Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Serious Deer Hunting

After walking around for a little bit the first announcement came: "Deer." The pack changed direction towards their target. It seemed like hunting deer was the only thing they cared about.

They stalked over to where they could see the deer. She did a quick Identify on it.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 16) HP: 128/128 ]

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Kick Lvl 9 | Impale Lvl 9 | Stomp Lvl 6 | Thorn Bind Lvl 6 | Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 6 | Growth Lvl 6 | Rejuvenate Lvl 6 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Night Vision Lvl 8 | Keen Ears Lvl 6 | Insulation Lvl 6 | Pursuit Lvl 6 | Camouflage Lvl 4 | Vitality Up (Small) Lvl 6 |
Strength Up (Small) Lvl 6 | Defence Up (Small) Lvl 6 ]

There were several things she didn't recognise there, but it wasn't the right time to sit down, and read skill descriptions. She could always check them out if she got them, or if she went to scout out a deer on her own later.

"I'll go," she told the pack, and they just nodded at her. Apparently they had no objections.

Since the only thing she had to worry about was the thing's hearing, she didn't have a hard time sneaking up on it. And then... Ambush!

Like last time the deer spun around, and glared at her before it tried to kick her. There was one difference, though. She noticed the other Limber Wolf had snuck out behind her, and as soon as the deer was focused on Sara, she launched her own Ambush a second before the three Timber Wolves charged out from the underbrush. The second Ambush didn't do as much damage as the first, since Sara had higher stats, but it was still a decent chunk of damage.

The deer attacked in the same way Sara had seen before. It tried to kick her, and any of the others who got too close to its behind. It tried to ram her with its horns. It stomped the ground which pushed the wolves back, and did a little damage to all of them. And it did the thorny vines to try to ensnare all of them.

And there were a couple of things she hadn't noticed last time. Like the faint green energy that flowed around the deer like thin wisps of smoke, and the way its eyes started glowing yellow shortly after its HP dropped below 50%. Of course trying to pay attention to such things meant she got hit by an extra kick or two before the end.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 16) Defeated. ]

[ Bite Skill Level Up! Max Level Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ] [ Rake Skill Level Up! Max Level Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ] [ Ambush Skill Level Up! ] [ Howl Skill Level Up! ]

These creatures were basically piñatas of skill experience points.

[ Skill Gained: Rejuvenate. ]

[ Rejuvenate (Active): Restore target's HP over time. Recovery value: 1+(1*skill level)% of Max HP every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Nature element property. Duration increases with skill level. Cost: 5 MP. Refresh: 20 seconds. (Ai-note: Your current form is unable to use magic, so this skill will be disabled.) ]

She let out a slight sigh. She had expected that the last three active skills were all Druid skills. Considering the deer's skill list, it seemed like the odds were high that she'd get something she couldn't use.

Now what bonuses did I get?

[ Bite (Active): Attack using jaws and teeth, or something with an equivalent function. Damage value: 1+(0.03*skill level)*attack power. Critical hits inflict Bleed status on target for 10 seconds. Cost: 1 SP. Refresh: 2 seconds.
Max level bonus: Bleed inflicted by this skill deals 50% extra damage. ]

[ Rake (Active): Attack using claws, or something with an equivalent function. Damage value: 1+(0.03*skill level)*attack power. Increased critical hit chance. Critical hits inflict Bleed status on target for 10 seconds. Cost: 2 SP. Refresh: 2 seconds.
Max level bonus: Bleed inflicted by this skill deals 50% extra damage. ]

Huh. Not super powerful, but yeah, that's an okay bonus.

Bite and Rake were her two most basic attack skills, so it made sense the bonus would be simple. Bleed was a very simple debuff as well. While Poison dealt damage in fixed HP values, Bleed did 2% of the target's max HP (rounded up, so it always did at least 1 HP) every 2 seconds over 10 seconds. Boosting that to 3% was hardly mind-blowing, but it would help out a little. More powerful skills probably had better bonuses, assuming they all had one.

She suddenly realised the pack were patiently watching her.

"Oh, sorry. I... um... I'm ready to go."

They nodded, then walked off in what seemed like just a random direction to her. They probably had a patrol route, or scent trail, or something to guide them. It wasn't like she had any better suggestions, so she followed after them.

Walking around like this felt pretty relaxing, honestly. The wolves weren't great conversationalists, but neither was she. There was a sense of safety in moving with a pack, and she was free to just look at her surroundings, use Identify on stuff, play around with her Thermal Vision without worrying about walking into a tree, and so on. Good stuff. Then the pack would stop, and announce "Deer" when it was time for action.

The procedure was the same every time, but that didn't mean she could relax during combat. The deer were surprisingly good at trapping her movements, and landing a blow. Not just with their thorns, but with their attack patterns in general. They would manage to catch her at an angle where she wasn't able to dodge properly.

Maybe it was due to a lack of experience on her part, or it was part of how they managed to fend off wolf packs normally. Sara was an abnormality which gave the deer much lower odds at winning.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 16) Defeated. ]

[ Level Up: Level 17 Reached! ]

[ Body Slam Skill Level Up! ] [ Poison Strike Skill Level Up! ] [ Danger Sense Skill Level Up! ]

She was getting a better feel for Danger Sense. With sufficient practice (and skill level) she might even be able to predict attacks with it, improving her evasion rate. That would likely take a while, though.

[ Skill Gained: Kick. ]

[ Kick (Active): Attack using one or more legs. Base damage value: 1+(0.03*skill level)*attack power. Damage increases with the use of more legs. Chance to knock back, or knock down targets. Cost: 2 SP. Refresh: 3 seconds. (Ai-note: Harder feet mean harder kicks. Your soft paws will not have as much impact as a deer's hooves.) ]

I'm getting Ai-notes for things that aren't related to disabling skills now? She really does behave like a mother.

Perhaps it was a skill that would be more useful in the future, when she was able to wear boots. Wolves had a good amount of muscle, so if she kicked with her back legs, she might at least be able to push something away. Not the deer, though. Even Body Slams barely fazed them.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 15) Defeated. ]

[ Howl Skill Level Up! ]

Onto the next.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 17) Defeated. ]

[ Ambush Skill Level Up! ] [ Poison Strike Skill Level Up! ]

[ Skill Gained: Insulation. ]

[ Insulation (Passive): Makes the holder more resistant to the elements. Improves effectiveness of fur and hair. Cold and warm temperatures bother holder less. Effect increases with skill level. 1+(1*skill level)% resistance to elemental attacks, and effects. (Light and Dark excluded.) ]

That seemed like the most useful thing she had gotten from these things aside from Defence Up. Even if it was a small percentage, it was resistance against all the regular elements. If she managed to max it out, it would be quite significant. It might be hard to level though, she wasn't entirely sure. It also sounded like she would feel more cosy.

[ Forest Deer (Druid Lvl 16) Defeated. ]

[ Level Up: Level 18 Reached! ]

[ Body Slam Skill Level Up! ] [ Kick Skill Level Up! ]

She had tried using Kick a bit in spite of Aina's warning, and it had indeed had little effect. It didn't do any more damage than a non-skill bite or claw 'auto-attack'. Maybe less. So she was better off using other attack skills.

Now that she had reached level 18, maybe it was time to call it a day. Or at least go do something else. Even if her HP and SP quickly recovered after a fight (though she was starting to notice the diminishing returns already), it didn't stop her from feeling physically sore, and mentally tired. Getting kicked, rooted, rammed, and stomped wasn't fun, and the amount of concentration she had to expend to avoid most of it was taxing.

They did walk around for a while between fights, which was a good time to relax a little, and try to get her non-combat skills to level up a bit too, but she was feeling the need to go rest. She had tried to add some diversity to the downtime by talking to the wolves a little, but she really wasn't good at starting conversations. It ended up with her just asking a few questions, and getting short answers.

Was this all they did? Yes.

How many of them were there? Many.

Was there a boss wolf? Not in this part of the forest.

Then where was it? In the forest on the other side of the goblin camp.

Were they afraid of the ravens? No.

Did they like what they were doing? They didn't understand the question. It was just what they did.

She had to wonder if these wolves would start to feel differently about things as their AI kept growing. Maybe they would develop different habits, and different lives. The wolves worked well together, but she had to admit they seemed more like colleagues, and less like friends, or family.

As she was pondering all this, and trying to think of a good way to say that she wanted to part ways (even though she could probably just say it, rather than overthink it), the wolves stopped again. But this time the word they uttered was something else: "People."

It took Sara a moment to realise it they hadn't said 'Deer'.

"Huh?"

The wolves started talking among themselves.

"Group. Five."

"Not goblins."

"Not close."

"Ignore?"

"Dangerous to drive out. Maybe ignore."

Then all of them turned their heads towards her.

"W-why are you looking at me?"

"You are strongest."

"Opinion important."

Are they saying they would follow me, or are they saying it's a democracy?

"I'll go scout them out, then I'll tell you what I think," she said after thinking about it for a few seconds.

They nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

She was unsure if she would be able to find them as well as the pack had, but when she paid attention to her senses, she realised she had no problem telling which direction they were, or roughly how close they were. She entered Stealth before they could hope to spot her, and peeked between the trees. It was indeed a group of five adventurers.

[ Human Guard (Fighter Lvl 18) ], [ Elf Researcher (Mage Lvl 17) ], [ Gnome Tracker (Scout Lvl 16) ], [ Owlkin Speaker (Druid Lvl 16) ], [ Troll Acolyte (Priest Lvl 17)].

They seemed like a well-rounded team, and they all had occupations. It was possible they were all Residents, or at least a majority of them were, but it felt more like a group of Serious Gamers. Something about how they moved gave her a hunch. It was probably best to avoid them. Let them do whatever quest they came for, and they'd leave soon enough. It wasn't that many hours left until nightfall, and they'd surely bugger off by then.

Wait...

It hit her that the human looked familiar... as did the elf... weren't they part of the party that came hunting her back in the field? Did that mean they were here looking for her this time too? Even if they weren't, she could feel her fur bristle at how they dared show themselves here. She headed back to the others.

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"They are too much for us to handle on our own," was the conclusion she told them.

"So ignore?" the Limber Wolf asked her.

"No. I said on our own, but what if we recruited the help of more packs?"

At first they gave her strange looks, but then she felt like she could see them smile. Maybe that was just her imagination.

* * *

"This is pointless," Laloti said. As a Tracker she was pretty essential when searching for a mob, but there were plenty of wolf tracks all over the place, and it wasn't like she could point to any of them being different to the others. "What are we even looking for?" She had already been briefed, and was asking more out of annoyance than anything else.

"A strange wolf that climbs trees," Scott McScot replied anyway. The Mage was one of the more dedicated rare mob hunters, and one of the guild's founders. Maybe too dedicated. Then again, the rest of them had willingly agreed to come along. "Or traces of a lone wolf. That could also point us in the right direction."

Laloti had only found the trails of packs, but she had already pointed that out three times, so she didn't bother repeating herself. They had bumped into a couple of the packs, and a couple of those deer, which had led to annoying fights, so she felt ready to go back. It was only 3 or 4 hours away from dark, and she did not want to be there when the snakes woke up.

"The owls talked about the climbing wolf, so the other party wasn't lying," Le Hoot said. It was a neat system the game had that if your character was a related type to a mob race, that type of mob might be willing to aid you, or at least leave you alone if they were usually hostile to players. And as a Druid she had a skill to communicate with mobs as well. Even if the owls weren't super happy about being woken up, they were willing to talk to an owlkin.

"I really don't like these woods," Barls Stein said. As a Fighter he was their vanguard, though the Druid could at least off-tank, so it wasn't like the entire burden fell on him. "This is my first time on the west side, and I don't like it." The woods felt thicker than in the east, and the mobs were more of a hassle. At least the flying ones left them alone.

"And we certainly haven't seen anything bigger than those squirrels climbing anything," the last member of the party, Grulsen, remarked. While Druids could do a bit of healing, most parties wanted to take along a Priest or Cleric if they were going anywhere dangerous.

Laloti suddenly stopped. "Wait. Something's wrong," she said. The way her Sense Presence was reacting was not normal.

"Argh!" Grulsen cried out as he was ambushed by a Limber Wolf, which was quickly followed by a scream from Scott as another Limber Wolf materialised with its claws into his back. Then Timber Wolves charged in from all sides. There had to be at least a dozen of them.

"Shit."

The party tried to stabilise, but with both their priest and mage grievously wounded right away, they had no hope against such numbers. They managed to take down a couple of wolves, but inevitably:

[ Respawn Timer: 09:59 ]

[ Do You Wish To Respawn Immediately? Yes/No ]

"What the hell was that?" Barls asked when they were all back at the respawn point in town.

"I've never seen them deliberately go for the healer first before," Laloti said. Maybe that had just been a coincidence, but it hadn't felt like one.

"Did we trigger some kind of event?" It wasn't Grulsen's first death. Very few players managed to avoid it altogether, but getting hit with something that high damage was very unpleasant. He hadn't even gotten a single heal off before the Timber Wolves had charged in, and taken out the last bit of health he had.

Scott had remained quiet for over a minute before he suddenly said: "What if they were led by someone?"

"Huh?"

"That wolf in the fields that we suspected to be a rare spawn was able to cooperate with other wolves in an area where that normally never happens. If it has gotten even cleverer since then, maybe it can command the wolves of the forest," he elaborated.

"So you believe the thing about a special learning mob that's moving between areas?" Laloti asked. She was very disbelieving of that notion, finding it more likely that it was different rare spawns.

"It would make sense if it was." Scott definitely believed. "I wouldn't blame the devs for putting in an easter egg like that."

"I'm not sure if 'easter egg' is the right term for it, but it was certainly a strange encounter," Le Hoot said. She also felt kinda excited at the idea of mobs who would grow with time. So long as it wasn't all of them. That would eventually make the game impossible for newbies.

"Well, if it can organise all the wolves against us, it would be too dangerous to keep investigating. Even if we brought more parties, it might just bring more wolves against us," Grulsen concluded.

"You have an unfortunate point," Scott had to concede. "It would be hard to motivate enough people to perform a raid on an area when we can't even guarantee good drops. But if it truly can grow stronger, and move around, then there's only so much it will be able to do over there before it has to move on. I'm sure we'll get more news soon enough. In the meantime, maybe we could send in some covert forces?"

"While I understand your eagerness, Merwyn Forest West is not a small area," Le Hoot pointed out. "Asking someone to walk around in Stealth when we're not sure what we're looking for is going to be a hard sell."

"Mmph... you're right... we should have at least used Identify on the two Limber Wolves..." Scott hadn't been in a state to check the fur patterns either.

"I did," Laloti said in a grumpy tone. "They both looked normal." She hadn't really had time to do a thorough investigation of the results considering their situation, so she hadn't noticed that one of them was higher level than any of the other wolves.

"We have other reports to look into as well," Le Hoot said. "How about we head over to Narsel for now?" They had their choice of using the teleport service, or taking the airship, but teleporting was quite expensive. There weren't many players who could do it frequently without worry. Airship tickets were quite affordable. New players even got 10 free tickets when they made their first character.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Got it."

"Fine..."

* * *

The plan had been a success. It had been a short, but intense battle. Even with their healer going down first, the players had rallied surprisingly well, and even taken a couple of Timber Wolves down with them. They hadn't lasted very long though, and the mood among the various wolf packs was quite high. It was the first time they'd done anything like this, so to the wolves it was like a fun new experience. Maybe they would have eventually thought of something like that on their own, but it was Sara who had come up with the idea first, and they had been happy to go along.

For her own part Sara felt satisfied with the result, and maybe a little too happy about getting some payback. Based on what she had overheard, they had clearly been here looking for her. It was bad to hold a grudge, but she couldn't help it. She was just trying to figure out her place in this new world, and the players kept getting in her way. All she wanted was to become a Resident, and live a peaceful life somewhere.

Er... the Wanderers, she reminded herself. It will be a while until I stop slipping up, huh?

It had occurred to her that maybe she should try to get on the... Adventurers' good side. Be a helpful wolf, saving them from danger or whatnot, but that would start its own batch of troublesome stories. For now she was happy to do what she could to keep herself hidden, and gradually level herself up. She might even get a new evolution at level 20, which would be exciting. Even if it was probably just becoming a bigger wolf.

Once their fallen members had respawned, the various packs exchanged brief farewells before they went off to do their own things again. They didn't seem interested in permanently forming a bigger pack, at least not at the moment. Sara wasn't too interested in trying to force it on them either.

"Thank you for your help today," she told the pack she had been going around with. "I enjoyed our time together, but I would like to go rest now."

"You are welcome. Maybe we will meet again." That was a new sentiment. The previous pack she'd gone with hadn't tried to stop her either, but they also hadn't said anything like that.

"Maybe." She smiled, or at least tried to. She had no idea what it actually looked like on a face like hers. The other wolves didn't have names, so she wasn't sure if she'd be able to recognise them. Maybe she would be able to tell from their scents, but no matter how high level her Keen Nose was, her brain wasn't used to processing information in that way. At least she didn't think so. It had already surprised her how well she was able to move in this body despite it being entirely new to her.

Aina had helpfully left the compass marker on since the time Sara had asked for it, so she had no trouble getting back to her cave that day either. Without the AI looking after her, there was no way she would have gotten as far as she had.

It was time to check out her spoils for the day. Not the drops she'd collected (even though she'd like to cook the venison one day), but what level ups she'd gotten.

[ Character Status ]

[ Name: Sara ]

[ Species: Grey Limber Wolf | Gender: Female ]

[ Genus: Wolf ]

[ Class: Rogue ]

[ Level: 16 -> 18 ]

[ HP: 89/89 -> 97/97 (74/74) | SP: 90/90 -> 99/99 (77/77) | MP: 39/39 -> 41/41 (19/19) ]

[ VIT: 37 -> 39 (24) | END: 35 -> 38 (34) ]

[ STR: 41 -> 43 (25) | DEF: 29 -> 30 (13) ]

[ AGI: 56 -> 60 (48) | DEX: 28 -> 30 (21) ]

[ INT: 9 (9) | WIS: 21 (9) ]

[ LUK: 64 -> 72 (22) ]

[ Bonus Attribute Points: 6 -> 12 ]

Her concealed stats were now probably a little low for her level, but she wasn't going to worry about updating them until she hit level 20, regardless of whether or not she evolved. Actually she should probably conceal her level as well. That would fix the problem. It annoyed her that she kept forgetting potentially important things, but she'd always been that way. She'd save her bonus points too. It was probably better to see what she might be lacking after evolving.

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Bite Lvl 9 -> Max (9) | Rake Lvl 9 -> Max (9) | Ambush Lvl 3 -> 5 (5) | Howl Lvl 3 -> 6 (5) | Sprint Lvl 8 (5) |
Stealth Lvl 12 -> 13 (10) | Sense Presence Lvl 7 -> 8 (5) ]

[ Concealed Active: ]

[ Charge Lvl 1 | Body Slam Lvl 4 -> 7 | Throw Lvl 1 | Poison Strike Lvl 3 -> 5 | Death From Above Lvl 2 |
Kick (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 | Jump Lvl 9 | Thermal Vision Lvl 3 -> 4 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Night Vision Lvl 13 (9) | Keen Eyes Lvl 15 -> 16 (9) | Keen Ears Lvl 14 -> 15 (9) | Keen Nose Lvl 11 -> 13 (9) | Camouflage Lvl 5 -> 6 (2) | Agility Up (Small) Lvl 6 (4) ]

[ Concealed Passive: ]

[ Danger Sense Lvl 3 -> 4 | Cat's Feet Lvl 1 -> 2 | Firm Grip Lvl 1 | Dig Lvl 3 | Climb Lvl Max | Vitality Up (Small) Lvl 5 |
Strength Up (Small) Lvl 5 | Defence Up (Small) Lvl 3 | Dexterity Up (Small) Lvl 2 | Poison Resistance Lvl 3 |
Insulation (New) Lvl 1 | Skill Gain Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ General: ]

[ Identify Lvl 6 (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]

[ Tough Scales | Flight | Rejuvenate (New) ]

[ Skill points: 10 -> 14 ]

Her stat up passives had not levelled, but by her estimation that happened roughly every other day. She'd just gotten a lot done that day, so it felt like more than one day had passed. She had been right about this being the more effective way to level up, but she still didn't regret her other escapades, like figuring out how to climb. Well, with the exception of getting spotted at the end. It was nice to keep her days varied, after all. She wasn't entirely sure why Cat's Feet had levelled up. She'd missed whenever the popup had happened. Maybe it just consistently got a bit of experience like the Keen and Stat Up skills.

She quickly had a look at the skill store to see if she'd missed anything there, but it still just said Back Attack, and Endurance Up. So at least she hadn't unlocked anything without noticing. She still wasn't sure if Back Attack was worth it. Even when hunting with a pack, she would draw the highest aggro due to having the highest damage. So far she hadn't seen a wolf with any sort of taunt skill, so there was no one to tank for her, giving her no chance to attack a target's back after her initial Ambush.

That aside, the deer still had a lot of skills left that she hadn't gotten that day. Realistically she felt like most of them she probably wouldn't be able to use. Heck, she had forgotten what most of them were. But it probably had one for that ramming attack with the antlers, and she didn't have antlers, so it was doubtful she could use that. She should probably go Identify one on her own, and actually look at what those abilities did.

The next day she wanted to go scout out the goblins. Maybe take down some of them. Residents still gave experience and drops according to Aina, so it followed that she would be able to gain their skills too. Residents had to have some interesting skills compared to mobs. While anything that required hands wouldn't do her much good as she was now, it might be worth saving them for when she got her own again.

She did some stretches for her sore and stiff muscles, and then decided to go to sleep early. Recovering her HP, SP, and MP didn't really recover feeling physically or mentally tired. It might be different for regular mobs, since as far as she could tell the other wolves didn't sleep. They were active all day, and all night. Yet they hadn't asked any questions about her saying she needed to rest. Did that mean they understood the concept, or they simply lacked the curiosity? Maybe it would be addressed in a future update. If the developers really wanted this game to feel increasingly realistic, adding sleep cycles for all mobs felt like a must.

Well, that was a problem for them, not her.

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