I was ready, it was early but that didn't matter, I could get familiar with the woods before it got dark.
I took the shield, knife, and spear and said my goodbyes to Nidle though he accompanied me to the city gates, "please just be careful."
"No need to worry, I'm fully prepared."
He worries a lot, doesn't he?
"I'll still fill a request with the guild."
"No need, seriously. I'm sure I can take care of that thing myself," I waved him off.
"I'll pray for you," he yelled when I was already a distance away.
I made my way to the forest again.
This time I didn't wander around, I examined the areas of the forest with great care. During my exploration, I found a berry bush. Deer liked berries and if a monster that looked like one behaved like one I could use them as bait. I picked a lot of them lay them on the ground and climbed a tree.
I readied the spear and waited for it to come out.
For hours I laid in wait, sometimes having a false alarm when smaller animals like squirrels and birds tried eating the berries. I threw little branches at them to make them run away. I waited for hours then it finally came out. It was more grotesque this time around, having long gashes and scrapes on its side. Looked like it picked a fight it almost didn't win or just cut itself open somewhere, on a sharp rock maybe.
Well, it looked like it was going to get hurt again.
It was almost right below me.
It had no idea that I was hovering above.
Its senses must have been dulled from the wounds, a normal deer would have run away, maybe it wasn't a deer at all. It ate, looked around chewing, and ate again.
This was my chance, but I couldn't just throw the spear and hope it'll die from the wound. I had to make sure that it was fatal, if it wasn't the deer part of it will most likely never come here out of fear from predators. But if it was fully a monster then it will most likely kill me, either beat me to death or impale me with its great horns.
I thought this was my only chance, so I had to make it count.
But if I want to join the Adventurers Guild, something like this is a small matter, maybe for them, something like this was a daily occurrence.
I jumped down, screaming but with precision to not be impaled by its great horns with the spear in hand. It couldn't react that fast and I was sitting on it like it was a horse and stabbed its side, the tip of the spear broke off.
It screamed madly and thrashed around. Frantically it tried to shake me off, running around with great speed.
Seconds after I had jumped my thighs and my privates started to burn in pain. There must have been something on its fur and touching it wasn't a good idea.
I took a hold of its horn to not fall down, while struggling I threw away the broken spear and took out the knife and stabbed it several times in its neck, blood splashed in my face and everywhere else, I was drenched in it.
The beast threw me off and ran away with the knife still sticking in its neck.
I crashed hard into a tree.
I screamed the most horrible curses that come into my mind in pain.
I stood up and rubbed my right shoulder, thighs, and the more sensitive parts of my lower region.
It feels like there were exceptionally bad bee stings on them but I could walk and didn't think the shoulder was broken.
I spat out the extremely bitter blood that was in my mouth, thankfully it wasn't mine. Looking around, there was a very obvious blood trail. No wonder, I stabbed it quite often and there was part of the spear in its gut and the knife in its neck. I followed it, the deer couldn't have gone far, it will bleed out quickly.
When I found it, less than a hundred paces away, it wasn't dead yet. It was lying down on the ground breathing heavily out its monstrous nose. Even for something that looked like a monster deer, it was very ugly. Seems like it couldn't stand up anymore.
It looked miserable and was shaking terribly. I wanted to comfort it in its last moments.
I tried handing the deer a handful of berries but it tried to bite my hand, "fine, I'll eat them myself."
Not too long after it stopped shaking, it was still bleeding and I waited until it didn't anymore. It was the first time I killed something, no, I did kill fish while fishing. This is a great success story.
I can't wait until I can show Nidle.
"Or better not," I thought.
I don't think a monk would like this. Damn, I have to show him. I don't know where to sell this, sorry in advance Nidle.
After the beast dried out, I poked it with a branch I found. I couldn't be careful enough with a thing like that. It looked dead and didn't react to the pokes at all.
How am I going to carry this?
Maybe if I can sling it over my shoulder.
I heaved it up and flung it over onto me, it was heavy, lighter than I expected but the additional legs made it uncomfortable to carry, "okay," I hyped myself up while adjusting the game, "I can do this, I can do this."
I had to stop and rest multiple times on the way back to the city, each time carefully putting the deer on the ground and back onto my shoulders. It was damaged somewhat, but it didn't have to be more than it already was.
It was late noon already when I reached the city.
"Halt!" I heard someone shout above when I tried to enter the city.
It was a city guard on the city walls.
"What is that you are bringing into the city."
"What does it look like? It's meat for the butcher or some interested buyer, I don't know, I'm just the delivery boy."
I could see that he was doubtful.
"It's dead already, do you fear dead beasts that much?" I lifted its head and opened its mouth with my fingers and let out a growl.
"Go on with your business, citizen," he said begrudgingly.
My first stop would be the church again. I saw Nidle sitting on the low wall and yelled over to him, "Nidle!"
Looking over to me, he abruptly stood up and ran over, "By the gods, are you alright. Are you hurt somewhere and what is this?" he said shocked.
The blood that splashed on me during the fight was dried up all over my body. I didn't let him pat me down to see if I had wounds, "no need to be so surprised, that's the deer I was talking about and that's not my blood."
"If I knew it looked like that I would never let you go hunting it. I mean just look at it. I would have never- and no one had taken on the request yet-"
I laid it down on the ground and interrupted him, "amazing, in a way, aye?" I said proudly.
He gave it a good look, "true," he couldn't lie. "That doesn't look like a deer at all, you sure it's not a monster?"
"I don't know," I said unconcerned, "do you maybe know to who I could sell it to?"
"I may have a person but let's get you cleaned up first," he suggested.
I threw water on my face to get rid of the dried blood.
"So, who is the 'person'?" I questioned, drawing out the words.
"He's a butcher. He's the most logical person to sell that thing too," he stated.
"Meat is for the butcher, got it. Is he a friend or something?"
"I don't know him that well. He comes by a few times a month to donate food scraps for charity."
I frowned slightly, "it's gonna be a hard sell."
He helped me carry it to one and when we entered, the butcher inside called out "Welcome, what can I do for you-" he stopped when he saw that we were carrying the cadaver.
"What in the blazes is this!" he said alarmed.
"A deer and I want to sell it," I said relaxed.
He looked at Nidle speechless but Nidle just shrugged.
"This is no deer, my friend. Just look at it," he gestured toward it.
"Well, wanna buy it anyway?"
"Are you crazy, I can't just buy this, eh... thing. I don't even know what it is."
"So you just need someone to identify it. You know someone?"
"No or I would have called them already."
The butcher and I started arguing, I just wanted to get some money for this thing.
Nidle broke up the argument and peacefully spoke up, "I would know someone."
The butcher angrily asked, "Oh yeah? And who's that? If I knew that that was, Nidle, then maybe I'll consider giving you some money. If a monk approves of this then you won't swindle me."
"The Mages Guild is always interested in identifying new species if this is one."
I stayed behind in the shop while Nidle went out to fetch a Mage. I shot an icy look at the butcher, and he did too but we both knew that this was a good business opportunity.
Nidle came back in the company of two older men in blue coats. As soon as they entered the skinnier one said with an unusual dialect, "Where is the specimen."
But when he saw the carcass his mannerism changed, "By the Gods, do you even know what you have on your hands here?"
"No," the butcher and I said at the same time.
"Who killed this?" The fatter one asked.
"I did, in the forest east of here."
The Mages looked at each other surprised, "In the forest? Here? What was it doing there?"
"I dunno. It was there yesterday and today I proudly slew the beast."
They looked disappointed, "Why didn't you inform anyone? You found a specimen so close and just killed it. Do you know how much knowledge we lost because of that?"
"No, I don't even know what it is. You seem like you do."
Nidle calmly interrupted, "Could you explain what it is? Then maybe we can understand better?"
He started to explain, "as you can see, it looks somewhat like a deer, yes?" We all nodded, "that's because it is one."
"What do you mean? Just look at the thing. That isn't how a deer looks," the butcher protested.
"If you let me explain further," he coughed, "animals sometimes get, eh, corrupted. Their physical appearance changes radically, as you can clearly see, and their behavior gets much more aggressive." "So how much do you learned men think the butcher should give me for this excellent example?"
"My boy, you can't eat the flesh of these creatures. Every part of their body is poisonous, even their blood is."
The butcher chuckles lightly after hearing that, and the blood is poison? Good thing I spat it out back then.
"What the fuck am I going to do with a dead monster then?" I said crossed.
The two Mages whispered with another then proposed, "The Mages Guild would like to officially purchase this so-called monster from you, and would like you to answer some questions. We will, of course, give you a generous amount of money for it."
"And how far will your generosity go?"
"We are willing to pay twenty-five Iz."
They're willing to go that far for a lousy corpse and some questions? It was obvious that wouldn't give me a better offer, but I'll have to play it just right. "Right, you have a deal then but you have to transport it."
"Of course," the fat one pulled out a pouch from his coat and handed it to me.
"When and where did you meet it for the first time?" The thin one began to ask.
"Around a day and a half ago, in the forest, ...east of here?"
"Shester forest," the fat mage mumbled while writing it down on a small notebook.
"What was its behavior like?"
"Very aggressive. You know, I wasn't always this handsome," I pointed at my bruised face, "it didn't seem to mind wounds even very heavy ones."
"Had there been something special about it before it died? Did it have an anomaly or, let's call it, magical?"
"I don't think so but when it was alive its fur stung like a needle when touched, like sitting on a hedgehog," I thought that maybe I should show them my crotch where it stung me the most but decided against it, "but you can see that there are no quills or needles on it."
"I think that's enough. Thank you for your help," both of them bowed.
"Alright. Nice to do business, so long then," I replied.
When Nidle and I exited the shop, I jumped in the air and gave a little squeal of excitement, "can you believe it? Twenty-five in just a day. I totally ripped them off."