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

out a deep, self-satisfied grunt before heaving itself back up into the air, readying another slam attack. I made a feint, hoping to throw it off its game by pretending to draw an arrow and fire, instead just letting the arrow fall to the ground after I pulled the string. There was no ulterior motive in this feint, other than to get the creature to try and make a move, whether visible or not.

The beast did not react to the arrow trick and instead slammed towards me at full speed. I staggered out of the way once more, trying to give the beast a wide berth as it fell. Unfortunately, something invisible was in my path, some telekinetic force perhaps, and I found myself tripping over midair. The beast’s body came crashing down hard atop me. Thankfully I was able to turn my trip into an acrobatic roll, flattening myself out as best I could to disperse the impact.

The creature smashed into my body, but thanks to my armor and the fact that I had sank into the layer of bones beneath me, I took little damage. The weight of the creature was too evenly distributed to crush me, and the strength charm that I had been cursing a moment ago had allowed me to hold the creature up with relative ease. For all of that size, the beast was surprisingly light. Or perhaps I was just that strong.

Yet, before I could try and shove the damned thing off of me, the beast’s tiny legs stabbed into the ground, lifting it up just a little. It scuttled forward, over me, bringing one of its long, oval mouths right atop me. A hideous, purple proboscis came lolling out of the mouth, like a tongue. This wet, glistening appendage began jabbing down towards my head, trying to find a spot to pierce.

It must feed through some kind of suction system! Well, let’s see how it liked the taste of my fists! As the long purple proboscis moved straight to my throat, I reached up and grabbed hold of it tightly, crushing it with all my might. Thank goodness I was wearing rough spun gloves that gave me a firm grasp on the tongue. The creature shrieked through a few other mouths in surprise, having perhaps falsely believed that I had been stunned by the slam attack. It tried to rear back, but there was no chance of it getting itself free from my grasp.

As it pulled up, I pulled down, ripping the appendage free from the beast’s mouth. It let out a hideous shriek and I was splattered with green blood as I tore not only the tongue, but a strange assortment of glands and innards clean out of the beast’s undercarriage.

“Ah gross!” I gasped and gagged as I continued to pull on the tongue, tearing more out of the beast as it rolled onto its back, thrashing wildly, trying to get free. Everything seemed connected to the creature’s proboscis, or at least enough to cause real trouble.

As if it were one long, hideous rope, I continued to pull on the tongue, ripping it out of the beast as fast as I could while getting on my feet. The pain in my leg had subsided, though I wasn’t entirely sure that was a good sign. Either way, I was strong enough to completely tear the beast’s proboscis and whatever attached organs clean out of the thing.

The Orphine groaned, still lying on its back, its little legs all pointing in the air at the same time. Blood dripped out of the mouth I had torn the organs from, and it seemed to be in poor health. That had been a tough fight, but it looked like this was the end of it. I raised my bow to fire one last volley, to put an end to the beast.

But something stopped me from firing. Perhaps it was the pain in my leg, or the fact that I knew it was intelligent enough to play dead. Maybe it was just fear of ending up skewered once more, perhaps in an area even more vital than the joint in between my knees. Regardless, I found myself lowering my bow. I merely waited, watching the creature intently.

Eventually the monster began to realize that its bluff had failed. Though I had injured it quite a bit, the beast rolled over, more or less able to move just as before. It had been trying to encourage me to finish it off, to fire my shots and once again become target practice for my own arrows. Not this time!

The Orphine was moving a little faster than before, perhaps emboldened by the adrenaline now shooting through its system. Some monsters grew stronger the more wounded they became. Though, it was hard to tell just how much damage I had inflicted. Whatever I yanked out of the beast wasn’t vital enough to stop it from wanting to fight.

It charged towards me, inching as fast as its sluggish body could, forcing me to back away. My knee was stiffening now, for each time I had to bend my leg, the arrow was digging deeper and deeper into me. My health had dropped by 5% the last time I had stood up and now, the pain was beginning to take a toll.

I grabbed an accelerated healing potion off my belt and raised it to my lips, only for the glass to be yanked out of my hands at lightning speeds. “Damn it!” I shouted, trying in vain to catch the bottle as it flew into one of the skeletal walls, shattering. The beast seemed to understand potions as well.

Chortling, the Orphine made another lunging slam at me, raising itself high and crashing down with all its weight. I swept the ground behind me with my good leg and then kicked off on one foot, using my strength and agility to leap with one leg. I sprang away from the attack, but my landing was