If anything could do the trick, it would be food. Setting down the bow, careful not to let it clatter, I took a knee and opened my satchel. I mean, that’s what a real hunter does, right? Or I might decide to head out along with my metal AF Mountain Cat and take down some rare game alone. If I could make it to Hunter quickly, I could travel to a city, join a class guild, and start making money. I could pull back this arrow and kill the thing, skin it for Quinn… or I could coax it into becoming my pet! I had a very limited window of time to succeed as an Earner. The cat weighed sixty pounds or more, I’d guess. It was not a baby, not by any means, but it was most likely not even half-grown. It was a simple almond brown, but had a cascade of black spots. Its coat was short and shimmered with flecks of gold in the daylight. I set an arrow to my bowstring, but as I took aim, the sheer, unabashed beauty of the creature dazzled me. I was moving slow, thankful to the gods of EO for my overlapping stealth bonuses from my race and equipment. I moved toward the brush line then back to the creek, hoping to cut off the cat’s line of retreat.

It scanned the far bank and lapped at the water, seeming to enjoy the cool of the shade. I needed to get closer to this thing to have any chance of shooting it. I retrieved my bow and quiver and loosened my katana in its sheath.

Was that a cougar? I identified it to confirm.īy the sweet lips of Lysander! This was worthy prey. I thought of ratkin, hoped for a deer, and nearly squealed when a massive kitten walked out of the brush. Once I’d finished and was pulling back on my boots to resume the day, I heard something in the forest downstream. I sat on the bank of the creek, my feet dangling in the water to cool off, as I ate another trout and a couple carrots. I called up my stamina bar, one of the new commands Elendil had taught me, and saw I needed a break. The newness of everything kept me moving at a happy pace, but I felt my energy dropping.

It had been a worthy attempt, but I needed to improve my archery. Right over the cataclysm of squirrels! They scattered, but I was lucky enough to find my arrow buried deep in the soil, unharmed. I took my first shot from at least fifty feet away. They kept bouncing away from me in a group, not tricked by me in the slightest. A notification went off, hopefully my Stealth skill increasing, but I ignored it, trying to get closer to one of the squirrels. I stalked the bouncy fur balls endlessly, trying to get close enough to hit one with a clumsy bow shot.

World Eternal Online instaling