Just before Dominic had slipped into hiding in the thorn bush, he'd taken a few moments to hook the Beast Core out of the zebra's brain with a claw. Fortunately it was near the spinal cord, so he hadn't had to go digging too far in the striped equine's skull. Now he crunched it down and looked at the message that flashed up.
[You have obtained a Beast Core: Plains Zebra Level 2
Ability: Powerful Kick]
'Powerful Kick, Dominic mused. Isn't that the same ability I got from the kangaroos? Quickly checking his status, he felt like smiling. Powerful Kick had previously got up to 44% progress towards level 1, and was now sitting at 49%.
Good. Looks like I don't have to hunt down more 'roos to complete that ability: enough zebras will do the job for me. Actually thinking about it, arguably he might find a better animal to hunt than warthogs. 'What animals do you think might have Charge as an ability?' he asked his mental co-resident.
The lion mind clearly considered the issue for a few moments.
'I believe that what you call elephants – the grey ones, mind – are candidates for such an ability. Equally, the large creatures with sharp horns emerging from their heads might have it. Rhinos, is that right?'
'Sounds right, by your description,' Dominic commented.
'Rhinos, then. Beyond that, there are large creatures who spend much time in the rivers.' He sent an image Dominic's way.
'Oh, hippos,' Dominic realised. 'But aren't they quite dangerous?'
'Very,' Leo emphasised. 'I do not suggest that we attempt to take any of these beasts alone: not even our recent enhancements would allow us to do that without significant risk. Far more than the ability is worth.'
'I take your point,' Dominic agreed. 'Another reason to have a pride then, right?' He felt whole-hearted agreement from Leo's side of things.
A noise broke through their musings: the scavengers of the savannah hadn't taken very long to notice the smell of a recent kill. A chirping came through the grass. Shoulder high on Dominic, it served to disguise the creatures until they came close enough for it not to provide cover anymore.
When they did emerge, he found himself tensing. These weren't what he'd expected. They weren't hyenas or wild dogs. They weren't even trodils, which actually would have been quite a welcome sight, all things considered. While not having a whole pack of hyenas descend was a good thing, the fact that he didn't recognise the creatures was fraught with risks.
They must have been from another of the planets which had been combined with Earth; maybe even the same planet as the trodils. Not knowing how dangerous they were, Dominic resolved to watch for a bit before risking his position being discovered.
He wasn't bloody, and these creatures shouldn't yet know the smell of lion, so as long as he stayed quiet and still, they shouldn't detect him before he was ready to move. Shouldn't: there was no way of accounting for bad luck, of course.
The creatures were about the size of a pomeranian, though not half as fluffy. Their heads were odd, more avian than he'd have expected: the mouth was a toothed beak; the eyes were beady. However, they didn't appear to have feathers, their skin leathery-looking and sparsely covered by hair. Nor did they appear to have wings.
In the dark Dominic was only able to see black and white so he wasn't capable of noticing any colours. From the differing shades of grey, however, he suspected that there were some.
Their bodies were lithe, not particularly heavy, and their tails were surprisingly long. For control of their direction when moving fast? Dominic wondered, remembering the function of his own appendage.
More joined with every few seconds that passed until there was a group which had to number more than twenty individuals. Perhaps even thirty. The creatures were hesitant at first, milling around a good few feet from the carcass, clearly wondering whether it was safe to approach. They made an odd chirping sound, interspersed with a harsher caw when one fended off another which was getting too close.
The boldest took a run at the corpse, its tail being shown to good use as it jackknifed backwards before actually touching the carcass. Emboldened by its successful approach, others ventured closer.
Bit by bit, they made strafing runs closer and closer until finally the boldest were ripping chunks of flesh away before they darted backwards. And then they weren't darting backwards at all. Clearly, the creatures had decided that whatever had made the carcass was long-gone and it was safe enough to feed.
Dominic decided to wait for now. The group was still on alert, though they were starting to relax into squabbling amongst themselves for the best morsels. The more relaxed they were, the better for his purposes. Plus, if he waited until their bellies were heavy with meat, they might be less reactive and slower. Since these creatures clearly relied on speed, that would only give advantage to the lion.
'What do you think, Leo?' he asked, wondering if the more-experienced hunter had any insights to share. 'They don't look all that dangerous, right?'
'Be wary of the power of numbers,' the lion warned, but then agreed. 'That said, I do not think that these creatures pose too much threat to us. However, that may not be as much of an advantage as we might wish, if your theory of lower threat meaning lower Prey Points is correct.'
'True,' Dominic admitted. 'Though if I can kill a group of them, it will be better than the almost fruitless hunts we've had so far today even so.' The lion wordlessly agreed and they settled into watching.
Taking advantage of their position as observer, Dominic tried to make a note of what kind of fighters these new creatures were. They snapped at each other, their slightly over-long necks allowing them to come at odd angles to Dominic's eyes. Where they bit, they ripped flesh, though their skin seemed to be quite tough from how small the resulting wounds were.
So, sharp teeth, reasonable defences in terms of their skin, fast movements, and the ability to attack at unusual angles. Got it. Seeing that the furor seemed to have died down a bit around the corpse, Dominic guessed that the creatures were starting to become satiated. It's time, he said to himself, though Leo sent a sense of agreement in response.
Moving slowly, making sure not to make a single rustle or crack as he slipped closer to the edge of the thorn bush, Dominic prepared himself. Then in a single leap, he jumped into the middle of the writhing mass of bodies.
Not wasting a single moment of his opponents' confusion, he started swiping and biting around him, using Quick Strike like it was going out of fashion. Within a few moments, the first death notice flashed up.
[You have killed Resorel (Basic Beast level 3)]
[You have earned 17 PP]
Dominic only glanced at it briefly to note the creature's name, level, and the number of Prey Points he was getting from it, then mentally swiped it away and continued his attack.
That was the last of his freebies, though. Suddenly he was taking damage, pain shooting through him as the resorels got in their own attacks. The damage wasn't terrible – he could see that each one was only taking a sliver from his health bar at a time – but even slivers mounted up. And it looked like these creatures were experts at overwhelming their opponents.
Still, that worked out pretty well for Dominic. It meant that they didn't turn tail and run, which was exactly what he wanted. When he'd lost a noticeable bit of health, he even started consuming the bodies around him.
Funnily enough, he accidentally triggered Consume on the zebra carcass itself, the fall jolting the number of resorels still balanced on top of it. Dominic was a little surprised it had worked; apparently despite being more than half-eaten and having lain around for a good half an hour or so, it still counts as 'my' kill. Or maybe Consume worked on any carcass he came across; he hadn't checked it yet.
Bringing his mind back to the situation at hand from the tangent it had wandered to, he continued killing and absorbing corpses, keeping his health and stamina at a very healthy level, despite the attacks.
Then, suddenly there was a roar from the darkness around. Dominic tensed, feeling instinctive fear going through him. Everyone froze for a moment. 'Is that-' he started when Leo cut him off.
'It's not another of our kind, no,' he replied, his mental voice tight and wary. The resorels abruptly scattered. 'I'd suggest we-' Leo started even as Dominic turned to run, his mind in complete agreement with his passenger. Unfortunately, they were both cut off.
A creature approached too quickly for Dominic to do more than turn. When he saw it, he froze in place again, though this time from surprise.
It was big. About twice as tall as Dominic was – and that was according to his current height. The creature would probably have been head and shoulders above even his human form. And head and shoulders indeed – the creature reminded him of a big, aggressive gorilla. If a gorilla had a hyena-style muzzle and vicious beady eyes, that is.
When it moved, it used its oversized front arms to swing forward, like a gorilla indeed. Its forepaws weren't as hand-like as a gorilla's, though they still curled up when planted on the ground, and were tipped with nasty-looking claws. The creature's whole body was covered with a thin layer of spotted fur, and its teeth gleamed white in the moonlight.
Then the moment where the two predators stared at each other was over. The hyena-gorilla roared once again, the sound just as bone-chilling up close as it had been from a distance. This time, though, Dominic didn't freeze.
While perhaps the most sensible option would have been to run away, Dominic found that it was a bare after-thought. Instead, a sense of…pride rose. He was the King here, not this strange hybrid animal. He'd gone through too many fights and scary situations to be frightened off by a mean-looking opponent.
Instead of running, a snarl rumbled in his chest and he bared his own fangs at the creature, a roar ripping forth to challenge the other beast's own. He started circling the hyena-gorilla, yellow eyes skipping over the other creature's form, looking for weaknesses.
The hyena-gorilla lunged at Dominic but he easily skipped out the way, returning with a testing swipe to the creature's skin. The hyrilla's health bar barely budged – unsurprising. Clearly this creature had a good health pool.
'Maybe we should run,' Leo suggested, a little worriedly. 'We do not wish to be badly injured or even killed by this creature. Surely we are faster than it?'
'Let's just try,' Dominic says with determination, his eyes fixed on the monstrous creature. 'The warthog guardian was bigger than this.' Dodging its next swipe, he leapt beyond it, whirling around to slash at its backside with his teeth.
Not daring to open himself up to a counter-attack by fixing his teeth into its flesh properly, he instead leapt back again. The hyrilla's counter-swing missed him by an inch. 'We needed a challenge; this is a challenge. If the worst happens, we have the health potion.'
He felt reluctant agreement from the lion, though an admonishment to be careful came along with it. With Leo's agreement, even if not blessing, Dominic faced the hyrilla and roared at it once more in challenge.
'Come on! Let's see who's the real king here!'