ALL NOVEL 8: Symiril Tusker (1)
Tom’s heartbeat resounded in his chest, his figure crouched and hidden behind a thick shrubbery that was around a meter in thickness and a little over half his height.
The grunts were uttered in short intervals, and it did not take long for Tom to be able to be differentiate between the two. One beast’s inflection was on the deeper side, a gutteral utterance that made it sound quite unpleasant to his ears. The other’s was a little more high-pitched, a shrill cadence to it that made it sound more feminine to his ears.
With every passing second he felt the plodding beasts’ footsteps draw nearer, until they finally entered his line of sight,
Barely.
Tom had to continuously angle his head in his attempt to trace the voice to his source, finally catching a glimpse through a series of intersecting branches that bore light-blue leaves and a few smatterings of flowers that shared the same hue.
[Analysing…
[Monster Species: Symiril Tusker (Female}
Soul Card: Earth’s Vitality [Common]
Soul Card Level: 1]
That was one.
Another grunt followed from further away that sounded slightly pleased, if Tom had to take a stab at deciphering an alien beast’s emotions.
Tensing, Tom mustered his courage to take a single step to the right without making any noise, craning his neck forward to get a clearer glance. Finally he’d found an opening in the branches, a small circular patch in the dense thicket where branches had broken off.
It gave him a clear view of the clearing.
The two [Symiril Tuskers] had stepped away from each other, or atleast Tom assumed that they belonged to the same species. Both shared the same black coat of fur, two long ivory tusks jutting out from their oral cavity that were curved forward— the creatures essentially looked like a cross between an elephant and a wild boar, except for the third yellow eye situated on their forehead that almost made Tom gasp in surprise.
It took him only a moment to understand what was happening as the [Symiril Tusker] he’d identified earlier stopped before a patch of shrubbery that was dotted with the same blue leaves and flowers he was camouflaged behind. A second later, the beast began to ravenously gulp down the plants, as if it were deriving great joy from every mouthful.
His gaze shifted to the other [Symiril Tusker] as it scouted the area, though Tom did not read wariness in its posture; more likely it was simply taking its pick, looking for the most ‘appetizing’ patch of shrubbery.
[Analysing…
[Monster Species: Symiril Tusker (Male}
Soul Card: Water Propulsion [Common]
Soul Card Level: 1]
Finally, the beast ambled forward, thankfully not in his direction. All Tom had to do was wait and sure enough, both the beasts had their backs towards him. The problem now was the distance, and their sharp tusks. Even if he managed to kill one, the other would brutally impale him.
That was while discounting their [Soul Cards].
Wait….
Tom repeated the words he’d just thought of before in his mind, his sub-consciousness tingling. There was something there.
The [Ankra Beast] he’d encountered before had attacked him the moment he entered its line of sight. He’d assumed that it wanted to hunt him for sustenance but…
The [Symiril Tuskers] were much larger beasts and the seemed content to feed on plants. Most likely, they were omnivores.
Now, there was another piece of information that had yet to come into play. The bearded man hadn’t been truthful with him, but he was pretty sure that he wasn’t sent to Artezia to meaninglessly die the moment he arrived.
That he had inferred from the simple fact that he had received [The Fool] card, and any deck that concealed such a card surely couldn’t be useless.
The bearded man had promised him that someone would locate him, implying that he wouldn’t be in much danger. That meant that there was civilization nearby. Sapient civilization. The bearded man was a human, or, atleast seemed like a human from the outside, so it was possible that he’d find a member from his own species, or people that looked similar to him anyway.
Would humans allow a forest full of man-eating creatures exist next to their civilization? Not unless they didn’t have the ability to do so.
A thought thundered through his mind, Tom’s eyes widening as he almost let out a gasp.
Of course… how could he be so stupid?
The [Ankra Beast] must’ve attacked him because it wanted his [Soul Card]! On one hand, Tom couldn’t see the dumb beast utilizing his [inventory] like a player would but….maybe it didn’t need to. The beast had used [The Flame] card very differently from how he would’ve done it… try as he might, he couldn’t envision himself vomiting out a gout of flames at his enemies.
So… could the beasts improve their levels like he could?
That thought brought him a great deal of both discomfort and distress in equal parts, but…
In all honesty, Tom was on the verge of retreat. Or atleast, he had been.
The [Ankra Beast] and the [Symiril Tuskers] might technically be on the same level, but all it took was one glance to know that these beasts meant serious business. A wild boar back on Earth could be deceptively fast, and Tom wasn’t particularly inclined to test his skills against their magical version, two of them at that.
But there were two things that didn’t let him leave just yet. The beasts were happily feeding, not even having gazed once in Tom’s direction.
The first was the fact that his thoughts hadn’t entirely left the [Earth’s Vitality] card. Vitality could mean a wide variety of things, but when placed in a magical context, all those things sounded beneficial to him. The [Common] cards so far had seemed to be pretty straightforward, so he could attempt a few guesses— perhaps it made one more resilient to damage, or perhaps it could reduce a deadly wound into a manageable one.
This could very well be it.
The one card he needed more than anything, more than even [The Fool] card right now, could be this one. If he ran away now….. would he really be doing anything different from his past life? Once again running away from his problems, fleeing at the first sign of pain… No. He knew better than that. He knew where that cycle lead.
Eliminating risk completely was a futile effort. Whether it be the previous world or this one, there would always be risk. Risk was a sign of life, for there was no risk, no uncertainty, there was no life worth living.
Taking the risk now could avert a crisis later.
Sure, perhaps he could be on the edge of the forest, a cozy, safe village only fifty meters away. And his risk, his effort, would prove to be unnecessary. His mind whispered comfortable illusions, attempting to shake his resolve.
It’s unnecessary. Don’t fight it. Just cave in, like you always do.
No. He had to try.
Tom wasn’t overestimating himself. He knew his capabilities. He was no paragon that would lead this new world to glory. He wasn’t suddenly going to discover that he was a prodigy in combat.
He was [The Fool].
So Tom asked himself, what would [The Fool] do in this situation?
The card that was intertwined with his soul seem to thrum, no, resonate with this emotions, and Tom received its answer.
The Unexpected. The Bizzare. The Eclectic.