durum right now, but he had underestimated how long it took to clean a beast of several tonnes from meat, skin and bone.