The sun had begun to slant towards the west, slowly colouring the sky into crimson and orange. The sky was blocked by towering trees on both sides and the wind howled through their branches like the echoes of a ghost's wails. Nathan was on high alert the entire time, his eyes darting to every small sound in the forest.
The trail led up far into the woods and eventually, Nathan stumbled across a small creek. The water was cold and clear. He even saw some fish swimming in it.
And just then, his senses swelled up unnaturally.
His eyes widened as he looked to the right, upstream on the creek. There, a bunch of beautiful women were playing, splashing water on each other. Each of them had a green tinge to their cheeks and their hair were neatly braided with leaves and vines. Their attire consisted of shirts and skirts, but embellished with various natural resources like autumn leaves, stones and even some jewels.
Nathan stared at them, wide eyed.
Dryads? He wondered. They seemed to check all the points. They were in a forest, they were all extremely beautiful and had their hair and clothes adorned with various greenery. It certainly helped that their skin held a small tinge of green under it.
As he continued to admire them, both for their beauty and that he had even found them here, one of the women turned her head. She looked relatively young, about 20 or so.
As the woman met his eyes, her pupils widened in alarm and she yelled to her fellow dryads.
They all turned at once.
Nathan who was caught in a moment of surprise could only awkwardly wave his hand at them. The dryads, though confused, didn't run away and observed him like a curious animal.
Should I say hi? He wondered, but then decided not to do so. He was here to hunt was he not?
Besides, dryads were considered difficult to pursue in both the myths and the books.
Waving them goodbye and watching them awkwardly wave back, Nathan continued upwards on the trail.
...
As night arrived, Nathan set up camp.
He sat by the crackling fire, his eyes trailing the ash as it rose up and fell down. The sky was clear today, showcasing a wide array of stars spread all across the heavens. The woods had a certain... strangeness to them at night. Nathan certainly could feel a sense of dread just looking into the darkness.
At least there weren't any monsters close by yet. If there were, he'd see clear as day in the night.
"I'll be starting the hunt tomorrow. I need to up my power level for that." He mused and opened his status.
[Name: Nathan Hill
Occupation: Hunter
Earned Titles: None
Perks: Monster Lore; Hunter's Instincts; Blessing of Mana-Yood-Sushai
Skills: Swordplay; Archery; Mist(+)
Physical Conditions:
Fitness: 0
Spirit: 0
Insight: 0]
I'm still ill equipped to deal with any powerful threat. My skills only offer an entry level proficiency and won't be able to deal with any real threats. Monster Lore is only good to give me names and that's after I kill a monster. The Regeneration skill works only at sleep and leaves me energy drained...
So far, the most work has been done by Hunter's Instincts. It alerts me of monsters, slows down my perception of time, makes me see everything better... it's the thing I need to upgrade. And luckily, it's not a skill.
Nathan smirked. When he opened the Hunter's Satchel, he had not only gotten a Customization point, but also a Perk Point.
Perk Points were basically points that increased the 'level' of a perk. Everything about said Perk would be made stronger, and it was exclusively for perks.
Of course, Customization Points could be used for the same, but the amount of points differed based on how powerful the perk was and how it would become.
In comparison, no matter how powerful the perk, Perk Points would always upgrade it with a single point.
By that logic, the best course of action would be to save then up until using points was too inefficient. But Nathan disagreed.
If he wouldn't survive until that point, what was the point of even saving them up?
Without upgrades, he wasn't sure if he could grow properly. And he needed them now, before he met a foe too powerful for his current self.
So Nathan didn't mind the spending.
He tapped on the Perk and instantly upgraded it.
[!]
[Hunter's Instincts(+): You have the instincts of a seasoned hunter. Your senses sharpen abnormally when a monster is nearby, even while asleep.]
The description didn't change, but of course that would be the case. Upgrading with Perk points did nothing to change the actual effect, only made it stronger. To actually add, subtract or change the abilities themselves, one needed to use Customization Points.
That would also be the reason why making changes in a skill and finalizing it was essential in the first few levels for a skill, before it got too expensive to change and then use the Perk Points.
Regardless, although there wasn't any inherent change in the ability, Nathan certainly felt the change. It wasn't anything crazy. His head didn't split open, nor did he undergo pain like many fanfictions used to suggest in his past life.
The world simply felt clearer. Much clearer. His hand itched for a weapon, his nose sniffed the air, feeling for any ambient scents around him. His eyes darted to the edges of the trees. Nathan hadn't fully realized what being a hunter actually meant. He imagined only tracking and fighting monsters and getting points for them. Now, he realized how wrong that thought had been.
It was difficult to explain. He felt... the intricacies of being a hunter. How a hunter tracks, how he lurks, how he shoots, and all the other stuff. Nathan felt that if he now used the sword against the Laestrygonian, he would be able to win without sustaining injury. He would position himself better, hold the sword ahead and stand in a sideways position, keeping his dominant hand forward.
He looked at the sky again. The stars seemed to have become brighter. Far, far brighter.
Beautiful... He thought. Feeling satisfied with the change, he ate his fill of some food he had prepared and went to sleep within his tent. Tomorrow would be the time; he would officially start the hunt.
...
Dawn arrived quicker than expected. By the time Nathan woke up, the sun was already peeking over the horizon. Nathan gathered up the supplies, placed everything into his inventory and with an anticipatory grin, reached for the air.
His hand grasped something out of thin air and a quiver full of glimmering arrows appeared his his hand. He swung the thing onto his back and tied the strap to his chest. He grabbed at the air again, and this time, a bow was the thing that appeared.
Cracking his neck, he took one last look at the main trail; and walked further into the forest.
...
As Nathan found out, hunting was difficult. More specifically, it was difficult to find monsters in a forest. Even more specifically, it was difficult to find monsters that even he could hunt.
The place was crawling with many types of animals. he saw some wolves in the distance, some American Yaks grazing over a field and a variety of others. But the monstrous variety?
Well, he saw a giant crab for starters. It was a full 7 meters tall and just as wide, having pincers the size of a car's door and it's legs embedded deep into stone as it stood over a creek. The crab seemed to mostly ignore him and was standing eerily still. Of course Nathan didn't even try. With the size alone, Nathan wasn't sure he would one-shot it. And looking at it's pincers, the thing sure as hell would one-shot him!
I like seafood, but I'd rather not be seafood. Definitely not.
Another monster he saw was a lion. The Nemean Lion. As expected, it was gigantic lion with golden glistening skin and a large mane. The thing jumped over some rocks over the edge of a cliff when Nathan was eating a protein bar on the side. It had also mostly ignored him.
Until I develop Herakles Arms(TM), hard pass.
The final monster, or the group of monsters he had found were a large horde of wolf headed humanoids, dashing through the trees like a small natural disaster. Their maws were spread about in mocking laughs as they each tore apart pieces of meat they held in their hands. It was clear at a glance some poor horde of animals had been killed.
Yeah, no.
All these monsters left Nathan in awe for the most part. And a small part fearful as fuck. Fighting them? The thought crossed his mind, but it was more along the lines of an intrusive thought than a conscious choice he was willing to consider. He'd have to be an idiot to challenge them right now.
Other than them, he had seen some flying monsters, but he didn't think himself skilled enough to shoot moving targets with much accuracy yet, much less flying ones.
"Man... what the fuck." He sat onto a rock over a small hill. The hill overlooked a large grassy clearing with a few trees spread about hither and tither and the mid-day sun was as cruel as ever. Suddenly, Nathan wasn't feeling so sure about everything.
"I need to hunt monsters to get points to grow stronger. But I need points to get stronger so I can slay the monsters... Now I'm thinking I really should have increases my Fitness."
Nathan was somewhat starting to regret his choice to make the Mist skill.
Just then, before he could go further into his brooding, his senses picked something up. Everything became unnatural vibrant and clear, the sounds seemed to be booming into his mind and the smell of nature, of dirt and of trees wafted to his nose in waves.
His eyes widened and he suddenly turned around.
Without wait, his hand grabbed the bow laying by his side and dashed into the trees! As he ran, his steps began to slow and turned into a silent stroll.
He sat cleanly into a bush without a sound and peeked through a slight gap through the leaves. Suddenly, the forest went quiet. Too quiet. Sunlight cut through the canopy, sending fingers of dusty light to the ground, casting swaying shadows. Nathan clenched his bow tighter, reaching back to draw an arrow from the quiver.
His eyes fell upon a figure walking through the woods. At first, it looked like a man wandering through the trees; but it was too big to be one. It was the size of a stag, it's gait jerky and stiff as if a machine come to life with rusty old joins creaking under the effects of time - each step a painful move. Clothes hung in tatters, caked with mud and moss as if it had been swallowed by the forest and spat back out.
It lumbered closer on it's stiff, slow steps and with a hitched breath, Nathan was finally able to make out it's features.
It was a man. Only changed. His skin was a blotched green-blue, stretched taut over bone as if a skeleton had been wrapped with skin. It's head was completely bald, and it's rotting skin smelled so foul that Nathan wished he didn't have a nose anymore.
It's eyes glowed faintly, not with fire, but what seemed like cold. It stared into the trees before it unblinking and continued it's slow walk.
His eyes shook as the undead wandered closer.
Nathan noticed the clothes he was wearing. They were camping clothes. It was a camper turned undead, not meant to rest even in death.
With a silent gulp, Nathan nocked the arrow, drew back the brow string and aimed.
With a sharp breath as he aimed for the undead's head, he let go.
Fwish!
The arrow flew with grace, slicing the air and embedding right into the monster's skull!
Bam!
The monster stumbled and fell right onto the ground. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief and began to walk out of the bush. Just then, he froze in his tracks.
I didn't hear the notification for points. He thought, his gaze again going to the undead. The still body stayed on the ground for a moment.
Then-
Crack!
It twitched with a violent and sickening crack! It's feet touched the ground and the entire body rose in a single, jerky motion!
The undead turned it's head, and looked straight at the bush Nathan was nestled in.
At that moment, Nathan realized.
He fucked up.
...
...
A/N: Add to Library :)