The 'Shadow Panther' - ruffly a 'B' class monster known for it's dark fur and feline body. While compared to other 'B' class monsters it is quite weak, the Black Panther's main strength is its ability to hide its presence, mana output and fluctuations and, ofcourse move without sound. A perfect ambush hunter. The only reason I was able to spot it was because it was injured and I was able to smell its blood.
My job class is Assassin, that means I specialize in sneak attacks. In order to perform such an attack I first need to be out of sight, That's why I spent most of my time in the heroes' bootcamp training my stealth. And when you become adept at stealth you naturally start becoming more adept at spotting others that are stealthed. And while other assassins usually only enhance their eyes while scouting, I tend to enhance my hearing and sense of smell as well - just to be safe. I can't believe it actually paid off!
This Shadow Panther probably encountered a stronger monster and almost became its lunch and now it is badly injured and in need of food.
Good, Let the hunt begin!
As planned we put out the fire and acted as if we were going to sleep - alchemy boy clutching his spear and me holding on to the item he gave me. It took a while for the Shadow Panther to make its move but it did.
It slowly got close to me, limping painfully, instinctively knowing that I was injured - hence an easier target and when it lowered its head to bite through my jugular, I hit it with it - straight to the face with a pepper bomb. As soon as my attack landed I hugged the Black panther around the neck, enhancing my body with mana in order not to lose my grip.
It was surprised, furious and most importantly in pain. It was swinging and lashing out at random as the pepper bomb's particles burned the monster's nose and eyes. While I had fastened a piece of cloth around my nose and mouth before going to 'sleep' and had closed my eyes as soon as the pepper bomb shattered, I still got affected my self although, it wasn't that bad.
"Now!!!" I screamed giving the signal and my companion immediately charged screaming, pointing the tip of his spear thorwards the monsters' side. As the hit landed the Black panther hissed in pain, got out of my grip and improved my face with three deep claw marks, then it staggered for a bit and went down.
"A-are you OK?" I heard while trying to catch my breath.
I wiped my face with my hand and saw blood, a lot of it. This startled me at first, but I quickly regained my composure. I checked my eyes and they both seemed to not to have been damaged, which was a relief.
I couldn't believe that the plan actually worked. With a few mishaps, but nonetheless it was a solid idea.
"Yea, I'm fine" that technically wasn't a lie, it's just a shame that I probably became even more unappealing than before. "We should hurry up and prepare the medicine before the scent of blood attracts more monsters."
"Y-yea"
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It took my mastermind around 45 minutes to set up an alchemy lab and brew the potion. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled that I would have to drink the Shadow panther's blood, but before that There was something else to do.
"Well, it's time. To set your leg in place that is." he looked kind of excited, as if this was a game for him, while I dreaded the additional pain I was about to encore.
"Have you… ever done this before?" I asked hesitantly.
"Nope, not once" he looked at me and gave a chilling smile "you will be my first victi-I mean my first patient."
Fuck!!!
"Oh and we don't have anesthesia"
Double fuck!!!
My new, sick in the head, doctor ordered me to lay down. When I did that he took hold of my broken leg and pulled on it. HARD!
After some screaming from me, he twisted it into place, gently released it and finally fastened it in place. He did all of that with the most innocent smile and there has never been a time in my life I Wanted to kill someone more than then.
Then came time to try the elixir.
To be blunt, It didn't look right and I really did not want to drink it.
"Hey tell me how you managed to protect all of your ingredients from the fall" I asked, trying to change the subject or at least buy some time.
"The clay containers storing them were always wrapped in leather individually and I held my bag above my head while jumping. Now drink, you don't want it to get cold do you?"
He knows!!!
I looked at the cup with the elixir, took a deep breath and downed it in one shot. Surprisingly, the taste wasn't that bad. I looked at my companion and was about to say something, but then it kicked in. The pain.
It was unbearable. It felt as if all of my bones were breaking into pieces and fusing back together. My muscles - tearing and reforming. Over and over, thousands of times per second.
I was screaming for help. I Prayed to the gods, the devils, the buddhas, anyone I could think of. But it was futile.
My vision blurring I saw Alex rushing to me to try and help. He was mouthing something, but I didn't hear a thing. He looked desperate, but did not know what to do. He tried holding me down, but his touch felt so incredibly painful and I screamed even more.
After a few seconds that felt like an eternity to me, I saw a faint light coming from his hand and a soothing warmth filled my body. It helped with the pain a bit and I was able to slightly relax until finally the darkness took over me and I fell asleep.