Bab 23: Chapter 22: Hunting

Would you readers be interested in me adding a Bestiary to Vol0 of the "monsters" Miles encounters?

Night Time.

[Current Stamina: 145/150]

'Now!', Miles decisively thought. Miles no longer had to will Firebending to trigger Smoldering Claws. With but a single thought and a bit of imagination, his steel-like claws were set ablaze. Shiiink!

Miles's claws poked out of his little paws, only to get wrapped by fiery flames. Smoldering Claws activated, causing Miles's Attack Damage to soar. He continued his motion, and crouched downward. Taking a moment to trigger Ice-Walk, which took away five of his Stamina, he swiftly ran across a patch of ice near the lake. He had spotted the remaining Geese, and decided to fell a number of them in one swoop!

Running across the ice with ease thanks to Traction, woeful cries reached Miles's ears. Sounds of flesh getting pierced through with his claws followed suit. Blood started to splatter on the ice, seeping into it. It painted a bloody picture. Miles had used Observe on the group closest to him, and saw that they were a couple levels higher than the two in the outer periphery yesterday.

Ignoring the proficiency gained by using Observe, Miles's gaze was drawn toward the big numbers he saw appearing over the Geese's heads.

[-475!], [-1425!], [-466!]

In a flash, three Geese perished before Miles's eyes.

HONKKK!

Loud honks struck against his eardrums as Miles saw three Geese instantly collapse onto the ground into a bloody mess. Burn marks engulfed their bodies, destroying several of their feathers in the process.

Honk! Honk!

This time, the Geese didn't stand idily. Seeing three Geese die, the remaining five flapped their wings out of anger, and honked angrily at the black fox before them. The four that surrounded a much larger Goose suddenly stood up, puffing out their bodies. Their necks elongated, and they violently flapped their wings. They were trying to intimidate Miles with the difference in height!

[Ding! 75 EXP has been obtained for killing two Level 4 Geese and 1 Level 5 Goose.]

Inching ever so closely to Level 7, Miles's gaze remained on the remaining five Geese. It appeared they grouped the Goose Leader in waves, with the outer circle being the lower level Geese. Miles killed the Level 2 and 3s yesterday, and he just killed the Level 4 and Level 5 Geese today. Of the four protecting its leader, Miles took a moment to use Observe on them. There were two Level 6, and two Level 7 Geese, and their stats grew in proportion to what the lower levels had. Its curve was pretty straight, and nothing out of the ordinary.

[Ding! Observe Lv1 (20->40/100]

Miles was almost halfway now to its next level. He wanted to see if leveling it up would offer a bigger variety of descriptions. Right now, these descriptions are simplistic.

Still, Miles didn't want to lose his current pace. He had a stand-off with the remaining Geese. Unlike yesterday, the sun was peeking out, and scattered clouds rolled around up in the skies. The small town of Cold Lake could be seen in the far distance. Thankfully there were no hunters out, as it was presently nighttime.

"Awoooo!", Miles howled, triggering Howl in the process. The Geese before him became startled, not expecting to see this fox before their eyes to let out a vigorous growl. A red glow wrapped around his body after using the SKill. Miles could feel his strength soar, and now he was on a timer. Howl currently boosted his Attack Damage by 30% for ten minutes.

"Yip!", Miles exclaimed, feeling a vigorous energy spreading through his body. It gave him the energy boost he needed to attack with Smoldering Claws again. It was close to leveling up thanks to killing those three Geese a couple moments ago!

Honk!

Two of the four Geese immediately sped toward Miles. These Geese definitely weren't the ones he attacked yesterday! Miles could see the anger in their eyes. The two Level 6 Geese approached him without any fear of the howl he had just done. They began to flap their wings in hopes to hit him with their feathers!

[-6!]

Their feathers were firm, and Miles actually felt his body get pummeled by the Geese's wings. The attacks weren't deep, but it knocked him back a bit. To his surprise, the Level 6 Geese could damage him!

The higher leveled Geese also had higher Agility than him. He wasn't sure if his attacks would miss or not, but Miles was naturally more agile. He assumed there was a variance in Agility. His attacks may miss once or twice, but most of them will still land a blow, since he could outspeed the Geese before him.

'Again!', Miles thought. The smoldering flames wrapping around his claws stayed ignited. They never extinguished. Draining ten more stamina, Miles took this chance to attack. The Geese cried out in pain, startling the three remaining Geese, which included their leader!

[-608!] [-608!]

Two big damage counts appeared over the two Level 6 Geese, and fell them instantly, just like he did with the three prior. This left the three remaining Geese in a daze. They didn't expect the fox to kill five of their flock so quickly like that. Thanks to the Howl boost, the damage was even higher this time!

Miles took a quick second to see the total amount of experience two he had just killed.

[Ding! Host has obtained 75 for killing two Level 6 Geese.]

[Ding! Host's Level has risen to 7.]

[Ding! Smoldering Claws Lv1 -> Lv2.]

'Sweet.', Miles thought, becoming slightly stronger in the process. Since he was on the latter half of the first ten levels now, he gained twice the amount of stats. He was given two additional points to use now, and adding Twilit Fervor to that, it equaled five!

He didn't use them right away, seeing him distract the dead Geese with his claws. They couldn't run away in time nor dodge his attacks, causing the two to die.

Before he knew it, Miles had killed five Geese. All he had remaining was the last three before him.

HONKKK!!!

This time, the Goose Leader became enraged, seeing the rest of its flock die so effortlessly. It started to angrily stomp its feet onto the ice, elongating its neck over the two Level 7 Geese. Its height was at least two or three times compared to two remaining Geese. The remaining Geese didn't run off to attack him like the previous two did. Miles became surprised seeing the two Geese quench their anger, and took on a defensive posture, trying to protect the leader.

'Do they really think this strategy will work? Did they not see me kill the rest of the Geese in one hit?', Miles scoffed, wondering if Canadian Geese truly were smart as people claimed...

'Then again, seeing them take a defensive stance, not just any animal could do such a thing. It is still in vain though. I'll kill them all in one strike. I'll take this time to Observe the remaining three. I'm curious to see what the Leader's stats are.', Miles mused. And sure enough the Leader's stats were something else. After reviewing them, Miles was thinking of using Lucky Strike!

Canadian Goose Leader - Level 8

HP: 1000/1000 STR: 100 END: 35 AGI: 30

'Holy attack stat...', Miles inwardly cursed, not expecting to see such a high attack stat from the Goose Leader. It was three times his!

He definitely had to be careful here. One wrong slip on the ice, and he could find himself perishing by a single attack by this Goose Leader. Thankfully Smoldering Claws leveled up, giving him a tiny boost in damage. Howl was still active as well. It had around seven minutes left on the timer. If he relied on just his current damage output, it would take two strikes to kill this Goose Leader.

'Pump all points into Agility.', Miles decided, spending the points he had available all into Agility. It inched him much closer toward the mark the Goose had, but he still fell short by a couple points. Miles wasn't worried though.

He was a fox after all. He could definitely outrun this large, imposing Goose that was staring daggers into his eyes. It was clear the big Goose was angry.

Miles's stomach started to rumble. He wanted to know what this goose meat would taste like!

Without hesitation, he swerved around to the side, igniting Smoldering Claws yet again. He went in straight for the kill, and the Goose Leader couldn't do anything about it!

I might add some stat variances to future fights, but for now, the ones in this chapter are static.