Chương 121: 120 - Mossback

Tracking was a convenient skill. That much was immediately evident as the way Alexandra saw the forest transformed before her eyes. Stray leaves became clues, spots of displaced dirt markers she could follow. Even the bark of trees told her the story of how the local fauna moved around the woods. The Training Quest was asking her to find the beasts she was tracking.

"Sure enough," she whispered, dispelling her journal. She focused on the idea of a Mossback, trying to feed it into her newest skill. There wasn't one in the clearing. That was a relief considering she'd just spent all her contribution points balance to look for the beast. Alexandra walked deeper into the forest until her skill reacted. It wasn't moss that triggered it, but a single fallen leaf on a low-lying bush. She couldn't quite make sense of it, but she followed the feeling and walked a few minutes further.

There, a patch of moss pulled her attention. It was like any other patch of moss, a deep green cushion growing out of the ground. At least, she was certain that she wouldn't have noticed it without Tracking. Tracking Training Quest Completed x 1 -> 20 contribution points Tracking 1 -> 2 She clutched her spear in both hands and crept closer to the hiding beast. When she was in range, she paused. Was it better to strike with her spear first, or to cast her Drain Life, Aggressive Assimilation combo first?

Either would let the Mossback know she'd seen it. Doubting that she could kill it in one strike, she opted for the latter. She stepped back, sending multiple threads of mana toward the beast. They latched onto its lifeforce with less resistance than she thought. She pulled. Drain Life. The lifeforce came gushing out, and the Mossback with it. It erupted off the ground with a squeak, and Alexandra finally got a good look at it. It was a piglike creature with moss covering its back.

Nothing unexpected, except perhaps its size. The pig was towering over her, closer in size to a rhinoceros. Its face was adorned with two short, sharp tusks. It locked onto her. Charged. Alexandra moved, keeping her Drain Life active and feeding it into Aggressive Assimilation. She didn't know what buff she'd get, but she was about to find out. The Mossback was fast. She barely stumbled out of the way as it rushed past her and struggled to stop, digging a trench into the ground.

Slowly, the pig turned around and prepared to charge again. That's when Alexandra felt it. An urge. Her eyes wouldn't close.

"Fuck, what's that?" She gritted her teeth. The Mossback tapped its foot on the ground. Its gaze locked into hers. It puffed. A provocation. She had to meet it head-on. She lowered her spear and growled. She was going to do it. The Mossback charged.

"Fuck that." She cut off her mana threads, and the urge to match the beast's charge vanished. Alexandra jumped to the side, letting the monster crash into the trees behind her. How was that a buff? She wasn't beating a Silver Mossback at its own game. She clutched her spear tighter and ran for the pig while it was recovering from its failed charge. Fuck it. If she couldn't use her fancy skills, she'd just beat the beast the old-fashioned way.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Inflict Weakness. She was fast, but the Mossback was able to turn back in time. It met her with its tusks, and she was forced to dodge to the side. She didn't create distance between her and her opponent. Instead, she stuck close to its body. Holding her spear close to its tip, she used it like a knife to stab the Mossback's side. It went in, drawing dark blood out of the wound, but the beast didn't react.

She had time to stab her spear once more before the Mossback swung its torso sideways to shake her off. Alexandra released her grip on the shaft and rolled backward to avoid the counter-strike. She kept her distance at exactly three meters, watching the monster's front legs pivot. The beast rushed toward her. Instead of backing away, Alexandra drove her weight forward. She kicked the protruding spear handle like a lever, wrenching the blade deeper into the muscle.

The Mossback's back leg buckled, ruining its alignment. Its speed dropped significantly. She used the opportunity to pull her spear free. Snorting through the pain, the monster violently whipped its head laterally to impale her with its right tusk. Alexandra ducked completely underneath the horizontal arc of the strike. She used her momentum to slide along the beast's unprotected underbelly. The lethal spike missed her entirely. She positioned herself directly beneath its center of mass.

Realizing she was underneath, the Mossback dropped its entire torso straight down to crush her. Alexandra planted both feet against its front leg and shoved herself out from under the falling mass. The beast slammed into the dirt. Before it could recover, she planted her spear into its throat. The impact rattled the monster. Suffocating and weakened, the Mossback entered a frenzy. It blindly thrashed its head and stomped its front hooves to clear the space.

Alexandra stepped back and maintained a strict distance, tracking its predictable trajectory. As its head slammed into the ground during a missed stomp, she vaulted onto its moss-covered back. She secured a high-ground position, completely out of reach of its tusks. The beast reared up on its hind legs, attempting to throw her off and crush her against a nearby tree trunk. Alexandra planted her spear into its neck and leaned forward, gripping the handle of her embedded spear with both hands.

The Mossback slammed its rear weight backward against the nearest tree, the impact sending a violent jolt up the shaft of her spear. Alexandra did not try to hold her ground against the crushing force. She loosened her grip slightly, using the beast's backward surge to propel herself away from the trunk just before her spine could be pinned. She dropped into a low crouch, landing on a patch of crushed ferns.

The monster rolled its massive shoulders, the thick layer of moss on its back tearing where her spear remained deeply embedded. Blood mixed with dark soil and green fibers, spilling down its flank. It dropped back onto all four legs, the impact rattling the nearby roots. Its breath came in ragged, wheezing gasps, its chest heaving unevenly as the puncture wound in its throat leaked dark fluids. Still, it refused to stop.

The creature pivoted on its good front leg, its tusks scraping a wide, destructive arc through the low-lying brush as it tried to lock its gaze back onto her. Alexandra stayed low, circling in the opposite direction of its blind side. The Mossback exhaled a thick plume of crimson-tinged vapor and launched itself into a desperate, short-range charge. It lacked the explosive momentum from before; the severed muscles in its sides caused it to limp heavily, its posture tilting toward the injured side.

She waited until the final half-second. As the tusk bore down on her position, she executed a sharp side-step, letting the beast's own failing trajectory carry it past her. The monster could not arrest its momentum. It stumbled forward, its snout plowing into the dirt, before it finally tipped over onto its wounded side with a heavy, hollow thud. It thrashed its legs weakly, attempting to push its massive torso back upward, but its movements were slow and uncoordinated.

The rapid respiration rate began to drop, replaced by long, shuddering tremors that shook its entire frame. Alexandra watched the last of the fight drain out of the monster's muscles. It lay pinned under its own immense weight, completely exhausted. Only when it stopped moving completely did she summon her journal.

Hunt a Mossback (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +10 exp, +1 STR Daily Quest Streak: 77 -> 78 Inflict Weakness Training Quest Completed x 1 -> 1, 800 contribution points Inflict Weakness 13 -> 14 Inflict Weakness Training Quest Completed x 1 -> 500 contribution points Drain Life 5 -> 6 Inflict Weakness Training Quest Completed x 1 -> 400 contribution points Aggressive Assimilation 4 -> 5 Manyfold Style 4 -> 5 Achievement Upgraded! Defiance II -> Defiance III Defiance III: Slay a Silver rank while being at the Bronze rank.

+10 all stats.

"Good, but…" She'd leveled a few too many skills for her liking. The boost from her streak was turning against her. She felt the need to optimize her contribution point farming, and this just wasn't it. Her shoulders sagged. There was no fighting it. Her streak was more important. Alexandra shook herself awake. She had to be happy with this fight. No injury, no curse, and she'd even progressed Giant Slayer's Training Quest.

If the reward pattern held true, her only rare skill was the path to buying an uncommon skill. The third level of defiance had given her an extra five points to all stats. With her other achievements improving it by twenty-five percent, it was still a nice amount, even if it didn't have the same effect on her as before. By now, her attributes were high enough that a few points here and there wouldn't make a large difference. She smiled and wrenched her spear free from the Mossback's neck.

That was simply how the grind was. If a few points weren't enough, she'd just have to keep going.