Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure by Andrew Karevik (book suggestions .TXT) 📗

- Single-minded: The Ilrex latches onto a target and continues to attack until the target is dead. Unless engaged by another individual, the Ilrex will not cease its claw attacks. Should the target expire, the Ilrex will continue to shred the corpse until it has sufficiently been satisfied that the target is indeed dead; so attempting to play dead will only hasten your actual demise.

Plenty of ingredients, secrets and…a Kaos point. Those were so rare, I could scarcely believe the small black bottle that I held in my hands. Kaos unlocked additional classes and abilities. Crafting the elixir took 8 hours but, it could fundamentally alter my path...

In the distance, I heard Trig laughing about something. I frowned, realizing that I wasn’t alone here. Technically, this haul belonged to the both of us and while I had killed the L’Gara, he was also risking his life fighting it. We’d have to choose who got the elixir.

I knew he had an advanced class already, for the secrets of the Grenadier were not something that you could just stumble across, so we were on equal footing. I could pull rank and just take the elixir, or just lie to him about the yield…but that wouldn’t be fair. He wasn’t out here as a soldier, but as a friend.

I put the ingredients within the brewing cauldron to begin making the Kaos elixir and turned my attention to finishing up the new Ilrex charm. I had taken one of the long claws and refined it into a sharp pair of hairpins. Being on the road for so long meant my hair would grow out, so rather than attempting to cut my own hair (or worse, letting Trig have a shot at it) it would be better to use these pins to put them up in a bun. Better yet to have them provide some kind of advantage as well.

Glancing at the two white pins, I slipped them into my hair to see what benefits they conferred.

Ilrex Charm:

- Extra Limbs (0/2): After a moment of focus, you may produce an extra pair of arms or legs for up to an hour. These function as regular limbs and you are as adept with them as you are with your regular appendages. If an extra limb is severed, you permanently lose 15% of your health.

- Contortionist: (0/2): You gain a significantly high level of flexibility, allowing you to twist, bend and squeeze your body in ways that most would not think possible. You may use this to enter or exit small spaces that would normally be unavailable to a human of your size. Your gear also adopts this same level of flexibility, regardless of structure or design.

- Crawler (0/2): You grow sharp claws on your hands and feet, allowing you to climb any solid surface at high speeds. Unless you choose to release the surface, you cannot be knocked down by any external force.

I frowned at these options. They seemed useful, but nothing terribly interesting. Certainly nothing valuable enough for me to swap out my current charm roster. But the extra limbs could help Trig out quite a bit, giving him hands for bombs and dagger fighting. And hey, he might look stylish with his hair up in a bun too.

Once I was finished reading the less than impressive aptitudes of the Ilrex, it was time for me to allocate that L’Gara point to one of the existing abilities. This was my go-to charm because the extra strength was just always too good to pass up. No matter the skill, no matter the special power, few charms could beat out the capacity to just rip a monster’s head clean off. I couldn’t quite remember how many more I’d need to kill to get that ability. I glanced to see what the requirements were.

Aspect of the L’Gara:

You have 1 point

Aquatic (0/1): You may breathe underwater.

Mighty (0/3): +2 Strength.

Grasping (0/2): When underwater, gain +6 Strength.

Hmmmm. I could hold off on spending and look for two more L’Gara while in the Shadewood. Chances were they were present, especially if one somehow managed to crawl its way out of the forest and into the mountain. Or I could immediately gain the permanent ability to breathe underwater…though most of our hunts took place above water. Still, suddenly drowning was always a possibility when fighting an actual L’Gara so…

After a few moments of back and forth, I settled on saving the point. If possible, we’d try and track down where this L’Gara managed to drag itself out of and find two more. Who knows, maybe we could get lucky and then, I’d have a free charm slot again!

Chapter 11

While the black cauldron continued to brew the secret elixir, I examined my own abilities, looking where to spend the total 9,000 Bloodpoints I had earned from the last fight. The Ilrex had yielded a surprisingly high amount of Bloodpoints for a single kill, opening up the path for me to perhaps expand my alchemical abilities or continue growing in my bow’s unique powers. The Hunter’s Profile seemed to just get longer and longer, but hey, I wasn’t complaining! The more choices, the better chance of success in the field.

Archer Tier One Completed

Archer Tier Two Completed

Archer Tier Three Completed

Archer Tier Four:

- Armor Crack: If your arrows cannot pierce armor, they deal double damage to the armor itself. This ability works in combination with Rapid Shot or Multishot.

- Arrow Homeostasis: All arrows in your quiver will transform to match the strongest arrow that you have.

Tracker Tier One Completed

Tracker Tier Two:

- Know Your Enemy: Clues and trails now have a chance of revealing an enemy weakness.

- Darkvision: When on a trail, gain the ability to see in the dark until the monster is located.

Stealth Tier One:

- Camouflage I: Gain the ability to craft camouflage that provides stealth bonuses when worn.

- Stealth Instincts: Effective hiding spots glow.

Navigator Tier One:

- Cartography: