Chapter 33: Chapter 32

I woke up at my unholy usual time of way too freaking early in the morning to get started on the day. I guess this was a good thing as Goredeer tend to be most active in the dawn and dusk- so I wouldn't have to wait until the end of the day. Breakfast was the same as last night’s dinner. My only solace when it came to food was that I knew when my other body woke up I could eat some fruit and fresher bread I had back home. 

 

This body had taken my notebook just in case I needed it. In the few breaks I had taken during yesterday’s travels, I had jotted down some quick notes on what I needed to know. Goredeer were on average fifty percent larger than normal deer, as well as being much faster and stronger. They tended to prefer fighting over running when confronted and would eat anything they found. Their sight was more adept at spotting movement than colors, so staying above them stationary before striking was the best option against them. If you had to run, climbing a tree and staying there until it got bored was better than trying to escape. 

 

Lastly if you did get hit, top priority should be to clean the wound and restrict blood flow to the area until proper healing can be done. Most people didn’t die from fighting the monster but from complications with not being able to stop blood loss. There were some unconfirmed reports of being able to circumvent their Ability but cutting out the wound itself- creating a different wound that just so happened to be at the same place. The only issue is then you’re already injured and bleeding out, you probably don't want to hurt yourself more.

 

Despite already knowing all this, I still went over it a couple times like how I used to cram in the few minutes before a test- more to comfort myself than to actually learn anything. Damn, I had enjoyed my classes before coming here, along with the extra curriculars… 

 

No time for that, I needed to start scouting out an area to bait the Goredeer into. Ideally I could find a clearing with some bushy trees around the edges- but I’d take any fairly open space. To that end I followed a nearby stream  until I hit a rocky beach. The footing would be a bit rough, but it was the best I could do if I didn't want to stay an extra day. I pulled out the essentials I had brought with me from my camp and stashed the backpack downstream and downwind of the open area. I then ran into a predicament: wherever I hid, my scent would be carried in the same direction as whatever was in the bait canister. I wasn’t sure how good the Goredeer’s sense of smell was supposed to be, but I guess it would be sensitive enough to pick me up. I might not care that I was there, or might even get more aggressive- but I didn’t want to chance it.

 

Which meant I was going to have to lay in the stream. I was a bit of an idiot and forgot to bring another set of clothes, which meant I was either going to have to be stuck with soaked clothes or fight naked. Armor wasn’t a concern as I wasn’t allowed to bring any anyway and what I was wearing would do nothing except get pushed into any wound I got. Much to my chagrin, my clothes were stashed with the backpack before I opened the canister and layed down at the edge of the stream with only my nose and eyes popping out of the water- sword laying on the dry beach next to me.

 

I quickly noticed two things. One, the water was really cold. I had a hard time not shivering constantly as I got used to it. After an uncomfortable first few minutes, I couldn’t feel the cold and actually kinda enjoyed the feeling as I waited. The second thing was that whatever was in that canister stank bad. If I wasn’t already breathing as little as possible to hide myself I would be doing so if only to not have to breath that foul miasma. Words could not describe that vomit inducing concoction (wait, I guess I am describing it with words)- but it definitely worked.

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After only fifteenish minutes, I heard some load crashing as a large deer broke through the edge of the clearing and bleated loudly. It looked a bit confused as it scanned the area, not noticing me just yet. I was ready to go, but it was too far away for comfort. As it approached the canister- and consequently near where I was hidden- I slowly started to get up. First onto all fours, then low on my knees- grabbing my sword as quietly as possible- and finally croached facing where it was.

 

Luckily, it had its back to me as it warily approached the source of the stench. This let me get up onto dry land before some of the rocks shifted and it snapped its head around. We stared at each other for a few agonizing moments before it let out another bleat and charged head down. Taking it head on would be too dangerous, and its antlers were wide enough to catch me before I would be able to get away- so I jumped. It wasn’t a great jump in terms of technique and my landing wasn’t much better, but I was able to get more than enough height to clear the monster and land on its other side.

 

While it definitely knew where I was, the momentum prevented the Goredeer from turning fast enough to line up another charge before I came at it. I brought my tail up to guard my side closest to the antlers as I came in low, hoping to land a strike against its neck or face before going under it- there was plenty of space without even sliding. 

 

What I wasn’t prepared for was my sword passing through the neck and spine with the only resistance coming from breaking through the spine- and likely chipping the blade in the process. The body fell over with a hollow thump as I stood on guard. I didn’t know if I should be relieved or disappointed: it was pretty anticlimactic. Did this mean that Deryl really wanted me to fight a Mountainworm- I thought he was just overshooting so I wouldn’t get sent to hunt a powered up rabbit or something. My next thoughts were if this was a faun or something, but it had been taller than me from its hoof to shoulder and had another few feet in antler height.

 

After letting my adrenaline go down, I realized how cold I was. I hoped I hadn’t got hypothermia from my stream trick, but a few minutes sunning myself like a lizard on some rocks warmed me up again. From there I was left with the butchering. 

 

I retrieved my pack to get the diagram, my knife, and my clothes- although I was still wet and my hair needed to be wrung out before I put them on. When I had finished, I was happy I hadn’t dressed yet as I needed to wash myself of all the blood and guts that had gotten on me in the process. I ended up with a bag of liver, a lot of antler, and a small shard of glass-like substance from near its heart.

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