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[Skill-Eater] Chapter 99: Close
🕑 Added 2024-09-10 17:01:01 +0000 UTCEdge followed Sasha through the endless expanse of grass. He kept his eyes on his surroundings through sheer effort of will, trying not to get lost in the way that her hips tapered to form her pert, perfect ass. The curve of her breasts visible through the contour of her armor.
So far, she had only caught him looking twice. Instead of the rebuke he’d been expecting, Sasha hadn’t said a word. She just smiled, shook her head, and kept on walking.
Most puppet bodies were attractive, especially once they started conditioning their physical attributes. But Sasha was just Edge’s type, in personality as well as proportion. The dusting of freckles scattered across her nose, riding below those striking emerald eyes, did wonders for his morale.
The possibility that she felt the same way only encouraged his hormones. The fact that he was in a body that was physically in its early twenties only made things worse—or better, depending on your perspective.
Edge shook his head, amused by his attraction, then forced himself to return his attention to the task at hand. It was dangerous out here and getting to know each other better would be off the table if they both wound up in a monster’s belly. Besides, he needed to pay attention if he wanted to rake in some credits and pick up another skill.
Sasha had chosen something completely different for today’s lesson. They were in the middle of tracking a pack of mud puppies, following the beasts’ trail from their watering hole to their nest. Instead of being specialized in stealth, these amphibians were built for agility and speed. Edge wouldn’t be walking up and kicking them this time.
She had told him earlier that, “They move across the grass so fast that you can’t keep them in sight. You’ll have to rely on other means if you want to find where they sleep and take them out.”
I wonder what the best way to kill them is. Sasha might get one or two with her bow if she can catch them napping, but maybe there’s a way to down the whole pack instead. He thought the matter through carefully, considering and discarding a half dozen plans out of hand.
As he walked, he took in the sensation of his new armor wrapped around his body. It was comforting to know that there was something substantial standing between his skin and a world filled with teeth and claws. It was a bit warm beneath the sunlight, but thanks to his recent improvements to durability, it didn’t bother him at all.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the border of the tall grass. Ahead was a field full of flowers—palm-wide blossoms in electric shades of crimson and violet. They filled the air with magicyte-infused pollen, rippling across the ground in waves of glowing perfume.
It was a gorgeous and otherworldly display. One of the most beautiful things that Edge had ever seen, or smelled for that matter.
They stood there for a long while, simply taking it in. Enjoying the pleasure of each other’s company and the natural splendor of Ord. Not long after, he saw the tip of a tail scurrying between the flowers. Then a second and a third. They were all heading in the same direction—a massive tree with sprawling roots over on the far side of the clearing.
That must be the mudpuppies’ nest. Edge took one step out of the foliage, opening his mouth to reveal what he’d found… when Sasha grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down into a patch of thick grass.
“Be quiet and don’t move a muscle,” she breathed into his ear. Her voice was so soft that he could barely hear the words, even though her lips brushed against his earlobe. The warmth of her breath against his skin sent a shiver down his spine that had nothing to do with the threat he assumed they were under.
For a second, he’d thought that something else was happening. But then he saw the fear in her eyes. Realized that she had activated silent step the moment she’d issued her warning.
Focus, Edge. Sasha’s an experienced hunter and she isn’t messing around. Even if you can’t see it, there’s something out there. Something dangerous.
He froze in place, casting his senses into his environment. Trusting her judgment even though they didn’t know each other well. He was ready to draw his knife and start using skills, but he needed to understand what they were dealing with before he made a move.
Everything became clear a few seconds later, when a giant boar stepped out of the overgrowth a hundred feet ahead. It was a powerful beast, likely late stage-one, with brisling fur and long, jagged horns. It began enthusiastically devouring the flowers, showing no sign that it had noticed their presence.
While it was a nasty customer, Edge was certain that he could take it. He idly wondered what skills it had, and how he might slip away to steal one. But then he realized that Sasha wasn’t even looking its way. That her gaze was riveted on a patch of grass closer to the tree.
As it happened, it wasn’t the pig that had the hunter wide-eyed with fear after all. It was the immense cat that was stalking it. He had no clue that the beast was there until it struck in flash of tawny fur. A display of stealth that put his fledgling efforts to shame.
While Edge noticed the attack a bare instant before it landed, the boar never saw it coming.
One second, the pig was chewing away without a care in the world. The next, a feline the size of an Earth rhinoceros went streaking through the air before landing on its back. The big cat wrapped its furry arms around its prey, tearing into its neck with razored claws and dagger jaws.
The boar took two staggering steps, blood pumping out from the ruins of its throat, before it collapsed to the ground. It remained trapped beneath the powerful feline’s weight until it grew too weak to struggle, then bled out a handful of heartbeats later.
“Stone lion,” Sasha breathed into Edge’s ear after deactivating silent step. “Likely mid stage-two. What an incredible hunter. It didn’t even use a skill.” She stepped out of the grass and slowly rose to her feet.
“It should be safe now. Those lions don’t kill for sport, and the pig is more than enough meat to fill its belly. If there were any other predators in the area, they’re long gone now. We’re lucky that it found the boar before it found us.”
Sasha rubbed her chin and frowned. “Stone lions live in an adjacent biome. They don’t usually cross into the plains, since there aren’t enough ambient magicytes here to support their cores for long. Something must have driven it out of its territory for it to range this far.”
“Something stronger than that?” Edge rose to his feet, heart pounding for a blend of reasons that he couldn’t even begin to separate in that moment.
“The bordering biomes have bigger beasts, some late stage-two or even early stage-three. But since the surface of Ord has been rearranged, there could be anything out there. With the old currents of magic disrupted, the plains will soon have more magicytes flowing across them. It means stronger beasts will migrate here before long, and likely monsters too.
“Let’s get out of here. Those mudpuppies will have scattered to the wind by now. We can try hunting something else a bit closer to town. Wait till we tell Trapper. She will be jealous that she didn’t get to see the lion herself.”
As the duo turned to leave, the great cat raised its head to look straight at them. Edge took one last glance at the majestic beast as it bent down to eat… a heartbeat before a thirty-foot tongue materialized from thin air and struck in a flash.
Comments
Robert McCarter
And there's the suspense back! Perfect! 😃
