Chapter Twenty Seven - (relatively) Big Game Hunting

Chapter Twenty Seven - (relatively) Big Game Hunting

One thing I found interesting was that I seemed to level some Skills faster than others. Specifically, the Skills Swimming, Digging, and Jumping leveled much more quickly than Crafting or Analysis. Perhaps it was because they were Skills that a toad would use, and I am a toad? Hard for me to say, but I am at least happy that I am leveling my Digging right now.

[Digging has Leveled up! Digging is now Level 3!]

In fairness, I was doing a lot of digging. My plan was simple: dig hole, bait lizard into hole, collapse hole, lizard dies. Since I could apparently breath in mud - which is still such an odd thing to be capable of - I figured I could just collapse the trap on top of myself and then dig my way out again. Meanwhile, the lizard - or whatever I catch - suffocates and dies.

Thing is, even though I am large for a toadlet, my prey was far larger than I was. That meant I had to dig a big hole. For me, anyway; if I had a human body and a shovel I could finish this in a few minutes.

I even got to test my whole breath in mud thing when my trap collapsed on me by accident! I panicked a bit, but it mostly worked! It was very strange, but apparently I didnt really need to breathe all that much anyway. I could probably hold my breath for a long time, but it would be hard to test since I cant exactly stop my skin from breathing.

So I had to dig the whole thing out again!

[Digging has Leveled up! Digging is now Level 4!]

This time though, I dragged sticks over - like I did for my wall - to help try and hold the ceiling up. It turned out that it was a lot more complex to prop up the top of my trap than just sticking sticks into it though, and it collapsed again. So I dug my way out and started again!

This time, I tried mixing plant material into the roof. I tried to make it work well with my stick supports, but that didnt work either at first. So I had to dig. My. Way. Out. Again. And. Try. Again.

[Digging has Leveled up! Digging is now Level 5!]

I actually ended up going back to Toadhome for the morning and going to sleep. I woke up and started working again, now trying to use horizontal sticks and plant material to help hold up the top of the trap. Doing all of this without hands was rough, I had to move everything by biting them and dragging them into place! On the bright side, I recovered one more point of health and gained one more point of xp. Woohoo?

To make it worse, I had to hide more than a few times when my would be predator and prey came by before I was ready. That lengthened my construction time considerably, but slowly and surely, I finished my trap.

[You have learned the Skill: Trap Making! Trap Making is now Level 1!]

Huh. I didnt get the Skill until I actually finished the trap. Just trying to make one wasnt enough. Probably. I suppose I could have been getting some sort of hidden experience and gained some on every attempt only for this trap to put me over the limit for level one. There really isnt any way for me to tell for sure. I guess it isnt important right now.

No, what was important was baiting my prey! Of course, the bait was me so if I messed this up I would get to go back to Podi via a lizards digestive track. Maybe this wasnt the best idea? I suppose it is a better plan than fighting them head on, but I probably would be far safer by just hunting Hatchling Green Lizards. But I dont want to be a toad for a month or two, so here we go!

I said that, of course, but the reality was I still had to wait for one of them to come by. Sitting still was just not something my species was made for though, so my wait was very nearly unbearable. It was just hours of sitting on top of my Toadhome wall, peeking out from the leaves and waiting for my chance.

I actually fell asleep, and when I woke up one of the Young Green Lizards was at the water! Adrenaline flooded my body as I hopped out of my hiding spot, moving to the front of my little trap. It hadnt noticed me yet, so I guess I should try and catch its attention.

SQUEAK!

[You have learned the Skill: Taunt! Taunt is now Level 1!]

ARE YOU MOCKING ME, SYSTEM!? FUCK YOU! IT IS YOUR AND PODIS FAULT THAT I AM A SQUEAKY TOAD!

I almost forgot about what I was doing when I got that notification. Fortunately, having a lizard that was the size of a small dog charging at me helped remind me of what I was doing. I turned and hopped my way down the hole with the lizard right behind me; it was fast!

It was very fast and big and strong, so it very easily broke my crude supports and the ceiling collapsed on us both. I started to dig my way out, feeling the vibrations of the struggling lizard behind me. I made it to the surface and proudly turned to observe my handiwork. The lizards tail was sticking out of the dirt and wiggling, so I just had to wait For it To

...Is it digging its way out?

Halfway through that thought I got smacked by the lizards tail and was tossed into the air.

[You have been hit! You have lost 20 hp!]

Holy fucking shit, by Podi that hurt! I was down to a mere ten health! Another hit like that and I would die instantly! I almost decided to cut and run into the water, but the lizard didnt look any better than me. It wasnt pursuing me for some reason and it actually seemed to be struggling to stand. So I hopped - painfully - over to a rock and kicked it at the lizard to start our dance again!

I am not sure how long it took, but eventually I squeaked out a win.

[You have defeated a Lvl. 2 (Young Green Lizard) and earned 31 xp!]

[For killing a monster in a higher evolution state than yourself, you have earned 100% extra experience! You earned 31 xp extra!]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 4!]

[You have gained +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, and +1 Vitality!]

It didnt feel like a win though, I was basically dead. My instincts were driving me towards suicidal decisions and it had nearly cost me this life. The main benefit of this fight wasnt the experience, but the fact that now that I was so injured my instincts had quieted down enough that I could really consider just hiding in my home and eating bugs instead of trying to hunt creatures dozens of times my size.

I limped home, dragged my wall back into some semblance of what a wall is supposed to look like, and went back to my little hole in the ground. I checked my menu, and while the gains did make me happy, the ten hp I had reminded me of how close I came to death.

Character Menu:

Name: - Species: Hatchling Boreal Toad Level: 4/5 Experience: 32/50

Class: -locked- Health: 10/48 Mana: 0/0 Stamina: 03/100

Statistics:

Str: 17 End: 16 Vit: 16 Agi: 9 Dex: 5

Per: 15 Acy: 20 Wil: 3 Cha: 12 Mgc: 1

Lck: 163

Abilities:

[Breathes through her Skin](racial)[Toxic Skin](racial)[Better First Impression]

[Healthy Thoughts][First Words][Killing Blow]

Skills:

Ambush: 1Analysis: 1Charge: 2Crafting: 1Digging: 5Dodge: 2

Jumping: 4Swimming: 2Stealth: 2Taunt: 1 Throwing: 1Trap Making: 1

How long would I be able to rest though? How long would I have before I got dragged around by my instincts into another idiotic decesion? I honestly felt a strange sort of terror with the realization that without Willpower I was less a toad with a human mind and more a toad with a human looking through its eyes while it went on about its life.

Sure, a regular toad wouldnt have been digging traps, but a reasonable human wouldnt be thinking about hunting when they were half dead! Could I work on my Willpower somehow? Maybe try to take up meditation? I had no clue, but I was going to have to try during my convalescence or I probably would die trying to kill a dragon with a bit of dirt or something equally stupid.