Forest Sasquatch (3)
Clutching his trembling legs to steady himself, Calix barely had time to catch his breath before the Sasquatch, having finished scouting, let out a guttural roar and charged.
Its speed was terrifying.
The distance closed in an instant.
The Sasquatch's face loomed so close he could have touched it with an outstretched hand.
Then, suddenly, the monster vanished from sight.
It wasn't a jump or movement too fast for the eye to follow.
"Kwaaak!"
Crack!
Thud!
The massive body of the red-maned Sasquatch floated briefly into the air before slamming mercilessly into the ground.
Ironically, what felled the colossal beast—easily over 3.5 meters long—was a ridiculously simple trap: tall grass arched and tied into a loop.
The Sasquatch's body twitched right in front of Calix's nose.
The silence was short-lived.
"Kwaaaak! Kwaaaak!"
The red-maned Sasquatch sprang up, bellowing in agony rather than its earlier confident roar.
Spears, crudely sharpened, were embedded two or three deep in each of its eyes.
Transparent fluid from burst eyeballs mixed with dark green blood, streaming down its cheeks.
The light brown Sasquatch, witnessing its kin's plight, crouched low and approached cautiously, wary of traps itself.
At that moment, Calix yanked a long vine dangling nearby.
His body soared up with a whoosh.
Propelling himself about 5 meters into the air in a flash, he grabbed a branch right in front of him.
The light brown Sasquatch glared up at Calix perched in the tree and advanced slowly.
Sasquatches were bipedal monsters with gorilla-like builds.
Fleeing into the trees wouldn't save him from such a creature.
A human might have sensed something off and questioned Calix's intentions, but the Sasquatch's intelligence didn't run that deep.
Soon enough, a new player entered the scene, just as Calix had planned.
"Chit-chit! Kee-kee-chit!"
"Kyak! Kyak!"
Hanging from the red-maned Sasquatch's waist like corpses were goblins of the same species.
Standing about a meter tall with emaciated frames, bark-like dark green skin, and ragged, makeshift gear.
Weaklings at the bottom of the food chain—adults could overpower one easily with sheer size.
But in the monster world, there were no eternal predators or prey.
The pack of over a dozen goblins spotted the blinded, writhing predator and swarmed it like mad.
The light brown Sasquatch hesitated, glancing between the goblins charging its wounded kin and Calix in the tree.
In the end, it prioritized the goblins. Calix seemed like easy prey it could tear apart anytime.
Watching the chaos below, Calix smirked.
He'd successfully lured the goblin pack to clash with the Sasquatch, right on cue.
Now he just had to wait for the outcome.
That was the plan, at least.
But life rarely goes according to plan.
Calix had completely forgotten that.
How much time passed?
The goblin-Sasquatch brawl was nearing its end.
Regrettably for the goblins, it was a fight they could never win.
They'd charged in rage at the sight of their dead kin.
But now, with their fury waning, terror crept into the eyes of the survivors.
Crack!
"Kyak-kyak!"
One goblin snagged on the light brown Sasquatch's arm and went flying into a tree.
Its neck twisted over 180 degrees—clearly instant death.
Only four goblins left in the pack.
The moment fear overtook rage, they scattered in all directions.
"Kwoooaaak!"
The light brown Sasquatch thumped its chest in victory.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
A net woven from thorny vines unfurled from above, enveloping both Sasquatches.
The startled light brown Sasquatch thrashed to shake off the clinging net.
But even severing the vines left sticky sap coating everything, making it impossible to escape.
Worse, every struggle drove the thorns deeper into its flesh.
Time passed, and Calix descended slowly from the tree, gripping a rope.
Drawing the slender dress sword from his waist, he approached the Sasquatches deliberately.
The red-maned one had been critically wounded by goblins long ago, clinging to life by a thread.
The odd one was the light brown Sasquatch.
Even with Calix within arm's reach, it just lay limp, blinking sluggishly.
It growled occasionally, but that was it.
Calix neared the pair, their eyes vacant, utterly trapped in the sticky vine net.
"Arachne's Vine Rose and Siren's Temptation—easy prey for most monsters."
Muttering that, he thrust his dress sword into the red-maned Sasquatch's throat.
Squelch!
A slight resistance piercing the hide, then the blade tip catching bone—the sensations transmitted vividly through the hilt.
Moments later, as Calix withdrew the sword, dark green fluid spurted out in rhythmic pulses like a heartbeat.
The red-maned Sasquatch closed its eyes forever.
Without a final struggle.
A mid-tier monster that could hold its own against a Class 4 knight met such an anticlimactic end.
Next up: the light brown Sasquatch.
Shifting position, Calix muttered again.
"Laila just uses it to mask scents... but Siren's Temptation is actually a potent anesthetic for certain monsters. You have to inject it directly into the bloodstream, though, so its effects aren't widely known yet."
Calix kept murmuring to himself nonstop.
The Sasquatch's eyes, which had been too fierce to even glance at moments ago, now looked almost innocent.
Few modern people had ever killed a rabbit or puppy, let alone flies or mosquitoes.
Even calling it a vicious monster, taking a living being's life firsthand wasn't as easy as it sounded for someone with a modern Earth soul.
"So this is what it feels like. Damn it."
He gritted his teeth in revulsion.
But he couldn't risk his life on fleeting pity.
The anesthetic was potent, but monster resilience was nothing to scoff at.
In an hour or two, it'd be even livelier than before.
Squelch!
Calix plunged the dress sword into the other Sasquatch's throat.
Its eyes rapidly lost their light.
"Phew... It's over?"
As he sighed in relief—
A chill ran down his spine.
"Kyak!"
Calix whipped around.
It was one of the goblins he'd thought had fled.
Leaping through the air, it swung a rusty sword down.
The jagged, gap-toothed blade approached in slow motion, like a video on low frame rate.
Dodge!
His mind screamed it, but his body wouldn't obey.
No matter how hard he tried, it was like being mired in quicksand—not a finger would budge.
A moment's carelessness... Damn it!
With the blade mere centimeters away, he glared wide-eyed.
Dying like this was too unfair.
Then—
Thwack!
A powerful impact shattered the constricting pressure around him.
Calix tumbled across the ground and sprang up.
In the final instant, someone had shoved him aside, letting him barely evade the goblin's strike.
A small shadow collapsed, spraying blood.
It was the young soldier he'd saved.
Calix lost all reason and lunged at the goblin.
"Raaah!"
Whoosh!
Unfortunately, Calix had never properly swung a sword before.
Predictably, the attack whiffed harmlessly.
A goblin that had survived Golda Plateau's brutal eat-or-be-eaten law for so long wasn't dumb enough to take a wild swing from an excited novice.
And with such a wide motion, a sharp counter came flying back.
"Kuh!"
Calix barely dodged the goblin's attack.
Not due to superior reflexes, but simply because the monster's arms were short.
Like a bucket of cold water, clarity hit him.
He glanced at his sword hand.
Under pale, translucent skin, blue veins stood out starkly.
Not the sturdy frame of a grown man, but a slender, sickly white wrist below average for his age.
Calix calculated coldly once more.
Odds of winning?
Good.
Why?
It's scrawny, but there's a height difference.
Its arm plus shortsword maxes at 50-60cm.
My arm plus dress sword more than doubles that.
Just keep it from closing in. Stay calm, no rushing!
He assumed a careful stance.
Don't overreach. Making it run is enough.
The young soldier behind him tugged at his thoughts, but now was time to focus on the monster ahead.
He steeled his wavering mind.
The goblin circled briefly, sizing him up, then charged with a screech.
"Chit-chit-kee!"
Calix instinctively halted his backward step.
Stay calm! Backing up exposes the kid!
Instead of retreating, he awkwardly thrust out his dress sword. A sloppy posture.
But luck favored him.
Had he panicked and fled, the goblin would have pressed the advantage relentlessly.
He might dodge once or twice, but eventually it'd catch him—or he'd trip over the fallen soldier.
Unintended or not, he'd chosen the best way to leverage his superior reach.
Even moving second, his blade tip grazed the goblin's shoulder first.
Splat!
Green blood droplets bloomed in the air. A shallow cut, but enough to halt the reckless charge.
"Chit-kee-ik!"
The enraged, pained monster unleashed a flurry of attacks.
A blade arced down toward his head.
Instinctively stepping back and twisting aside.
The edge sliced his clothing and fell past.
In that stance, Calix thrust his dress sword with his right hand.
But off-balance, it sliced only air.
In that instant, the small goblin darted into his guard.
Startled, Calix reflexively snapped up his knee.
Aimed for the jaw, but missed.
It clipped the elbow instead, sending the goblin's sword flying into the air.
"Die!"
Calix roared, eyes bloodshot.
Gripping the dress sword two-handed, he thrust with all his might.
The goblin's gaunt frame, belly protruding oddly.
The blade tore mercilessly through that soft abdomen.
"Kee-ik!"
Splat!
Piercing clean through, the sword buried deep into the tree behind.
The goblin twitched mid-air a few times before going limp.
"Hah! Hah!"
Calix gasped for breath, as if about to vomit his guts.
Today, he truly understood why stamina mattered.
Thus, Calix experienced his 'first battle' on the Eren Continent.
Nothing like the indirect thrills of gaming. This was real stakes—life or death.
D-Rank Monster Defeated.
D-Rank Monster Defeated.
Overwhelmingly Strong Foe Defeated. Bonus Rewards Increased.
Traps, Poisons, and Stratagems Used. Bonus Rewards Decreased.
F-Rank Monster Defeated.
Victory in First Battle. Bonus Rewards Increased.
Current Level: Lv.8 → Lv.11
Reward: Inventory Unlocked