Well, dice decided to be boring today… Guess it can't all be rollercoasters and natural 100s.
[x][Hunt] Actively
[x][Travel] Explore the Forest
[x][Train] Disparo Demora
Hey, it's a stupid-ass cheating tree!
And this... Is a stupid-ass cheating tree.
Is it really a stupid-ass cheating tree? Yes, it is.
This, however, is a stupid-ass cheating tree.
Stupid-ass cheating tree...
Surprisingly, it's a stupid-ass cheating tree.
Behold! A stupid-ass cheating tree.
It's been… quite a while. Hard to tell the time with only stupid-ass cheating trees around. Not that a huge white desert where there's permanently night and the moon doesn't move in the sky is any better. Case is, I got a good feeling for the place, enough to try and stalk some of the other things I've seen tracks of around.
I'm starting to feel the hunger around, it would probably be a good idea to catch a munch before it makes me lose it again. It definitely has nothing to do with the monotony of the forest threatening to kill my sanity, of course. It's just common sense to keep the stomach happy and full. Really, it's just that.
… Fine, be that way.
Anyway, back to hunting. Tracking from the ground is no good when you're a caterpillar. For one, you can't move all that fast on stubby legs. For others, you're not designed to look upwards, and in this forest 99% of the battlefield is actually
above the field. So you take to the branches. Some of the footprints are huge and deep, so there's no way the stupid-ass cheating trees can hold their weight.
Sure, there can always be things lurking
even higher, but that's negative thinking. I can do crap-shit about it beyond keeping an ear out for it, so it's better not to dwell on it. And maybe I'm still slow in my stubby caterpillar legs, but I'm out of the way. And someday I'll finally get down the silk swinging and everyone who laughed at my dreams will only be able to stare in awe and despair, wishing they could be even a fraction as cool as Spider-bug!!
… Shut up already.
Oh? What's that? Is that voices I hear? Angry voices at that. Rather, an angry voice, and a lot of sniveling ones. Let's take a peek…
Sneaky, sneaky… There we go, It's a… Stag-thing, a stag-thing with a whack stick, gesticulating and making angry noises at bunch of little rat things that are cowering in front of him. There are no actual words, though, just deep noises that vaguely convey a feeling of anger and frustration.
The rat-things are clearly cowed, huddled together and chittering terrifiedly. Then the Stag-thing shuts up and, without warning, brains one of them with his whack stick. Surprisingly for no one, that instantly kills the way smaller creature, making it dissolve into dust and leave a shiny brown orb behind that the Stag-thing cups in one hand and…
drinks?
Yeah, it sure seems like he's drinking the shiny orb. Huh, so that's how these things feed. Not as effective as my
Chupavidas but they can't all be winners, I guess.
The rest small ones scamper away at a waving gesture of the stag-thing, who just sits against a tree, emitting a low grumbling sound and drawing circles on the ground with his whack stick. Wow, he's in a roll… and distracted. And very
very alone. By his own making. Easy prey.
After making sure the branch I'm standing on won't break easily (we really don't need a repeat of swinging attempt #47, thank you.), I very carefully rappel down to him. My aim is still hit and miss, and I really don't need to give the stag-thing a chance to fight back if I can help it.
So I stealthily close the distance, ready to…
heh, get the drop on him. Even if he notices, I can just yoink the silk and fall on him with all the weight of my juicy caterpillar body. Ten feet… seven feet… three feet… Wow, he's really distracted,. Okay, this is close enough.
Getting a hold of the thread to free my spinneret is a bit more complicated than anticipated, and I definitely should've practiced this beforehand. Man wouldn't it be pathetic if he caught on while I was struggling? Or even worse, imagine I mess up and fall! That would be… Gack!!
… I'm… I'm fine. I didn't fall. Even if I'm hanging by one of my stubby legs and suddenly the horns of the Stag-thing are inches away from my face. It doesn't
really count as a mess up if there are no consequences. Just… give me a second to have my heart attack in peace.
Deep breaths, deep breaths… Inhale, keep it in, exhale. Inhale, keep it in, exhale… okay, I got this. Everything under control. Aim my awesome butt at the enemy and get ready to feel awfully inadequate before my Spider-bug amazingness!!
… Shut up.
Disparo Demora!!
What comes out is more a buckshot than a thread, sticking to the thing's mask and horns, splattering all the way to the ground and, most importantly, to the bark of the tree. Obviously more startled than actually worried, the thing wastes precious time trying to stand up, which leaves him in a very awkward position when its head, stuck to the tree, refuses to raise.
This, in time, makes him release his whack-staff. Dumb move there, Stag-thing, dumb move.
Cutting the thin thread still connected to me, I quickly shoot a second
Disparo Demora, nailing the whacksting right in the middle… after drawing a kinda "8" shape around it. If someone asks, totally on purpose. To… have more adhered surface. Nobody will be lifting that from the ground anytime soon.
The now disarmed stag-thing treacherously uses my momentarily distraction to swipe at me with surprisingly sharp claws, and it manages to clip my side. Crap that hurts! This thing has longer reach than expected. Do those arms of his stretch or something?
Whatever
Disparo Demora!!
My third shot gets his face, eyes and mouth included. Haha!! You cannot eat my threads like the Mofo did if I trap your mouth too! Hey! What are you doing with your hands? What do you mean humanoid forms can reach their own face? You'll ruin everything!!!
Just kidding
Disparo Demora!!
Ha! Now you have your hands stuck to your face! What're you going to do? Kick me to death?… That wasn't a suggestion. Now be a good prey and become a ball of yarn.
Disparo Demora!!
Disparo Demora!!
Disparo Demora!!
Disparo Demora!!
Disparo Demora!!
Disparo Demora!!
Chupavidas!!
Wew, that was tasty… I wonder if that was stag-flavored? I have no idea how stag tastes, so maybe? It definitely didn't taste like chicken. On another news, turns out Stag-thing wasn't stretching its arms after all, it
just has a couple of extra friggin joints, that were hidden along the shoulder and upper back. Scary. You can't even trust humanoid forms to be… well, humanoid. What'll be next? Spider-bugs?
… Shut up.
Alright, hunger forestalled for another day! But I'm feeling a bit heavy, guess I'll get back up the canopy and catch a wink somewhere out of the way. Then I'll practice transitioning from rappel to shoot-ready stance. So I don't have anymore heart attacks. Because heart attacks suck. And tripping over my own legs like that was just pathetic.
Hunting Actively yielded results! You've defeated an enemy through the use of dirty tricks and unfair advantages! If this was an RPG you would've probably lost XP for that, but this is real life, and what matters is that you munched him!
Congratulations! You've defeated the Stag-thing and consumed his Essence.
You have gained 26500 Existence Essence!
Power Level Up! You're now Level 9!
You're not yet proficient enough for combat experience to increase your skills faster than peaceful training and experimenting, but you've done both! Disparo Demora level UP! 4/10
Routine usage of Chupavidas has granted a marginal increase in proficiency. Chupavidas 15% towards level UP
The forest is too big for you to delude yourself into thinking you know all it's secrets, but you're now comfortable moving around. Encounter Progress 90%
Oblivion compensation! You've lost 1695 Existence Essence!!
Through your encounters, a new option has been unlocked.
The mysterious Skull-things. In a place where everything seems to wear a bone mask, you've encountered a group going a step further and wearing actual skulls. They're apparently organized, and are the only living thing you've encountered in the forest so far. Tracking them down instead of exploring randomly is now an option. You can also avoid them on purpose, and increase the odds of finding something else.
Encounter progress will reset if you abandon the area.
Due to a recent Power Level Up, you'll take a break for hunting.
[x][Hunt] Hide.
[x][Travel] End of the World.
[x][Travel] Explore the Forest.
-[x][Forest] Investigate Skull-Things
-[x][Forest] Purposefully avoid Skull-Things
[x][Travel] Take a break.
[x][Travel] Other.
[x][Train] Disparo Demora
[x][Train] Chupavidas
[x][Train] Take a break
[x][Train] Develop
-[x][Develop] Placaje
-[x][Develop] Punto Veneno
-[x][Develop] Malicioso
-[x][Develop] Zumbido
-[x][Develop] Write-in (Short description of what our brave caterpillar will aim for.)