Cass and Luna arrived at the edge of the forest around 1 hour after speaking to Lucian. This place was not unfamiliar to Cass, who had hunted on the forest's edge many times in the past.
'Cass, your dad told me not to interfere unless you really need it. You need to get a feel for fighting for yourself. If I think you need help, I will step in.'
'Thanks, Luna. You don't know how much it means to me to have you here! Let's go!'
Venturing further into the forest than he ever had before, Cass was nervous but excited. He couldn't wait to put his new skills and his new gear to use. He stalked through the forest, a spear in each hand, scanning for tell-tale signs of activity.
It didn't take him long to notice some hair that had been left on a branch, and he turned to Luna. 'There is fur here. Can you smell anything nearby?'
Sniff! Sniff!
'Maybe 100 metres that way, it smells like a star beast.'
Cass and Luna move as quietly as possible in that direction and eventually come to a small clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing, Cass saw 3 moving shapes gathered around a fourth unmoving shape. The scent of blood hung in the air.
'1-star beasts. Looks like they killed a deer and are eating their fill. Cass, when they notice you, they won't hesitate. They will charge you instantly. They aren't smart, but there are 3 of them, so pay attention to what they do.'
Cass nodded at Luna's words and stepped out into the clearing. He charged up a 15 mana [Thunderball] and sent it flying towards one of the shapes. The ball sparked and sent out arcs of electricity as it barreled across the clearing and made contact with the closest star beast.
The star beast howled in pain and flopped to the floor. The other 2 immediately stopped eating and charged at Cass. Cass readied himself in the stance that felt most natural to him and waited.
The beasts were nothing like ordinary animals. They had striped fur that alternated between purple and black, their mouths slick with the blood of the deer they had killed. They were the size of a small dog, but visually, Cass thought they were more similar to hyenas.
The beasts were charging towards him as fast as they could. One trailing a few metres behind the other. The only noise they made was the crunching of their paws on the floor of the clearing.
The lead beast opened its mouth wider than seemed natural and leapt. If Cass hadn't thrust one of his spears forward, his head could have easily been swallowed in its jaws. The spear intercepted the beast mid-leap and dug hard into the upper chest area. Purple blood ran down the length of the spear towards Cass's arm. The beast yelped and flailed its legs, helplessly hanging off the tip of the spear like skewered meat.
The second beast also leapt at him, but instead of thrusting his spear, Cass moved to the side, allowing the beast to pass by. He quickly rotated the spear inside the impaled beast and pulled it back out. The beast fell to the ground, not moving, blood flowing out of the open wound.
[Slain 1-star beast - 10 points]
The system flashed in the corner of Cass's eye, but he did not have the chance to check anything. The second beast had already turned on its heels and started sprinting towards him. Cass readied himself once more, and when the beast jumped, he turned and leant back, swinging his outside hand at the same time.
The beast fell to the ground with a thud! Cass immediately took advantage of its weakened state and plunged a spear into the back of its neck. He felt something give way, and then his system flashed once more.
[Slain 1-star beast - 10 points]
Cass knew that there was still one more beast. The beast he had hit with his thunderball, but as he had not received a system message, it must still be alive. Cass scanned the clearing for any sign of it, and saw it limping slowly in the direction of the tree line.
He changed his grip on the spear, took aim and applied 5 mana points to [Power throw]. He launched the spear as hard as he could, and felt immediate pain in his right shoulder.
The spear, travelling with a speed far higher than Cass could normally have managed, cut a straight path through the air and impaled the beast attempting to flee.
[Slain 1-star beast - 10 points]
Cass began to walk over to the final dead beast while keeping a watchful eye. Luna came out from behind a tree, showing him a beaming smile. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting to reward him for his good work.
'Oww! Damn!'
'Are you ok, did one of them get you?' Luna started moving her head around swiftly, trying to find the source of his pain.
'No, they didn't, I got myself! That throw was a skill, I didn't realise that just 5 mana could have that much of a backlash on my body.'
Cass grabbed the bottle of healing pills from his [Box], opened the container, bit down on the pill and swallowed.
The pain immediately subsided, and Cass felt a slight drop in his mana reserves. He retrieved the spear embedded in the beast's head and stored them.
'How did I do for my first real fight?'
'That was great. First, the thunder spell, then the spears. Your decisions were spot on, and your battle strength was good. I have no criticisms.'
'Great! I am so glad to hear that! Let's skin these beasts and take their meat. I can store it in my [Box] and it won't go bad.'
The two lovers collected the 3 beasts together in the clearing and began dressing them. Once the skin was removed and beasts bled, Cass cut off quite a few chunks of meat, and stored them away.
He had killed 3 out of the 10 he wished to hunt. 7 more to go.