7 - Hunt

The first arrow did not go through the snout, the second arrow did not go through the haunch, the third arrow shot straight through hind legs, at the perfect location on the hogs belly. 

The gigantic boar took a step, fell on spot. 

Eric did not wait for the herd to gather its wits. Immediately, he started shooting at the fastest speed. The second in command fell. 

The third .. 

fourth … 

[ Experience +30 ] 

[ Experience + 30 ] 

Soon, all the hogs fell. Eric did not let go of the piglets either. He killed them with a single arrow. 

[ Experience + 10 ] 

[ Level up ] 

[ Level up ] 

Eric opened the panel. He is now level three, needing just forty more points to go to level four. For level zero to one, it took five points. The rabbits provided that. Level one took twenty five, level two took one hundred and twenty five. Miscellaneous creatures that died in the fire he set up for the tent gave him twenty points of experience. Now, the wild boars alone gave him seven hundred and ten. 

He obtained two stats, both of them, he added one to dexterity, another to intelligence. The former increased his reaction speed and nimbleness, later increased his perception. He had no plans of testing whether he would really be resurrected if he dies. As such, it’s best not to die. 

Eric swung up, fixed another stake to the cliff face. He started climbing down the cliff face, making sure to double check all his foot holds. Soon, he was on the ground. If not for the vitality which increases with each level, he probably would not have enough stamina to get down the cliff. 

He retrieved the electric bicycle, rode to the location. The map lit up in front of him showing him the most comfortable path. He collected the arrows and corpses of the pigs. The smell of blood should already be attracting the predators. 

All of a sudden, all his senses screamed ‘ Danger ‘ 

Eric turned at full speed, a machete in his hand stabbing forward before his brain could recognize what’s happening. His arm went through a gigantic maw, hitting the roof of the mouth. 

[ Critical hit ] 

The words flashed before his eyes, vanishing at flash speed. 

Eric opened his hand, leaving the machete inside the giant snake’s mouth just like that. 

[ Exp + 50 ] 

[ Killed an invasive species. ] 

[ + one stat attribute point ] 

[ Eco-warrior passive activated. ] 

[ Species added to wildlife library. ] 

[ Now, you will be able to see all the animals belonging to this species on the map. ] 

Eric immediately opened the map and checked. ‘ Stats to dexterity ‘ he commanded with all of his being. 

A gigantic shadow was moving towards him under the water. If he had not experienced and desensitized himself to danger, he would have frozen there unable to move. That’s how big the shadow underwater is. His entire being thrummed with tension as death came straight to him from under the water. 

A gigantic snake with mottled yellow and brown skin rose from the water, a maw that could swallow a wild boar whole, came straight for him. 

Three arrows strung on the bow were released with supreme precision, hitting the roof of the snake’s head. However, it did not slow the snake much. Eric stored away the bow in a fraction of second, retrieved the strongest crossbow in his inventory with his thousand rpm speed, shot at the snake’s seven inches. 

The arrow was a piercing arrow, made especially to strike the wild beasts. 

The arrow sang like a siren renting the air. 

The maw of the snake almost reached Eric, covering his head. The arrows stuck in the snake’s upper maw halted the snake’s progress, hitting Eric with all the force of the snake’s head. 

Stars swirled around his head, making his vision go black for a second. 

‘ Click ‘ 

The piercing arrow severed the spine of the snake. 

The snake head’s weight fell on the three arrows, which rested on Eric’s head. The gigantic snake head slid sideways from Eric’s head. Its body was unable to support the weight of the head. The water was still churning in front of Eric as the delayed muscle response went through till it’s tail. 

The jaw still tried to close around his legs, given the snake brain was still active, as was its heart. 

Blood leaked from the place where the piercing arrow severed the spine of the snake. Eric stepped sideways over the fangs of the snake. The snake’s seven inches and its body were in an ‘L’ shape, brain giving orders, but they were cut off at the place where the spine was severed. If not for the three arrows stopping the closing of the maw, the snake would still have broken Eric’s legs. 

After coming out, Eric moved behind the snake’s head. Malice dripped through the snake’s cold eyes as it focused on Eric’s face. It’s eyes promised a bloody revenge as it looked at him. Half of his HP was gone from the hit earlier. He retrieved a great sword, struck it straight through the snake’s brain. 

[ Experience + 1000 ] 

[ Congratulations on killing a level four beast while at level three. ] 

[ you receive a double stat bonus. ] 

[ you receive a skill card ] 

The first thing Eric did after seeing the messages was to check his stats. As expected, the newly arrived stats are added to his dexterity. He started with ten points on each stat. He obtained The last stat was grayed out. He had no idea which level it unlocks at. He can not wait to have mana in his hand. 

[ Strength : 14( +1)  ] 

[ Agility : 14 ] 

[ Intelligence : 14 ( +1) ] 

[ Dexterity : 14 ( + 2 ) ] 

[ Vitality : 14 ] 

[ Mana ] 

[ stat points : 2 ] 

He added stats at level one to intelligence, from then on, he kept adding to dexterity. However, now, he realized dexterity always goes hand in hand with agility. Thus, this time, he added both stat points to agility. The development he seeks is more of a tradesman plus hunter. It's more important to be precise than to pack a punch, no matter how satisfying it is. 

Eric stored the snake body, turned to leave. Just as he was about to return, he felt immense pressure, pressing him to the ground. A dragon roar sounded in his head. As long as he remained in this area, he would be ground to paste. 

Eric put the newly found agility points to use. He crawled away from the clearing with army mud crawling at the fastest speed. The trembling of earth felt through his entire body is enough for him to know that he would have been crushed into paste had he remained at the location. 

He did not stop his crawl just because he escaped from the danger area. Ignoring the grass and gravel, he kept crawling at his fastest. The pressure eased all of a sudden. Eric got up, ran forward at the fastest sprint. 

He could feel a gigantic presence, hungry for his flesh and blood behind him. 

The moped was retrieved, Eric hightailed it towards the cliff face. Whichever nightmarish creature has landed in the clearing behind him, it can surely not reach his little perch hanging two hundred feet above air. It’s too near to the sharp cliff face for a large animal to comfortably attack him. 

Unless the Kingkong itself came, the mountain swing was the perfect location to launch an attack from. He never moved so fast in his life. He did not even bother with storing the moped. He got down, then rushed to climb the cliff, forgoing removing the stakes. 

“ Screeeeeeee… “ the animal's roar sounded behind him. 

It was unlike anything he had ever heard. 

It was full of fear, hunger, longing and utter animal determination to crush anything in its path. 

Eric laid eyes on the creature for the first time after putting on his shooting harness. 

‘ A DRAGON ?!!! ‘ he was shocked to see the creature. 

‘ Aren’t they supposed to be extinct ? no, aren’t they imaginary creatures ? ‘ before his brain could process, the dragon roared once more, spraying the air with dragon breath. 

The dragon has locked eyes with him. 

Looking into the dragon’s eyes full of mad obsession, Eric gave up fear. In his heart, there is nothing but overflowing thrill. 

He strung the piercing arrow, locked it on the target, and released it. 

The arrow missed. 

Eric’s mind went blank. He became an arrow shooting machine. Each arrow was a piercing arrow. His fatigue is building up by the seconds. 

Miss ! 

Miss ! 

.. 

HIt ! 

Miss ! 

The dragon flew high in front of him, bracing its wings against the wind, lining up in a straight line with his swing. Eric knew what’s coming next without even using his brain. 

The dragon dove straight towards him, braving hitting the cliff wall behind him. If he gets skewered by the dragon horn on its head, he would die without a corpse ! ‘This resurrection as long as you are on ground is not very useful.’ Eric thought as he scrambled on the rope to climb higher. 

He turned around. 

The dragon was coming straight at his waist ! it would snap him into two any moment now.