Chapitre 92: Lost Hunter
"Do we know each other?" inquired the wretch as he shifted his stance, ready to run at his maximum speed at a moment's notice.
He also rose an eyebrow, the old man did seem a bit screwed in the head but not senile enough to make this sort of mistakes, no rambling elder would be able to slaughter knights so easily, both butchering them but also ending their lives with incredible finesse, such fine balance in a fighting style could hardly be retained in an unsound mind.
"Aah, Ahaha! Well, it seems like your vocabulary has widened in the last few years, decades? How long has it been since then?"
"Argh... No matter, futile questions! You foul venerer! You may change your form, your smell, no venator like myself would be tricked!" the old man seemed certain of himself as he used words the wretch was wholly unfamiliar with.
The hunter gritted his teeth, simultaneously smiling a slight bit, finally reunited with the very reason he had been dragged here, he felt the strains of time and darkness ease up instantly, vanishing as if they had never existed.
He had done nothing but slaughter the beasts and monsters of the caves and sometimes, even from below after he had been separated from his original prey, he had believed the venerer to have been undone by that other person....
But it seemed like the horrid creature had pulled through as it was known for, reappearing before the Lost Hunter for another hunt, or so the old man believed.
Axiolypito didn't understand what was in common with him and this venerer for this guy to mistake them together without even doubting himself for a second.
"Rah!" making a guttural sound, the man leaped forward, with great speed and intent, his axe brought down on the place Axio had been, with enough force to slash into the ground, no doubt, however, the venator stopped his powerful swing the instant he realised it was meaningless, instead kicking the monster's face.
'Mmh?' Axiolypito circled around the man trying to slash at him just to be certain and sure enough, he might as well be trying to extinguish the sun with his spit.
He was thick-skinned and his attire, whilst not appearing very protective, seemed to be expertly made to resist the claws and fangs of creatures.
His feeble claws broke without resistance.
"Messing with me? Developped some sadistic tendencies?!" the old man moved toward Axio taking a swing ahead of being in reach, the wretch moved out of the way with his superior speed when sparks suddenly came from the hunter's one-handed axe.
The handle suddenly extended, granting much better reach and the blade was moving toward Axio's neck after the man completely shifted his stance and hold.
Bending his knees, Axiolypito moved under the attack, making distance between himself and the venator again as he thought.
'He is pretty agile and dexterous, but not nearly as much as me or Solitar, yet, he somehow manages to target me precisely even as I move...' he narrowed his eyes as the old man also remained still for a moment, also in his own thoughts.
'I must have been mistaken, what is this creature? Another venerer? Simply another soul consumed by blood?' it didn't take long for him to realise his mistake, now having another view of his new prey, he noticed the differences with unclouded senses.
His initial impression was still the same, the creature bore great similarities to the venerer but was definitely not the same as it or any of the others, it was entirely different yet so similar...
The Lost Hunter had no idea what to think of it, he only knew that a prey stood before him, even if not the original one he had taken a leap into the Abyss to confront, he had a duty to slaughter it.
Acting as though he was going to strike with his now extended axe, he instead truly aimed to take a hold of something in his pocket.
The monster may be many times faster than himself but this was no worrying matter, facing against opponents that outclassed him in every physical attributes was just any day for him, so the days of wandering the damp caves and this one peculiar encounter were actually less harrowing than what he had been used to in the past.
Taking hold of a small, wooden object hidden on his person, he pulled it out as it extended into a full-blown crossbow-like weapon, shooting out a spray of bolts at the monster as it tried to once again run.
The old man's sharpened senses and his instinct as a hunter were well enough for him to determine the wretch's course of action and direction, one didn't need to overpower their opponent's with strength or speed, one needed only to understand and learn.
Still, the creature proved to be a conniving one, not only fast, it's small stature and freakish flexibility allowed it to run through the bolts without being hit and without slowing down, this time however, rather than stopping it kept on running after picking something off the ground.
'Running away? It didn't smell of even a lick of fear though... Simply retreating to strike another time? A feint? A trap? A bait?' the hunter debated whether to give chase or not, the monster was quick to disappear from his senses in that minuscule window.
'I suppose I'll do give chase, but with tranquility...' he had already assessed that in term of brawn and power, the monster was beyond weak, evoking a beast that was either a scavenger or one to lay traps.
Still, the old man didn't back out from a good hunt and marched after the monster for a while, until he lost track of its smell after an hour of walking.
That was because Axiolypito had backtracked, having reached far in little time while carrying a light, avoiding him to hit walls, he had then shrank to his smallest size and gone back to where his food was waiting, managing to evade the keen hunter by hidden deep into moss.
For some reason, most Axio's abilities were still having difficulties working normally even out of the water, something else was at work down there.
For now however, it was time for him to discover whether he would obtain aquatic adaptations from eating those corpses...
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone