Finn was having a really nice dream. It wasn’t anything special or exciting. It was an old memory of the inn he grew up in, happening just after his first hunt.
He was only around 5 years old at the time, though it was something he took as a given because many kids from the villages started heading to the forest at around the same age, too.
Anyway, they were celebrating his first successful hunt by eating what he had captured (by setting up a trap his father helped him with, though at the time he thought he did everything).Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novelꜰire.net
His heart was warm and his stomach was full, very cozy—
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"Urrghhh..." he mumbled, rubbing his head on the soft pillow in annoyance. Still, he didn’t feel like sitting up yet, so he didn’t. He did, however, try to stretch some of the lethargy away.
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"!!!"
He shot up, blinking.
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"What in the..." Finn, who was wearing nothing but a boxer, ran to the room’s window to see. And the moment he opened the window, his face lost all blood. It was still dark, but the light of the moon was enough to give a silhouette that made one’s heart tighten.
BANG!
BANG!
"So many?"
[-1 Defense Point]
He blankly went to get his clothes (which had fortunately dried) and headed back out to check what was happening..., only to head back in again a moment later.
There were monsters— and there weren’t just one or three. Making a rough estimate, there should be a few dozen of them!
He also saw a few more varieties. It was still mostly the brindlejaws he had gone against the previous day, but there were also a few other types, each one terrifying and could definitely kill him with a single bite.
"Okay... so what to do... what to do..." he mumbled under his breath, unconsciously pacing around as he thought.
[-1 Defense Point]
" Shit... " he cursed, though he was still thinking of how to approach this.
One had to remember that even with the barrier on his side, a few monsters still managed to chip most of his life away. Now... What was this? Dozens?!
At this, he looked at his status to see where he stood.
[Status]
Name: Finnick Altheus Solthar
Race: Human
Class: Innkeeper, Chef
Level: Dormant
Awakening Type: N/A
Affinity: Unknown
...
VITALS
HP: 98/100
Mana: 100/100
Stamina: 86/100
Wallet: 150 Gold
Hearth Points: 500 Points
...
Skills:
Active: [Ingredient Scan] [Dish Analysis]
Passive: [Blade Proficiency - Growth Type (Lv 1)] [Monster Instinct]
[Strong Stomach] [Improved Palate] [Fire Resistance]
Condition: Peckish, -0.5 Stamina per 1 hour]
Well, at least his stats were almost full.
He was peckish again though...
[-1 Defense Point]
Anyway, this was not the time to think of these details.
He looked at Pang, who was chilling on the entrance stoop. Did he still think he was a big dragon within a limited moving space?
"Not going to help?" he couldn’t help but ask. He knew the answer, but he really didn’t know what to do.
"If you kill them and pull a part of them into the barrier, I can pull them in for you."
"...well, better than nothing."
Since he no longer had his precious newbie bone sword, he had no choice but to take his kitchen knives for battle. He knew that these ’non-ranked’ blades would not be able to damage ’awakened’ monsters, but what could he do?
BANG!
BANG!
ROAR!!
He shivered, his hold on the knife tightening due to anxiety. However, minutes ticked by, and the more he saw how they were unable to go through the barrier, the calmer he got.
No, he reminded himself, he wasn’t helpless.
He didn’t know why he was here, but he refused to believe he was sent here to die.
He immediately went to the sap tree again. It seemed like it had already regenerated and was ready for use, which was really comforting.
[Ingredient Scan]
He looked at the monsters bumping restlessly and determined which one had more damage. They probably didn’t come at the same time but in smaller groups, and this meant there was a group slightly more damaged than the others.
By damage, it just meant their heads were a bit pinkish but, as he already knew, it wasn’t enough to actually reduce their HPs significantly.
The most damaged one was the species he encountered first—the flat-faced lion. He now knew they were called Glecksmars.
He cracked his shoulder, suddenly feeling a bit more fighting spirit. This monster scared him to death yesterday. Was it finally time for revenge?!
He looked at the monsters who were trying to bump into the barrier. They weren’t suicidal yet, just bumping it over and over like someone knocking on the door. Was it because he got healed already? The ’smell’ of injury must’ve gotten cleaned a lot.
[-1 Defense Point]
The most injured group wasn’t too far from him, and he immediately went there, dousing these damned monsters with the sap on their heads, hopefully softening them up even if just a little.
GRRRR—
ROAARR!
[-1 Defense Point]
Confirming their heads were weakened, Finn raised his blade, but he did not attack the beasts.
The knife was too short. To cause damage to the monsters, unless the monsters were already down or he could time their barrages perfectly, he’d have to extend his arms outside the barrier!
Call him a coward, but there was no way he’d risk his precious hands like that!
Fortunately, while he didn’t have a useful weapon in the conventional sense, he was blessed with plenty of tools at least, the shield being the most important of them.
Slash!
Instead of the monster, the blade passed his upper arm instead, creating a shallow wound that bled just enough to affect the monsters immediately near him.
Pang flinched behind him, blinking, not expecting Finn to injure himself on purpose—at least not after. Finn, on the other hand, knew that he had limited instruments in this fight. For better or for worse, his own fresh blood was one of them.
That said, he was a cook, so his palms were off-limits. He also needed his legs for mobility, so that left his upper arm.
Anyway, like before, it bled a bit, but even just a small wound was enough to drive the monsters into a frenzy.
The more monsters there were, the more chaotic it was. There were nearly two dozen monsters in his spot alone.
Now... all those monsters were squeezing into each other, following after his blood, and recklessly bumping into the barrier.
Bloodied hands raised, he moved parallel to the barrier, causing confusion amongst the beasts, and they just started to either squeeze or step on each other more as they tried to go after him.
"Human blood is really attractive to them..." he couldn’t help but mumble. He had seen it before, but seeing so many monsters affected like this was really...special.
Granted, only monsters about a few meters or so away were really affected, but that was enough to cause them passive damage.
Pang rolled to the side, making another unsolicited comment. "Wait til’ you’re awakened. They would love it even more."
"..."
Was that supposed to be a good thing?