Walking in the direction they found the first marked tree, they quickly found more trees with similar patterns carved in their bark. These marks were much more clear than the first, potentially due to whatever making them forget about it.
Using the (Tracking) skill for the first time as they hadn't come across any other noticeable marks before now, Alex was able to see a faint hue radiating from the scratch-marks.
Looking to the other trees the marks were on, Alex could see the same hue coming from them. Assuming that meant the marks were made by either the same creature or same type of creature, that meant that they had found the territory of something. And from the depth of the markings on the trees, Alex assumed that the creature would likely be able to rend their armor, but that didn't discourage him. After all, in exchange for a little pain, they would gain experience, which was permanent.
Worst case scenario, they would make a run for it to the road and sprint as long as they could back to Mosshaven. Alex doubted that whatever lurked in the woods would be fond of heading near Mosshaven, after all, why else would the borders of the forest be so barren of sentient life.
"All right, it looks like we stumbled on the perimeter of something or someone's territory. Since it's claw marks and not something more advanced, I assume it's some sort of animal or less intelligent monster. Think this Dream has goblins? They're a classic…"
Hearing Alex's comment, G's brow tightened in dissatisfaction.
"I hope it's not goblins, I don't think I'm mentally prepared for those in a Dream this realistic. Plus, I may not need to eat, but I can still smell, and they probably smell rancid."
Chuckling lightly, Alex continued to examine the area around the trees, then let out another shout for (Echolocation). Taking a moment to listen, they turned to G and pointed the way they had been walking.
"Alright, I think we have been getting deeper in this thing's territory. That way should lead towards the center, but I have no idea how big the territory is. Also, maybe extinguish the torch. I'll give you a warning when I hear anything, and we don't want them to see us coming."
"Alright, but you better warn me in time to actually do something."
Both of them crouching down with Alex in front, they continued forward at a slow, quiet pace. Placing each step carefully due to the uneven ground throughout the whole forest, they progressed deeper into the area.
After what felt like an hour of slow, purposeful movement, Alex finally spotted something. Relying on their (Nightvision) skill as to not alert their quarry from the shout need for (Echolocation), he could only make out a grey silhouette partially hidden behind a tree.
Turning towards G, he quietly tapped their arm and pointed it in the direction of the figure, hoping they understood his intent. Pitch black now as the towering canopy blocked the moonlight, Alex slowly pulled his short bow off his back, and slid an arrow out of his quiver.
Keeping his eyes on the figure, which upon closer inspection looked to be some sort of short, 4 legged beast, he quietly whispered to G, who had moved just in front of him to the left, using a tree trunk as cover.
"I'm going to use (Echolocation) after losing the first arrow in case there's more, but I only see one for now. I can't tell what it is from this angle, but it doesn't look very big…"
Nodding to Alex as they knew he could see them, G readied their spear by their side.
'Breathe in…breathe out…steady now…'
Focusing his breathing and notching the arrow, Alex carefully aimed at the visible hip of the creature as the head wasn't visible, hoping to partially or completely immobilize it.
With little fanfare, Alex loosed the arrow. Feeling a rush of air accompanied by the bowstrings rebound, Alex felt as if the world was moving in slow motion.
Missing the mark slightly, the arrow hit the creature in the flank, a painful but ultimately non-critical wound. The creature, awoken by the sudden sharp pain in its side, thrashed for a moment before turning towards them, letting out a high pitched, bestial screech.
Now having a much better view of the beast, Alex could make out its features with a bit of clarity. Never having seen one in reality, Alex had seen wolves in various forms of media, and this looked similar. The only difference was a shorter but wider snout, reminding him more of a hyena. The creature's teeth were already bared in a vicious snarl as it rushed towards him.
Backstepping quickly, Alex held the bow in his left hand while grabbing an arrow from his quiver to use as a makeshift dagger.
When loosing the first arrow, Alex had been about 30 feet away, but the beast crossed that threshold with impressive speed considering the arrow in its side. Focused on the immediate, the wolf-like creature lunged for Alex.
As it jumped however, a spear came from the creature's unwounded side. Completely unseen by the frenzied animal, G's piercing strike struck true, embedding the spearhead into its flank.
Leveraging the spear to push the beast onto its side, G pinned its neck against the ground.
"Finish it!"
Hearing G's hushed shout, Alex quickly prepared the arrow he had readied as a dagger. Mere feet away from the creature, its bloodlust didn't seem to lessen in the slightest despite the grievous wound in its side. Alex knocked the arrow, then loosed it directly at the creature's wriggling head.
Piercing into the creature's skull, it squirmed for a few more seconds before stopping completely.
While the beast lay limp on the ground, Alex heard a voice in his head, contrasting against the almost completely silent forest.
*You have slain "Lesser Warg".*
*Congratulations, you have accrued enough experience to level up.*
Letting the tension leave his body, Alex let out a sigh.
'That went pretty well, all things considered. Thankfully, I got a notification when it died.'
Regaining his calmness, Alex let out a burst of (Echolocation). Not sensing any immediate threats, he got up.
"I think we are alone out here. Are you alright?"
G, resting for a moment before digging their spear out of the corpse, stood up and leaned against the tree.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It didn't even sense me apparently, so all it took out of me was a sneak attack. Did you get a notification for the kill? I heard one, but I didn't land the final blow."
While listening to G, Alex plucked the arrows out of the warg's body and wiped them on the pelt. When they said they also got a notification, Alex's eyebrows raised a bit.
'I guess it's about some level of contribution rather than just landing the killing blow. I wonder what happens if a bunch of people team up to kill something…do they all get experience, or just the ones who did enough damage.'
"We should probably make camp soon, then make our way back in the morning. The body won't be much good by then, so help me with skinning this thing."
"Alright."
Walking over, they lowered their spear and leaned it against the tree closest to the beast.
"How heavy is the body?"
Giving the warg a half-hearted shove with his boot, the warg was pushed a few inches.
"Doesn't seem too heavy. We could probably lift the body pretty easily together."
Putting his bow on his back, Alex bent down and put both hands around the body, and lifted. The warg was heavy, and being deadweight didn't make lifting it any easier, but it was still manageable.
"Put it up against this tree, and keep its head up. Oh, and keep your mouth closed."
Doing as they said, Alex pinned it against the tree, and moved his head to the side.
As soon as his head was out of the way, G let out a grunt and stabbed their spear as hard as they could straight through the beast's neck and into the tree trunk, pinning the beast to the tree.
"Alright Alex, you're the hunter, right? Go ahead and dismantle it so we have something to sell back in town. At worst, we can use it to carry anything else we hunt back."
Frowning while shaking off the blood that got on his head and shoulders, he pulled back out an arrow.
'Well, time to get messier…I wish I had a knife.'