Not done yet... (solo/hunt)

Alex took in a breath of the brisk night are through his nose and slowly let it out through his mouth as he looked out onto the waves as they gently washed up onto the empty beach before rolling back into the ocean again. The water’s actions were making Alex think of how his life had been going over the past few years. He would he a high point and would think things were going great, only to have everything he left behind weigh him down and pull him back into his depression. It had been that way for over five years and thus far it didn’t seem to be letting up. Yeah it got a new job as a grounds keeper at Syne Academy and was becoming a huntsman again, but was this just another high point that was going to inevitably fall back down into depression? He wasn’t sure.

Alex looked up and down the beach as the wind blew through his brown hair. There wasn’t a soul in sight, considering that sunrise wasn’t that far away one would think that there at least be a few fishermen trying to get the fish while they were closer to the surface of the water. However with a report of Grimm activity at this beach several nights in a row but never during the day, Alex came to investigate. All that he had been told was that there had been a grimm seen on the beach during the night, unknown number or what kind… not exactly what he had wanted for information but it’s what he had to work with. He had been at the beach all night, and hadn’t seen anything, not even tracks. That’s why he had gotten distracted by the ocean view and was starting to feel depressed… 8 hours of searching had led to nothing. Alex was starting to wonder if he had lost his edge as a huntsman for good, and if that was the case he shouldn’t be at Syne Academy even as a lowly grounds keeper.

Still though, he chose to stay. The night wasn’t over yet…

Beowulf Level 5 170 HP

A beast, a Beowulf, proud of it's power; had arrived on the beachside. The trek from the woods to the sea had been a long and dangerous one. The monster had passed by many of those hunter people to get here, using what little intelligence it had to focus on subterfuge and stealth. It was quite a feat for a beast such as this to make it so far but finally it had reached it's destination. The beach. A patch of territory sought after by many creatures of grimm. It was so close to the people of remnant, the city a short distance away and a tavern even closer, yet far enough away that neither hunters nor huntresses to arrive instantaneously. The beast had hid out beneath the rocky crags for days and days, only emerging at night to begin the hunt and mark the boundaries of it's territory...

And tonight if found someone had broken that boundary. It's semicircle of sand had been breached by a male hunter. The Beowulf planned to perhaps make it to the city tonight but this would suffice for it's first true kill. Under the cover of night the beast crawled low and fast, approaching the target from their left flank. Then, with a ferocious growl, it sprang up; claws first, aiming to scratch the man's face and scare him into a more prey like role.

If the Grimm had stayed silent, it would've gotten the jump on Alex and had been able to ambush him with ease.  However in it's stupidity it did grow before it tried to attack, thus blowing it's stealth.  "Ya might as well of worn a big sign that read 'Here be Grimm' ya flea bitten mutt!" Alex retorted has he jumped backwards into a reverse somersault to avoid getting slashed by the grimm.  As he rolled Alex became encased within a flutter of emerald green leaves as his aura awakened.  As he stood up from the dodge Alex pulled out Wrecker while lush green vines grew out from his belt and encased Alex, increasing his physical might.

Instead of swinging the wrecking ball weapon at the Beowolf, Alex instead punched the metal ball sending is straight for the Grimm, intending it to strike the beast's right shoulder.  Hit or miss the ball continued going pass the grimm till Alex grabbed the extending chain with his left hand and gave it a yank to his left.  The spiked ball responded by flying back towards Alex and dropping thanks to gravity... so by the time it reached the beowolf, it would've stuck it on the back of the rear legs.  Before the ball could make it all the way back to Alex though he pulled the chain upwards with all his might, sending the ball skywards before he swung downwards, hoping to bring the ball down on the Beowolf's head.

Alex then took several steps back as he reeled in Wrecker as fast as he could, trying to put a little bit of distance between himself and the Grimm that was out for his blood.  However Alex wasn't afraid at all.  The only thing he felt at that moment was purpose and courage.  This wolf was going to have a fight on it's paws.

OOC:

The beast, annoyed that it's first attack had missed the prey, did find it fairly simple to dodge the man's first attack, simply sidestepping to the left; the large ball and chain rocketing by it. Foolishly it took a moment to growl at it's prey, almost taunting, before it set off in a mad dash, hoping to strike it's foe before they could recall their weapon. But alas; the taunt had cost the beast dearly. It had not anticipated the ball catching it from behind, had it ran from the start it would probably have been able to catch him but... well hindsight's 20:20.

The wreaking ball struck the beast's one stable leg mid run and, as a result, knocked it flat onto it's back. Injured as the beast was it quickly scrambled to all four of it's paws, narrowly avoiding the wrecking ball as it came down next to it's head; leaving a crater in the sand. One thing was clear, it would have to get close to the man to truly harm him. At this range there was just too much room for the human to manipulate his weapon.

The beast ran with all it's might, using it's gangly yet powerful limbs to set off slightly ahead of the ball and chain as it was drawn to it's owner, and then, just as the ball was on it's heels, it pounced in a spinning motion at the man. The Beowulf's right clawed hand came down fast toward the man's head, primed to slash down the man's face. Hit or miss, making use of the spinning pounce, it aimed to land to the man's right; ready to engage in close quarters combat.

Alex wasn't that happy that he had missed at least twice when he had tried to attack the Beowolf, but at least he had hit it once and the place that he had nailed it was on the back of the leg so it had to be injured.  Although from the way that the Beowolf just jumped back up off the sandy beach, this was clearly going to be a long battle.  However Alex was surprised that what made it to the beach was a low intelligence Grimm instead of one that could actually think like an Ursa or a Death Stalker.  Still though, this thing was a danger an it had to be dealt with.

As the Grimm came in for a slash Alex had a feeling that another backwards dodge wouldn't do much good so instead he held up Wrecker's chain, which he held in between both hands, and pulled it taught.  When the spinning Grimm's claw came down towards Alex's head, the huntsman held up the chain so the claw hit the links in the chain instead of his face.  Judging from the force Alex felt being put into the chain it was clear to him that this Grimm wasn't a young pup, but had existed for some time and thus could be more intelligent then Alex had first thought.  It was after all going after his exposed face instead of the rest of his body.  Maybe it thought he was wearing some sort of armor.  He wasn't, but still it was going after his skin only.

By the time Alex had pushed the Beowolf off and it landed on his right side, Wrecker had returned to Alex's hand so he could grab the chain right where it connected to the spiked ball.  This let him wield the weapon like a short handled mace instead of a medium ranged throwing weapon.  Intending to defeat this beast, Alex whirled around to strike the Beowolf with a round house blow, quickly followed by trying to bring the weapon down on the Grimm's head.  Not wanting to give the Beowolf a chance to catch it's breath, if it did even breath that is, Alex spun around for another round house hit but this time he twisted his arm at the last second to deliver an upwards strike to send the Grimm flying.  If all of the attacks hit, Alex doubted the Grimm would last much longer.

All the while Alex's body was glowing a bright green, illuminating the beach for several meters... though the light could be seen nearly a mile away in the dark cloudy night.

ooc:

The beast put forth a claw, thinking it could perhaps stop the man's close range assault but he was quickly made aware of how heavy the orb was. There was no way it could stop it at the speed it was currently going. Seeing this it took a step back, damaged arm falling to it's side. It continued to step back as the man's flurry of blows swept through, yet keeping just close enough that he'd keep trying to attack. Once or twice the beast thought it saw an opening, during the real ups to the man's attacks, however it knew it must bide it's time. And arm and a leg injured it couldn't really afford to take any more direct hits from the man, fighting was already that much more difficult.

The beast got an idea, just after the man's last roundhouse attack, the Beowulf rushed forward shoulder first with a ferocious growl; attempting to barge the man to the ground with all of it's might. The beast leapt for the man with it's arms out wide, injured one less so, in an attempt to take the man to the ground. It charged head first, primarily aiming to strike it's head into the man's own on the way down.

Once again only one of his attacks hit, but just like last time Alex had managed to deal a crippling blow to the Beowolf that was fighting him on the beach. The seemed to be the theme with this fight... the Grimm would try to take him out in one swift blow only to miss, and Alex would retaliate by crippling it, rinse and repeat. If Alex had been fighting a real animal, he would've felt sorry for it and would try to put it out of its misery, but this wasn't some animal that had to be put down; this was a Grimm, a creature that was the embodiment of darkness. Such a thing had to be dealt with in a hurry so it wouldn't harm anyone else.

The instant that the Beowolf charged at Alex, his body responded without even giving him a chance to think. It was as if his body knew that any attempt to block or dodge the close range attack would be impossible, so Alex was doing the only thing he could do in this situation; counter the attack with one of his own. The cause of Alex moving like this was old muscle memory returning.

As the Grimm jumped at him, Alex started to fall backwards before the wolf even reached him. This gave Alex a chance to pull both of his legs up so his knees were up against his chest by the time he was on his back and the Beowolf was on top of him. At this point all Alex had to do was kick, and he did just that. With both legs the glowing grounds keeper kicked with both legs into the Grimm's gut in an attempt to use the beast's momentum against it, attempting to make the beast fly over his head and land on the sand behind him. The instant that the Grimm was off of him, Alex quickly rolled onto his knees and swung Wrecker at the Beowolf in an attempt to finish it. While it was true that in this state Alex's unarmed blows dealt as much damage as he would with Wrecker alone, he wasn't sure if those two kicked would be enough to finish the fight.

With that Alex quickly jumped to his feet and backpedaled, knowing that if the Grimm somehow survived those attacks then it would come at him again.

OOC:

The beast tumbled as the man dropped, not so much stopping in it's tracks as flying straight over him. Missing the man's duel pronged kicks entirely and rolling onto the sand. The beast grit it's teeth, snarling. Without a moment's hesitation it chased after him, blocking the man's ball and chain with it's bad arm with the result of losing it entirely. The limb turned to dust as it left the beast's body, now racing passed the man's spiked ball the beast let out the loudest and most enraged growl it had the entire fight.

In a blind rush and with a blind rage the beast ran forward to grab the man by his head, using the momentum from it's run it brought up it's left knee; aiming a kick directly for his chest all the while a clawed hand was primed to stick the back of his neck. The beast let out a hoarse roar, fairly certain that this would be it's final act in life. It was rather unsatisfied with such a thing.

Sure he didn't manage to hit the Beowolf with the two kicks, but his goal was met of throwing off the Grimm so it was no longer on top of him.  However the fact that he managed to knock off the Grimm's entire limb and the beast still lived was very surprising to the grounds keeper.  He had forgotten just how resilient Grimm are to dying.  It was strange though... he and Kei had managed to kill a Beowolf in a manner of seconds, but this thing was really being stubborn... to the point that Alex was wondering just how it was still alive.  Clearly this Beowolf was a prime specimen of it's kind.  Dad would've loved to get his hands on this thing.  It would've been at test subject for one of those new types of dusts he was trying to invent.

When the Grimm tackled him again, Alex was forced to let go of Wrecker entirely to grab the Beowolf's head to prevent it from biting his head off.  He felt it hit him hard in the gut, but he was focused on preventing it from slashing out the back of his neck by using his right hand to grab onto the remaining front leg while his left hand held the Grimm by the neck.  That thing was not biting him.  In a fraction of a second the vines that were wrapped around his body seemed to harden in certain points, such as his knees, knuckles, and forehead.  With his strength enhanced Alex could deal a punch that was just as powerful as if he hit someone with Wrecker at his normal strength.

And he did just that.  Holding onto the Grimm by the neck, Alex reared his head back before headbutting the beast with all his might, then rolled over so the two of them weren't lying on the ground but Alex was now in a knelling position.  Alex clenched the Beowolf's neck with so much might that he could've crushed a man's neck with his left hand, grasped the Beowolf's belly with his right hand... and slammed the foul beast down onto his knee as if he was trying to break the creature's back.  What's more is that Alex did the move with all of his might so if it worked he could've split a tree in half with his bare hands, never mind splitting a Grimm in half.

OOC:

The beast was done. It had known it's death was on the horizon ever since it had missed it's initial assault. The loss of it's arm had simply confirmed it's fear. There was simply no beating this man alone let alone with the beast's restricted level of power.

As the professor headbutted the Beowulf a gaping hole formed in it's chest. Time was up. The beast's body, alike it's arm before it, began to turn to dust. The legs were first to go, collapsing onto it's back. The lapping of waves aided in the dispersal of it's body, each one tearing parts of the beast's husk closer and closer to the ocean until nothing remained. It snarled the entire time, not relenting it's spite for it's opponent even in death. Though it's body was spent and scattered it was still unsatisfied. Had it simply not growled in the beginning it would not be the one who died. Instead this would have been it's new territory, it would have been alpha to a proud back of Beowulf who would haze ruled Bellemuse... but all was lost.

Loot:

Alex watched as the beast faded away in his hands. Even in defeat it still cursed at him, still demanded that the huntsman would die. Alex could only shake his head as he slowly uncurled his fingers, allowing the bits of Grimm that were still in his hands to float away towards the sea and fade away. As if acknowledging that the darkness had faded it was at that moment that the sun started to come up and light poured onto the beach, illuminating the man that had held the darkness at bay on this beach.

Gazing into the sunrise, Alex slowly stood up and placed a hand over the spot that the Beowolf had managed to kick him. His stomach was sore and he was most likely going to have a bruise, but other then that though he was fine. With a grunt he bent over, grabbed his weapon by the chain, and hoisted it up. Flinging it over his shoulder as he stood up Wrecker transformed back into backpack form so he didn't have to hold onto it. With a sigh Alex crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. Yeah he wasn't who he used to be but he was still a huntsman. He was still the Knight of the Forest.... and now he was ready to take up that title again, and not doubt himself over it.

With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the way back to Syne.

((exit))