HP: 41.98/89.25
SP: 32/50.5
MP: 154/154
The three bars were showing at the edge of Hilda's sight. Along with it were the downward arrows attached to the bodies of the seven kobolds and the one hiding atop a tree.
There was one more that was about twenty meters away from her. It had a staff with bird feathers wrapped around the top and some yellowish stones.
'That is a mana stone.' Hilda had no problem decoding its identity as soon as she activated the mana sense.
'It is not the time for that.' Hilda directly rushed at the kobold mage.
And the mage was already prepared for the attack. Another couple of fireballs rushed into her face.
Hilda slid to the ground and rolled like a ragged doll on the dirty ground. Rolling on the ground with four and two legs was different. Hilda also thought she might have pulled a muscle in her back limb.
However, she couldn't care less. She jumped up in a blink and rushed. With just ten meters between them, there was little space for the kobold mage to escape.
This fight wouldn't have been much of a problem. With eight of the kobolds out of commission with the [Dominance], it would have been an easy victory if not for the mage, who was clearly over level 12.
*Bam*
The staff hit the side of her face.
HP: 35.98/89.25
She received a hit from the staff just as the kobold mage's head was about to enter the space between her jaws. The mage's decision to wield the staff as a club caught her off guard.
The next thing she knew, it threw something at her. It burst, spreading something sticky on her body. Another fireball hit her.
Every part of her body that had the sticky stuff went into flames. She felt like her entire body was being fired in oil.
[The host had received burning damage…
The host will lose 1 HP every five seconds.
HP: 24.72/89.25]
Hilda was sure it was some kind of oil. She had two choices at that moment. One was to roll on the dirt, trying to stop it or…
Even with all the fire, she jumped at the kobold. The last time it used a fireball, it set her on fire in addition to draining her HP by ten. The next fireball had already started forming at the top of the staff.
Alas! Hilda didn't give it the chance to shoot it. This time, Hilda felt the blood and the gray matter at the tip of her tongue.
[Time limit: 01.19]
She didn't have the luxury to enjoy it. She was still on fire. More importantly, the effect of [Dominance] was ending.
[HP: 20.31/89.25]
Hilda jumped at the kobold close to her. Hilda was sure the mage was using some kind of buff skill on them. However, as soon as it died, the other fear of Hilda overwhelmed them. And they ran way on all four.
Still, Hilda was able to take care of three of them.
[HP: 14.91/89.25]
Even if Hilda rolled in the dirt, it was hard to extinguish all the oil fur all over her.
[HP: 5. 15/89.25]
She had only 5 HP left when she was able to stop the fire. If it hadn't been for the prompt notification, she would have thought she was still on fire.
Hilda didn't know which degree of burn she had, but she was sure she would take a long time to recover.
"Good job." It was only then that the tamer stood up again. An arrow was still lodged in one of its eyes, and there were a couple of patches of burn spots on its body, but he was still in a lot better condition than Hilda.
'That bastard was playing dead to escape.' Hilda couldn't help but curse in her heart.
The gnoll meat was tough. So, it wasn't on the menu of most of the beasts. So, the many gnolls play dead to avoid being attacked.
Seeing Hilda glaring at it, the tamer yelled again, "Come here."
Hilda slowly walked towards it. The tamer also started checking the burns on her body.
It was unexpected that Hilda would forcefully move her head forward, driving the arrow deeply into his skull the moment he approached her.
Although the tamer was in pain, he still wasn't touching it, fearing it might dive further. Yet, the very thing it was avoiding became its downfall.
"Die, you bastard." She growled. The tamer had no idea if Hilda was screaming in pain or anger, nor did he have the time to worry about that.
Hilda jumped at him, bumping into the arrow and driving it deeper into his skull.
The tamer was like a headless chicken falling to the ground, not knowing what to do as blood started to leak out its eye, nose, and ears.
The last thing he saw was Hilda approaching him, opening her mouth. It soon felt the pressure clamping its jaw on its throat.
It was already at the death door, and Hilda just accelerated the process. Still, it throws its hand around, trying to stop her. It was too late.
Hilda wanted to rip off its heart and take the core out of him. It wasn't the elf's warning that stopped her. Instead, she was worried that the others from the tribe would find the body and trace it back to her.
'I have too little knowledge about these magic things.' Hilda walked away.
Or she tried and fell on her face. Now that the adrenaline in her blood was decreasing, the pain was overwhelming her mind.
She was sure it wasn't, but she still felt like her entire body was on fire. The side of her face where the mage hit with the staff and the side where the stone from the sling had struck was still throbbing.
'Damn it.' Hilda groaned as she tried to stand up. She had immunity to negative mental states, so even though she was in excruciating pain, she could think clearly. However, that doesn't mean she could ignore her injury.
'Put the free point into the constitution.'
[HP: 7.15/91.25]
The effect of that one point in the constitution would simultaneously increase the HP by two. That was one of the reasons she had excessively invested the free points in the constitution.
'That didn't feel any good.' Hilda cursed and tried to stand again.
She didn't dare stay in this place for long. For one, the blood would soon attract another beast. More importantly, she was worried about the brown bear.
It was like the king of the jungle. Even a pair of orcs would avoid fighting it directly. To think something dared to attack the brown bear directly worried her most.
She limped her way towards the kobold mage. The body was lying in its blood with its head crushed.
She didn't have the time to admire that it looked like a golden retriever walking on its two limbs a moment ago. She bit on its chest, tearing off the fur. The blood leaked out a little as soon as she bit into the flesh.
It might be because of her immunity from any negative mental states that she didn't feel anything, whether it was kobold, goblin, or human.
Hilda directly bit into the heart and pulled it out. Hilda didn't notice any magic circle on its heart, but she was sure a core must be inside it.
Hilda swallowed it whole. She had hunted white aura beasts before but never got the chance to eat them. The gnolls monopolized all the beast cores. She didn't know what would happen to her and didn't have the time.
'I thought I had seen it carrying some mana stone…' Hilda looked around to find the yellowish stone.
'It feels like earth, mana stone. How was it using it to cast a fireball.' Despite her curiosity, she swallowed it, too. Without a hand, there weren't many places she could hide the stone.
'And the staff…' Hilda needed this to prove they were attacked. She held it between her jaws and ran.
However, it wasn't easy to run through the jungle while holding the staff in her mouth. She had to maneuver through the tree carefully without decreasing the speed as much as possible.
'Isn't the jungle too silent?' She failed to hear even the insects, much less any birds. The more she moved, the more she could feel the stench of the blood.
Hilda came to a halt. It wasn't like she couldn't find her way back. Instead, it was more like her sense of direction had improved when she became a hyena.
But the problem was that her instinct told her that something was very wrong in the direction leading to that path.
[SP: 11.23/51.5]
Although the increase in her constitution had infused her SP or stamina, it was still far from enough.
'I am taking a detour.' Hilda had learned to trust her instincts more than anything. In the end, the journey, which was supposed to take an hour, took more than two.
'What the hell!' As Hilda reached the camp, she felt something was wrong with the camp. There was a little too much crowd in the camp.
[SP: 02.49/51.5]
Her stamina was almost at rock bottom. Her body didn't allow her, even if she wanted to ensure she was in the right place. As Hilda fell to the ground, she could see something rushing towards her, and she lost consciousness.
A pair of gnolls came running, seeing what looked like an undead.
"What is this?" The one carrying the spear asked.
"No." The other gnoll kneeled beside it and looked at the staff the hyena was holding. "It's our seed."
"Seed?" The spear gnoll couldn't believe it, "The one who defeated the Black Mane?"
"Something must have happened." The other gnoll, a mage, added, "Protect it. I will get Lord Shaman."
The gnoll didn't take long to bring the shaman back. However, he wasn't alone. Another person, covered in an overgrown robe, came along with him.
"That staff! It looks like it fought against a kobold or a goblin mage. A fire mage at that."
"The tamer must have helped it." The shaman added before turning towards the gnoll that had discovered it.
"Maybe not. It must have defeated it alone. Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken a trophy." As he spoke, he removed the hood of his robe, exposing the white skull hidden beneath it. "Why is there mana coming from his body?"
"That…" The shaman hesitated, saying.
"What is it?" The skull-head was growing impatient.
"Lord Zahr had bestowed the knowledge of Mana himself."
The Skullhead wasn't sure if he had heard it right. It took another look at the shaman before observing the burned body of Hilda.
"One of the Omen?" The Skullhead wasn't sure he had heard it right.
"Yes. The great omen of Plague."
"Where did you last meet with Lord Zahr?"
"About two weeks ago."
"It looks like I have to inform Lord Orth regarding the matter." The Skullhead was quick to pull his hood on his head.
"How much manpower do you have?"
"57 gnolls, 12 mages and 39 hyenas."
"Orc Lord Tsuth had put his camp near the jungle. Order your chief to join their camp tomorrow. Follow his order."
"Are we going to attack the human territory, my lord?"
"You don't need to know. Just do as he says. If any of your greedy bastards do something to make the Lord Orth's plan fail, I will personally hunt you down, raise you from death, and torment your soul for eternity."
The Skullhead was about to leave but stopped and extended its fleshless bone arm towards Hilda. A blue ball of mana shot out of his hand and entered Hilda's body.
"What is its name?"
"It doesn't have any."
"Lord Zahr like to collect maids… So let it be the maid of war. From today, its name will be Hilda." Skullhead left without looking back.
"Take care of it." The Shaman ordered as he followed the Skullhead.
The gnoll continued to glare at the hairless body of the hyena. They had turned into gnolls long ago and had yet to receive a name for themselves.
Yet, a lowly hyena received a name before it became a gnoll.