Kyle’s thickest sweater is covered in dust, he found it in the top of his closet, since he only has to use it for a month in the winter. He’s wearing two pairs of pajamas and a pair of pants. He couldn’t think of anything to cover his head. At his left side, his father’s hunting knife strapped to the belt in a fine leather sheath. On his other side the empty holster for a 9mm. In his hand lazily at his side was a Smith & Wesson M&P9. One of the few guns his parents had that his uncle didn’t get. He didn’t have much experience shooting, but figured a gun would be better than anything else he could bring. His backpack was packed fairly light: an extra box of rounds, a large 40 oz thermos filled with cold water, a half empty bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and a massive beat up purple towel.
He has no idea what direction he is facing compared to when he walked in. His options past the portal were forward or backward. He went forward. The path hasn’t exactly been straight; it definitely veers over a few degrees to the left or right before correcting, but with no cross roads, or decisions to make while walking his mind has time to wander.
“Fuck I hate my life” The few minutes walking have been brutal for him. Assuming it was best to keep his sense to a maximum he decided against listening to anything while he walked. Of course he was still high. Hell he hit his pen almost right after touching that spooky looking rift.
*Why the fuck is that portal red from one side Best not think about it. A blinker will help me not think about it* Were his thoughts right before he did it.
The walls of the cave were a weird grayish blue, almost like the tint of a website's darkmode, with the smallest hint of blue added in. The stone was smooth to the touch, but uniform in shape, it had many small divots and almost resembled a moon stone from a cartoon, or game. Like the exaggerated version of what a moon rock should look like, but the color threw it off completely.
The path begins to skew to the right. The angle this time at a relative extreme of 10 degrees. That much of a turn creates enough of a blind spot for the unaware Kyle to miss the 5 foot tall monster until it’s nearly 6 feet from.
The beastial creature takes the form of a lizard with smooth scales. Each jagged plate of chitin, so pale you can almost see the organs beating beneath. At the end of each disproportionately long arms are 3 fingers each with claws thicker and longer than the fingers they’re attached to.
Above the awe inspiring beast is a floating box of text. A faint blue background highlighting the white texting reading
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Kyle’s initial reaction is to raise the gun he kept the safety off for emergencies like this. Without aiming he starts squeezing the trigger. In his panicked state, he loses count of how many shots he’s fired and how many times the “thing” has been hit. His initial goal of trying to preserve ammo completely out of his mind.
The alligator lengthened creatures slams into the ground with heavy thud. Time slows as Kyle watches the monster with bated breath. The veins on the muscular monstrosity violently bulge while it forces out a wicked screech from its fanged maw. With an unknown number of bullets left in the magazine Kyle finally stops shooting.
Time seems to slow. The dying monster's claws grind against the floor as it writhes in agony. The sound is hardly audible behind the fading scream and the ringing in Kyle’s ears. After a few moments of the body convulsing on the floor it ceases.
Without warning and even through all the noise and shock deep within Kyle’s mind he hears the clear, monotonous, unmelodic voice of a woman saying.
*You have defeated a level 5 Hulking Troglodyte Wild Brute. You have gained XP*
Kyle reached for vape. His lack of gun safety on full display as his right hand, still holding the loaded gun and unguided by the aid of his attention; smacks into his thigh. His finger still shaking over the trigger, he jumps when he feels the hard object hit him and reflexively pulls the trigger.
The gun goes off with bang. His ears already filled with a piercing high pitched ringing, he falls to the floor. His weight is too much for the faded fabric of his cheap jeans and the tear as he slams his knees into the ground. The gun falls next to him, the smooth stone letting it slide around a foot away from him, the barrel pointing at him.
******
The longer 4 hour walk to the lake is usually never worth it for someone in the Razorclaw tribe, unless they’re strong enough to fight numerous froghemoths. However, eager to try his stealth skill in the best possible place Jesseppi makes the journey with joy.
The lake is one of the few places in the outer caves that has a wide open area. It’s also one of the few places that is regularly populated by monsters and is a reliable source of income from stronger hunters.
The lake itself is only a few hundred feet across and a couple dozen wide, but the cavern is nearly three quarters of a mile wide in every direction, with various large rocks scattered around it.
Jisseppis' eyes widen and he gulps in as big of a breath as he can. The near pristine glimmering water of the lake for the first time eclipses any murky puddle he’s come across yet in his life. The wonder is quickly dashed away as he spots the first rotund toad.
Smooth teal skin, covered in a mucus so thick and shiny it can be seen glinting in the artificial light of the dungeon from across the cavern. The monster is only a few feet tall, but its height is deceptive. It’s about as wide as it is tall. It weighs at least 300 pounds, according to everything he’s heard despite their stout stature they are capable of insanely fast burst movement.
*I got this. I can do this. Be brave.* Jisseppi reminds himself again and again in his head. He’s struggling to maintain his focus amongst the monsters, but his mother said the fastest way to train stealth was to use it on monsters that are at a higher level. She mentioned getting bonus XP from successfully sneak attacking a creature with stealth active, but after looking at the frog monsters in front of him, he’s resigned to avoid fighting them by any means necessary. Since stealth doesn’t use mana he’s set the goal for himself to not leave until he gets stealth to level 5.