by Now that was something more of his style! No more farming, no more planting seeds all day! Took him a while, but he managed to find a good contract. He had lived his earlier life in a village full of huntsmen. Now, granted, he had dropped his training a while ago and left before completing it...but he still knew how to hunt things! Hell, he technically hunted a dragon once. Admittedly that hunting session did not really go out as planned and ended up with him in quite the pickle for around two years time. He still came out on top though. Be it by luck or outside factors, the mere fact of him standing there holding the scroll with the contract in his right hand meant that he had not perished.
Alrighty then, let us start from the beginning. The contract spoke about some sort of predator around those parts. It was quite the troublemaker, no wonder people wanted it removed. Well then, time to dust off old teachings and get to it. First things first, he needed to find a trail. No trail meant no predator. No dead predator meant no payment. Finding it would be easier said than done, but Tyson was confident he could pick up the odd details out if he visited the last known location and just connect the dots. The rest would come by itself. Glancing over the contract one last time, the mage looked for any clues regarding damage to private property. Sure enough, there it was. It wasn't too far from where he currently was right now too.
He arrived on the "scene of the crime" in a little over 30 minutes. He made sure to look for the owner and ask permission first to snoop around, then there he goes inspecting every nuck and cranny to find something, anything, that could at the very least give him a nudge in the right direction. At this point even a vague idea would be better than just aimlessly running around in circle like a headless chicken.
Whatever that thing was, it sure was gnarly. It had chewed up the fence and everything. A closer inspection in the splintered wood would suggest the perpetrator was indeed a predator, judging by the shape of the dents. He could make out two spots where he could safely assume the marks created there had been created by a pair of canines. Good, good. That was a start. Another ten minutes of investigation would yield similar results...until Tyson noticed something. It was kinda hidden there, so no wonder he had not found it out earlier. It was...fur. Well, a single strand of fur.
Tyson quickly pucked it out of the wooden fence. His target must had left it there when it made its escape. Standing back up, the mage moved towards a source of light to better examine his finding. Well, it was undeniably silverish in color. That would rule out bears and other brown furred meat eaters. Judging by the length...there was no way to mistake it. They were dealing with a wolf. A normal everyday grey wolf, hopefully. That explained a bunch of things like the marks on the fence or the general damage that had been caused. A bigger beast would not have been able to snuck inside without causing way more ruckus.
He now knew where to search. Wooden areas, possibly the mountains, but those seemed way to far and way too out of reach for a single wolf to come all the way down there to create problems and then scuttle back up. One question remained though. Why a lone wolf? Why would a single wolf be the cause of every problem around town. Despite the old sayings, wolves are more likely to hunt in packs and don't usually approach human settlements too much. Perhaps he should look around a bit more and see if he could confirm his hypothesis or if he would be able to find more clue leading to a clearer picture of the situation...
Slow and steady. Slooooow and steady. He was probably in the wolf's territory now, which meant that if he was not careful the beast could hear him coming. That would be bad, cause it would probably push the wolf to flee, which would make it all the more difficult tracking it down again. There was also the trouble of creating a "Deviant". That was the terms the people of his village used to refer to any kind of beast that survived a hunter encounter. Each and every time they would survive they'd learn new tricks and ways of fighting off their aggressors, meaning that with each failed attempt the prey would grow stronger and stronger. Well, not stronger as in more buff but stronger in the sense that it would be way more difficult to hunt. Some deviants even exhibited a completely different behaviour from the usual specimens too.
Even then Tyson guessed he wouldn't need to go too deep inside the wood he was now finding himself in. The woodland seemed ominously quiet the further he ventured. He paused to catch his breath for just a moment, now that even the sound of his own footfalls was silent, all that could be heard was the rustling of the leaves in the gusty wind. Aside from the mell of damp leaves, very faint splashes of water, cascades over tiny waterfalls, a bunch of fungi on rotting tree stumps, no rustle of roosting birds, no twigs snapping, no curious sounds...nothing. Nothing that would indicate any life around.
Perhaps he was just paranoid. Perhaps his sense had got dull after all that time not hunting. He doubted it was the fault of a bigger beast than his target. No magic presence either, as far as he could tell. Wait...can common animals even have actual magic aside from dragons and mythical creatures? Even then, would they be able to hide their signature?
While the Slayer would not completely rule out the possibility, he found that thought to be highly unlikely to nigh impossible. There was always a time for everything though. Maybe he was simply looking it from the wrong angle. Actually...now that he mulled over it, he could technically use magic to his advantage!
Tyson squatted down and closed his eyes. Focus. Breathe. In and out, in and out. Just like his old pal taught him, the Weave was much more than simple mana. Everything was connected through the weave. It was the reason you could pull and twist it to call forth that connection and create the effects you wish for. Now, if he just concentrated enough, he coul probably be able to find something.
...
Nothing yet.
...
...
wait for it...
...
Tyson turned to his left, opening his eyes. Found it.
It was a wolf alright, a rabid wolf to be precise. That explained the ravaging and violent behavior, but also meant that he couldn't afford getting bitten by the animal. He did not have any healing magic ready with him, hell he was the embodiment of poison and all things poison. That was like, the opposite of healing.
Alrighty, so, how to deal with a rabid beast 101: Keep it from running away but don't box it in an overly enclosed area. That would just make it even more likely to attack viciously out of fear. Step two make sure-OH GOD OH GOD IT'S COMING RUN!-
Right, apparently, you just could not follow theory books when you have a rabid beast going for your throat every single second. Tyson had to resort to a new strategy. Good thing improv was his strongsuit. He had the stamina needed to get that wolf to tire out. It was just like playing bullfight with friends, only that if you get tagged you get rabies. He had to come up with something fast. He could weave a poison around and neutralize the threat, but that would mean damaging the surrounding area too. Poison is indiscriminate. It hits everything and anything. Still, he did not come there completely unprepared.
A good half an hour went on of just chasing and dodging. Thankfully, the wolf began showing signs of getting tired, which would allow the mage to whip out a net and toss it the beast's way. The first attempt failed, but the next one succeeded. Once he had the wolf trapped in the thick net it was just a matter of keeping it still while he tied it up. Thankfully, using his own weight helped. The guy was still wiggling even after Tyson had it tied up like a salami. The man sat down on the forest's floor, catching his breath. Man, he could really use a shower now.
All in all, not too shabby. He would go back to his contractor and hand over the captured wolf. He wasn't going to kill it, he would let the employer decide what to do with the beast. Whatever ended up happening, there was no longer any risk of incidents happing around the village or the areas around for the time being. However, he would not mind if he was called back after a while for more hunts. Despite a close call here and there, he kinda had fun with this assignment. Plus, he would get a hefty amount of jewels for the trouble. Right now though, he wanted a shower and a good feast. He surely had earned it.
WC: 1582
Alrighty then, let us start from the beginning. The contract spoke about some sort of predator around those parts. It was quite the troublemaker, no wonder people wanted it removed. Well then, time to dust off old teachings and get to it. First things first, he needed to find a trail. No trail meant no predator. No dead predator meant no payment. Finding it would be easier said than done, but Tyson was confident he could pick up the odd details out if he visited the last known location and just connect the dots. The rest would come by itself. Glancing over the contract one last time, the mage looked for any clues regarding damage to private property. Sure enough, there it was. It wasn't too far from where he currently was right now too.
He arrived on the "scene of the crime" in a little over 30 minutes. He made sure to look for the owner and ask permission first to snoop around, then there he goes inspecting every nuck and cranny to find something, anything, that could at the very least give him a nudge in the right direction. At this point even a vague idea would be better than just aimlessly running around in circle like a headless chicken.
Whatever that thing was, it sure was gnarly. It had chewed up the fence and everything. A closer inspection in the splintered wood would suggest the perpetrator was indeed a predator, judging by the shape of the dents. He could make out two spots where he could safely assume the marks created there had been created by a pair of canines. Good, good. That was a start. Another ten minutes of investigation would yield similar results...until Tyson noticed something. It was kinda hidden there, so no wonder he had not found it out earlier. It was...fur. Well, a single strand of fur.
Tyson quickly pucked it out of the wooden fence. His target must had left it there when it made its escape. Standing back up, the mage moved towards a source of light to better examine his finding. Well, it was undeniably silverish in color. That would rule out bears and other brown furred meat eaters. Judging by the length...there was no way to mistake it. They were dealing with a wolf. A normal everyday grey wolf, hopefully. That explained a bunch of things like the marks on the fence or the general damage that had been caused. A bigger beast would not have been able to snuck inside without causing way more ruckus.
He now knew where to search. Wooden areas, possibly the mountains, but those seemed way to far and way too out of reach for a single wolf to come all the way down there to create problems and then scuttle back up. One question remained though. Why a lone wolf? Why would a single wolf be the cause of every problem around town. Despite the old sayings, wolves are more likely to hunt in packs and don't usually approach human settlements too much. Perhaps he should look around a bit more and see if he could confirm his hypothesis or if he would be able to find more clue leading to a clearer picture of the situation...
Slow and steady. Slooooow and steady. He was probably in the wolf's territory now, which meant that if he was not careful the beast could hear him coming. That would be bad, cause it would probably push the wolf to flee, which would make it all the more difficult tracking it down again. There was also the trouble of creating a "Deviant". That was the terms the people of his village used to refer to any kind of beast that survived a hunter encounter. Each and every time they would survive they'd learn new tricks and ways of fighting off their aggressors, meaning that with each failed attempt the prey would grow stronger and stronger. Well, not stronger as in more buff but stronger in the sense that it would be way more difficult to hunt. Some deviants even exhibited a completely different behaviour from the usual specimens too.
Even then Tyson guessed he wouldn't need to go too deep inside the wood he was now finding himself in. The woodland seemed ominously quiet the further he ventured. He paused to catch his breath for just a moment, now that even the sound of his own footfalls was silent, all that could be heard was the rustling of the leaves in the gusty wind. Aside from the mell of damp leaves, very faint splashes of water, cascades over tiny waterfalls, a bunch of fungi on rotting tree stumps, no rustle of roosting birds, no twigs snapping, no curious sounds...nothing. Nothing that would indicate any life around.
Perhaps he was just paranoid. Perhaps his sense had got dull after all that time not hunting. He doubted it was the fault of a bigger beast than his target. No magic presence either, as far as he could tell. Wait...can common animals even have actual magic aside from dragons and mythical creatures? Even then, would they be able to hide their signature?
While the Slayer would not completely rule out the possibility, he found that thought to be highly unlikely to nigh impossible. There was always a time for everything though. Maybe he was simply looking it from the wrong angle. Actually...now that he mulled over it, he could technically use magic to his advantage!
Tyson squatted down and closed his eyes. Focus. Breathe. In and out, in and out. Just like his old pal taught him, the Weave was much more than simple mana. Everything was connected through the weave. It was the reason you could pull and twist it to call forth that connection and create the effects you wish for. Now, if he just concentrated enough, he coul probably be able to find something.
...
Nothing yet.
...
...
wait for it...
...
Tyson turned to his left, opening his eyes. Found it.
It was a wolf alright, a rabid wolf to be precise. That explained the ravaging and violent behavior, but also meant that he couldn't afford getting bitten by the animal. He did not have any healing magic ready with him, hell he was the embodiment of poison and all things poison. That was like, the opposite of healing.
Alrighty, so, how to deal with a rabid beast 101: Keep it from running away but don't box it in an overly enclosed area. That would just make it even more likely to attack viciously out of fear. Step two make sure-OH GOD OH GOD IT'S COMING RUN!-
Right, apparently, you just could not follow theory books when you have a rabid beast going for your throat every single second. Tyson had to resort to a new strategy. Good thing improv was his strongsuit. He had the stamina needed to get that wolf to tire out. It was just like playing bullfight with friends, only that if you get tagged you get rabies. He had to come up with something fast. He could weave a poison around and neutralize the threat, but that would mean damaging the surrounding area too. Poison is indiscriminate. It hits everything and anything. Still, he did not come there completely unprepared.
A good half an hour went on of just chasing and dodging. Thankfully, the wolf began showing signs of getting tired, which would allow the mage to whip out a net and toss it the beast's way. The first attempt failed, but the next one succeeded. Once he had the wolf trapped in the thick net it was just a matter of keeping it still while he tied it up. Thankfully, using his own weight helped. The guy was still wiggling even after Tyson had it tied up like a salami. The man sat down on the forest's floor, catching his breath. Man, he could really use a shower now.
All in all, not too shabby. He would go back to his contractor and hand over the captured wolf. He wasn't going to kill it, he would let the employer decide what to do with the beast. Whatever ended up happening, there was no longer any risk of incidents happing around the village or the areas around for the time being. However, he would not mind if he was called back after a while for more hunts. Despite a close call here and there, he kinda had fun with this assignment. Plus, he would get a hefty amount of jewels for the trouble. Right now though, he wanted a shower and a good feast. He surely had earned it.
WC: 1582
