—Well, a "battle" wouldn't be the best way to describe it.
Rushing through the woods, the rampaging monster completely stomped around, his strides incredibly lengthy as Aubrey ran for his life, taking the form of a wolf in order to speed up.
Shit, how fast is this monkey going!?
His inner voice screaming at him to hurry up, the pace between the two was generally matched about evenly, with Aubrey being narrowly faster.
In nature, wolves are generally faster than gorillas. However, despite being supposedly within nature, Monsters as a whole did not obey their rules.
Aubrey ran at a solid 80 miles an hour, and Bigfoot ran at 75 due to his massive strides.
Aubrey's heart sank with fear as a result of each thunderous step, Bigfoot absolutely roaring at him as he kept up the chase. But, as nature also showed, endurance was often greater than intensity.
Humans, their greatest physical attribute other than their intellect and weapons, was their extreme endurance. They could run for days on end due to their ability to sweat and other factors. Apes do not possess that kind of ability.
As Bigfoot began to slow down, his breath frantic and frosty, Aubrey slowed as well, changing back into a human and looking at the giant monster.
"Y'know, I did my research, just in case it came down to a fight," Aubrey said, looking back at the monster. "Turns out, being in the cold is pretty bad for you."
Being in the cold has immense downsides for most living beings, when it comes to combat. Not only does it make terrain more difficult to be firm on, but the muscles stiffen up, making it harder to exert strength.
Fine motor control drops, commonly seen when it's hard to type with cold fingers.
Though, that's not as important for monkeys, since they've got a bunch of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Because of that, they didn't evolve for motor control like we did. I can't imagine Bigfoot's all that different.
Bigfoot, huffing and puffing, roared and continued walking, his grip on the hatchet weakening.
His legs were weak, having sprinted for over a minute straight, completely taking them off. Even walking was a difficulty, especially in this frozen environment.
The cold, dry air irritating Bigfoot's lungs, even that too had taken a considerable toll on his ability to fight. Breathing was a burden, reducing the oxygen to his muscles, making him even physically weaker.
The lactic acid buildup from sprinting, the fatigue of his fast-twitch muscles from exertion, the weakening of his muscles from the cold, the weakening of his oxygen intake from the frozen air—
—Unfair.
It was entirely unfair, a completely BS match which was doomed from the very beginning. Unlike the first battle, in which it was so close quarters that Aubrey was doomed to get beat, this one was a battle in which Aubrey had the starting advantage.
And thus, this was a very rough, not super accurate depiction of how humanity survived. Of course, big animals could wipe out an entire human tribe if caught off guard and without weapons.
But with weapons, against prey that would run, then it was only a matter of time. No matter how strong they were, they would tire out.
Yet we would not.
"Hah, hah… are you just going to stand there? You want this? Come take it, or I'll rip it to pieces before your very eyes!"
Aubrey instead backed up, as the frost continued to pour upon the two of them.
"I'll admit—I'm a very dumb guy. But I'm not dumb enough to get close to you. Why would I do that when I can just sit still right here until you freeze to death? And go ahead, rip it to pieces. In the end, I'll get stronger from killing you. You've got a gift well worth waiting for."
Aubrey did not care for the thrill of the fight. Yes, he occasionally experienced it, but he was mindful not to get addicted to it. Because even if fighting had its pleasures, Aubrey was shown by experience just how terrible fighting could go for him.
Even Bigfoot, while weakened, would likely win if it was a straight-up confrontation, after all.
I heard a while ago from the little shits that Bigfoot was a good guy to be around. Well, that's probably the case for them; he did listen and stop hurting me when they told him to.
Even if Bigfoot was a good guy to the children, to Aubrey, he was still a monster.
Monsters are scary.
Time passed by slowly as Aubrey waited, and Bigfoot, who had occasionally given chase to him, was growing even slower and slower. He could hardly move, and the hair on his body had ice form inside it.
The shivering and shaking of his body grew worse and worse, burning even more energy. He desperately tried to nestle up against a tree for warmth, but it provided little help.
Bigfoot, a massive creature, yet with mostly muscle rather than fat, was affected deeply by the cold, as he preferred to live in warmer climates. He ate several animals a day for the calories, but as energy was burnt quickly, his body was overwhelmed.
The ice began to form over his eyes, causing him to wipe his face so that he could see Aubrey. Yet, within that instant of wiping,
"Ergh—!"
The Black Wraith had vanished, appearing behind the tree he rested against and stabbing him in the neck with a knife. Bigfoot thrashed around, as Aubrey licked the blood off the knife, successfully obtaining the Trait.
The giant monster got to its feet, looking at Aubrey and stiffly trying to walk over, already appearing more as a dead person trying to remain alive than an actual creature.
"Y'know, if you'd just offered up some of your flesh at the start, this could have all been avoided," Aubrey lied. After all, he had never had any intention of letting Bigfoot live.
"Tch… then…" Bigfoot whimpered, "let me… live. I'll offer you… I'll offer—"
"—Not even for a second, will I allow you to live."
Aubrey, already a solid distance from the tree, stood with his arms crossed and an empty expression under his eyes, which was obscured by his hair.
"You are going to die here, whether you like it or not."
"Grrggghh…!"
Bigfoot collapsed to the ground with a final grunt of pain, the shivering stopping.
"Y'know, when I said I did research earlier, I meant it. That huge body of yours needs a bunch of oxygen, doesn't it? But you can't breathe properly from the cold air constricting your airways. The strength in your muscles is being sapped away by the cold, and you can't do a thing about it because your legs are too tired to move. They're not able to recover."
Aubrey walked over, as Bigfoot gave it his all to swipe him away. Yet, it was nothing more than the vain struggle of a dying creature. Aubrey snatched the hatchet from his stiff, lifeless clutch before using that very hatchet to separate hand from wrist.
He took the hand and transformed his head and neck into that of a bear, chewing it quickly and swallowing it. He continued the process all throughout the body, starting with the easy stuff—the hands and feet.
Then, he made his way to the jaw, raising the hatchet and completely tearing it off with a brutal strike, before chewing that and devouring it as well.
Bigfoot could hardly move, giving soft attempts which didn't result in anything.
"Hey. You still there?" Aubrey asked, his voice descending on the cryptid. He swung the hatchet repeatedly into the stomach, allowing the decently cold contents inside to spill out onto the snow. He picked it up and swallowed the inner organs, as Bigfoot's death was slowed, delayed due to the very cold which weakened him.
"...No reply. Guess that's a no. Good thing you're not in pain anymore."
Aubrey continued to eat the monster from the inside out, until finally, the heart stopped beating. At that moment, the corpse collapsed into one central point, disappearing entirely.
Ape's have a lot of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Let's see if I can do anything with that.
Aubrey went over to a tree, and attempted a new ability. In an instant, his arm grew intensely in strength, and his punch blew through the solid tree with ease.
He ripped his arm from the bark, satisfied.
So it's like a Mode, or a temporary boost of strength. Not bad, not bad. Well worth it.
As he turned around, he saw a shadow immediately disappear behind a tree. His eyes widening in fear, Aubrey raised the hatchet up.
Shit, another Hidebehind? Well, I suppose if I could eat it, then my stealth might be even stronger.
Though, the last time he dealt with a hidebehind, he got obliterated. Even still, he believed that in these cold conditions, he would be able to—
"...Huh?"
His eyes remaining fixed to the tree he was suspicious of, he heard the sound of snow being stepped upon. Then, emerging from behind the tree, was a man in black.
Not the kind in suits. Rather, a person entirely obscured in darkness, wearing a hat above its head.
"What are you?" Aubrey asked, receiving no response. The figure appeared before his eyes in an instant, Aubrey swiping his hatchet just as fast.
Darkness stuck to the hatchet, and he licked the blade. Obtaining yet another Trait, Aubrey attempted it. In an instant, his face was obscured by darkness, as heaps of black smoke surrounded his head on the outside.
Yet, even inside that darkness, his vision was unobscured.
"Hk. Well, I'll take the Trait, but—"
"The wendigo approaches."
In a flash, the hatman vanished, Aubrey sniffing the air. Overwhelmingly, the sound of approaching footsteps roared throughout the lands.
Shit, probably the result of creating a cold area.
It was a fight he likely wouldn't win. Even if he was a WendigoWalker, he did not have the level of cold resistance that they did. As well, if even one of them wielded the Fear Aura, he would surely die.
The chances of victory are zero. I'm leaving.
Aubrey rushed away through the forest, leaping from tree to tree in order to hide his footsteps.
…
Reaching his town, Aubrey decided to relax and take the day off of monster hunting.