The Catoblepas was a legendary creature of Aethiopia and appeared in many stories and retellings. Many accounts describe him differently, some as a wildebeest, some as a buffalo and some as a hog; that lived in either marshlands, forests or open grasslands.
Its head was perpetually facing down because of its enormous weight and because it ate so many poisonous plants, its very breath itself had become deadly and turned anyone caught in it to stone. Either that or it killed them. Nathan didn't know which rendition to trust; but he couldn't risk dying or turning to stone.
Nathan didn't dare to breathe too loudly as the creature trudged through the trees; leaving a trail of destruction behind it. Its movements were sluggish and slow but the effortless power behind them was unmistakable.
Sweat poured from his temples as Nathan's grip on his brow tightened.
With that size, my arrows will only serve as little scratches. I'm not sure if I should go in with my sword. He faced a dilemma. On one hand, he knew the danger was very very real. His Hunter's Instincts were warning him of the beast. But then, it wasn't as overwhelming as he had experienced when he came close to the Nemean Lion or the giant crab.
It seemed... acceptable. He knew he would get a lot of points if he went in and managed to kill it. But the sheer size of it made him hesitate. Would his sword even he enough to cause damage?
Steeling his heart, he hurriedly opened the Custom order and placed his sword inside it.
Then, he added an enhancement.
[Frost: A faint chill lingers on the blade, causing gradual build-up of frost on the target's body.]
The enhancement cost him 5 points, so he went ahead and added another one.
[Sharpness: The Edge of the Blade is Sharper than it appears.]
It was an enchantment that took 2 points at a base and scaled up from there. He invested all his remaining points into it!
It was worth saying that while the enchantments themselves weren't inherently expensive - they were pretty basic after all - the fact that they were cast on Celestial Bronze made them cost just a little more than they would have.
The reason he hadn't upgraded his Fitness was because the actual enhancement took time to appear and it wouldn't aid him heavily in this battle. Compared to that, it was better to simply make his sword better. As for his swordplay which was still basic... if he couldn't hit such a large monster, did he really deserve to even hold a sword?
Nathan gulped loudly and hopped off the tree.
A 10 meter fall was a minor inconvenience to him, and he slowly tailed the beast.
Now that he was up close, he could truly see just how giant the thing was.
Damn... look at those muscles. Makes me think again about attacking it. Alas, he had invested his points and now was the time to act.
Steeling himself, Nathan moved.
His feet pushed against the wet ground, his sword lashing out in an instant! The Golden glittering blade cut through the air, ripping into the beast's hind legs!
Mouuuuu!
The Catoblepas screamed and ran forward, ripping apart the trees in the process. Nathan did the obvious and gave chase! The rudimentary attack pattern in his mind was to stay to the side, behind the beast.
It could effectively save him from it's fumes and he could easily use the frost to weigh it down further!
The world seemed to slow down around him. His sword slashed with every step he took, biting into monster flesh and drawing a mixture of blood and dust. Adrenaline coursed through his body like never before and as the Catoblepas tried to get away once again, Nathan was right on it's tail!
But then, Nathan realized a problem. With the way he was doing this, he could only roughly damage it's legs, it's actual body was higher up.
Aside from the legs, the only part at level with him was the head - which he could not get close to due to the fumes.
Continuing his assault for a moment, his jaw tightened as an idea came to his mind.
Mooouuuuu!!!
As another moan of pain escaped the monster's mouth, it's legs kicked back at Lightning speeds!
Boom!
An explosion sounded in the forest, blowing the trees apart as the noise rattled Nathan's ear drums! He staggered for a moment, disoriented.
But before the wildebeest could continue putting in any distance between them, Nathan gritted his teeth and leaped up!
His hand brushed one of the tree branches and hoisted himself up! Stabilizing himself, he jumped onto the body of the Catoblepas, impaling his sword into the flesh!
It let out another moan of pain, but Nathan knew the damage wasn't substantial yet. He gripped the handle with one hand and the beast's moss laden fur with the other and with all his strength began to pull himself over it's back!
Spurt!
Slash!
Pulling out the sword, he impaled it again higher up into it's back. He felt bark splinters raining down upon his back and at this point, the beast was running through the woods, destroying every tree in it's wake! The wind howled into his ears and rippled across his skin. Red blood mixed in with black dust rained down upon him.
Monsters could bleed.
Who would have known.
Nathan could've sworn he had only seen them burst into dust most of the time.
But when they bled, they bled a lot. Like, a lot a lot.
The blood drenched him and made his grip worse, but perhaps by some miracle, he held on and eventually made it to the top of it's back!
"Alright!" Nathan yelled in excitement but ducked low to avoid the canopy. Gripping the celestial bronze weapon, he began his work.
The beast was long, long enough for Nathan to run across it and wide enough to sleep on. And that was it's weakness. Nathan was like a god of death, each sword slash drawing blood and leaving a chilling wind on the wound. The ease with which it bit into flesh surprised even Nathan himself, but he did not dare stop.
The beast thrashed around, trying to shake him off.
This ancient abomination, this monster that had existed since ancient times with no natural predators tried with its utmost power to get rid of it's attacker. Its breaths became heavy and laboured, the fumes wafting out in waves and decaying the trees and grass all around it!
Slowly but surely, it could feel its strength waning, its limbs becoming colder and colder as if it was walking right into the doors of death.
Blood trickled down from its back, dyeing all the mossy fur in crimson as dust slowly fell from the Catoblepas' body.
Nathan slowly moved forward to where the neck was. He knew the skull was especially thick so he had no thoughts about attacking it. Besides, with how low it hung, if he tried, the beast would shake him right off and he would land in the toxic fumes.
With a tremendous effort, Nathan plunged his sword into the Catoblepas' nape!
The beast which had already slowed down considering; even more than it had been before; suddenly fell onto its knees and its face dragged across the mud.
The destruction ceased and the struggle stopped. Nathan looked at the gigantic body still breathing beneath him and he felt a tinge of guilt.
What would he feel like if he was just chilling and some guy with a sword ran up his back and stabbed him all over? Not well, he imagined. Besides, wasn't that practically how he died in his previous life? He was just chilling until a piano hit him on the head.
No use thinking over it now. A kill is a kill. He thought to himself and raised his sword once again.
The beast's body had become cold and almost lifeless. It made no effort to resist, having lost all its strength to the chilling cold that kept creeping up its body. Even breathing felt like a labour.
At this moment, the Catoblepas wanted nothing more than to rest and get away from this monster who had attacked it out of nowhere, but it could not.
All it was capable of, was waiting for the inevitable end.
Huuuuu~
Nathan exhaled and continued on with the slashing. He bit repeatedly into the wildebeest's neck, over and over and over again. The sight of gore and dust was a little disturbing, but he put through with it.
Until now, all his kills had gone by in just a few short moments. It was not very likely that he would meet any monsters that would take so many strikes to kill with Celestial Bronze weaponry.
But now that there was one in front of him, it turned out to be very very messy.
Eventually, more dust began to fall from its body than blood. And then, with a final strike at its neck, the creature finally succumbed and burst into a shower of dust that enveloped Nathan completely!
Thud!
Nathan fell on his butt and a notification sounded into his ears that almost made him do a double take.
[You have gained 90 Customization Points!]
"Holy Shit!"
...
...
Somewhere deep in the woods.
"Hey hey, did you know." One of the dryads whispered to her sister.
"What?" The elder dryad replied, absently petting a little bird on the head.
"I heard from some passing birds that a man is fighting the Catoblepas." The dryad explained with all the vigor despite her elder sister's seeming unenthusiasm. "They say he made it fall to its knees."
"That old thing? No way!" The elder sister exclaimed, but then, a smile bloomed on her face. "But if he does kill it it would be good that dammed cow really kills all the wildlife around it!"
"Who do you think this man is? He must really love nature to fight such a dangerous beast!"
"I doubt it. I think it might be the Hunter. You know the one that killed the monkeys at the lake?"
"The one that had poop thrown at him?"
"That's the one."
Just then, some more birds flew over from the sky and whispered something into their ears.
"He actually killed it!!!"
And so, in this forgotten corner, the first mentions of a future legend kept on repeating.
...
A/N: Just had a 2 and a half hour phone call with my friend. Really chewed through my schedule. Anyways, better late than never.
Bonus Chapter every 250 PS!