1.1.18 – Wooper Whoopin (1)

The air was cool and crisp, not nearly cold enough to make me shiver but still having that cool dry air of winter. There was a bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face despite the cool air as I approached the cave. It was unlikely that the cave would be empty this far into the forest, but one could always hope.

I had to take note to avoid any puddles of thawing snow as I approached to make sure I was silent and not accidentally alert any potential beasts. There was a good chance that the beast would be Yellow. I would not be able to tell the core grade immediately but beasts generally grew in size along with their grade. Yellow cored beasts could be the size of a fully grown human or larger, depending on the species and their habitat.

If it went according to plan, I should be able to detect if there was a beast lurking in the cave and its size. If it was too large, it was more likely that its core would be Yellow than Orange. In that case, I would have to give up, turn back, and start from the other side of the river the next day. There would be no point exploring further in as the beasts only got stronger the deeper into the forest I went.

I could not help but gulp down my saliva as I approached the cave entrance. The cave was by the river, not close enough for a high season to drown it but not that far that it remained completely dry.

While the cave mouth was a little low for an adult, I could enter by crouching slightly. It was set in a low rocky fold of grey stone, partially covered by hanging roots and fern sitting on top of the cave. This was exactly the kind of secluded and secure type of location I would need for my experiments.

I kept Electro Perception on the maximum as I walked closer. Once I got close enough such that the range of my spell should cover most of the interior of the cave, I stopped and swept the interior with my eyes, looking for any signs of a living beast. While I had not encountered any non-organic creature in this world yet, I read enough fantasy books in my life to not entirely dismiss non-traditional creatures such as elementals or any other creatures I could not understand and that fall outside the detection of my spell.

I looked through carefully and almost sighed in relief when I thought the cave was empty. Either it was uninhabited or the occupant was out looking for food. Before I could relax, I noticed there was some unfamiliar liquid that did not really look like water but more like slime, smeared along the path from the cave towards the direction of the river.

I stopped in my tracks and studied the slime, tracing the path of residual slime. A realization dawned on me as I quickly scanned the path towards the river, and just in time, as I saw a lumbering figure within the river lunging towards me.

Whatever it was probably realized that its jig was up and decided it was time to attack. I activated my preconfigured use of Lightning Infusion to jump backwards in a burst, wet mud flying through the air as I flew in the opposite direction. If I was a second too late I would have lost an arm or a leg as a giant jaw with razor sharp teeth clamped down on where I was standing just a moment ago.

Wet soil and pools of water were displaced, followed by a loud squelching sound as the figure landed on the forest floor. I activated Lighting Infusion and jumped backwards two more times to put more distance between us while I assessed what it was that ambushed me.

My carelessness almost cost me my life this time; while I had accounted for a returning beast even if the cave was empty, I had not accounted for the beast being amphibious and hiding nearby in the water. I was mostly paying attention to the direction of the forest rather than the river.

It was the first time I saw a beast this big. It was practically the size of a large alligator, one that was the size of three to four large men. I could not get a good look as the body and tail were partially twisted. A beast this large definitely had a Yellow core. While beasts did not have spells per se, they tend to develop intuitive use of their element through simple manipulation of their element or a specialized organ.

The beast looked like a cross between a giant salamander and an axolotl. However, its body was thick with corded muscles, looking more like a crocodile. It also had a big tail that was almost as thick as its body, with weird looking holes and thick bulging veins that did not seem to carry blood, running from its neck all the way to its tail.

I did flip through the Magical Beast Compendium but I did not read it in detail. I could not quite remember if I came across an entry for this beast, but based on some characteristics, I could tell this beast definitely had a Water based core. Which meant it would be more susceptible to my Lightning Bolt at least.

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The beast was fast, I doubt I could out run it if I tried running through the forest terrain. The only saving grace was that it did not seem very agile. It slid straight past where I was after it missed its attack and slid for another two or three meters, clearing a path in the melting snow.