Duality - 8 Fight Part 1

John had to do it quickly, as right now the Wind Deers had stopped to graze on the grass. If they were on the move, it would be harder to set an ambush as he would need to predict which way they would go, and hide along the way before they got there.

As with most herds of either common animals or magical beasts, not all of them were grazing, as there were three female Wind Deers (hinds) keeping watch for potential dangers. If they spotted John, the whole herd would be on alert, making it impossible for him to approach.

John silently stalked his preys, moving from tree to tree and making use of the hinds’ blind spots to get closer. The 300 meters distance between them kept decreasing, but the closer he came, the harder it was to move undetected.

While he took just a couple of minutes to go the first 100 meters, he needed 20 whole minutes to cross the last 100 meters. Not only he had to look for the hinds’ blind spots, but he also needed to watch each step for any dry leaves or twigs lying around. Fortunately, the Wind Deers hadn’t left yet.

Right now, John was hiding behind a bush from where he could see the whole herd. The closest Wind Deer, was 5 meters away, which was too far for him to cover in a single dash, then it would have too much time to react.

John kept thinking about what he should do.

‘I could try throwing one of my swords, but that’s too risky, as its accuracy won’t be so good.’

‘Maybe throw a rock towards the other side of the herd, and run towards the closest hind while they are distracted. No, they will notice me as soon as I leave the bush.’

He kept considering before finally recalling something.

‘The berries!’

He still had some of the berries he foraged and ate for lunch inside his bag. Maybe he could use it to attract one of the Wind Deers.

John took a handful of berries and stealthily put them on the grass in front of the bush, which was quite tough to do without alerting any of the Wind Deers. Whenever he had the chance he would put more berries on the ground to make it easier to see.

He thought of rubbing the berries on his shortswords to spread the venom to the berries but quickly rejected the idea. Although he himself couldn’t smell the venom, it may not be the same for the Wind Deers.

John kept crouching by the bushes, hoping that one of the Wind Deers would see the berries and come closer. But as the minutes passed, he was getting more and more anxious.

‘Damm stupid Wind Deers, just look towards the berries already.’

The hinds on watch kept their heads high, so they weren’t able to see the berries, while the ones that were grazing haven’t come close enough to see it amid the grass.

‘Hmm?’

One of the hinds who was previously grazing now had its head raised and looked towards the bush.

No, it was looking at the berries on the ground.

‘Finally. Now come closer so I can kill you.’ John thought, his eyes fixed on the hind that noticed the berries.

John was in attack position with his left hand on the ground, and the right one at the grip of the shortsword on his back. As soon as the hind got in striking range, he would pounce with a single strike. If it didn’t die immediately, there was still the venom on the shortsword.

The hind kept looking at the berries, not sure if it should approach when another Wind Deer noticed this. It was a size bigger than the others, besides having a pair of antlers on its head. That was the only male Wind Deer (stag) of this herd.

The stag looked towards the hind then towards where it was looking and noticed the berries. The stag looked for a couple of seconds before finally deciding to approach.

‘Yes, come towards the berries.’ John thought excitedly.

Although any Wind Deer would do, a stag was certainly better than just a hind, as they were harder to kill.

Step by step the stag approached the berries. John could feel his heart beating faster, he just wished the stag would also go faster.

When the stag finally got into striking range, John didn’t immediately attack. He was waiting for it to lower its head, so he could go straight for the neck. With a wound like that, it would die even without the venom.

The stag stood before the berries and looked around, looking for any potential danger. Not finding anything, it finally focused its attention on the berries.

The stag lowered its head and began to eat the berries, the tip of its antlers almost touching the leaves of the bush.

‘Now!’ John was about to attack but then…

*Breeeee!!!*

A high-pitched cry came from afar, and the stag raised its head.

‘Dammit!’ John cursed internally before finally attacking. Although it wasn’t the best case scenario, if he waited any longer the Wind Deers may run away, then he simply wouldn’t know how long till he found them again.

He put his other foot forward while unsheathing his shortsword and attacking downwards in a single motion, similar to the attack that killed the green snake.

Noticing the danger ahead, the stag tried to move away, but it wasn’t able to dodge completely. The tip of the shortsword was still able to cut its neck, causing bright red blood to spurt out, but not enough to immediately kill it.

The stag, along with the rest of the herd began running away from both John and from the direction of the high-pitched cry.

In a split second, the stag was already 10 meters away from him, and it kept going. John could only hope the blood loss along with the venom would finish the stag off, before turning his attention towards the direction of the cry.

The moment he heard it, he had an idea of what it could be, though he was too focused on the stag to pay it mind. Although his first time hearing it, he knew there was only one magical beast in this forest that produced this kind of high-pitched cry.

The Great Boar.

——

A black haired young man was running with all his forces. 20 meters behind, a Great Boar was chasing him, coming closer and closer.

The Great Boar was 2.5 meters tall, had long white tusks and with each step it took, the earth would tremble a little.

“Fucking hell!” Tom couldn’t believe his luck. He and his two brothers had just managed to rob a merchant cart and were escaping through the forest with the silver coins when they ran into the Great Boar.

Although not a carnivore, the Great Boar was a highly aggressive and territorial species. When provoked, it could chase its enemy for tens of kilometers without giving up.

When the Great Boar saw Tom and his brothers, it immediately charged towards them. The brothers scattered, and Tom was the one it decided to chase.

Tom’s stamina was running out. He already had to fight during the previous robbery, which drained him quite a bit, and now with this chasing, he wouldn’t be able to last for long.

While running, He took one of his throwing knives and threw it towards the Great Boar, but it got stuck on its skin, only serving to make it angrier.

*Breeeee!!!*

The Great Boar cried out and lowered its head, it’s tusks pointing at Tom’s back.

“Damm beast!” He was about to lose all hope when finally he saw something ahead. Around 200 meters ahead of him stood a black boy in leather armor, holding two shortswords and looking towards him.

“He-Help!” Tom called out. Although he didn’t believe the black boy could defeat the Great Boar, it probably could slow it down long enough for him to escape.