Chapter 8. Bigger Prey (3)
Isaac slid down the hillside.
Four-legged critters struggle on downhill slopes.
The angry boar, though fierce, cautiously made its way down to avoid any mishaps. This gave Isaac the upper hand in the chase.
‘Just need to bait it a bit more…’
When Isaac felt the boar was close enough, he leaped up a tree with all his might and hung onto a branch. As expected, his tentacles sprang into action, helping him stay put on the tree.
Bang! The boar crashed into the tree with a loud thud. Isaac swayed like he was caught in a storm but managed to hold on tight thanks to his tentacles.
‘Now!’
Seizing the moment when the boar was disoriented, Isaac leaped down towards it.
His tentacles turned into sharp spears, aiming for the boar.
It was a tactic he often used when catching rats.
However, the tentacles couldn’t pierce through the boar’s thick skull, instead ripping its skin. Writhing in pain from the tentacles wrapping around it, the boar thrashed wildly.
Crack, crunch!
Although the tentacles couldn’t penetrate the skull, they tore off the boar’s skin, exposing bone. But the boar didn’t back down.
Crack. Eventually, the tentacles ripped off a part of the boar’s face skin, and fell to the ground. In return, the boar began biting the fallen tentacle as if seeking revenge.
‘This guy’s a tough one.’
But to Isaac, it felt rather ticklish.
It was then when the chewed tentacle started to act oddly. It shattered the boar’s teeth, lodged into its tongue, and began invading its mouth. Sensing danger, even in its frenzy, the boar tried to flee.
“Hey, hold on! Stop…!”
As the tentacle tugged him along, Isaac contemplated pulling it back but decided to hang on tight.
This boar was his captured prey.
Furthermore, an injured and furious animal like this could wreak havoc anywhere. Isaac dove his tentacles deeper, aiming to finish it off.
Suddenly, Isaac felt himself being lifted into the air.
A dizzying sensation followed by a thud as he landed on the ground.
“Cough…!”
Despite the jolt, Isaac quickly got up. Above him, there was a hole in the ceiling.
It was a vertical cave, not too high. It appeared that both he and the boar had tumbled into it.
“Grunts, growls…”
In the darkness, the boar growled menacingly, limping. Isaac felt his tentacles retracting with a piece of the boar’s lower jaw still attached.
‘Typical monster kid, right? Gets bitten by a boar, then comes back tearing off its jaw?’ Isaac couldn’t help but feel strangely reassured, despite the craziness of the situation.
Yep, definitely a monster kid, but he’s *his* monster kid. Right now, those tentacles were proving more useful than any knife could be.
The boar, all confused and disoriented from the fall, seemed to have no idea what was going on. Meanwhile, Isaac, cushioned by the boar, was able to watch the chaos unfolding without much trouble.
Thump, thump. Even though the boar was bleeding heavily, it kept shaking its head in annoyance and ramming into the wall. Poor thing was already sick, and now it was just delirious from the fall and the pain.
“I gotta finish this off fast.” Isaac decided, and without overthinking it, he sprang into action. As the boar turned towards him, he called out, “Hey!”
Despite his young age, his voice echoed through the cave, irritating the boar even more. As it charged at him, Isaac reached into his pocket and pulled out something unexpected – a luminous stone necklace gifted by Gebel.
Closing his eyes, Isaac struck the necklace against a rock. Crack! A blinding flash filled the cave, causing the boar to go into a frenzy. The flashbang effect worked just as Gebel had warned – intense but short-lived. Who knew how much longer the luminous stone would last.
Seeing the boar disoriented, Isaac took his chance and leaped onto its back. And that’s when things got really wild – tentacles suddenly burst out from his left hand, moving so fast they made a whip-like sound.
The tips of the tentacles were sharp, piercing into the boar’s flesh like teeth sinking into a neck. “Die!” Isaac commanded, and the sound of bones cracking filled the air.
Despite the deafening noise and the boar’s frantic thrashing, Isaac held on for dear life. He knew that letting go would spell certain death for him in this chaotic situation.
And just when things couldn’t get any crazier, Isaac felt something stirring inside him. Crack. His chest split open, spewing out a mass of tentacles that quickly engulfed the boar, crushing it into nothing more than a memory.
As the boar’s screams faded away, the tentacles retracted back into Isaac’s body, leaving no trace of blood behind. It was as if nothing had ever happened, except for the messages that kept coming.
Feeling dizzy and sick to his stomach, Isaac held his head, wondering if he might pass out. But the messages just kept on coming, with no end in sight.
“The nameless chaos seems pretty happy with your latest catch.”
[You’ve scored a sweet reward from the chaos.]
[Now, take your pick from these three rewards.]
[Flesh Storage (A) – Your regen speed skyrockets until you’ve fully digested your prey.]
[Janitor of the Otherworld (B) – Yep, you can now summon tentacles from both your hands.]
[Parasite from Beyond (C) – Plant those tentacle-grown parasites under someone’s skin to keep ’em wriggling in agony.”]
“‘Reward?'”
Isaac finally realized he had nailed the mission the nameless chaos handed him.
Tarot cards with creepy symbols popped up in front of him, surrounded by squiggly tentacle designs and creepy images.
Flesh Storage, Janitor of the Otherworld, Parasite from Beyond… more chaos monster skills.
Isaac, just like when he built his character from scratch, managed a wry smile at the sight of more monster skills. It was kind of expected, yet exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.
Chaos attribute monsters are top-tier, if not higher. Rumor has it that places crawling with these beasts are wild and entrapped deliberately.
Monsters naturally use skills against players, but these skills ain’t made for game balance. They’re off-the-charts powerful if a character gets their hands on them.
The catch? Isaac couldn’t exactly flaunt these skills in public.
Reluctantly, Isaac had to take the perks.
Especially when they’re from a mighty chaos monster…
Flesh Storage for health regen, Janitor of the Otherworld for more attacks, Parasite from Beyond for a nasty damage-over-time strategy?
In his fading mind, Isaac struggled to make the smartest call, but it felt like the choice was sorta predestined.
Boost those tentacles? Insane. Torture with skin parasites? Not exactly monastery-friendly, and risky to boot.
Plus, Isaac was teetering on the brink of passing out.
He went with the first choice: Flesh Storage (A).
In this harsh world, a kid’s survival was touch and go. Regenerative perks like these were gold for staying safe.
And for Isaac, who needed to chow down on critters to grow, Flesh Storage was a must.”
As he picked the card, the others crumbled to ash and vanished. Isaac watched, slowly slipping out of awareness.
***
When Isaac opened his eyes, the cave’s roof was getting lit up. Bracing for a tidal wave of pain, he cringed but was shocked to feel surprisingly great.
“Weren’t some bones supposed to be busted?”
Checking himself, Isaac found no wounds, not even a fracture in sight.
“Oh, could it be the reward I picked?”
Like it read his mind, a message popped up.
[The Nameless Chaos hooked you up with ‘Flesh Storage’.]
[Regen’s off the charts until the prey’s digested.]
No wonder his wounds were gone after scarfing down that wild boar. Seems like the regen’s working on his stamina and mental game too, leaving him feeling fresh as a daisy. Although, a hint of fog clouded his thoughts.
It felt like a fog settled in his mind. Just like when he first stepped into the monastery.
“Is this the aftermath of whatever that Chaos Agent thing was?”
Isaac had this quick thought that maybe the foggy feeling he had when he first got to the monastery wasn’t because he couldn’t deal with reality, but more like a side effect of summoning those tentacles.
Those tentacles that popped out of him in moments of crisis were pretty strong. But Isaac felt he could’ve taken down that wild boar with his own hands, or well, tentacles if he had waited a bit longer. He wasn’t badly hurt, and it wasn’t as dangerous as when he was attacked by Calzen.
“It’s a bit of a bother that these tentacles just pop out on their own and try to gobble everything up without my say.”
“Plus, once they do their thing, I get this overwhelming urge to snooze. The note mentioned that chaos agent won’t pop out for the next month, so if we aren’t completely safe, we might miss our chance to bolt.”
There was a slim chance to escape Death, but Isaac knew he still had to be careful.
“Gotta get back in a hurry,” he thought. The monks were probably out looking for him by now. They might even think he became someone’s meal.
Even after the sun showed up, the cave was still dark as night. But Isaac noticed it wasn’t a natural cave at all.
The pathway was neatly made, with supports to keep it from collapsing and spots for torches. It seemed deserted for ages, with no signs of use. The hole he came through seemed to have been a lucky break due to the ground giving way.
“Should keep this place in mind,” he mused. Might come in handy if he needs to hide out from those Codex of Light monks.
He eventually found his way out, trudging through bushes into the chilly autumn rain, soaking his face.
“Gotta watch out for any more weird creatures,” Isaac reminded himself.
Suddenly, he saw a pair of glowing eyes in the shadows.
Isaac’s heart skipped a beat.
Through the rain-soaked leaves, a bigger wild boar emerged, much larger than the one he had defeated.
“Are these the cave dwellers?” he wondered.
Unlike the one he killed, this boar seemed healthy and cautious. Yet, Isaac could smell blood—a lot of it.
Tensing up, he readied his tentacles.
“Maybe that boar perk will help me out this time,” he pondered.
The boar, sensing blood, charged fiercely. Just as Isaac prepared to unleash his tentacles, a figure leaped in front of him.
Calmly, the person aimed the sword at the charging boar and struck down. A blinding light flashed, even in the dark forest dimmed by autumn rain.
The boar lay in two pieces before Isaac.
“You alright, kid?”
