After finishing their lunch, Kit neatly packed up the empty basket and placed it back in his pouch. Turning to Mars with an eager expression, he exclaimed, "Let's go hunt for some MEAT!"
Kit couldn't sit still; he was filled with excitement at the thought of collecting ingredients for tonight's dinner. "First, we need to decide how far we're willing to venture today," Kit said as he started planning their journey. Mars shifted his gaze from Kit to something in front of him, most likely pulling up a menu to help them plan their route.
"We're not in a hurry, so I'm fine with taking a few extra days to reach Flower Field town," Kit replied.
Mars casually traced an imaginary line in the air with his finger. "If we take five days instead of three, we'll have plenty of time to hunt for animals. According to the map, there should be good spots to camp along the way. Our first stop will only be about two hours from here." Mars looked back at Kit after finishing his thought.
"Alright, let's go find some monsters. Any idea where to start?" queried Kit.
"There's a river about an hour from here on the map. That could be a good place to start our hunt," replied Mars.
"Great, let's go get some MEAT!" Kit's eyes sparkled in anticipation.
"You're such a weirdo, Kit. Most people would say 'let's hunt some monsters'," Mars chuckled at Kit's enthusiasm.
"I'm just excited to level up, gain more skills, and create a new dish." Kit explained.
After an hour of walking along the road, they could hear a faint but continuous roar in the distance. Kit scanned the area for the source of the noise and finally spotted a river. "Mars, do you think that roar is coming from a monster in the river?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it's just the sound of the rushing water. Let's get closer and check it out."
As they approached the river, Kit was surprised by its size. He had imagined a gentle and calm stream, but what lay before him was a raging torrent. Large rocks peeked through the surface as foam formed on top of the rippling water.
The closer they got, the louder the roar became until it was almost deafening. The river was about 50 meters wide, and Kit hoped they wouldn't need to cross it or that there was a sturdy bridge available. One wrong step near the edge and they could easily be swept away by the ferocious current.
Ding!
[CAL]
[Map Found: Fornax Tenacious River]
Rewards: 50 EXP
"This is bigger than I expected!" Kit raised his voice to be heard over the loud rush of the river. The longer he stared at the water, the more uneasy he became. A sense of fear began to creep up on him, causing his heart rate to increase and his palms to sweat.
He wasn't even that close to the river, but it still made him feel anxious and unsettled. Negative emotions swirled inside him, and a tightness formed in his chest. He didn't like this river at all.
"To be honest, I didn't expect it to be this loud either. Luckily, there's a bridge further down that we can cross tomorrow. But I think we'll have to change our camping spot. We won't be able to sleep otherwise," Mars said absentmindedly, staring off into space once again.
As he waited for Mars to find a new camping spot, Kit looked around and noticed an increase in the density of trees. It wasn't quite a forest, but enough to provide cover from any potential predators. The change must have been gradual since he only just noticed it now.
The longer they stayed near the river, the more anxious Kit became. Sweat formed on his forehead and he felt himself getting dizzy. The memories he tried so hard to keep hidden were resurfacing with every raging surge of the river. His scar throbbed and flashes of the day his mother gave it to him flickered in front of his eyes.
He struggled to breathe as if someone was squeezing all the air out of his lungs. Snowball, sensing Kit's distress, whined softly, and pawed at his leg. As Kit's legs gave out from under him, Snowball climbed onto his chest and nuzzled against his cheek.
The memories faded away with Snowball's comforting touch, but Kit's anxiousness remained. He was grateful for Snowball's distraction from his painful memories.
"Kit, what happened? Are you alright?" Mars asked with concern.
"There's something in the water or maybe the river itself that's causing me to panic. Can we please leave now, Mars? I don't like this river at all." Kit managed to squeeze out the words through trembling lips.
Mars could see that Kit wasn't doing well. "No problem, let's go."
He helped Kit up and turned him away from the river. Kit stood on shaky legs, and they began to make their way into the trees with Mars' assistance. The further they got from the river, the calmer Kit felt.
Once they were a safe distance away, Kit took deep breaths to calm himself down. "Mars, did you notice anything strange while we were by the river?"
"No, maybe it only affected you. I felt fine. How do you feel now?" Mars ran a worried gaze over Kit.
"I'm better now. Let's just find some monsters to hunt so I can forget about those terrible feelings." A distraction would be welcomed right now.
Mars didn't press any further and went back to staring off into space. "Okay, I found a new spot. Let's head towards our new camping spot and hopefully we'll come across some prey on the way."
Mars fed Pint a beer and they set off once again, both keeping an eye out for any sign of potential targets.
Kit noticed Snowball had begun to sniff around, occasionally letting out a soft snort. Kit wondered if the little dog could help us find some monsters. Dogs have a great sense of smell after all. It couldn't hurt to ask him, right?
Kit bent down and addressed Snowball directly, "Could you find Mars and I a monster to hunt?" Snowball tilted his head to the side, studying Kit for a moment before lifting his nose in the air and sniffing. He proceeded to walk around, sniffing the ground as he went, cute butt stuck in the air.
Eventually, he wandered over to the edge of the dirt path and dug his nose into the dirt. After a soft growl and a yip, Snowball headed off towards the area opposite the river. Kit pulled out his sword just in case Snowball truly understood him and was leading them to a monster.
As they walked, Kit suddenly stopped and turned to Mars, "Um, what should we do with Pint? We can't bring him along, he'll make too much noise." They both pondered this dilemma while staring at the large horse.
Finally, Mars made a suggestion. "Let's led him over to a tree, I don't want to tie him to it in case a predator comes along. Honestly, I don't think he will go anywhere without beer, so it should be safe to leave him without tying him up. What do you think?"
"Well, we can try it," he also thought Pint would not go far.
With their plan in place, Mars led Pint over to a tree at the edge of the road and gave him some instructions before leaving him behind. The two continued following Snowball further away from the road and the sound of the nearby river slowly faded into the distance.
As they ventured deeper into the field, Snowball began to slow his pace and sniff more frequently. Suddenly, he came to a halt and let out a low growl while looking up at a large tree. Following his gaze, Kit and Mars spotted a massive creature resembling an ape perched among the branches.
It had a human-like body covered in red-brown fur, a leathery face similar to an ape, and six limbs instead of four. The creature eyed them with curiosity as Snowball continued to growl. Suddenly, the creature roared loudly, startling Kit and Mars.
Its intimidating mouth was filled with rows of sharp white teeth dripping with saliva, and long black spikes protruded from its back. "How should we handle this?" Kit asked, just as a large nut was hurled at his head. He quickly dodged out of the way, barely avoiding being hit.
Ding!
[Skill learnt: sloppy dodge]
The player has the ability to manoeuvre themselves away from incoming hazards. This action could hardly be considered a dodge, more akin to an uncomfortable sidestep.
Agility + 10
"I can't believe it! I finally unlocked the dodge skill!" Kit exclaimed, beaming at the ape-like creature. He gratefully accepted the nut that was tossed to him.
"Thanks for helping me practice," Kit teased, eager to test out his new ability. "These descriptions are starting to get to me though. I hope one day I can find a really good one."
As Kit turned to look at Mars, he noticed a gleam of excitement in his friend's eyes. Confused, he saw Mars pull out five small knives.
"What are you planning?" Kit asked, already knowing the answer.
"We're going to see if we can knock this creature out of the tree," Mars answered with a grin, before throwing the knives one after the other at the creature's hands. Four of them hit their mark, causing the creature to lose its grip on four of its branches.
To Kit's surprise, the creature didn't fall as expected. It held on with its remaining two hands and let out a deafening roar. In response, it pulled out one of the injured hands that had been hit by a knife and brought it to its mouth.
But Mars wasn't deterred. Without hesitation, he ran towards the tree. "Come on down and play!" Mars taunted, determined to bring the creature down.