“And the day’s only just begun,” said Dakkon, shaking his head.
“It’s much more dangerous deeper inward,” cautioned Damak. “Krimmer are mostly grouped up. Besides the pigs, there are some other nasty creatures out and about, and it’s not impossible that we even run into the Tribe.”
“The Tribe?” asked Dakkon.
“They’re kind of like Tian’s angry neighbors,” said Ramses.
“They’re mean little bastards is what they are,” said Damak. “I’ve seen one kill a group of five.”
A more detailed explanation of ‘the Tribe’ would probably need to wait. The competition for hunting krimmer would soon push out deeper into the forest much as the party planned to do. If they wanted to hunt boars while they still could, they’d have to get started. “What about bandits?” asked Dakkon.
“This area is too dangerous for bandits,” said Ramses, who waved his hand dismissively.
“All right, so then we’ll be careful about everything else,” said Dakkon dryly. “Onwards toward adventure.” He began to walk.
“If we eat it, I’ll compose an excellent ballad about your poor judgement and pervasive foul odor that’s certain to be a hit,” said the now fully sober Finnegan in a tone which could very possibly have been a joke. Uncertain why exactly he deserved the gibe, but suspecting that on some level this was all his doing, Dakkon covertly sniffed himself. Perhaps the bard was upset by his previous lack of faith?
“Well then, you’d better add a few lines about my slow wit and tendency to faint during a confrontation,” added Dakkon with a similar delivery.
“Noted,” said Finnegan without cracking a smile. Damak grinned.
“Damn, we’d better stay alive,” thought Dakkon. “I’m literally asking for it otherwise.” Dakkon shook his head and the group set off.
Wading into deeper forest was, indeed, wading into deeper danger. The first krimmer that they encountered brought along another big boar to the fight. To everyone’s credit, even with the secondary creature’s unexpected arrival, not one faltered. Damak managed to take several glancing blows from the additional krimmer by bracing his shield at a 45-degree angle from the incoming charges, then jumping out of the way right as the monster connected with his battered shield—spinning the warrior but ensuring he absorbed little of the beast’s assault head-on.
Ramses and Dakkon were strong enough now that they, without the help of others, could fell a boar with their coordinated strikes. They finished their work in an instant and turned to strike at Damak’s beast. Finnegan even managed a few beginning notes of the battle hymn he had been itching to perform, but sighed as the second krimmer quickly dropped.
“Maybe next time,” said Ramses, placing a heavy hand on the bard’s back.
The group of four pushed onwards. Their next encounter could be two boars or more, though it was difficult to be certain in the intermittently thick clumps of forest surrounding them. Like clockwork, Finnegan began to pacify one krimmer as Damak charged toward the second before it had a chance to build any real momentum. This time, however, before Dakkon and Ramses were close enough to strike, Finnegan’s tune ended with a twang and an, “Urk!” The krimmer, only a step away, shook off the music’s effect and with a twist of its mighty head, flailed wildly.
[Krimmer has struck you for 140 damage. Remaining HP 510/650]
Dakkon tumbled backwards, taken off guard by the beast’s sudden shift to hostility. Ramses had been thrown backwards, too, though he managed to sprawl to stop his roll sooner than Dakkon. This may have not been to his advantage, however, as he became the closest target for the massive boar’s rage.
Dakkon recovered to his knees some 20 paces backward. He wasn’t used to taking hits like that—or at all, really. His head rang with dull pain.
Dakkon looked towards Finnegan to figure out what happened, but only managed to see one of the bard’s legs for a brief instant before it disappeared into the obfuscation of the tree tops. Dakkon knew that Finnegan needed help, but the two angry krimmer would likely kill Ramses and Damak if he went after the bard now. Dakkon gritted his teeth and charged toward the boar that had sent him flying.
The krimmer had not wasted any time in pursuing the nearby rogue, and was nearly upon him. Not one to idle either, Ramses threw a hand-full of dirt at the beast’s face. The krimmer huffed and shook violently, clearly surprised by the assault on its senses. Dakkon used the opening to strike at the beast’s backside with two, practiced swipes—
[You have slashed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 500 damage.]
[You have slashed a krimmer for 233 damage.]
—but this krimmer was not caught unaware and used the force of a several-hundred kilo rump to bat Dakkon away.
[Krimmer has kicked you for 352 damage. Remaining HP 298/650]
Another kick from the boar would prove fatal. Dakkon’s head swam from the force of being knocked ass over teakettle twice in half a minute. Through some force of will, Dakkon focused on the opponent before him. Ramses struck out at the boar’s backside, much in the same way Dakkon had just done. He wisely attempted only a single strike, however, then pulled back to avoid any recourse. Dakkon moved to flank the krimmer, but as soon as the beast lost sight of Dakkon, it charged at Ramses to avoid another painful swipe at its hind.
The loud thud of a solid strike rang out as the second krimmer finally caught Damak’s shield squarely, splintering its wood and warping the iron bands which held it together. Damak was thrown backwards—his arms, which had both been bracing the shield, were blown aside, twisted, bloodied, and broken. Somehow, perhaps thanks to the superhuman endurance that the game granted him, he landed on his feet. The sight was shocking, but Dakkon knew he had little time to act.
“Attack now!” Dakkon ran at the boar they had been engaged with as he yelled to Ramses. He marked a tender portion of the boar’s rump which had been previously struck and created a condensed hotspot. The two close-range combatants were almost upon the beast when it flailed frantically then turned away from his assailants, a burning ember visible on its backside. Rogue and edgemaster plunged their daggers into the krimmer’s back with desperate fervor.
[You have stabbed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 512 damage. A krimmer has been slain.]
[You have gained 620 experience! EXP until next level 3,086/6,380]
The two backstabbers turned on their heels and sprinted toward their companion’s boar without so much as reading the confirmation of their kill. As they reached the boar, they struck at its exposed underbelly with precision honed from repetition as the stubborn warrior kicked the boar square in its nose.
[You have slashed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 499 damage.]
[You have stabbed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 530 damage. A krimmer has been slain.]
[You have gained 620 experience! EXP until next level 3,706/6,380]
“Damn man,” said Dakkon to the mangled Damak, “are you ok?”
“Never mind me,” said Damak. “Finn needs help and I’m not climbing any trees like this.”
Eyes wide from the sight of human arms bent at new angles, Dakkon nodded, then Ramses and he ran toward the approximate location of where Finnegan had disappeared and they set to climbing separate trees.
Dakkon found climbing to be easier than he had expected. The trunk of the tree before him was too wide to get his arms fully around it, and there were no low-hanging branches to assist him. Still, by gripping with his thighs and calves then with his arms, one after the other, he was surprised to find that he could climb the thick trunk. Despite the initial ease, after only about three meters of progress, Dakkon’s body ached from the effort. He had used all of his mana to be sure his earlier hotspot had worked on the thick-skinned krimmer, and now he suspected that he might be low or out of endurance.