WilburWoods
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Chapter 6 - Empowered Survivalist
🕑 Added 2023-08-19 20:23:53 +0000 UTCThe green cat attacked ferociously. Logan kicked it away, but it managed to swipe at him. The beast cut his leg and a bit of blood sprayed. Logan gasped in pain. The claws were a solid two inches, now tipped with blood. The cut wasn’t deep, but Logan had no time to wonder at that.
He yelled at the cat in fear and anger and swished at the air in front of him with the javelins, one in each hand. The cat growled and began circling Logan. Logan matched the cat’s movements and watched the cat’s alert yellow eyes and the haunches at its back. When they would ripple, that’s when the cat would try to jump at him.
Logan noticed a large boulder close to a tree with a very convenient branch mid-air. The boulder was six or seven feet tall. Getting on top of it would most likely be his best bet.
[If the initial dodge is successful, the chance of a fast enough climb is 66.2%]
Less than Logan liked. He weighed his options as the cat weighed him. He tried veering closer to the boulder as he aggressively shoved a javelin at the predator’s general direction. It hissed and swiped at the stick. That was enough to prompt a frustrated attack. The cat lunged at him. Logan swatted at it with a javelin as if it was a club and then tossed the shirt-pouch at it.
The cat swiped at it, and it caught its claws.
Perfect.
Logan sprinted towards the tree, tossed his javelins onto the boulder and climbed the tree. His heart jackhammered. He felt like the cat would jump at his back and bite his neck any second now.
Logan scrambled up the branch and onto the boulder half a heartbeat before the cat attacked. Instead of his neck, the beast managed to swipe at his leg. Again, there was pain, but it was not the sort of gash one would expect.
The cat yowled in frustration and started circling around the boulder. Logan tried to control his incessant trembling. His eyes never left the cat’s as he groped for the javelins. He grabbed one and stood up, lifting the weapon above his shoulder.
Hey, genie, if you can improve my aim like you can my reflexes, now’s the time to come to play.
The green cat kept prowling around the rock, looking for an entry that wasn’t there. It yawned and sat down on its haunches. Immediately Logan threw the javelin.
It connected in the center of the beast’s chest. The cat yowled, clearly in pain. The weapon stuck to the cat and Logan’s mind elated.
[General Skill obtained: Marksmanship]
[Marksmanship level 1]
“Hell yes!”
But despite the clean hit, the cat swiped and struggled at the javelin, and eventually got it off its chest. There was a trickle of blood running down the puffed up green hair between its front legs. Logan started at it in disbelief.
What the hell is going on?
Logan looked down at the wound on his thigh. He ripped up some of the cloth and looked down. It wasn’t even a proper wound. A nasty, itchy scratch, yes. And it was bleeding, the warm blood slowly running down his leg. But the wound was not something you’d expect from an encounter with a killing machine of nature’s design.
Logan considered that. It didn’t take all that long. It was obvious really. Somehow, for some reason, whatever laws of physics had been at play on planet Earth, no longer applied here.
Great. Just great.
The cat might not rip him apart in two seconds as would have happened in Logan’s old reality, but he was sure the predator would mess him up in a straight up fight. Logan removed the Numa-crystals from his pocket, placed them on a patch of moss on the boulder and removed his pants, all the while carefully watching the cat below.
I must make quite the dashing proto-man practically naked here.
He used the leftover javelin’s sharp head to cut a piece of a pant leg to tie up the bleeding wound on his thigh. It was tight and uncomfortable, but it got the job done. The cat attacked again. This time Logan wasn’t quite as ready. The beast found purchase on some crack of the boulder. It came two feet away and let off a primal growl and swiped at Logan. The claw came close. Way too close.
Fear gripped Logan, but he overcame it. Still sitting, he picked up the remaining javelin with both hands and delivered a horizontal baseball smash at the cat’s face. It swiped at the air inches away from Logan’s face as it fell, yowling in rage.
Logan needed to act fast. He wasn’t exactly well fed or rested. He looked at the Numa-crystals next to him. It would be stupid to try his luck by wantonly throwing the last javelin. He had to magic his way out of this situation.
The green cat suddenly lunged upwards, yowling, claws extended. Logan managed to deliver a kick to its face and it fell down on its side. Logan felt a humming of blood and adrenaline in his ears.
I have to figure out a solution before this bastard figures out it should climb the tree to attack me. Any ideas, parasite-bot?
[Reconfiguring Neural Matrix… 9% Completion]
[There are unknown variables, but increasing the overall weight of the weapon and the density and hardness of the impact point are most likely approaches to success.]
Logan looked around. There was nothing on the boulder except moss. His clothes wouldn’t help. He could use his teeth? That didn’t sound appealing.
His eyes kept veering to the soft blue glow of the crystals. An idea struck him. He picked three of them in his palm and closed his fist.
“Alakazam. Merge these three crystals into a javelin head. Make it sharp and hard and make it really do damage on impact.”
Logan felt a warmth in his palm and the blue glow shone through his fingers. Cringing, he slowly opened his fist. Indeed a sharp object had formed in his hand. The javelin head was cylindrical, but for the three wedges lining it vertically leading up to a sharp point. As the crystals were dense to begin with, it had a nice heft to it. It pulsed and glowed with a soft cerulean hue.
[F-grade Numa-craft javelin head, 75%]
[Sub-class Level Up!]
[Transmutation level 3]
Wasting no time, Logan picked up another Numa-crystal, attached the little spearhead to his javelin and willed it to attach to his javelin. It worked. Logan was so happy he could cry. Even better, the crystal he had used, still had most of its light left. He pocketed that one.
Logan held himself from throwing it at the cat instantly, and instead picked up another crystal. His heart was pounding. He was watching the green cat. It was getting ready for another attack.
“[Empower]?”
[Skill Level Up!]
[Empower level 2]
[Attribute Level Up!]
[Potency: 2]
[Efficiency: 2]
The Numa-crystal Logan had used for the spell went dim. Logan looked at the javelin in his hand.
[F-grade Numa-craft javelin, 75% (empowered)]
Logan shrugged. Whatever that had done, it was probably good. Then he stood up, a grim smile on his face, as he faced down the predator below in nothing but his underwear. The green cat stopped circling around the boulder. It lowered down, its haunches rippling. Logan looked down at the cat. There was something primally empowering about the situation. The cat growled and jumped at Logan. He threw the javelin.
It struck at the beast’s head and a blue light erupted. A small explosion, resembling a firecracker in sound and smoke enveloped the green cat’s head. It fell down on the ground, bounced one and went limp and still.
[Skill Level Up!]
[Marksmanship level 2]
Logan couldn’t help but to roar. He pumped up his arms in glee and let it rip. Yeah, it would probably alert every green cat in ten miles, but the relief and triumph were too great. He shaked his fists the air, grinned and shouted.
“Yes! Fuck you green cat! Eat that Numa!”
Logan dropped down and looked at the aftermath. His weapon was still whole and the blue, sharp tip was still glowing. The face of the cat had literally exploded. There was a charred, red and black mess with broken teeth where the beast’s face had been. There was also a blue glint behind an empty eye socket.
Logan knelt down and sighed. Well, there was that water close by to wash his hands. He stuffed his fingers inside the eye socket with a disgusting squish and retrieved a small crystal.
[F-grade Numa Crystal, 100%]
“Okay, that is extremely awesome. At least now I know how to get some more.”
Then he picked up his weapon.
[F-grade Numa-craft javelin, 50% (empowered)]
Logan nodded to himself and grinned. This had gone better than he had expected. Logan had been all but certain that the weapon got destroyed in the explosion. Instead it had two more cat-kills in it.
“And I still have enough Numa-crystals to at least make one more javelin. I’m not sure if I should spend them like that, but it’s an option.”
Then Logan glanced up at the rock. Yeah, he should get back his crystals. And pants. Pants were surprisingly nice in a survival situation.
