All nervousness had been replaced by anger as SJ watched the wolf attack the doe—the doe mewed and bleated in fear as the great wolf bit viciously into its hind leg.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh,” SJ screamed as she ran straight at the beast. How dare it attack a defenceless deer. She was within thirty feet when it noticed her coming, releasing the doe’s leg and turning its head snarling. Its open maw displayed its large yellow and rather sharp-looking teeth. SJ had lost all sense of fear, continuing to run at it, screaming.
Watching as the wolf’s haunches tightened, she knew it would pounce. As it released itself forward towards her, she dove at an angle past it. Its jaws snapped closed on air. She rolled, standing, and immediately ran back at the beast. Its pounce had sent it nearly fifteen feet away from where it had been with ease. As SJ approached, the wolf turned round, snarling and began to advance towards her more cautiously this time.
SJ stood with her hands in a defensive posture, her claws equipped and the black-edged blades looking hungrily towards the beast. She had a strange feeling that the Badger’s Blades were drawing her to combat, and she subconsciously knew they wanted to tear into the wolf. SJ did not stop, moving towards the wolf to get within striking range.
“Up close and personal. Just the way you like it,” Dave said.
Ignoring his comment, she moved within range. It snapped its jaws towards her, and SJ swung her arm out defensively, the claws catching the wolf on the end of its nose. The Badger’s Blades seemed to sing when contacting the wolf, and it yelped, pulling back from the strike. The minor strike on the wolf had removed over a quarter of its health, closer to a third, looking at its health bar, and there had hardly been any contact.
Four nasty-looking cuts had appeared across the wolf’s nose, bleeding. Bright red droplets of blood fell onto the fresh green grass as the wolf shook its head from the blow. Her display triggered.
Congratulations, the Bleed Effect has been applied.
Targets affected by bleed will lose extra hit points over time.
Spells or potions can heal bleeding effects, or bleeding effects will stop once you are out of active engagement.
The wolf snapped at her again, its jaws coming within inches of her arm as she stepped back from its strike. Her martial arts moves returned to her instinctively. She was amazed at how much she remembered despite not practising for years. As she stepped back, the wolf came towards her, and she continued moving away, using her claws defensively to prevent its head from getting too near. As she moved away, the wolf’s health slowly ticked down. It was not a rapid bleed but constant, another sliver of its health bar dropping every second.
The wolf again snapped at her, and she was not quite fast enough. Its jaws clamped onto her forearm just above her hand. Screaming in pain from the bite, she instinctively brought her right hand around in defence to push the wolf off. It shook its head as she did, throwing her off balance from its powerful form, staggering as it dragged her sideways.
Her health had dropped by nearly half just from the one bite, and she could feel the teeth of the wolf causing more damage as its jaws clamped to her forearm. It wasn’t letting go. Bringing her right arm around in a sweeping motion, the Badger’s Blades sang through the air as she struck the wolf across its foreleg. That made the wolf release her arm as it yelped, backing away again, another chunk of its health removed. With the cumulative bleed and blade strikes, it had about a third remaining. SJ had not received a trigger about a bleeding effect this time, but the welts running across its foreleg looked nasty. It reminded SJ of old movie covers showing the bleeding claw marks. She involuntarily shuddered at the thought, never having liked those films.
The wolf moved a little slower now. Its foreleg was restricting its movement where the blades had cut. It snapped at her and lifted one of its paws to strike. Its claws looked dirty and bloody from where it had stood on the doe. The strike was weak, and SJ knew she had the upper hand moving into attack. She stepped forward and struck with repeated swings of her blades towards the beast. It began to back away, staying out of her range. The whole time, its health continued to drop.
SJ was panting by now, the exertion taking its toll. She had never realised how tiring fighting was until she had arrived on Amathera. Her moves were no longer as swift or accurate, but the bleed effect should do its job if she could keep it at bay and out of range. A person in this situation may have turned to flee, but the wolf wanted its meal and was not giving up. It continued to snap at her as it backed away from her wild strikes, picking its moments. SJ was fast, and her increases in Dexterity added to her overall agility and speed.
The wolf’s health was starting to get low, and in a last desperate attempt to save itself, it hurled itself forward, ignoring SJ’s defensive strikes. Her blades cut deeply as its massive head and body crashed into her, sending her sprawling backwards onto the grass. The wind was knocked from her. The wolf now lay on top of her dead. SJ grunted and tried to push the wolf from her. It weighed a tonne, and her injured arm throbbed from where it had been bitten.
Trying again, SJ groaned as she slowly forced the weight of the wolf off her chest, rolling it onto the ground beside her. She panted, lying on her back, drawing in deep lungfuls of air.
“That was not a very impressive fight,” Dave said glumly.
“I won, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but it was very dull. I expected to see you spinning and whirling through the air with your Badger’s Blades.”
“Spinning and whirling? I am not an action movie character.”
“That would be so cool, though. I have watched many of your films from Earth, and I love those with the old guy and assassins at the hotel.”
“I am pretty sure that if someone like that arrived here, we would never know anyway. It is not as though they would look the same.”
“Their human form would if they stayed human.”
SJ had no idea of any famous people who had died by accident. She thought there must be some potential. It was a strange thought, and thinking about it made her think of her family. She had not considered them since arriving, being too caught up in the new life and world scenario to think about what may happen back home. She had never been overly close to her family. Always being the outsider who wanted to be different, but it made her sad thinking about how they would have felt receiving the news a tree had squished her.
SJ sat on the grass, looking at her mangled arm, where the wolf’s teeth had savaged it. Her arms were uncovered wearing the halter top, and she would have to think about getting some form of clothing that offered protection. The doe mewed quietly near her, and she forced herself to her feet, wincing from using her arm to push herself up. She stood and walked over to the deer. Its leg was damaged from the wolf’s bite, and she knelt by it as it turned to look at her. Its large, wide eyes were full of fear.
“You are safe now,” she said, reaching her hand out to place it on the deer’s side. Its chest was rising and falling rapidly with fear. She stroked the deer, whispering to it soothingly.
“What are you doing?” Dave asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know they would pay decent coppers in town for venison steaks.”
“I am not going to kill it!” SJ exclaimed in shock.
“You don’t fancy a juicy venison steak dripping in peppercorn sauce, then?”
The thought of a juicy steak made SJ’s mouth water. She had eaten venison before. It was some of the nicest meat she had ever eaten. Eating pre-butchered meat was one thing. Killing it and butchering it herself was another. She shook her head in annoyance. “NO.”
“Your loss,” Dave replied nonchalantly.
“How can you be so heartless? The deer was attacked and injured, and all you think about is food.”
“No. I think about survival. This is not Earth, remember? Things are not the same here as they are on Earth. Animals are hunted for food. There are no farming communities where cattle or sheep are bred for slaughter as there are on Earth.”
“There are no farmers?”
“Yes. There are farmers, but they are crop or dairy.”
“So, all meat is sourced through hunting?”
“Yes. A township would have hunted that grey wolf to stop it from attacking their food source for no other reason.”
“I can’t just kill this doe. It is so weak.”
“Exactly, and it will probably never recover from its injuries.” SJ could imagine Dave shrugging again.
Looking at the big, round doe eyes, she felt a tear form. It slowly ran down her cheek. She needed to get used to this new world with some harsh realities. Her display was triggered.
Congratulations! The system has recognised your actions in saving the defenceless from death.
All Legionnaires begin with a Neutral alignment, and your actions have now defined your initial path.
Alignment - Neutral Good
Alignment can change. Your actions will ultimately decide the path you take.
SJ pulled up her character sheet.
Alignment: Neutral Good
Experience: 177 of 200
SJ had earned 40 experience for the grey wolf kill, and even though her arm had been injured badly, she knew that now that she was out of combat, it would slowly heal. The doe’s breathing had begun to ease, and the panic in its eyes had lessened. The wound on its hind leg did not appear to be healing.
“Why do the doe’s wound not heal?”
“The healing only works for Legionnaires. All others require medical attention. Even the main races of Amathera do not self-heal, without treatment or rest depending upon the wounds they receive.” Dave replied.
“So, Legionnaires, are that special here?”
“Yes. Society is based around the Legionnaires, and the lore and understanding of Amathera are a little strange. Even though many native Amathereans strive for the same power as Legionnaires, many will never truly make it as they have limitations, such as not healing as swiftly. This makes it much more challenging for the general population in comparison.”
“I am surprised that we are even accepted then if we are so different?”
“Legionnaires drive the world’s economy. Several towns and cities only exist because of the influence of Legionnaires. Normal Amathereans can’t go dungeon diving as they would not respawn. Some still try, but many fail. The world bosses, when they appear, would destroy the world if it was not for the Legionnaires providing defences.”
“I thought you said that there were criminal Legionnaires as well.”
“Oh, there are, and they cause chaos in equal measure to those who bring good. As I said, everything is balanced overall. The system plays its part alongside the world’s natural tendencies.”
“I still do not fully understand. The system does not design the world?”
“Yes and no. Originally, Amathera was just a husk of a world, and the System began to add races and species to it, developing it and allowing it to flourish in part.”
“So, the system designed the gods and everything?”
“It is more complex than that. It is another one of those moments that, for a poor Legionnaire brain like your own, you would never fully comprehend. The intricacies involved in the stability of Amathera have, over the thousands of years, become as much naturally created as System influences. In some ways, the System did too good a job and developed a self-sustaining world always in balance.”
“So, it made itself redundant?”
“I would not say redundant as it still controls all the interfacing of the Legionnaires, but in some areas, it no longer needs to focus.”
“This is so confusing. The System does control everything but doesn’t at the same time.”
“Yes.”
The doe began to move under SJ’s stroking hand. It slowly tried to stand. SJ stood, helping it to its feet. It stood unsteadily. Its rear leg was unable to support it properly. There was a call, and SJ turned, seeing one of the bucks standing at a distance, looking at the pair of them. The doe went to move but struggled. SJ supported it as it got used to its injured leg—mewing and grunting from the pain.
“You will be okay,” SJ soothed, stroking it on its head. The doe turned its head and licked SJ’s hand, making her smile. It then turned and began to hobble towards the buck. SJ watched as it moved slowly away, limping. The doe eventually reached where the buck stood and continued past it after the buck nuzzled its neck. SJ had tears in her eyes watching them interact. SJ then stared in astonishment as the buck appeared to bow towards her before turning and following the doe.
Congratulations! Reputation with Amatherean Deer was raised to Friendly.
