While I was receiving my new task, I was standing at the exit of the village. As I waited for the task screen to disappear, I began to think about how I could hunt. After all this time, I hadn't even stepped outside the village, so I had no idea about any hunting tactics.
I drew my hunter's knife from its sheath and began to examine it.
Can I inspect anything I want? At this point, I took out the broken necklace from my pocket and tried to examine it.
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I guess I can't inspect the item because it's broken. I bet my mom would go crazy if she found out this necklace was broken.
I continued to walk along the path, and after about half an hour, I sat on a rock at the edge of a frozen small lake. I scratched the ice with my hunter's knife and began drinking the water beneath it.
As I took a few more sips of water, I noticed a black rabbit passing by a few hundred meters away. It was walking slowly, stopping to scratch itself, and then continuing to walk. As soon as I finished drinking, I started walking in the direction the rabbit was heading.
It was going into a different forest. I followed it, carefully making sure not to make any noise as I slowly approached it. I held my hunter's knife in a reverse grip, thinking it would be the best position to use it, and continued to approach with heavy steps.
I quickly reached out with my free hand towards the rabbit and managed to grab it by the head. I thought it would be difficult, but it wasn't that hard after all. The rabbit was wriggling in an attempt to escape my grip, so I firmly stabbed it in the neck with the knife. It was the first time in my life that I had killed a living creature...
-- Hunt Any Living Creature: 1 / 5
Inventory?
So, I can do things like this...
Since I didn't have anything to carry the rabbit with, it made the most sense to place it in my inventory, so I stored the rabbit's body in my inventory and continued walking to find more creatures I could hunt to complete the task.
After a few hours, I finally received the notification I had been eagerly waiting for.
Killing things wasn't something I was used to, and it caused me to vomit a few times. But in the end, I successfully completed my first task. As I waited for all the screens to close, a different screen popped up.
-- Allows you to detect your enemies' attacks in advance and see their weak points if they have any.
Foresight, this skill could be very useful to me. However, it's a bit frustrating that it doesn't work if my enemy has no weak points.
"Hrrrrrrrrrrrgghh..." That sound?
I immediately looked for a place to hide. Since I couldn't find anywhere to hide, I quickly climbed the nearest tree branch and began watching the source of the sound quietly.
A human? No, it looks more like a monster. Because the leaves were blocking most of the sunlight, the things in the shadows weren't very visible, so I couldn't tell if what I was seeing was a human or a dangerous creature.
Regardless of the situation, I could feel the power it was radiating around, though I didn't know how I was able to sense it. It limped past under the tree I was in and continued on its way. It seemed like a strong creature. After waiting a few more minutes, I quietly descended from the tree I had climbed and started walking in the direction from which the creature had come.
The footprints were uneven, as if it was injured, dragging one of its feet without lifting it. As I walked a bit further, I encountered dried bloodstains.
Someone has been here before; I came to a rock with dried bloodstains dripping onto it and began to examine them. Whatever happened here, it doesn't seem to have ended well, and the fact that the blood is dried suggests that the battle took place some time ago.
Using the rock I was crouching by for support, I slowly stood up. Something didn't make sense. If this was really someone's blood, there should be blood trails elsewhere. Why are there only bloodstains on a small rock?
Silently, I started listening to the sounds around me. The hum of the wind passing through the branches was calming, but this wasn't a moment for me to relax. I tried to heighten my senses, closed my eyes slowly, and started to hear the sounds more clearly.
Among the rustling sounds, there were people trying to walk quietly. Maybe two or three people. The footsteps sounded human, and they were approaching silently.
"HAAAARGGGHH!" As soon as I opened my eyes, I noticed a monster leaping toward me. I managed to dodge its attack by swiftly moving my body to the right.
The monster, with pale skin and a bald head, had eyes glowing a fiery red. Its ears were pointed, resembling the monsters from the stories my mother used to tell me. It was standing on all fours, grinding its teeth and emitting a bone-chilling, disgusting sound.
I held my knife, ready for an attack at any moment. The Ice Elf turned its head toward me and leaped again to strike. As it did, everything seemed to slow down.
It's going to attack my face with its right hand. I can see its move. I ducked, and time seemed to slow down again as I noticed a glowing yellow light under its armpit. I think that's its weak spot.
As it tried to leap at me again, I made my first strike at that spot. When I plunged the knife hard into its armpit, the Ice Elf screamed in pain. However, instead of freeing itself from the knife, it kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying.
'Damn it...' If I don't have something to fight with, I can't win this. I need to find a way to free the knife.
It's going to jump at me again, but this time it's not attacking in the same way, a double move? As it prepares to leap at me, it increases its speed by jumping twice. I have to dodge!
I tried to run away as fast as I could, but I still couldn't avoid getting injured. It left a small wound on my abdomen. When I lifted my clothes to check the wound, I saw that it was starting to freeze.
I need to calm down. I have to think clearly and find a way to defeat this monster, or I'm going to die here.
-- You can create and control flames at will.
This is it...! Fire is exactly what I need.
I got up and quickly started moving toward the Ice Elf. The biggest weakness of ice is fire. If I burn it well, I will win this battle. I continued to speed up and slid across the snow, maneuvering between the Ice Elf's legs.
Imagining flames emerging from my hands as I turned my hand toward its face, I felt my hand slowly start to warm up, and then a bright orange light began to glow from my palm.
A few seconds later, searing flames erupted from my hand, blasting toward the Ice Elf's face. The Ice Elf screamed and tried to get away, but it started crashing into trees because it couldn't see.
I stood up and unleashed more flames from my hand, burning the entire body of the Ice Elf. After a few minutes, the Ice Elf completely melted and turned into particles of dust.
This is not the time for that. While I was fighting the Ice Elf, the footsteps among the trees started to get closer. Because I wasn't careful, I lost my only weapon. My only knife burned to ashes along with the Ice Elf.
I need to get out of here as soon as possible. As I tried to move my legs to take a step, I lost my balance and stumbled, falling to my knees.
Really?! I can feel myself starting to sweat. Trying to take a step feels like a baby attempting to walk for the first time. It's incredibly difficult and uncontrollable. If a monster were to appear in front of me right now, I would have no choice but to die.
Using the trees for support, I continued to walk for a while. The sound of footsteps approaching from behind became clearer. I couldn't tell whether the approaching figure was a monster or just an ordinary animal.
Damn it...
I can't move my body; my hands and feet... they won't move. I lost my balance and fell face-first into the snow.