Free Web NovelChapter 15: Pure Instinct
Arthur looked at the system screen for a brief moment then ignored it entirely, for in his current state the system meant nothing to him. To be more precise, Arthur was no longer himself, for only a very small fragment of his consciousness remained, and his movements were driven by pure instinct, like a plane on autopilot.
He wagged his tail left and right, then without any shame raised his leg and urinated on the spot claiming dominance over it. This may seem strange, and it truly is by human standards, but urinating is one of the many ways monsters use to mark their territories.
His ears moved like a radar, and his nose sniffed the air carefully. His senses worked at their maximum capacity, and contrary to his cautious and suspicious nature he began roaming the forest freely. He did not think about his next step, and neither feared nor cared about the darkness of the night and the monsters lurking within it.
The only thing that circulated in his head was killing, and after a short period of searching, he found his first victim, which was a large deer. He did not use the "Evaluation" skill to examine it, no, to be more precise he did not need to, for instinctively he realized it was F-Rank, and posed no danger to him.
Even though he was not thinking rationally, this did not mean he was incapable of displaying his full potential as a monster, quite the contrary, he handled the situation with remarkable precision.
He exploited the darkness of the night and concealed himself easily, then crept silently toward his unsuspecting target, and when he got close enough, he suddenly pounced on it.
The deer noticed his presence at the last moment, and tried to flee, but Arthur grabbed it, made it stumble and knocked it to the ground, then began tearing it apart savagely using his claws and fangs. He was capable of finishing it off quickly, yet he let it suffer and cry out in desperation until it died from its severe wounds.
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After finally securing a proper meal, Arthur devoured the deer with unbelievable greed, and left nothing but a few scattered remains. The moment he filled his stomach he felt vitality returning to his exhausted body, he licked his blood-covered face, and without giving himself enough time to rest, he rushed off to search for more prey.
During his search he left the safe area he usually roamed, and ventured deep into the forest, reaching distant places he had never been to before.
The first thing he encountered in this new uncharted area, was a small herd of tree deer, guarded by two large males of E-Rank.
This was not the first time he had seen a monster that outranked him, but his reaction was the same, for he automatically realized he was unable to face them, so he changed his course and avoided them.
When he had moved half a mile away from the deer, he came across another E-Rank monster, which was a giant wild boar four meters tall, with two sharp tusks each half a meter long. Its massive body surrounded by a hard skin layer made it look like a metal bulldozer.
The boar noticed his presence, and snorted hard, releasing thick steam from its nose, then struck its front hoof on the ground, showed killing intent, and ran toward him destroying every tree in its path.
Crack!
Roar!
Arthur panicked a little, and fled full speed. Fortunately the boar was slower than him, so he managed to escape safely. However that was not the end, for he continued to encounter monsters that outranked him, and a large F-Rank owl also tried to hunt him.
Because of this, he spent most of his time fleeing from place to place, as for his desire to hunt and kill, he did not find many suitable prey, and his few hunting attempts all ended in failure, while some of them nearly cost him his life.
Had he been conscious of what he was doing, he would have realized in advance that the area he was in was very dangerous and far beyond his current abilities, so he would have returned to his den. But unfortunately he did not follow his cowardly nature, and continued to be driven by his instincts, causing him to venture deeper and deeper into the forest.
In any case, that was how the night passed, tense and filled with fleeing and madness with a little blood and pain. He was stung by a large spider on his leg, and managed to hunt a strange lizard-like monster.
As morning approached, and when the moon had only an hour and a half left before setting, he had already reached a very distant place.
He stood in the middle of the unknown with a tensed body, and watched his surroundings cautiously. His instincts were working at full strength, trying to identify the source of the danger they sensed.
Yet despite that, he saw and heard nothing, and all he could smell was a repulsive odor coming from every direction around him. It was clear that an enemy was lurking nearby.
Of course, as had been said several times before, had he been conscious at this moment, he would not have stood in place like a fool, for that only makes the situation more dangerous. freewёbnoνel.com
Above one of the branches of a tree beside him, evil yellow eyes opened, fixed him with a cold stare, then began creeping toward him silently, and as it moved the entire tree began to move and twist, which let a little moonlight slip through and fall beside him.
The moment he noticed that, Arthur raised his head and turned around, and found a massive snake over nineteen meters long staring at him. His eyes met the yellow eyes with their vertical black pupils, which were separated from him by only one meter.
Hiss!
The snake opened its wide mouth and lunged at him without any warning. As an automatic reaction, Arthur leapt away and dodged the sudden attack, which caused the snake to bite the ground.
Without stopping, the snake crawled on the ground at very great speed, and surrounded him, forming a ring around him with its muscular black body filled with yellow and red patterns.
Arthur bared his fangs, and prepared to fight for his life. He knew he was trapped and had no hope of escaping. He growled in anger while his eyes tracked the snake’s head which slowly circled around him.
An unsettling silence fell over the place, and the two predatory monsters watched each other cautiously for a few seconds, then suddenly the snake tightened its grip around him, and coiled around him wanting to squeeze him to death.
Arthur did not stand still, and released his full strength and ferocity, and drove his claws and fangs into the snake’s body and began tearing it apart.
