The beast was around seven feet tall. Its powerful body was covered in grey fur, and its long fingers ended in long, black claws.
Its face was shrouded in the shadows of the forest, but the crimson light of the moon illuminated monstrous features and protruding teeth.
Horus listened for a second, still as a dead man, checking to see if there were more of the lumbering beasts around. Once he decided the coast was clear, he raised his sword at the monster.
[Title: Blackwood Stalker]
[Rarity: Common]
[Description: A beast of great strength and some cunning.]
The beast didn't roar immediately, its black eyes instead followed Horus hungrily. It wouldn't alert the caravan of soldiers that it had found a straggler.
So it surged forward, swinging one huge palm to crush the little man.
Horus sidestepped the heavy blow, slicing through its arm with no expression. Before the monster could realise what it got itself into, he attacked.
The Stalker yelped, prancing backwards. In its haste, it swiped at him again. But Horus leapt from the ground and then kicked off a tree to get higher. His Physicality was at the limit, so he rose around eight feet.
He came down with a slash at the beast's head, which it ducked away from, but now Horus was behind it.
The creature spun but didn't even catch Horus' shadow. Then lines of pain tore into its body as his black blade bit into flesh and fur.
This made the Stalker more frantic. It tried to run, but then pain flared in its ankle, and it lost control of its right leg.
The whole time, the system was whispering silently in Horus' ears.
[Adept-tier Physicality requirement: Ten Skill shards(Complete). Exert 100% of your force in a strike(Progress: 8/10).]
The Stalker was simply a stepping stone. The secrecy of the affair was just a necessary measure.
Horus always planned to advance to Adept, but he didn't want Captain Sever to know. He didn't want anyone to know.
Being unable to gauge your opponent's strength was an advantage.
He knew how strong everyone was because this was simply a dungeon made from history and legends, but they wouldn't know his strength unless they had the [Appraise] skill.
But the Stalker got too hard to manage. The beast let out a rattling howl as Horus disabled more of its limbs.
He jumped onto the now crawling beast and slashed through the back of its neck, silencing it before it could call attention here.
[You have killed a Common-tier enemy. You have gained one Skill shard. You have gained 20 Credits]
[You have reaped one life.]
Jumping off, he sighed. "What a waste."
He was only two more attacks from completing Physicality and three more for Swordsmanship. Albeit he completed the Physicality by himself.
He opened his mouth to speak when he noticed Medava's disappearance. His eyes widened. The kid had been just behind him. Where could he have gone?
Then a crackle of movement answered him.
A second Blackwood Stalker slinked between the trees, its gaze locked on him. It was also Common-tier, so he didn't worry much, but a darker thought took his mind.
"You killed Medava? Hahhh… I warned him. I guess I'll dig a grave for him later. And I'll make sure you suffer."
He took his time with the second Stalker. He slit its tendons. He took fingers and toes, made it stumble around, and swing wildly as it searched for him. Then he slashed its throat. Not to kill the monster, but to silence it.
The strike was precise, and he had taken time studying the beastiary.
By the time he was done, its face was a mess of scars, eyeless and tongueless. Its body was a limp and thoroughly disfigured thing. Only then did he end its life.
[You have killed a Common-tier enemy. You have gained one Skill shard. You have gained 20 Credits]
[You have reaped one life.]
[Tactics] > 1 > 2 (Common)
"Rest well, kid," he muttered to himself.
He had given Medava the best he could. Slaying his killer. But if he found the boy's body and a nice field of flowers, maybe he could give Medava a warrior's rite.
The child was much of a fighter, but he deserved something. Horus had to do something for him.
He was sheathing his sword when something rustled in a tree behind him. He redrew his sword with a frantic look. How didn't he sense something so close?
Medava fell the remaining height of the tree he was climbing down from. He let out a whimper, but Horus didn't hear anything break, and the bald boy got up with a wild grin.
"That. Was. Awesome!" He pronounced the last word with a jump, pumping his hands into the air.
Horus still had his sword pointed at the boy, though. He couldn't believe it. He hadn't heard a breath. Or the soft rustle of clothes. He didn't even feel the boy's presence until he came down.
There was no way this was Medava. It had to be some kind of mimic. He had to—
[Title: Medava]
[Rarity: Common]
[Description: A curious boy with a strange presence. He is very good at acting.]
His eyebrows twitched unintentionally. There was no Felling way. How? How could a kid who was so unaware of his environment have such high Stealth?
If he awakened, the system would probably give him Stealth above level 15. Horus hadn't even gotten the skill despite training his whole life, although not focused on it, in hiding himself.
"Is something wrong?" Medeva asked, finally noticing Horus' sword was pointed at him.
There was a moment of pause. Then Horus returned his blade to his sheath and started walking in one motion.
"Wait! Don't leave me behind! Why did you point your sword at me? Did I annoy you? I wasn't going to act dead for long. I just wanted to play a prank."
Horus stopped and glanced back. "You weren't hiding? Or using some magic tool?"
"I barely own my clothes," Medava shrugged. "Did I really get you? Your expression barely changed even when you thought I was dead."
Horus ignored and continued walking. Medava skipped in front of him, grinning wildly.
"I guess I'll dig him a grave," he said, imitating Horus' deeper voice. "I don't want to, I'd rather just be on my way—"
He tripped on a piece of tree root, and Horus reached out instinctively, but the boy still fell.
Medava winced on the ground and squinted at Horus through the crimson moon in his eyes. Then his eyes widened.
"DID YOU JUST SMILE?!"
Medava jumped to his feet with huge, happy eyes. "You did! I made you smile!"
"No. You're delusional," Horus said with a blank expression. "No more talking, we're almost back at the caravan."
Medava said nothing, but fell in step with him, smiling. The foolish kid had decided that Horus did smile.
He shook his head and focused on the system.
[Adept-tier Physicality requirement: Ten Skill shards(Complete). Exert 100% of your force in a strike(Progress: 10/10, Complete!)]
[Do you wish to Evolve your skill? Y/N]