Artistic Slashing Ch.8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8

Hide and Seek. II

It was Betty’s Slasher Senses that saved her.

She was jogging lightly toward her mine when she noticed something at the edge of her perception. There was a life sign in the tree up ahead. That was weird; she had never seen a living creature other than the camp counselors since the bus left. Not a bird, squirrel, or whatever they had here.

As she got closer, she noticed something else. There was a set of hoofprints in the shade of a tree. Once she looked closer, she saw more half swept away.

“Fuck,” Betty whispered to herself.

They must have followed an old scent while she was busy patting herself on the back for her lake trick. She crouched and tried to remember how you figured out the wind direction, also what ‘down wind’ was.

Giving up after a few seconds, Betty focused on the faint scents, life signs, and sounds she could hear from this distance. A few minutes later, she was sure she could only sense three creatures around her mine: one inside and two outside.

That left one unaccounted for, so who was missing? Betty circled the area, keeping as far out as possible. Eventually, she found a fourth scent; it smelled like Jock. He had come this far and then turned back. She followed the trail as silently as she could. Keeping her Senses on maximum the whole time. She was so focused on them that she forgot a favorite Hunter's trick back on Earth.

Traps.

Betty had just glimpsed the hint of a life sign far ahead and sped up to get nearer when the gentle pressure of a string pressing against her leg registered a second too late. A branch swung back into place with a snap, the three spears on it driving into her stomach, thigh, and chest.

Blood sprayed from her mouth, and she pressed a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming at the pain. Betty tried to Slasher Step away, but the skill would not take with spears still inside her. She tried to pull away from the branch, only to find it moving with her, twisting the spears inside her. She braced it with one arm and slowly pulled herself off the sharp metal points. The spear in her chest caught between two ribs as she pulled, making her have to yank backward. The pain was excruciating, and blood leaked around the hand over her mouth as she screamed in pain. She slasher stepped off the path and into the forest as soon as she was clear.

Sharpened stakes of wood pierced into her feet as she appeared. Betty stumbled and fell to her knees, finding more wooden stakes piercing her knees. The bastards had placed them all over the place. Betty screamed again into her hand. Blood was running freely as she wavered on the edge of consciousness.

Her senses screamed at her, and she looked around just in time to see the form of Jock as he launched himself at her.

He barreled into her; she was driven back, clear of the stakes. The stakes in her feet and knees tore up her flesh as she was slammed away. Her vision swam as she landed, his form swollen to almost her height but twice her weight. He jabbed a spear into her chest once, twice, three times as his other hand tried to crush her windpipe. She felt the spear tear her heart apart on the last strike, her vision fading to black as the creature continued to choke her. The messages she had been ignoring flooded her mind.

Slasher Regeneration

Activate passive?

Y/N?

Slasher Regeneration

Activate passive?

Y/N?

Slasher Regeneration

Activate passive?

Y/N?

Emergency Activation Occurring In…

5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

ACTIVATED.

Her eyes flew open. Her body was flooded with warmth, the pain receding. She felt her heart repair and the wounds close even as Jock kept squeezing. She laughed in his face.

Jock’s eyes widened as she squeezed his hands, shattering his wrists. He cried out and fell to the side, cradling his wrists. Betty pulled the spear out of her chest and scrambled after him. Jock kicked her in the face, his hoof smashing her nose and shattering her jaw. Betty laughed as she felt it was fixing even as he drew his hoof back. She rolled away.

Jock scrambled to his feet and ran for the others.

Betty appeared in front of him, having spent a minute retrieving Hacky from where he had fallen when she was struck with the first trap. She kicked his legs out as he tried to stop. He fell on his back and raised his arm to ward her off. Hacky cut one arm off Jock at the shoulder and bit deeply into his chest. He kept waving the other arm at her, so she cut that off too. She dragged the weakly struggling Jock back over to the trap, slamming him against the ground and holding him down with her foot. Betty knelt on his chest and broke one spear free. She forced it, tip first, into his left stump and grabbed another as he screamed. This one went tip-first into the right stump. Finally, she dragged him upright and kicked him back, the remaining spear bursting through his chest as he went limp. She had just grabbed one of the severed arms when a spear slammed into her back.

Betty growled as she searched with her senses and found the last three sprinting toward her.

With a wink over her shoulder, Betty turned and sprinted off into the forest. The three girls had adapted to their changes a little, it seemed. They were much faster as they chased her through the woods and back toward the camp. Betty resisted the urge to use Slasher Step. They hadn’t seen it yet, and she wanted to keep that a little surprise for later. They stopped throwing spears after a few minutes rather than keep stopping to collect them. It was a fierce chase, with Trashy coming close enough to stab at her several times.

Betty led them on a merry chase, ending up at the docks once more.

As they raced across the ground, Betty noticed the head of Glasses, set aside reverentially after their feast. She made a slight detour and punted it as hard as possible into the lake. It must have flown clear into the lake's center as Trashy howled in grief. Betty cackled and raced into a cabin, The Twins hot on her heels. As soon as she slammed the door, Betty Slasher Stepped across the room and out the open window. She raced off as she heard the twins and Trashy smashing the window in their rush to get out.

Betty kicked the Cafeteria doors so hard one flew off the hinges; as she barged through the kitchen doors, she Slasher Stepped behind the door and threw a pot that smashed the back door open. The three charged through the Back door as Betty slipped into the Pantry and caught her breath.

Betty watched through the wall and saw their life signs rush into the forest in three directions. Once she was sure they were gone, Betty slipped back out of the Cafeteria and down to the Dock, where she Slasher Stepped into the water, still holding the severed arm of Jock. Swimming gently along the bottom, Betty made her way around the outside of the lake to the far side.

Finding the far side of the Lake butted up against a cliff, Betty laid back on the rocky shore and finally gave the chimes that had been ringing for her attention the focus they wanted.

Level Up!

Level Up!

Level Up!

3 Points Available

Recommendations pending choice of Second Class…

Second Class Unlocked

Initiate Class Selection?

Y/N?

“Go for it,” Betty sighed.

World Walker -

Unlock: Walk upon two different worlds or more - complete.

Rank: Rare

Type: Explorer

You are no stranger to new worlds, take this class and see more!

Example: Quick Step - Move to any spot within sight.

Ranger -

Unlock: Hunt another creature - complete.

Rank: Rare

Type: Hunter

You have traversed the Forests and Fields,

lived off the lands and mastered the woods.

Example: Tracking - None can hide from your eyes.

Warrior -

Unlock: Engage in Battle with another Sentient. - complete.

Rank: Uncommon

Type: Martial

Honor, Strength, and Battle are your callings,

Answer them.

Example: Furious Slash - Double-powered attack with a bladed weapon.

Xenoarchaeologist -

Unlock: Study a culture or species alien to your world - complete.

Rank: Noble

Type: Explorer

The mysteries of the universe call to you. Understanding awaits

If you have the dedication.

Example: Investigate - Compare, Infer, and Analyze combined for greater understanding.

Betty stared at the options in front of her.

There were no bad options here.

Decision paralysis seized her. It was an overwhelming set of options at first glance. Ranger and Warrior both seemed like they were pretty straightforward. They would both be combat focused. But, on the other hand, World Walker seemed a bit strange. It suggested a way to get back to Earth, out of this horror show she was living.

She almost chose it on reflex. The only thing was it said to see more worlds, not return to worlds. It suggested that, maybe even implied that, but did not explicitly say ‘return to previous worlds.’

That worried her. The idea of traipsing through multiple worlds until she eventually was killed on one was not that attractive. That left the Xeno-thingy. It sounded fun, but she was unsure if the skill looked that helpful. She did not even understand what it did. Analyze, she knew, but what was Compare or Infer? The only part of the skill description that sounded promising was the greater understanding. She really needed that.

Betty turned to the other skills. World Walker offered Quick Step, which sounded the same as Slasher Step. Ranger’s Tracking sounded like a slight variation on Slasher’s Senses. It was maybe even a downgrade. The Warrior offered the Furious Slash, which was an upgrade over anything she had.

Betty sighed again.

She went over the classes again. The rarity bit made no sense to her, and of all the options, she only had two possibly valuable skills. Furious Slash and Investigate both offered benefits. She crossed Ranger off the list. Slasher was already basically a hunter. That left her with three options. Warrior would make her a better fighter, but Slasher was more about Hunting than fighting. The first skill sounded good, but the later ones might be all about armor and shields. In short, it was a worse long-term fit.

Now she was down to two.

World Walker offered nothing but the chance to go home, maybe. So a chance of a chance to go home.

Xenoarchaeologist offered a chance to understand the world she was in now. If she didn’t learn about this world, would she last long enough to level World Walker high enough to go home?

“Fuck!” Betty cursed, “There should be a guidebook for this shit.” Her mind wandered to all she had learned, and to the strange ritual that had changed her prey into hunters. Curiosity killed the cat…but… fuck it.

She chose Xenoarchaeologist.

Class: Xenoarchaeologist Chosen!

Skill: Investigate - Unlocked.

Compare, Infer, and Analyze combined for greater understanding.

Skill: Analyze - removed.

Skill: Rosetta Stone - Unlocked.

Increased speed of language learning and translation.

Build up a standard Lexicon for Translation.

Skill: Xenobiology - Unlocked.

Study the body forms of other lifeforms to learn their history, abilities, and genesis.

Holy Shit! Three new skills. Betty did a quiet little dance of joy. This was precisely what she had been hoping for. Or at least she thought so. The skills may be confusing, but if they do what she thought they did?

Bingo!

Following the recommendation for the points split, Betty dropped two points into Mind and one into Body. It hurt not to go full body, but she did it. Then, just as the tingling had finished, another message popped up.

Achievement: Blade’s Edge Unlocked!

Drop to less than 5% of health before getting healed.

Reward - Skill: Slasher’s Regeneration healing rate increased.

“Not bad,” Betty grinned out over the water. “Not bad at all.” Betty relaxed back against the cliff wall and pulled the severed arm over to her. She had grabbed it as she was fascinated by the change the others underwent by eating their own dead. It was weird, and she wanted to see if anything had changed that she could find. Of course, the whole body would have been better, but Trashy and her crew had other plans.

Betty sniffed the arm hesitantly, expecting that smell of steak again. But, instead, she smelled something gamier. The meat had an acrid smell to it as well. It was not even remotely enticing. It wasn’t because it was dead; the others she killed smelled disturbingly tasty. So it must be the change they went through.

Pulling out Stabby, she slashed open the skin, noticing the blood smelled of the same gamey scent. When she did, Betty noticed the dusky grey color of the skin was due to a network of burst blood vessels. Thousands of hair-thin vessels had burst in the skin. Moving down to the hands, she found that the muscles had forced the bones further apart, with the nails thickening and lengthening into claws. The nail bed had torn in the process. Dried blood had crusted around the torn nail beds. She dropped it on her lap and stared at it, no closer to understanding. She idly tried to Investigate it as she was out of other ideas.

Bovinian Male - arm

Severed

Underwent forced mutation

Mutation - Shamanistic Cross Breeding.

Cross Breed - Unknown.

Insight unlocked - Shamanistic Society.

Information added to Rosetta Stone.

“That is so cool!” Betty cheered. She had no idea what it meant, but it sure meant something. The Shaman bit was clear enough, but the crossbreed thing was a mystery. How did they cross-breed just by eating the corpse of the same type of creature as themselves?

She filed that mystery away for later. She needed more samples… starting with one of the unchanged bodies. Betty flung the arm far into the lake before diving in and starting her swim back to the camp.

It was time for a bit of body-snatching.