Day Four #4

There were usually reasons behind certain things that happened and they were easy to discover so long as it was investigated carefully.

It could be something as simple as them being lured into a certain place by something they had found enticing while others would have been pushed out of their territory and would be looking for a new place to settle down.

Fights for territory were normal in the forests or other environments among many types of animals or other creatures.

The strange thing was that the hyenas had shown no signs of retreating when their side had suffered some losses.

It had shown that they were either in a desperate situation that required them to take such risks or could not retreat for other reasons.

There were other factors involved that could be the result of them becoming feral after being influenced by eating something strange or being affected by something else.

It did not matter if it was a natural reason behind it or there were others behind it but Inis would soon discover the cause behind it.

She had slipped away into the forest after giving orders to only assist from the side and pick off any hyenas that had been distracted or were on their own.

Even if her current power level was higher and could be used to contribute to the battle, if she jumped in recklessly into the pack of hyenas, there would still be a risk to her life and she would not be able to help turn the tides of the battle.

A more tactical approach was needed to reduce the numbers and to weaken their side to provide the Gremlins to take back the advantage.

If the senses of Inis was correct then the strongest among the Gremlins was one of the combatants which was a little stronger than herself but they seemed to be struggling in the battle which had shown that the hyenas were not that weak in terms of power level too.

The bone spears and the other tools that were crafted by Inis were very sharp and tough so they had broken the flesh easily even with the weaker Gremlins wielding them.

The size of the hyenas were bigger than the Gremlins but so was their weight so they had a greater advantage over the Gremlins in combat when their other known skills were known to Inis, in an ordinary situation the hyenas would have eventually won the battle but would have suffered some losses due to the Gremlins strong and sharp teeth that could help them bite through many tough things but that required them to actually be able to reach out their mouth towards the body of the hyenas to inflict a wound.

When they were pinned down or were pushed onto their front or side, they could not reach an area of the hyenas so they could inflict a wound that was in a location that would be fatal.

If they were able to use that advantage then the endurance and durability of the hyenas would mean nothing but the hyenas still won in every other aspect of the battle.

The forest was well shaded so the hyenas had the advantage due to their darkness adaption and nocturnal adaption that let them see in and blend into the darkness.

The enhanced speed allowed them to move faster than the gremlins by a lot so they could advance, retreat and catch the Gremlins off guard in a single moment to allow a single or a couple of powerful bites to kill them.

The feral mind and predatory instinct innate abilities they possessed allowed them to tap into their potential during combat and let them become greater hunters too so they possessed far greater combat potential than the Gremlins.

If it had not been for the intervention of Inis and her group, there would have been a much greater slaughter once the numbers of the Gremlins had been reduced a little more.

Once Inis had slipped away, she moved quietly like an experienced hunter and had covered her body with some things to mask her scent.

She did not move too quickly due to her shorter legs and smaller size but her smaller size and greenish had helped a little to conceal herself from others as she moved around among the forest.

She had crawled quietly upon sensing a presence nearby and looked over towards the distance.

Inis had seen a couple of humanoid figures that were gathered together and they were carrying long staffs or spears and had many similarities with the hyenas.

The hyenas had a large head with a long, thick, muscular neck and powerful jaws that gave them the strongest bite among any mammal.

Their front paws were longer than their back legs that gave them a profile similar to that of a wildebeest or a bison and their spotted paws had four toes with non-retractable claws.

The humanoid appearance was very similar in a way but it was a mix of a human and hyena body.

Inis had identified the identity of the creature right away upon seeing it. 'Gnolls.. no wonder.'

There existed some creatures that were a mix of humans and animals that combined their strengths, others that had half of the body of one and the other half of the other then there were other variations that allowed transformations under certain conditions like the werewolves.

Some of them possessed a higher intelligence, some of them were the same as wild beasts and some switched between those states when their other nature had taken over.

The Gnoll was one such creature that fit into the category of possessing little intelligence and being a hybrid type of creature.

They were large and powerfully built to appear as a hybrid of a human and hyena but stood taller, bulkier and furrier than a human.

They had a hyena-like head and their long limbs seemed to possess lean strength.

They were covered in a coarse yellow or reddish-brown fur with some stripe or spotted markings and their feet and legs were structured much like a hyena's hind legs.

Inis had identified the threat and the reason why the hyenas had attacked. 'Hyenas are animals that work well in packs and they would feel familiar with those of their own kind or those that possessed the same traits. Gnolls should be able to gain some influence of them just through that connection and they can control manipulate their hormones to further control the hyenas.'

Pheromone manipulation or control would allow the Gnolls to make use of a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggered a social response in members of the same species, of oneself and others.

Releasing those pheromones would induce attraction between subjects (or within a subject for oneself) to exuding pheromones strong enough to induce sleep, change/influence emotions, draw crowds, etc.

Other creatures and life forms had similar abilities that could use pheromones to induce different reactions in others and to influence them but the various uses or effects were related to the kind of creature they were or what the user had trained it to be used for.

In the dungeon era, there were humans who had similar skills and had exploited it to manipulate the opposite gender while others had chosen to use them to confuse the various creatures that lived in the dungeons.

In the case of the Gnolls it was to draw in, influence and direct the hyenas or those of their own kind which allowed them to become pack leaders.

The stronger the power and the mastery over such an ability, the more likely they would have better control over the pack and would be the leader.

It was a dangerous ability to gather and direct the hyenas or similar creatures to fight for them but it was reliant on there actually being a large number of those creatures being around and those creatures being in lower strength than the user so they could be influenced by the pheromones.

If there was others that had built up a resistance or had a strong enough will to resist such an influence then that ability would become useless and those under the control of the user could lose control over those they had been influencing.

Inis watched their movements as she hid herself and tried to come up with a suitable plan to solve the problem. 'So long as they live and there are more packs of hyenas then they can always gather more then come back. They need to die.'

She then quietly crawled away and began to make some preparations for the battle that was to come.

If she had acted recklessly and had chosen to confront them as she was then it would be like a small child running towards several well built and armed adults.

Even if she had excellent combat abilities and experience, there would always be limits to what she could do with her current physique which meant that Inis had to fight smarter and more strategically.

Even if she had gained a fast improvement to her own power and had an improvement to her physique, it still was not enough to match up to so many kinds of creatures that would be found in the dungeon.

At most it had provided her with a slight advantage over her own kind and other similar creatures that were just as weak while allowing her physique to catch up to some creatures that were originally stronger than the Gremlins.

In another way to explain her situation it could be said that she was running high grade software on a low grade piece of hardware and could not use the maximum performance or potential possible due to her hardware being so poor.

Inis was not too displeased with her body even if it was weaker since it had been suited to the skill she had chosen and had built up over many years within the dungeons, if she had gained the body of a larger humanoid creature that was overly tall and bulky or a non humanoid type body then she would have to rethink her choice for the skill she would choose once she had reincarnated.

The small body of hers worked in her favour a little to have her lower to the ground to cut her enemies lower bodies so that the skill could trigger its effects of a critical strike to finish them off once they had fallen down.

Just like she had done in the dungeons where her human body could not match up to many of the more dangerous creatures inside, she had to overcome those dangers using any possible methods that she could use so that she could make them drop to her level so she could deliver the killing blow.

Inis no longer had her dungeon party to rely on like in the past but that did not mean she had no other ways to overcome the enemy in front of her.

Before the days that Inis had become famous and had gathered capable allies, she had to experience and learn a lot just so she could get to that stage where she could be recognised.