Moving closer to their howls, I precariously quieted my movements, using slightly stronger threads of spores to 'walk' instead of rolling on dead leaves. Using the strings to walk around the area, I tried sneaking up on the hounds. As I could not see them and be worried I would not be able to tell where to ambush them, I walked next to a clearing, thinking that that was where they were by the strength of the vibrations I was sensing. Trying my new idea, I sent out a wave of spores to try to attach them to the hounds, trying to Imprint them when the spores came in contact with the hounds.
Turns out, the hounds are much more sensitive to the spores than I expected. The one thing that I did account for is their lack of brain to know how to avoid them, and how many there were. By the time the hounds found out spores were trying to attack them, they were surrounded by a semi-invisible cloud of them. Now seeing the hounds for the first time, I was more appalled than interested in them.
Have you ever seen rotten meat so old that it was molding? Well, that is what these hounds looked like. Instead of the black and red fur that I hoped it had, it had rotting skin with a malady green fuzz all over its underbelly of it. I know that these were Alter Hounds by the abnormally long front legs. Seeing them for the first time, most would run away in fear.
But for me, spending over 2 decades alone really wears down on your emotions, so even if I did deep down, there is no semblance of fear. It is either because of my seclusion from society or it is that my subconscious knew I could defeat these beasts on my own. While the latter could be true, my intentions would go against that logic. My true intentions were to make this fight last as long as possible to learn many things about this species and to keep at least one or two test subjects in pristine condition.
Anyways, as I could now see and sense them, I could now take advantage of their confused state. While they were seemingly sniffing around, I snuck around the smallest and most weak-looking one and used the same attack I used on the Stomp Hopper. In a pack of 11, it couldn't hurt to kill a few of them. Without any fancy movements, I struck down the hound with incredible precision, like a bolt of lightning hitting the smallest tree amidst a forest of thousands.
Anyways, after the strong impact and the brief cry of one of their own, most likely one of their children, the rest of the hounds turned around in unison, looking for the foe that dared slay one of their members. My goal is to leave at least 2 in good condition, if not alive but immobile. So far, I have gotten rid of 1 out of 9, so I have 8 more to go. As all the hound's bomb rushed me, I used the head of the ax and made it protrude out of my body like a blade, using the strands of spores I was walking on as a launching device, shooting me into the air, making me into a spinning ball of death.
As I came down from my arch, the hounds became perplexed by my sudden disappearance, so they did not notice an ax head spinning towards them. The only thing that helped them escape my deadly spin was their long legs and amazing perception. As soon as I came within chopping range, they bent down their front legs and lunged in separate directions, two of them getting their back legs chopped off in the process. I knew that that much blood loss would render their movements slower, at least, so I went after the other 6.
Knowing this wasn't some simple-minded enemy, the hounds started to have doughnuts about whether they were the predators or the prey. Seeing their confidence waver, I figured that there were not many other species that rivaled the hounds, and probably with good reason. Though these creatures did not look that harmful with their rotting body, they sure could be nasty in a big group, especially if you faced a group alone. The good thing about this situation is all the information about the social hierarchy of who is at the top and bottom in these forests, predator or prey.
Reasoning that these were one of the top predators in this forest, I took that into account as a big stroke of luck on my part. Still taking the shape of a bladed ball, I rolled after them, until they decided to split up. Sighing internally, I decided not to split myself up, but follow one of them. Following one of the six I chose to kill, I proceeded to increase my speed by using bone plates to accelerate myself.
Rolling after the Alter Hound for minutes, it finally stopped, probably thinking that it can't outrun me, shocked because it has never been outrun by any other creature. Slowly turning to face me, instead of a panting and desperate hound, I found it without any fatigue at all, and it was even smiling, and before I even realized I had been set up, I was bitten from behind and thrown into a nearby tree, rounding off of it for a couple of feet before rolling to a stop. Senses shaking, I launched myself far away to check what happened and amend my strategy. Landing in a small bush, I sensed some of my mass missings, wondering where they had gone.
While I was trying to summon it back to me, the hounds suddenly appeared around the book, but with some unfamiliar faces, the group of 9, excluding the ones who are dead, have grown to 27, with growing numbers. It was then that I realized the hound that ambushed me was twice the size of the one I was following and had an even more horrendous appearance to match. Front legs rippling with rotten muscle and flesh, it knashed its blackened teeth, spitting out what seemed to be my spores! Surprise and anger, as well as some regret, surged throughout my body as I reprimanded myself that I should never underestimate the opponent.