Chapter Six: Hunting
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Using mind magic allowed Isaiah to get an idea about the physical size of an intelligence.  He had no idea how that worked, since more intelligent creatures weren't always larger, but it did.

 

'Magic, I guess.'  He thought.  Magic was such a convenient answer for everything.

 

Contrary to his expectations, Isaiah wasn't able to find any prey even assisted with mind magic.  On one hand, that was good, since it proved that he wasn't just really bad at tracking.  On the other, he was literally wasting his life force searching for animals.

 

Suddenly, and finally, Isaiah felt a large presence nearby.  He crouched down, stood back up, and then started climbing a tree.  Looking out from a narrow branch, he saw what he could only assume to be a Prince of the Forest.  Even on all fours, the beast was taller than a human.  Its eyes betrayed a wisdom, calmness and placidity the resonated with the forrest itself.  Its grace was unmatched.  What had really convinced Isaiah of the beast's royal status, though, were the two tree branches growing from its head. 

 

Isaiah readied himself excitedly.  That beast may be strong, but as long as it didn't possess a magical biology like Isaiah, Its health points could be completely drained by a single critical strike!  Slowly, carefully, Isaiah crawled down the branch until he was literally on top of his target.  Then, with a loud and hopefully discombobulating screech, Isaiah fell down onto the creature's back, sinking his claws into its neck.  Isaiah was then promptly bucked off.

 

The imp sat up.  His head hurt, and his vision was fuzzy.  In fact, it looked like an entire tree was swinging his direction, with was ludicrous.  A massive impact across his entire frame immediately proved that his eyesight had, in fact, been somewhat correct.  

 

'Focus Isaiah, this is a fight you idiot!'

 

He tried to wrap his arms around the creature's head, which was what had hit him. Unfortunately, only his left arm responded.  The right one had been speared by one of the branches carried on the beast's head.  His left would have to do.  Isaiah breathed in deeply, before all of his breath was forced from him. The beast had carried Isaiah right into a tree.   This time he saw the flicker of a damage notification before it was automatically pushed aside.  The enemy leaned back to crush him between itself and the tree again.  At the same moment, Isaiah managed to get his claws in the tender space under the beast's throat.  The beast forced itself forward, smashing Isaiah's body into the tree and Isaiah's claws into its own throat.  Both froze, breath heaving.  Then the creature fell, carrying Isaiah's body with it. 

 

You have slain a Greenwood Deer!

 

Isaiah heaved deeply from the ground, enjoying the calm the came after the killing.  Feeling pain would come later.  Oh, wait, there it was.  He screamed, the sound far more guttural and shrill than what a human would produce.  Eventually, though, Isaiah recovered his self control.  After all, he had been screaming a lot since his reincarnation.  He wretched his right arm free from the deer's branch and reached into its throat with his left.  The pain flared again, but Isaiah managed to ignore it.  Activating his demonic touch soothed it some.

 

When there was nothing left to drain, Isaiah sighed and slumped back into the tree.  A quick glance at his status showed that his MHR was at 25 points, he had lost half of his starting health from this encounter.  Actually, he had probably lost a great deal more since he had used his demonic touch to recover already.  Eventually, the smell of the deer's blood reached his nose.  The smell was not as appealing as the blood used in the summoning circle, but it caused his stomach to rumble nevertheless.  Hesitantly, Isaiah leaned forward.  He took a brief lick from the creature's wound.  It was good.  Isaiah leaned in closer.

 

He had been intending to just suck on the blood from a more convenient position.  He had not intended to consume the entire deer.  Isaiah looked down at his protruding belly.  He was bloated, but he defiantly didn't look like he had just consumed over fifty kilograms worth of meat.

 

"Magic".  

 

That word, "kilograms", had entered his brain as quickly as it had left.  Eventually Isaiah would have to learn the terms used here on Lamar.  He would ask Master about it.  The imp looked to the sky, which was brightening quickly.  He had spent more time consuming the deer than he thought.  Propelled by his contract, Isaiah headed to the cultist' cave.

 


 

Marcus was furious when he Identified the extent of Isaiah's damage.  He had been spending his time, precious hours upon hours, teaching Isaiah how to fight.  However, based on how much damage his imp had sustained, it appeared that his efforts had been wasted.  

 

Isaiah was not having a very good time either.  Apparently, the Greenwood Deer was not among the forrest's apex, but was instead considered to be a lowly, feeble creature.  

 

Because of his poor performance during his fight, it was determined (rather one sidedly) that Isaiah would no longer receive lectures, but would instead hunt even through the daytime.  According to his new orders, Isaiah was only allowed to return infrequently to report on his progress and to replenish himself on his master's magic reserves.  So, forced by the contract and propelled by a desire to escape the cave, Isaiah hunted.  The good news; he managed to learn that the "boshure" was the unit of mass used on this part of Lamar before he was ordered to leave.  A "boshure" was about the weight of a peasant's vegetable dinner.

 

Following his master's order, Isaiah spent the next two months hunting, only rarely appearing inside of the cave.  Isaiah grew to hate the sunlight because his Light Element Weakness made recovering MHR in the daytime much less effective.  He hated his prey for making him always come back wounded and drained of power.  He also hated the cave. The snickers and disgust of the cultist, his master included, forced him to realize exactly how pathetic he was.

 

However, after a few weeks of hunting, things started to change for Isaiah.  He learned Light Resistance.  It wouldn't do much against an actual light-based attack, but it made the sunlight...somewhat pleasant.  This was a great surprise for Isaiah, since he had been explicitly told that learning traits required a lifetime's worth of effort.  

 

He also learned to fight effectively.  When his opponent was large, he could hit the critical spots on his first strike.  When it was small, he could use his superior strength to his advantage. Hunting stopped being a punishment that drained Isaiah's MHR.  Originally, a successful hunt was a hunt that ended with the prey dead and Isaiah limped back to Master for replenishment.  However, that definition slowly evolved to mean a hunt where Isaiah gained MHR from his efforts.  While hunting Isaiah learned Sharpened Claws and Efficient Casting.  As a somewhat shameful side note, Isaiah also discovered that he had learned Gluttonous Stomach.  

 

Finally, when his master discovered that Isaiah had learned not just the usual one, but four different traits, the cultist' snickering and commenting stopped.  He was no longer a useless Imp, he was a prodigy with infinite potential.  He was ordered to keep the hunting routine, and so, Isaiah gladly did.

 


 

Several weeks later found Isaiah crouching in some bushes.  He was looking over the pack of Hardwood Wolves that he had been tracking for the last two days.  Isaiah still didn't know why prey was so hard to find, but he guessed that these wolves were the reason.  Of course, he had also recently been playing a big part, but that was hardly his fault.  Isaiah conveniently ignored the fact that the contract had not pushed him to hunt at all during the last month.

 

'Focus Isaiah'

 

He wasn't using illusion magic, since even with Efficient Casting it was a drain on his MHR.  Isaiah preferred to relay on the dependable and free covering of the underbrush.  A gust passed, and Isaiah tensed, waiting to see if his scent had been carried to the wolves.  He was lucky.  Either the past few days and several mud layers had completely covered his smell, or the wind hadn't blown in quite the right way.  Probably the later, Isaiah decided.  Hardwood Wolves seemed to have very good noses.  

 

A stick was clutched tightly in Isaiah's right hand.  Claws were good and all, but a little reach went a long way.  On his left hand his claws glistened.  He hadn't really needed to sharpen them since learning the Sharpened Claws trait, so instead Isaiah preferred to polish them.  Isaiah held his breath as one of the pack members, a large, well-fed female, stepped close to the bush.  

 

She moved one step closer, and Isaiah sprang out to meet her.  He shoved his stick through her eye, were it lodged itself in her brain.  She fell dead.  Isaiah released the stick and jumped towards the next wolf who, like the rest of the pack, was still adjusting to his presence.  He managed to bury his claws into that one's neck, before finally, finally, Isaiah felt a tug on his neck.  The bark he had worn for just this purpose slid off as Isaiah spun to meet the new threat. He swung, inflicting a damaging but not lethal blow across a wolf's eye.  This one seemed to be bigger than the rest.  Isaiah then rolled backwards, avoiding three other wolves who had tried to pounce on him.  Bouncing back up, Isaiah saw the big wolf already jumping for his throat.  He threw out both arms to meet its neck.   Isaiah's claws were pushed inward by the wolf's own momentum while Isaiah's jaw took the bite intended for his neck.  The wolf fell dead.  Isaiah's jaw fell limp.  The rest of the pack, having seen four of their members fall, read their odds and showed Isaiah their tails.  

 

Isaiah merely watched the rest of the pack retreat.  He didn't even attempt to give chase.  The wolves were far faster runners than he was, they would escape today.  Isaiah had time.  The imp turned and finished off the wolf he had been in the middle of before his bark-armor was removed.  The thing was already half dead, so it was quite easy.  After using demonic touch to drain all four wolves, Isaiah checked his status.

 

'Status'

 

Name:  none 

Race: Chaos Demon

Class: Imp

Stats:

Magical Health Reserve: 117/∞

Intelligence: 10

Defence: 13

Speed: 12

Strength: 18

Optimization: 11

Learned Traits:

Holy Aura Resistance lv. 7, Sharpened Claws lv. 2, Efficient Caster lv. 1, Gluttonous Stomach lv. 1

 

Despite his vast increase in skills, very little had changed.  His optimization had gone from 7 to 11, though it could very easily go back down.  Speed and strength had increased by one.  He had learned three new traits, which was supposed to be amazing but looked rather insignificant.  The biggest change was definitely his MHR, which had gone from a measly 9 to a respectable 117.  Other then that, nothing had changed.  Isaiah put away the status bar, dissatisfied.  After eating the wolves that easily compressed (or something) inside his Gluttonous Stomach, Isaiah began heading back to the cave.  It was about time for his master's update.

 

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