Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure by Andrew Karevik (best books to read txt) 📕

to clear the area, to get out of range of the beast’s telekinetic controls and thus, out of the danger zone. Hopefully out of sight would also mean out of mind for this thing.

As Trig ran towards the exit, the Orphine attempted, in vain, to block him. It lurched upwards and fell on the path in front of him, but the young hunter leapt clean over its grey body, disappearing back into the skeletal maze.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” I said, raising my bow at the beast as it swung its long body towards me. It began to inch towards me, no longer relying on the skittering little legs to carry itself forward. Instead it merely raised its front half upwards and lurched forward, like a worm. The undercarriage of the creature made me shudder, for hundreds upon hundreds of long oval mouths were beneath, all opening and closing. Each time the beast lunged upwards, I could see the various mouths dripping wet with green saliva, no doubt starving for a taste of my flesh.

Impressions began to strike my mind, but my new charm held firm against them. I could feel stabbing sensations rushing to my brain, as well as psychic urges to simply walk forward and lay on the ground, but the iron will made such attempts useless. I simply waited out the beast, letting time pass. The longer I waited, the further Trig would get from us. Hopefully far enough to break the effects of the attack link.

“Lurrrrr,” the beast shrieked as it finally came within range of me. It leaned all the way up, towering high above me, its many mouths all hissing and shrieking. For a moment the slug-beast’s body was suspended above me, and the next it came down crashing with all its might.

This wasn’t really the devastating attack the beast thought it was dealing out, of course. Something that large, with movements so exaggerated, was easy to dodge without a sweat. By the time the long flailing slug was halfway to the ground, I was clean out of the way, watching as it crashed harmlessly into the skeletons. Without its psychic abilities, the Orphine was more or less useless.

I waited just a little more time, then fired a single shot at the beast with a regular arrow, praying that the wound would appear on the beast. Indeed! The arrow struck true and green blood began to drip down from the side of the bulbous grey creature. It grunted a little, then began to once again try to inch towards me, using its large, uselessly body as a makeshift club to slam at me.

I waited once more, arrows nocked on my flame bow. This fight had become easy, but…I couldn’t make the mistake of growing cocky. Anything could still happen. I had no clue what this creature was capable of. I waited a second as the creature rose and fired a slew of arrows into its stomach, targeting the mouths and the spaces in between the mouths, looking for weaknesses.

All of my arrows struck midair and simply froze while the beast reared up. In the blink of an eye, they turned their directions around and began sailing towards me at full speed.

I let out a curse as I leapt aside, the arrows narrowly missing me. A burning pain caught my leg and I looked down to see the long shaft of an iron arrow sticking out of my right knee. The pain was intense, but also somewhat numb, as if it had struck a nerve, slowly causing all sensation to fade. Why had I opted to keep my extra strength charm instead of the amorphous one?

Your armor piercing abilities were reflected, the bow warned as I staggered out of the way, now considerably slower than before. The beast came crashing down as I barely rolled out of the way, more agony rushing through my leg when I rolled over the arrow, forcing it deeper into my knee. I almost passed out from the sheer agony. So this was what it was like on the other end of my arrows.

The beast let out a deep, pleased grunt as I fell onto my back, scooting away from its body. The Orphine swung towards me, its eyestalks mocking me as it began to inch towards me. I tried to stand, but the injury to my leg was too much. A quick glance at my health revealed I was down nearly 40 percent from a single attack! Was I really that dangerous to myself?

“Get it together,” I hissed, trying to focus. The beast was letting its skittering legs carry it forward, rushing towards me as fast as something so big and uncoordinated could go. If it got atop me, those mouths would make short work of me, armor or no.

Focusing with all my might, I grabbed the top of the arrow shaft and snapped it off, so that it couldn’t get snagged on anything as I moved around. The arrowhead itself was barbed, so pulling it out would only cause even more damage to my knee. It would have to remain inside until I could surgically remove the damn thing.

Once the arrow shaft was no longer a major liability, I took a deep breath and rolled onto my stomach, pushing myself off the ground with both hands. Pain fired through the entire right side of my leg as I stood, but I ignored it. Pain was temporary, it was all in the mind. I had to keep moving.

I staggered forward, one step, two and then three, struggling to keep my footing. The bones beneath my feet had become deadly obstacles, forcing my leg to roll forward or backwards, sending more agony through me. A single injury was all it had taken to slow me down considerably. A single…surgically precise shot. The beast knew exactly what it was doing. It knew to strike me in the knee with my own attack.

As if sensing my thoughts, the Orphine let