Chp.16: Bestiary (part 1)

Nogg had never been a man of great relationships. He had no siblings, except for a sister who had married when he was still a teenager and whom he saw only once a year at the most. He had never found a woman to marry, and his experiences with the female gender had always stopped at quick and occasional encounters aimed only at satisfying physical pleasure. As a result, he had no children either.

However, even though he didn't have any real connections, he knew what it was like to feel responsible to someone. After becoming the 'wizard hunter', he had had quite a few apprentices over the years who wished to learn his magic-based hunting style. Nogg certainly didn't care about them as if they were his own children, but he certainly had a strong bond with his students. If any of them should have been injured or worse died on a hunt, he would have been very saddened; it is no coincidence that during his teaching career he had always taken the best precautions to prevent his apprentices from being injured by the wild beasts they hunted.

Therefore, Nogg could empathize a lot with the two dragons, especially with Rhaegal. It was clear that he felt responsible for his sister and that he was willing to do anything to keep her alive. Nogg didn't even dare to imagine what that poor dragon had gone through and felt as he watched his siblings one by one die beside him; it was only natural that he now wanted to protect the last member of his family. And to think that all of this had happened in just six months after they hatched... life was really cruel sometimes.

So Nogg had decided it was right to help the two dragons. After all, they didn't want to do any harm to humans, they were just looking for a place to live peacefully. Even though they might grow up to be giant monsters as adults, it didn't matter to Nogg: he wouldn't be at peace with his conscience if he refused to lend them any help. And then he didn't have much choice: he would have had a chance to escape if his opponent was alone, but not with two. Those dragons were clearly very fast and strong: the instant he cast a spell against one of them, the other would attack and tear him apart. Therefore, trying to fight was futile.

And after all, they were just asking him about the animals in the area. They weren't asking him to describe a way to get them into a city and exterminate the inhabitants. Offering them his hunting knowledge couldn't hurt anyone, right?

"We'd like you to explain a little bit of everything, really" Sisna said. "In the place where we lived before there were some animals similar to these, but the species were different"

"Mmm... in this case let's proceed in order" Nogg murmured looking at the bounty list, then he indicate the name further down: "The easiest to manage is the jackalope, better known as 'horned rabbit'. It is a rabbit with antlers similar to those of a deer. By themselves they are practically harmless, but they can gather in large herds and charge together if they see a predator, and use their mana to fortify their antlers and make them very cold to it causes more painful wounds. However, even so they are easily managed. The beastmen raised them as a food supply"

"Beastmen… we have heard that many of these animals have escaped because of the war. Is this true?" Sisna asked.

"Yeah, that's right. Many jackalopes were raised in beastmen villages and were set free after the population retreated to the city to escape war zones" Nogg replied. "Right now, jackalopes roam all over beastmen territory, though many of them are recently crossing over into human territory. Like I told you, that's not a great enemy: even level copper humans, so basically even ordinary people can handle them with a few traps and a little intelligence. The real problem they represent is that they destroy crops, so the guild has put a bounty on them"

Sisna seemed to consider his words. "So, these are easy to handle" she murmured. "I understand. Go ahead"

Nogg nodded and pointed to the second animal on the list. "Then we have the kyubi, or 'nine-tailed fox'. It is a fox with a beautiful white coat, which however has a large number of tails. When they are very old they can be up to nine, but they rarely live that long. They generally have between three and six tails. The beastmen used them like humans use dogs, meaning as pets or for hunting. They are practically harmless, but when they feel threatened they start chafing at their tails, producing a "wave of mana that they direct at their opponent. However they can only wield this power a few times a day as it requires a lot of energy. So to defeat them, you just have to avoid their first attack and then capture them. These too are easy to handle, and in fact a level bronze warrior or mage shouldn't even commit to capture them"

At that moment it occurred to Nogg that perhaps the dragons didn't know what mages or warriors were or the scale of levels, but seeing that Sisna seemed to understand, he concluded that they probably had a chance to inquire about such things, so he continued. "Then we have the hildisvinis, which are a rather large species of boar, even if they aren't the largest of the world. The beastmen used them as we humans use pigs, but sometimes they also used them as mounts. They, too, probably escaped their enclosures when the beastmen villages started to be emptied. These boars are a little more dangerous than other animals: their tusks can in fact charge with mana and grow in size for a short time, and they can even emit small sparks of fire. To handle them, you need at least an level iron adventurer"

Nogg pointed to the next animal: "Nearly on par with the hildisvins, but slightly more dangerous, are the mánagarmr, or 'hellwolves', though this title is very exaggerated. They are wolves that beastmen simple soldiers use as mounts. They are relatively easy to tame, and only require an expert at least of level iron to handle them. However, they are very strong and fast, and they can use their mana to increase their resistance or to make their teeth and claws more deadly"

At that point it was the turn of the next animal. "Then we have the nemeos, or 'giant lion'. It is a very large lion with an extremely thick mane and very ferocious. It was used as a fighting beast by the beastmen: after taming it and making it learn not to attack the beastmen, they brought it to the battlefield and there released it, letting it attack the humans. Not only it is very strong, but its fur can harden into very sharp points, making its skin very hard and difficult to hit, while its mane can turn into fire for a short period of time. You must be at least a level silver to deal with it, or you have no chance"

From time to time, Nogg stopped to check that Sisna was still listening to him, or had some questions for him. The dragon was a good listener and seemed really interested in what he was saying. Were it not for the obvious racial differences, Nogg would have easily mistaken her for one of his old apprentices. "Then we have the baheko tiger. It is a very ferocious predator and possesses highly developed senses. It was used as a mount by some beastmen, the ones that were stronger than the common soldiers but weaker than the generals and the commanders, or as a war beast similar to the nemeos. Its skin is extremely tough, and its claws can get hot enough to melt some metals, making it very difficult to defend yourself with a shield. You must be at least a level gold to confront this beast". Then he pointed to the following animal: "Next, we have the bersekir bears"

"We know them" Sisna said. "Before we got here we went through the Karbraland Great Forest. There were a few there"

"So you're really from the south, mh?" Nogg giggled. "However, what you say is correct, the bersekir bears aren't native to the beastmen territory, but to the Karbraland Great Forest. It was just that, from time to time, one of them would leave the forest and enter this region. If they went into human territory, it would come killed, or captured to be sold as an exotic animal, but the beastmen instead tamed it and used it as mounts. Therefore they were also rare on the battlefield. You probably know them already, but I describe them anyway: they are big, bad and ferocious, and they can use their mana to fortify their body so much that they are living war machines that exterminate everything in their path. You must be at least at the peak of level gold to face the" Nogg stopped for a moment. "These are all the animals that adventurers can handle"

"Huh? But there are other animals on the list" Sisna protested.

"Yes, that's right. But to face them you have to be at a higher level than the level gold, and the adventurers beyond that level are forced to become soldiers" Nogg replied. Unfortunately that was the law: any person in the Jurao Kingdom with a strength higher than the level gold had to enlist. Because of that Nogg had never tried to increase his level and had always remained on the level silver: he was interested in hunting, not fighting. However, this also meant that he would stand no chance against the next animals on the list. He had been able to take on baheko tigers and even bersekir bears in his lifetime, but only with days of planning and perfect coordination; normally, if a level silver adventurer encountered one of these beasts, he would die. Therefore, Nogg knew he had little chance against more powerful monsters. He had never had to face them in his life, as they weren't used to roaming human territory; only once he dared to engage a higher-level beast, a large basilisk, and he did it just after more than a month of studying the animal, and and even so he had nearly died that day and he had succeeded only in driving the creature away from human territory, not in killing it.

Sisna looked quite confused. "If no one but the soldiers can defeat these monsters, why did they put a bounty on them? Wouldn't it have been easier if your king had sent his army to exterminate them?"

"The king will certainly do it, but at the moment the army has to worry about winning the war, certainly not hunting animals" Nogg replied. "These bounties are useful because they guarantee great rewards, and consequently they entice people to throw themselves into adventures that they would normally avoid because they are too dangerous. In fact, it may happen that some decayed knights pass by the guild in search of money, who possess the strength to kill these animals... or, much more commonly, that several parties of adventurers join together to hunt them down and divide the reward"

"Parties?" Sisna looked confused. "What are parties?"

"A party is basically a group of adventurers" Nogg explained. "Adventurers are very different from each other, you know… some, like me, prefer to carry out their missions alone. Others prefer to have a few friends who have their backs, and so they form parties. Generally a party consisted from three to ten people and it can count very different categories of warriors and mages". Nogg paused quickly. "Normally the various parties don't cooperate with each other, but in case of very large rewards, they are willing to do it. That's what the bounty is for"

Sisna reflected. It actually made sense: as she had seen many times, newcomers drew their strength from numbers. She called herself stupid for not thinking of it herself: a single adventurer could lose against a high-level monster… but many adventurers could overwhelm it. "I get it. All right, tell me what the strongest creatures on the list are"

"Of course". Nogg looked back at the list. "The weaker of them is the basilisk"