Projekt Anima(OUTDATED VERSION!)

Chapter 5: First Hunt

Raiden

"Ahh, finally some fresh air," Slater cried, deeply inhaling the mid-afternoon breeze. "Virtually, at least."

"Let's go," Raiden said, impatiently trudging along the stone path towards the outskirts of town. "We need to slay the monster as soon as possible."

The Fields seem to glow in the midst of the afternoon in that part of the world. The virtual sun, high upon the sky, radiated heat sharply than usual. 

Throughout the meadow of reeds, an assortment of creatures of different colors and sizes prowled to and fro, revealing themselves for a moment and disappearing somewhere in the grass. One looked like a mixture between a rabbit and a kangaroo.

The stone path, from where they tread, lead around the outskirts of town and disappears halfway to the next vicinity. Around here somewhere, Raiden thought, lay the monster they had to slay—the Firehog.

Along the Fields, several players roamed about, either hacking some monsters or going on their way to the next town. Raiden watched as different parties slayed nearby creatures, spreading shards of red light in the air. As each creature was slain, a hefty bag of loot descended from where the monster was killed.

"Now, where can we find the Firehog?" Raiden said, passing by a green blob of slime. "It's not like we have a map or anything."

"It's pretty easy, actually." Slater replied, grinning. "We just wait until  it appears."

"And when would that be?"

"Not for long," Slater said, motioning for Raiden to hide in a nearby boulder. "You see, the Firehog likes it when there are more players on the path. It's pretty notorious here for killing players, so when different parties encounter it, they flee at once."

Raiden shifted to him. "Does no one even try to stand up against it?"

"Well, there are actually a few who did. But guess what? They all died. That's why only a few are willing to risk their progress for this mission. Actually, you're the only reason why I agreed with this quest! You better have a plan, dude."

A headache started to creep into Raiden's mind. "W-What do you mean, by died?"

"When you die here, it's different. You lose all of your unequipped items, man. Dins, consumables, equipment, weapons..."

Slater's voice seem to be distant. Raiden felt like his head was being split apart in half. All of a sudden, the world and everything around him seemed to slow in time. He tried to regain his composure, but the pain was enough to bring him to his knees.

"Hey, Raiden!" Slater ran to him, stopping him before he hit the ground. He tried slapping him lightly on the cheek multiple times, but his friend was still dazed as ever.

It took a few seconds before Raiden came back to his senses again. "Don't mind me. Keep looking for our target."

"What do you mean?" Slater said, furious. "I thought you were gonna leave me here alone in this quest! What's with you?"

"Just a headache," he said, stretching to a sitting position. Almost immediately, Raiden realized that his surroundings had darkened for some reason. 

Raiden turned around and noticed that farther down the road, it was bright. Something felt wrong.

It took both of them a second before they realized what the problem was.

Raiden and Slater froze at the creature that prowled in front of them. It was massive, almost enough to block the sunlight from their point. Its muscular legs shuffled in the grass ever so slowly, calculating its next attack. Both of them watched in horror as its large tusks protruded forward, only missing their heads by a few inches. Raiden instantly knew what it was.