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

less made me immune to its attacks. Its claws could not bend backwards like that, nor could the eagle head do much other than shriek and hiss, snapping its large beak open and shut.

“Nice and easy,” I grunted as I climbed up the beast’s back, gripping its wet, slick fur for support. Oh how I wish that it would dry out a bit more, for the sensation was quite disgusting. But I made it to my target, to the head of the Griffin.

The beast did not settle, still thrashing and writhing in the air, spinning around a few times to try and buck me off. But my legs held firm, wrapped around the torso of the Griffin, keeping me steady. My strength really worked here, for I could just squeeze my legs and stay in position, freeing up my hands for a risky maneuver.

Disengaging one of the grapple cables, I was quick to pull it free and tie it into a lasso, the loop about the size of the creature’s beak. I had no clue if this would work, but if anything, it would stop the damn thing from shrieking at the top of its lungs. Who knows what kind of sky creature could be attracted to its struggle? The last thing I needed was a wyvern to join the mix.

I waited a beat, for the eagle head to twist in the right direction, and whipped the rope around the beak, pulling the lasso tightly. The cable tightened and the beast bucked up and down some more, but was unable to shriek. I yanked the cable, forcing its head one way, and then gave it some slack.

A few times was all it took to teach the stupid beast that it could only move its head when I wanted it to. It would turn one way and immediately I’d tug on the rope with all my might. Soon it began to realize that the rope wasn’t going away. It tried to claw at the cable a few times, but it lacked the fine motor skills to avoid striking its own face.

The Griffin flew circles in the air, wings beating slower and slower. I wasn’t attacking it, so the adrenaline eventually stopped pumping. What was left was a rather docile beast that seemed confused about what to do next.

My plan was working! Sort of. I just needed to figure out some way to get the beast to fly me to the mountains. Below, I could see the billowing darkness, covering the entire forest region. The top view revealed nearly 30 miles worth of shadow, covered in a perfect square. We were flying away from the mountains, moving at a slow, crawling pace, for the Griffin had run out of energy at this point. All the fighting, clawing and spinning had drained just about every last drop of willpower from the beast.

I pulled on the reins, forcing the head backwards. The beast began to spin to the right as a result of this force, trying to lessen the tightness of the rope. Huh…I could try and steer like this, I think. With a shrug, I began to carefully pull and release on the lasso, forcing the creature to move in a full circle so that we were facing the mountain. It took a bit of work, but I was able to create a rudimentary steering method.

A few times, the Griffin tried to get back into a fight mode, spinning upside down to shake me off, but my Acrobat’s Grip let me hold onto the reins without a chance of falling. Soon, we were over the top of the mountain, at a staggering height. With a quick cast of Bless Boots, I was able to leap off the beast and sail down towards the open pathway without fear of taking any fall damage. My plan to tame the Griffin had worked! Or so I thought…

Chapter 20

The Griffin, it turns out, had not run out of energy at all. It was instead merely playing along with my actions, waiting for an opportunity. And when I jumped off the beast, sailing towards the ground, it took full advantage of my exposed state.

My biggest mistake was not removing the lasso from the beast’s face. Thinking it would be prudent to stop it from having a bite attack, I had left it on. But I had also removed the beast’s ability to shriek as it attacked, rendering it completely silent. I had figured that it would pursue me on the ground, once it regained its energy, but I was very, very wrong.

One moment, I was diving towards the exposed path of the mountain, the next a pair of claws had sunk into my shoulders. The armor ignored the piercing effects of the claws, but in a cruel twist of fate, I was now the one restrained. The beast had tremendous strength in its grip, and I tried to raise my arms, but my shoulders were completely pinned down.

The ground beneath me began to shrink as the Griffin flew upwards, higher and higher, turning towards the darkness. It was trying to bring me back! No way, I couldn’t let that happen. Not when victory was so close. But what to do? My arms were firmly out of play, for the damn thing’s legs were incredibly strong, restraining my shoulders. I wasn’t heavy enough to hold it down, and my Weigh Down spell wouldn’t do much to a flying creature here…but wait! What about that new charm of mine?

As I brought the charm to mind, the Quiverling dutifully swapped out my extra strength charm for the Poaruck charm. I would have preferred to keep my extra strength, but I needed the mental immunity provided by the Fylk charm. Even this far from the Shadewood, I couldn’t be sure of the Eldest’s range.

I activated the Density ability of the charm, praying that this would work. The Griffin was strong, sure, but could it carry a thousand