Chapter 12 - Welcome to the Jungle (Part 1)
After a rough landing, Berto looked around at the thick layers of green all around him. The Rift's demi-plane had taken the appearance of a twisted, overgrown playground park that looked something out of a post apocalyptic thriller. There were signs of a forgotten past, a now dead human civilization that had given space for a new tribe of people to emerge. Berto quickly found signs of scribbles on tree trunks and abandoned primitive huts made of mud, twigs and stones. He knew what kind of being left these signs of life, the only question was, how many were there?
Mariah: New Rift Quest issued. "Jungle Drums" Either survive this miniature Rift for 7 days, until it expires and you are transported back. Or, slay the entire Green Scale Clan of sentient Guana. 0/30 Guana defeated. Award, 1000xp
Bonus: Slay the Clan's revered Divine beast, The "Toko Nhori". Award, select a new Skill among three you will be presented with.
Happy hunting User Berto.
Well.. at least he had his answer. 30.. That was.. many. Too many. He had trouble taking down just one. The Mariner looked at his Status Screen and eyed the free Attribute points. His skills didn't suit this environment a lot but if he had a few days he could adapt. Seven days were too much, he couldn't stay that long. He had made the mistake of not informing anyone of his endeavour. Not only did he have to kill these things now but he had to do it fast, or everyone he cared about would think he died somewhere in the chaos!
"Ok Mariah, allocate two points into Brawn, these things are strong. But.. what to do with last one.. I feel that I'm pretty resilient and fast now.. and Shield Bash is the only edge I have in a scrap so I should at least have enough mana to use it often. Put the last point in Spirit, that should also boost my awareness. We're in a new environment, I should have my wits about me!"
Mariah: Understood User Berto... Done!
* User : Alberto Ferantelli - Level: 7 *
Health: 37/45
Mana: 5/7
Brawn: 15 (+2)
Agility: 16
Vitality: 14
Intellect: 18
Charisma: 15
Spirit: 15 (+1)
Skills:
1) Engineering (B) Lv.5
2) Bypass (C) Lv.1
3) Pain Mitigation (B) Lv.3
4) Insight (A) Lv.1
5) Craft (D) Lv.5
6) Tame (C) Lv.8
7) Harvest (C) Lv.3
8) Shield Bash (C) Lv.2
Mutations:
1) Mariner (B) Lv.2
2) Thick Skin (D) Lv.1
* Status update complete *
The young man felt his body tense up as a faint golden glow washed over him! He flexed his biceps and smiled in wonder and satisfaction. If he knew building yourself up would be this satisfying he would tried more to maintain a gym routine. The Evergreen had gifted him the body of a pro athlete in matter of days in what basically amounted to 6 Levels of progress in this "System". The idea of what he could become if he reached even higher levels of power baffled him.
With that, the survivor set off to explore the jungle ahead. He cleaned a path, through the growth with his dagger at hand while swatting away annoying flying insects. He soon found himself parched and started looking for a river, pond or even a lousy coconut. He was dramatically underprepared for this adventure but found himself agreeing with Mariah's aggressive encouragement. His, diving ahead into danger had not allowed him to feel fear of reliving his trauma. He was doing what he recently learned how to do. Surviving..
Soon rain blessed the tropical nightmarish plane and Berto used palm leaves and empty coconuts to store water as he ate a few of the newly discovered hard-shelled treats. He was assaulted by a few freakishly large bugs but he managed to quickly dispose of them. The small creatures only granted him a few points of experience each and of course "dropped" nothing of value. After climbing a tree Berto saw the sun beginning to set and rushed to find a safe place to camp. Sadly he had no idea if the guana were good climbers or if the trees were home to even scarier mutants! He remembered the abandoned huts and knew that sleeping casually on the ground would also be dangerous.
The Mariner scouted ahead until he came by a small river of fast flowing water. He deduced that there must be a waterfall nearby from the speed of the flow and by the distant sound of stronger currents and splashing of water on rock. He followed the river and finally came about a medium sized waterfall. The drop must have been at least nine meters, into a lake of green murky waters. Berto climbed the side and peeked through the side, behind the falling foamy waters that crashed on the lake's surface, creating a torrential buzz that was oddly calming. Behind the waterfall was a small cave entrance and Berto grinned in victory before getting to work!
He collected firewood, flint and tinder, large branches that he would sharpen and then used as part of a door/barricade craft for the cave's entrance. He also thought about making traps. He hadn't made something like that before, especially not with primitive tools, sticks and stones! His heightened Intellect and Crafting Skills however were already filling his imagination with ideas of how to actually fashion something like that and he made a mental note to look into it the following day. For now, Berto took his supplies and carried them gingerly behind the falling waters, so as to keep them dry, and proceeded to the cave.
The Mariner, reaching the entrance suddenly snapped back and stuck to the rocky walls of the cliff, allowing his provisions to silently slip on the mostly dry surface at his feet. His Lowlight Vision had enabled him to take a good look at the cave's interior and he immediately spotted two Lizardmen in the process of skinning, what seemed to be, a large hog-like creature.
Mariah: Resting Area found! Slay the 2 cave dwelling Guana to claim this Resting Area for the next 8 hours. Time starts when both Guana are defeated.
"Yeah sounds about right.." Berto complained and took another peek. At least one of them was a Forager, with his basket and crude spear. The other however seemed more dangerous. He had a quiver full of javelins and wore an armor of bone and hide while wielding a two handed halberd with a sharpened stone head. It was slightly larger than the forager and its muscles looked even tighter against its leathery skin. "Mmmhmm great.. should be a piece of cake.. full of glass.." thought the Mariner with a mental sigh.
With a newly determined glare in his eyes, Berto scanned the area and took a final look at his opponents. He gauged them, their strength, their bodies and what they were capable of. If he tried separating to them by running they could out maneuver him or he could fall into a trap, run into an even bigger hunting party, who knew! He turned towards the sound of the crashing waters and made his decision.
In the cave, the forager was using its polished harvesting skills to extract every bit of useful material from the boar as the Lizardman soldier stood watch. They had quite the diligent hunt this morning and lady luck had blessed them with a rare kill, filled not only with fatty meat but also good "offerings" for their masters. The soldier kept throwing impatient glances at the meticulous worker and wondered when they finally be done with this. The light of the cave suddenly became dimmer, to his keen eyes, as the sole entrance to the cave was momentarily blocked. He turned towards it and got impaled by small wooden spear!! The projectile was launched with great speed less than 10 meters away and had barely penetrated his armor like scales! However he could not help but notice that his assailant carefully aimed for his right shoulder, which just so happened to not be covered by his hide armor. He spotted the small bipedal beast running out of the cave once more and hissed menacingly, jolting the forager into action as well.
The soldier Guana took point and ran outside thoughtlessly. It was a hunter! No small beast, on four legs or two, would get the better of him. He snapped the creature's crude javelin in twine with one hand and gripped its halberd with determination as it exited the cave. The fading sunlight blinded its eyes momentarily as had gotten used to the cave's darkness. The soldier spotted some hastily thrown together supplies on the side of the cave walls and communicated this to his forager, who was right behind him, in a series of hisses and clicks. But his attacker was gone.. The soldier searched carefully around the body of water and the surrounding foliage but no traces other than some strange looking footprints. Having spent almost ten minutes searching, he gave a signal to his forager and the two moved together towards the cave once more.
If a predator was toying with them, then it would be prudent to at least a wall at their backs. As the soldier turned his back to the waterfall, attempting to follow his kin inside the damp cave he heard an even more intense splash of water. With a sickening *THUNK* a sharp blade pierced the side of its head, sinking about 10cm into its lower jaw!
Berto, having jumped out of the water and on to his enemy's back, wrapped a leg around the Lizardman's right arm, his free hand around its neck and pulled back with every ounce of strength he had! The two fell into the pond while the forager yelped and hit the water's surface with its spear. The Mariner overpowered any attempt the Lizardman made to swim upwards and kept dragging it towards the bottom. He yanked on his coral dagger, opening the creature's mouth open and it helplessly gurgled water and blood! The soldier reached around with its powerful tail, in an effort to wrap it around its attacker but alas.. Despite its length, the reptilian appendage could not bend towards its back and Berto knew that. The soldier's lungs filled with water, its arms grew weak and jaw went slack. Berto dislodged his dagger and stabbed again, at its neck this time. Despite its alien nature, the creature was bipedal and intelligent. The Mariner felt sick to his stomach claiming a second one's life in the same day.. but there was no choice. He was a survivor now. It was him or them. The Rifts or his world..
Mariah: Guana Hunter Lv.6 defeated! 170xp awarded. 1/30 Green Scale Clan slayed!
The Lizardman above the water paced anxiously, waiting for signs of life when it finally spotted the shape of its superior rising to the surface! The forager had a near shock when the body of the Hunter was flung at it with considerable force, forcing it to back away into the cave. Berto rised form the water, shield equipped and halberd in hand. He threw the polearm like a spear but the heavy weapon wasn't designed to be used as such and simply glanced off the forager, leaving just a scratch. He picked up his longblade and engaged the disoriented creature! His strikes were heavy handed and clumsy, lacking proper technique or finesse. The forager parried with its spear but couldn't return any strikes as it was being pushed back.
The Mariner found his increased strength was still not on par with that of a Lizardman but was surely closer now. He misjudged a step forward and Berto slipped to the ground as the Lizardman man bounced away before charging again, spearhead first! The tip tore into the young man's side, leaving a deep gash behind and he could feel the warmth of his own blood as it trickled inside his now torn coveralls. Thankfully a last minute twist of his torso saved him from a direct stab to the gut! He leaned closer and released a close range Shield Bash, aimed upwards, hitting the Lizardman's spear arm from below. The metallic *THWACK* sent the enemy's weapon flying and paralyzed its arm. With a final thrust of his right arm, Berto impaled the forager through the stomach and the life slowly faded from the creature's eyes, as it slumped to the ground.
Mariah: Guana Forager Lv.6 deafeted! 100xp awarded. 2/30 Green Scale Clan slayed. 505/1700 to level 8!
