Chapter 92: Man and Monster

Seconds rolled into minutes.

Minutes into hours.

Hours into days.

And Days into weeks.

The Red Lycan's belly had grown progressively larger as well as her diet.

Frequently, I'd have to leave the cave and head out to hunt.

But I wasn't displeased, rather, I welcomed it.

Because every time, I set out to hunt, I always recalled how I felt during my first.

Thrill.

...

HOO...FWOO...

I took in shallow breaths, as I remained crouched within a grass shrub.

My gaze was fixed on a single point, while my breath boiled with anticipation.

HOO...FWOO...

My first hunt...

I thought as my grip on my weapon tightened, my gaze turned much harder.

If not for that wolf's stinginess...I wouldn't need to do this....

Indeed.

Today was the fifth day since I met the Red Lycan, a certain beast I had battled with and ended up wounding gravely. It had forgiven me after I tended to its wounds and led me to its hideout.

Being kind and benevolent, the beast shared its spoils with me for four days, only to regress into a greedy beast and monopolize the rest of the food.

As a result, I was forced to set out and find my own.

HOO...FWOO...

There you are...

Just a few feet from the shrub I was hiding in was an Ogre, my target.

My food...

I grimaced slightly at the thought but forced myself to swallow.

The Wyvern Woods was a deeply strange place, a place that teemed with monsters at day and horrors at night. There were no tame animals like deer, rabbits, zebras or anything like that...only fantastical creatures and monsters.

It was undoubtedly the world of a game but the utter realism of it all, made me question otherwise. It made me wander if our souls had actually been transported to a whole different world.

Because...I couldn't fathom the mind of a human who'd come up with this...or rather I didn't want to...

I didn't want to believe that a human created this place.

The thought made me deeply disturbed.

CHOMP!

The Ogre's teeth snapped down; it was munching on what seemed to be...flowers? Yes, flowers...I think.

Although, I didn't know its exact level, I made some assumptions based on my recent observations.

The goblin was usually unarmed and awfully carefree, it only ate plants and seemed to abstain from meat. Its intelligence seemed rather low, evident in the several times I had seen it trip on itself.

With all these premises, I had concluded that it was most likely a Level 2 or Level 3 beast at best.

HOO...FWOO...

I took another short breath, before crawling out of the shrub, making sure not to make a single sound. I couldn't afford to alert my prey; I had to kill it swiftly and painlessly.

The thought of killing made my stomach churn, whether it was a man or monster...the idea of taking a life didn't seem to sit right with me.

It never could...even though I knew I had to kill.

I knew certainly that in these woods, it's either kill or be killed...no it was deeper than that but I just couldn't understand.

HOO...FWOO...

Calm down...it's just a monster...

I tried to justify myself with such thoughts but then another thought would rise.

But wasn't the Red Lycan a monster too?

Doesn't this Ogre...have a life too?

Such thoughts crossed my mind as I approached the hapless Ogre.

The thoughts made me weak; it made me cower, it made me stumble, made me shake and ultimately made me make a mistake.

SHIFF!

My foot accidentally stepped too deep into a scattering of grass, and in the silent woods, the sound echoed loudly.

"Oh no...", I let out a gasp and the system spoke.

[Bloodlust detected.]

[The player has been threatened by an enemy.]

[Level 4. Stray Ogre.]

My eyes immediately widened at the sight of 'Level 4'.

L-level 4?!

My face paled and my body slowed, failing to react to a brutal overheard claw.

SLASH!

[You have been wounded.]

TSS!!

I let out a pained hiss as I fell on my hind, blood splurging out of my left hand which now had a deep cut in it.

Four deep cuts actually.

HISS...

Blood seeped out from the wound as I turned to the ogre who looked down at me with a cruel smile on its face.

At that moment, I realized my mistake.

This Ogre was not weak.

It was unarmed because it didn't need weapons.

It ate flowers and not meat, so that it could move fast.

It acted carefree so it could mask its intelligence.

And it masked its intelligence so it could lure in its prey.

I was the prey that had been lured in.

Despite being aware of the Wyvern Woods' twisted nature, I had deeply underestimated its inhabitants.

In other words, I'd been had!

Fuck!

Immediately, I forgot about my hunger, choosing to save my life instead. I shot up to my feet and turned to bolt away but before I could even move.

BAM!

The Ogre drove its foot straight into my abdomen, causing me to go flying into a nearby tree.

[You have been wounded.]

U-urgh!

I crashed to the ground, my body convulsing violently.

Ugh...it hurts...!

[Skill: Blood Factor is active.]

The activation of the skill brought me some lucidity but it didn't erase the pain.

SHIFF!

I caught sight of a blur and immediately, rolled to the side, narrowly escaping a violent head stomp.

THOOM!

The grass rustled and tons of soil were displaced by the Ogre's assault.

Shit...!

I rose to my feet, my hand clenching the stick tightly.

Hesitation to kill?

RRR...RAR!!

The Ogre broke into a mad dash, advancing towards me like a herald of death. Its movements were violent and erratic, its eyes crazed and its bloodthirst suffocating.

[Bloodlust detected.]

[The player has been threatened by an enemy.]

My hair stood on end, and involuntarily I took a step back. The gray-skinned monster closed in, swinging its claw, aiming to slice me apart but in the last moment, I raised my stick.

BAM!!

The claws of the Ogre and the wood of the stray stick collided, making a dull sound.

How can I hesitate to kill something so vile?

I gritted my teeth and pushed forward, trying to overpower the Ogre but that was a grave mistake.

SLASH!

The Ogre swung its other arm and gutted me with its claws.

[You have been wounded.]

SPLURT!

Blood spilled out from my mouth and stomach, my grip on my weapon loosened and I collapsed to my knees.

RRRARR!

The Ogre lunged forward, aiming to decapitate me with one final slash.

So... I meet my end here...I die again huh...

Why did I think that? Was I trying to tell myself that it was fine? To die again? To suffer that pain again?

Is that what I thought?

No. Of course not.

I didn't want to die again. I didn't want to suffer that harrowing pain again.

I wanted to live.

But there was only one way...

I had to kill.

[Skill: Blood Factor has been activated.]

The moment the system spoke, something inside me clicked.

Huh?

My previously darkening vision was suddenly clear, the pain that muddled my body vanished in an instant and the world suddenly seemed to slow down.

W-what?

My heart began to beat faster, my blood started to circulate faster and my brain began to process faster.

It was like I was moving at 10x speed.

SWISH!

I bent my head to the side, narrowly avoiding the Ogre's claws. I shot up from my knees and without sparing a moment, I drove my fist straight into its face.

BAM!!

The monster stumbled back from the brutal force of my punch, seemingly dazed but I didn't stop there, I lunged forward and tackled it to the ground, aiming to pummel it with a flurry of blows.

The monster was stubborn, refusing to be dominated so easily, it drove its claw against my arm and threw me off.

[You have been wounded.]

RUSTLE!!

I landed on the grass, ignoring the pain, and hastily rose to my feet, just in time to deflect a swipe from the monster.

I was faster.

The Ogre rained several strikes on me but not a single one hit, I was moving so fast that all its strikes appeared to be moving in slow motion.

FWISH! FWISH!

To overpower a Level 4 monster as a Level 2 human...

FWISH! FWISH!

This could only be described as a miracle, the manifestation of a god's power.

Blood Factor!

HA! HA! HA!

Suddenly, a smile came to my face and a strange feeling began to well up in me.

It was thrill.

This was thrilling.

FWISH! FWISH!

I dodged another and then another, further infuriating the Ogre.

RRRA-

BAM!

My fist collided with the Ogre's face, sending broken splinters of its teeth flying in all directions.

Inventory Open!

[Equipped Item: Stray Stick.]

I summoned the stick into my grasp and swung downwards.

BASH!

The stale wood came down on the Ogre, striking it with so much force its skull caved in.

Blood stained my face and stick as the system spoke in its unchanging tone.

[You have felled Level 4. Stray Ogre.]

[You have gained 9 EXP.]

Despite the gruesome state of the dead Ogre, the smile never left my face.

And neither did the cold...

...

Days continued to pass by and the Lycan's belly continued to grow larger.

It had soon reached a point where she could no longer move without assistance.

I had to frequently tend to her needs and take care of her.

Our days which had started off on a high-note had slowly become dreadfully monotonous.

Everyday was just filled with nothing but hunting and tending to the Red Lycan, I couldn't even train anymore due to her growing needs.

By day, I was either out hunting or with the pregnant Lycan.

By night, I slept, too scared to step out.

Even though, I gained two new skills, my life didn't seem to brighten.

The days continued to pass by without remorse and my mindset seemed to be dipping lower and lower, a life of constant killing and bloodshed was beginning to take its toll on me.

Even though, all I killed were monsters, the gore and blood still struck cords within me.

It had reached a point where I suddenly began to harbor homicidal thoughts and frequently woke up from nightmares.

Nightmares that seemed too real, too visceral to be just conjurations of the mind.

I'd frequently hear voices that I'd never heard before or see strange images lurking in my periphery.

Every time I listened closely or looked around.

They were gone.

I felt like I was going insane, like I was spiraling into madness.

I felt like I would-no.

I felt like I had lost my mind.

...

 One night, I woke up, jolted awake after experiencing another terrifying nightmare.

This one was rather different from the others though.

In it, I saw a strange man with a thorny crown and a silver blade, he seemed to be dancing in the mist of the Wyvern Woods. He's dance seemed rather odd yet graceful, it was a dance I'd never seen before.

He moved weirdly yet enchantingly, violently yet peacefully...it was like-ugh...curse my poor vocabulary.

He seemed to be dancing with what seemed to be spirits or souls...am not sure but unlike him, they didn't seem very enthusiastic. They didn't seem to be dancing because they wanted to but rather like they were forced to.

I continued to watch them dance from a distance before suddenly, they all froze.

And turned to look at me.

SHUDDER!

A chill ran down my spine and cold sweat doused my face. After such a horrifying dream, I didn't think I would be able to sleep again.

HA...! HA...!

I put a hand on my chest as I breathed in heavily but quietly, trying to calm myself down.

If there was anything my hunts have thought it was that nothing good came out of not being calm.

HOO...FWOO...

I calmed down, patting my chest.

See...it wasn't so ha-

EEEKK!

I let out a shriek mid-sentence, jolting violently.

My previously calm breaths were now scattered and erratic, my heart thumping violently.

Because right before me, the Red Lycan was awake, facing my direction and staring at me with eerie, unfamiliar eyes.

Eyes that made me dread the cold...