It wasn't until noon that Nathan managed to find his next victim. It was by a flowing river; where a humanoid figure was drinking water.
Nathan recognized it at a glance.
It was one of the wolf headed men he had seen dashing across the forest just the day before. He didn't know why it was separated from it's kin, but he didn't care. The man wolf headed man was dressed in what looked to be a dirt coloured robe and it's mouth was red with the blood of some animal. It scooped up water in it's disturbingly human hands and licked it up from them.
Nathan did an investigation around the area, making sure there weren't any other around and when he was sure that the prey was alone, he held out his bow and nocked the arrow. The wold headed human was still drinking water and then, a whistle blew through the air.
Spurt!
The arrow grew out of his side, piercing his lung!
"Kurgh!" He whimpered and whined, falling into the river it had been drinking from. Red blood began to flow from the wound, dyeing the river red. Before it could do anything else, another whistle sharply followed.
Whistle!
Spurt!
Another arrow grew out of his body, this one from his leg!
"Kuaargh!" Nathan didn't dare reveal himself until the target was completely dead. His pants were soaking wet from the earlier reconnaissance he had done on both sides of the river and his forehead was a bit sweaty from the exploration he had been doing. But seeing a monster he could finally hunt, he felt all his efforts were paying off. The wolf man looked to the other side of the river, far towards the left where the second arrow had come from and growled. Despite his wounds, he tried to stand up but ended up slipping in the water and fell right down.
Without a word, Nathan nocked another arrow. He heard the wolf yell something in what he assumed to be ancient Greek.
Then, the wolf turned it's head upwards and began to howl. And just as it started-
Whistle!
Another whistle sounded, once again, an arrow grew from his chest. His howl lost all strength and parts of him began to scatter into dust, flowing along the river.
His face went below the water line, and with another whistle, his life ended. The wolf man's body fully scattered, leaving behind a small tooth, the size of the tip of a man's pinky finger.
With a smile, Nathan registered both the notification in his ears and the new information in his head.
[You have gained 0.7 Customization points!]
Kynokephaloi, or the Cynocephali. That was their name.
Nathan didn't remember reading anything about them, so he let it go. He was just happy he got the points. Combine with the 0.2 leftovers from before, he had a full 0.9 points to his name.
Just from the point value alone, it was clear that this beast was the strongest he had slain till now. It's point value was on par with the Draugr. And honestly, Nathan could see it being a huge threat. Natural weapons like it's canines, inhumane agility and endurance, and it certainly wasn't stupid since it had spoken and wore clothes.
"It's good I caught it alone. I wouldn't have even gotten close if a whole horde of them were here." He muttered under his breath. Crossing the river, he took the tooth laying under the flowing water and placed it in his inventory. Looking at the cold water and remembering he hadn't had a bath for 2 days, he decided to take care of that.
...
After bathing and changing into a new set of clothes, he was again on his way.
This time, it wasn't very long before he found another monster. It was just another Draugr, roaming the woods with it's chilly and rancid breath, eyes pale blue and gleaming. With the sun directly overhead, Nathan fired some arrows at the thing. Because of its slow movements, one hit is squarely in the face. Another in the right shoulder and another in the abdomen!
At that point, the Draugr had already took notice of him and charged with it's slow and twitchy steps.
Not minding the charge, Nathan stepped up, his hand grasping cold metal out of the air.
Without giving the monster any chance to retaliate, Nathan used the better reach given by the sword to repeatedly slash away at it. When it was sufficiently damaged, he lunged in with a side slash, slicing off it's head!
Shaaaa!
With a final screeching wail, the Draugr died in a shower of ash, leaving behind a singular pale blue eyeball and giving Nathan another 0.7 points.
With a wide grin on his face and not wishing to lose more time, Nathan didn't linger around to celebrate and dashed ahead again! The tracks of the deer were still lightly visible, though they wouldn't be for long. The sooner he could close the distance, the better.
He had expected the deer to have some mystical powers, but the questions remained - what kind? The wind was certainly an indication. It might also be something else, like a spell to protect it.
Whether the deer summons the wind any time it's in danger or whether it's a spell Artemis remains to be seen. He thought, swerving around a tree. I don't have any way to confirm either. I have yet to make any magical talent for myself and I have the comprehension capacity of a monkey in terms of magic. If it really is Artemis' protection, I'll just have to give up on the deer. Maybe I should invest some points to find out what type of magic that is... hmm, but I still need points to make that happen. With my 1.6 points, that's a dream I won't be achieving for a long time.
The sun slowly began to slant down. Nathan saw many other animals roaming around in the forest and even saw a large horned serpent with a jewel on it's forehead. It was curled up by the side of a cave and practically radiated dread the moment Nathan laid eyes upon it from afar. With crystal green scales and a size that could rival giants, Nathan had no desire to challenge it.
Despite what his actions would sometimes convey, he wasn't suicidal. Even now when he was in the wilderness, he was very very careful and not once had he been hurt by any monster.
And hopefully, it would continue on that way.
Sometimes later, the tracks of the deer began to emerge fresher and his senses began to grow stronger. It must've stopped to graze; Nathan reasoned and focused ahead.
Just then, he noticed something.
He crouched low and brushed his finger over a print in the soil. It was a paw print, right along the trail of the deer. But it was fresh; almost new. His eyes narrowed in thought.
Seems like a cat print. Nemean Lion? No, the lion is larger than this. Might just be a mountain lion or something. And it was at this point that he noticed the entire forest had gone quiet around him.
Too quiet.
Nathan got off his feet and lightly nocked an arrow into the bow. His brows furrowed as he tried to focus.
At that moment, a screech pierced through the woods, a painful wail that grated on the ears.
Skreeauuurghhhh!
Nathan froze in his tracks, his blood curdling in his veins. He felt his limbs growing cold as the screech seemed to drill into his mind. The screech, it was... a mix of human and monsters.
It sounded like a woman was crying out in pain.
Right as he broke out of his reverie, he turned around; and froze.
20 meters away, perched atop the branches was a six legged shadow. Catlike, but wrong. The shoulders were too broad, the limbs too long. A long tail dragged behind it and it's dark fur was hard to miss. But the most striking part about it was it's head. Encased in wild red curling hair was the face of a woman scrunched up in pain. It was a monster alright.
Half-woman half-cougar.
"Fuck."
The shadow moved. It was a blue between the trees, darting all over the place like a phantom. Nathan's body tensed, adrenaline flooded his systems and he drew back the bowstring.
Rustle!
Whistle!
The arrow whistled through the trees, but it could not hit what was not there. Clicking his tongue, Nathan realized after the first attempt that this wasn't going to work. He desummoned the arrow and the quiver and grabbed at the Celestial Bronze sword. As if on que, the shadow - half woman half cougar monster - dashed out of the trees and made a beeline for him!
Nathan felt like the world had slowed down around him. His muscles tensed and he slashed with his sword at once.
Skreeauuurghhhh!
The sound wasn't just a scream, it was a banshee wail, half cougar, half woman and all nightmare. It cut through the silence of the forest and made his ribs hum like tuning forks. The sound hit him like a sledge hammer to the head. His limbs seemed to freeze in place as if rust had been filled into his joints. His blood ran cold as he saw the cougar getting closer.
Only now did he notice that it's eyes were glowing.
The monster's tooth got closer and closer to his neck. He had to say, the mental image of a ginger-head woman, her hair spread sideways and jaw wide open with dangerous canines, coming to bite his neck off was a... strange one. Certainly not one he had thought he would see in an actual life and death battle.
At the last moment, as if by a miracle or his increased fitness, he jerked his head back.
The monster missed it's bite, passing sideways but it's natural claws swiped at his body, catching him on the arm!
Aurgh!
He groaned in pain, the Celestial Bronze sword managing to nick the beast in the arm as well!
The cougar screamed, her entire arm undergoing a rapid decay as she tried to widen the distance. Nathan gritted his teeth and as he watched the cougar dash for the trees, the sword disappeared from his hands.
He held his hands out as if he was holding an arrow nocked in a bow, and pulled them out of his inventory. The bow appeared his his outstretched hand, the arrow already nocked to the string.
Perhaps it was the cougar's pain which clouded it's mind, not allowing it to dodge properly or maybe it was the scratch by the celestial bronze. Nathan cared very little.
Whistle!
The arrow ripped through the air, hitting the cougar in it's back and making it crumple to the ground! Taking the chance, he once again held the sword in his hands and charged!
In just a short second, the cougar was no more. In it's place, among a mound of dust on the ground was a pelt. The adrenaline receded and his senses began to mellow down.
Nathan dropped to the ground, stoked at the near death experience he had just had.
"Holy crap..." He muttered. He grabbed the trophy and whisked it away. Then, he reviewed the notification and the new knowledge.
[You have gained 1.1 Customization Points!]
Wampus Cat. An Appalachian origin monster that he had heard much about growing up.
"That thing was a wampus cat? I don't think I've ever seen any image of it having the head of a woman. Though it is described as being a fusion of a woman and a cougar... I did also notice whiskers on her face so I guess whatever goes." Nathan huffed as he reviewed the information.
The Wampus Cat was a part of Cherokee Myths and was somewhat of a household tale in the southern parts of USA. Though, such tales would wane by the coming of the 21st century. The story itself tells of a woman who spied on some wizards(shamans) or something and they cursed her to become a monstrous blend of a woman and a mountain lion.
For such a well known beast, it was pretty weak. It's leg became unusable by a small scratch from the sword and even though it had five more, it was unable to escape. Just another arrow and a sword strike brought it down. Speaking of, the reward is also quite lackluster considering the popularity.
Laestrygonians, Kobalos, Draugr and Dog-headed men aren't well known, but a Wampus Cat certainly is... Is it an effect of the waning of the Cherokee culture and myths?
Shaking his head, Nathan focused on the injury at his arm. It was a deep cut, spurting blood and the adrenaline had prevented him from feeling it. Now, the pain was flooding into his systems.
Just the fact that was blood was spurting meant an artery had been damaged. Though the bleeding wasn't too bad yet. He put pressure on the wound and pulled out some emergency medical supplies from his inventory.
"I guess I'm waking up parched tomorrow." He sighed.
...
...
A/N: Nathan was about to receive a different kind of love bite.
Bonus Chapter at 250 power stones!