Zac finally sat down in the trailer for a meal , quietly staring out the window and seeing the ever-present red pillar . Had it not been for the incursion he might have been able to forget how messed up the world had become for a second .
Life had thrown things at him the last days he couldn’t even have imagined , and it would only get crazier .
Tomorrow he would have to go hunting demons .
Chapter 13 - On the Hunt
Zac crept through the woods , slowly making his way more inland . He was hefting hatchet in one hand and his improvised spear in the right . He had found a camouflaged shirt in David’s bag which he had donned which would hopefully help him blend in a bit . He had planned to make some makeshift bracers and shin guards from some of the snakeskin this morning . Unfortunately it was still a bit grimy , so he had to leave it for another day at least to properly dry out . He still wore the amulet of the gathering array underneath his shirt , which continuously imbued him with more cosmic energy . He had a black backpack on his back filled with a bottle of water and a small batch of medical supplies .
He had actually gained a level without noticing while he was asleep from the amulet . It was still hard for him to know how much the amulet was gathering for him , or how much experience killing other monsters gave . There was no experience bar or notifications of experience gain anywhere in the system that could give him a frame of reference . Hopefully he would learn more about it from today’s excursions . The two free points he had he had split between strength and vitality . When he allocated the points he had felt the energy rushing into his cells again , albeit far weaker when compared to when he allocated 30 points .
The goal of today was simple . He needed to kill monsters . Almost a week had passed since the world was integrated into the multiverse , and in reality he had accomplished very little so far .
He didn’t dare make a beeline for the incursion just yet . He was afraid that there would be monsters there that he still couldn’t handle , such as the Heralds themselves . Instead , he was walking around the edges of the island while steadily making his way inland . He had been walking for roughly 30 minutes now and still hadn’t seen any monsters . He had seen some animals though . Most were the same as before the change , but some obviously had evolved from cosmic energy . For example he’s seen a squirrel as large as a golden retriever . Luckily it seemed very docile , and it immediately escaped into the tree crowns after noticing him .
Finally he heard the familiar menacing growl from ahead . Zac was afraid he had been spotted , and immediately hunkered down behind a bush . There was no charging demonling heading his way fortunately , so he crept forward again . While hiding behind a tree he finally saw the beast 30 meters in the distance . It was the same sort of demon as he had fought before , a 6 legged monstrosity of oversized muscle and maw . This one seemed a bit leaner than the first he had fought , but he couldn’t be sure . It seemed like it was lazing about in the sun in a small clearing . There was a small animal carcass next to it , so it appeared that it recently had a meal and was now resting .
Zac had made battle plans based on his first experience fighting these monsters , and now it was time to use them . He inched towards a sturdy tree that was at the end of the clearing , leaving only open field between the tree and the demon . He placed down his spear two meters away from the trunk and picked up a small rock . By now his heart was racing , his hands almost shaking from a buildup of adrenaline .
Calm down , calm down… - he whispered under his breath , nerves taut but with a glint of determination in his eyes . He had no choice , he had to push forward , for both his sake and his family’s .
With a deep steadying breath he walked in front of the tree , making him stand in full view for the demon . The demonling immediately noticed him and stood up into an aggressive posture . Wasting no time Zac immediately chucked the stone with full force , and he managed to hit its torso which elicited a pained yelp .
Clearly the taunt worked well as the demon roared and barreled toward him like a runaway train . Zac held his position until last minute before lunging two meters to the side . The demonling zoomed past him and with a tremendous force head-butted the tree .
This was essentially the same tactic he had used on the first demon . The demons were powerful but seemed quite stupid , so he surmised the same tactic would work again . Now , handy boulders wouldn’t be everywhere , but he was in a forest full of thick tree-trunks . This time he had help from being ready and having improved stats . Zac therefore managed to jump out of the way without either taking damage or falling over this time .
Knowing that time was of the essence Zac wasted no time and immediately was upon the beast . With a fierce overhead swing he severed the spine at the lower back . With his improved Strength it felt like cutting through dry wood , and he easily embedded the whole 15 cm axe head in the beast . With a tug he ripped it out of the body , and with it came a spurt of blood . He had planned on also doing the same at the neck of the beast , but the demonling was immediately woken up from the intense pain . With a pained roar it tried to turn and catch Zac with its huge maw . Luckily its maneuverability was already bad with all working legs . Now it was even slower with the two hind legs listlessly hanging backward .
Zac didn’t want to take any chances , as a nasty swipe of the beast could easily make him bleed out in minutes . With a few seconds to spare until the demonling could turn he slashed a few deep bloody gashes on its side . Both blood and viscera immediately started pooling beneath it . By now the fight was essentially over , and Zac hurriedly backed off and picked up his spear he had placed down before the fight .
He planned to poke a few holes in the monster to bleed it out faster . However , reality is often disappointing . On the first stab he only made a flesh wound before the spear started to bend rather than push in further . On the second stab the demon snapped the spear in two by moving its head with surprising alacrity . The forward momentum of the stab almost made Zac fall right into the eagerly waiting rows of teeth of the beast . Luckily , he barely managed to get out of the way with a push of his left leg which made him fall to the right of the beast . Still the beast managed to get in a swipe on his left arm which left a shallow , but long gash .
Ignoring the burning pain Zac quickly scrambled to his feet and got out of the way . But it seemed that the escape was unnecessary , as the demonling had collapsed after the swipe . The grass beneath it was completely stained red , and a large chunk of intestines was hanging outside its body . It was seemingly completely out of steam , weakly growling between shallow rapid breaths .
Ideally , Zac would have preferred to wait it out and let it slowly bleed to death , but the monster’s roars had been quite loud . He had no interest in sticking around in case there was backup on the way . He had to be calculative at times to avoid unnecessary risks , but sometimes he had to be decisive as well . Gripping the hatchet in a bloody hand he slowly circled out of sight of the monster . Then with a few quick steps forward swung down with force right behind the middle legs , cutting deep into what he presumed was lungs . The demon tried to rouse a retaliation but was completely out of power , resulting only in a feeble wave of a paw .
Zac repeated an identical slash on the other side , which should mean that both its lungs were punctured . Given that the demon’s physique was somewhat similar to a normal mammal’s , of course . The demon barely responded to the second swing apart from shaking with pain or death throes . Zac wasted no time and with one final swing cut right into its neck .