The forest was quiet. Every now and then, we spotted deer foraging, but those wary creatures fled the moment they saw us. Like all hunters, Luka didn’t kill indiscriminately. She chose suitable prey instead of killing whatever crossed her path. This time, our target was wild boar. There were plenty in this area. Though we were still some distance from the town, if the weather kept getting colder, they might wander into the fields and wreck the crops.
A herd of wild boar could destroy more than a dozen acres of good farmland in a single night. They were farmers’ greatest enemy, so when autumn came, hunters began going after them in droves, cutting their numbers as much as possible.
Beneath an earthen cliff, we found a herd of wild boar gathered around a small pool, snorting as they drank. Luka and I crouched in the yellowed grass. She carefully nocked an arrow and aimed at the biggest boar. Its hide gleamed with oil, though. It clearly scratched itself against pine trees all the time, and the pine resin had mixed with its bristles to form a tough layer of composite armor. An ordinary hunter’s arrow would have a hard time piercing it.
“God of Storms, grant me a mighty wind,” Luka chanted. “My arrow, pierce the clouds and shoot down the sun!”
Pale green light gathered around the arrowhead, forming a spinning current of wind. Luka waited for the right moment, then released the bowstring. A strong gust blew her hair loose, and the arrow, accelerated even further by the swirling wind, let out a piercing shriek. Like a fin-stabilized armor-piercing sabot round, it punched through the boar’s resin-coated hide and straight through its heart! The hollow arrow shaft became a conduit, and blood gushed from the side vents. The huge boar let out a shrill cry, spun around a few times, then toppled beside the pool with a thud. It twitched a few times and went still.
The heavy stench of blood hit me, and before I knew it, my fangs had begun to lengthen. My pupils narrowed to slits. A vampire’s instincts were eating away at my reason. I looked at Luka beside me, and my vampire vision pierced her fair skin, revealing the blood flowing through her veins. In my eyes, she was no longer human. She was a delicious prey. I took a deep breath and steadied myself, forcing down the urge to suck her blood. To keep this from happening, I’d prepared well in advance: before dawn, I’d gone into the forest, hunted wolves, and drunk my fill of blood. I’d even entered “Sage Time” ahead of schedule.
Even so, my reason had almost been overwhelmed by instinct. Vampires really were terrifying.
We stayed hidden in the grass and watched for a while. Once we were sure the boar was dead, Luka and I cautiously crept over. As we’d agreed, I held my crossbow and kept watch while Luka butchered the boar. But it was so big, and its hide so thick, that her hunting knife couldn’t cut through it at all. In the end, we discussed it and decided to put the boar in my item box. The boar vanished with a whoosh, and Luka stared in amazement. I lifted my chin smugly. “Don’t worry, girl. Big Sis has your back from now on.”
We hunted a second boar near a stream. It was even bigger than the first, and its two curved tusks looked vicious. In the end, this one went into my item box too.
“Elsa,” Luka said, rinsing her hands in the stream, “look at that hill over there. The clay is at its foot.”
“Oh, that hill?” I followed the direction she pointed. “Luka, there seems to be a building up there. Does it look like a castle? Or maybe a watchtower?”
“That’s Silvermoon City,” Luka said. “I’ve heard vampires live there.”
So, after all that, I’d ended up back in the place where I was born. I remembered waking up in a coffin and getting shot by two clueless NPCs.
It took us an hour to reach the foot of the hill. Sure enough, there was plenty of red clay here. I dug up enough to last a whole year and stuffed it all into my item box.
“Elsa,” Luka said, “your item box seems a lot bigger than an ordinary one.”
“Oh, does it?” I replied, digging away. “How much can an ordinary item box hold?”
Luka gestured with her hands. About the size of a basketball. Wait, I’d already put two wild boar and a whole truckload of clay in mine. That wasn’t even close!
“Hmph,” I said with feigned disdain. “How can low-level magic compare to high-level magic?”
At that, Luka’s emerald eyes widened.
“Elsa, are you… an incredibly powerful mage?”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t use magic.
“No, no. I’m an Alchemist,” I said proudly. “A super powerful one.”
Before I’d even finished speaking, a foul stench crept toward us. The pointed ear hidden beneath my silver hair twitched. I immediately stopped digging and drew the longsword at my waist.
“Elsa, what’s wrong?”
“Shh.” I put a finger to my lips. “Luka, something’s coming. Something really bad.”
Luka immediately went on alert. She nocked an arrow and scanned the forest warily. Just then, a figure appeared in the yellowed grass. He wore nothing but a pair of underwear, and his bluish-gray skin looked like it was rotting. I recognized him. He was the NPC who’d shot me with an arrow! How had he turned into a zombie?
“Damn it, it’s a ghoul!” Luka drew her bow and fired. “Elsa, run!”
As she spoke, she fired two arrows in quick succession. One hit the ghoul in the chest, the other in the head, but it showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it let out a roar, as if the arrows had only enraged it. Just as Luka prepared to fire a third, a second ghoul suddenly sprang from behind a tree at her side and slashed her arm with its mutated claws.
“Damn it…”
Before Luka could draw her hunting knife, my longsword was already there. The ghoul hadn’t expected me to launch a surprise attack, so all its attention was on Luka. By the time it noticed me, my sword had already cut off its head. The decapitated corpse fell to the ground. Its limbs still moved, but it had clearly lost all coordination. Just then, the first ghoul came charging with a howl. Luka fired her third arrow and hit it in the mouth, but it pulled the arrow out without a care and charged again. In a flash, I moved in front of Luka. My crimson eyes swept through the mist, leaving a streak of red light. The ghoul immediately made me its main target. I ducked beneath its sweeping claws and cut off both its legs with a backhanded slash.
The ghoul fell to the ground, its legs gone, and blindly flailed its mutated hands. I planted a foot on its back and coldly chopped off its head.
(System notification: EXP +5000. Level up: Lv. 2 → Lv. 8.)
I’d killed so many unicorn rabbits without gaining a single level, and now I’d jumped six levels at once. Looks like I’ll have to change my monster-hunting strategy from now on. No more picking on bunnies.
