A wave of disappointment washed over him, the realization that he didn't prepare as much as he needed to struck him again, and a pit formed in his stomach.
"You Fucking idiot!!"
Monsters were not animals nor were they human, you couldn't just hunt one and come back the same day, that is a stupid thing to believe. Yes depending on the level of the monster you could do that but there's always a level of unpredictability when facing such creatures.
He let out a heaving sigh and kept himself from grinding his teeth in anger at both himself and the creature that made him its bitch.
He continued to lie on his back, form hidden by the trees and leaves, he figured that this was the ideal spot, as long as he didn't move the monster shouldn't be able to see him and so he did just that.
Unfortunately for him, he was a bit too optimistic and perhaps foolish. The Griffon would not simply settle for searching for its prey up above when it can clear the entire forest and make things easier for itself
The creature squawked once more as gusts of wind coalesced around its form as it stood on its hind legs, unfurled its wings, and without warning the creature exercised its power.
[Wind sickle]
Gusts of wing rustled the trees followed by blades of wind that cut through every tree with the ease of a warm knife through butter.
It wasn't just a blade of wind cutting wood but a torrent of wind that split the trees from their roots and tossed them in the air, flinging them like pieces of paper to the wind.
"This fuck ass bird!!"
He screamed in fury, vaulting himself upright and dodging a tree that nearly fell on him, however all around him trees were flying and falling, forcing him to duck and dodge each one as he ran away, trying to create distance between him and the monster.
As he sprinted, dodging as best he could, his mind distracted, he failed to finely tune his sense to the wind sickles that flew every which way.
Due to this lack of attention, a stray blade of wind struck him on his back, forcing him to tumble onto the ground of course the DRI ensured he took no damage but now he was on the ground.
Of course, by his luck, the item was still active so when a tree fell on top of him, he took no damage and simply rolled to the side unfortunately as he placed the tree aside another was already on him.
However before he could dodge an idea struck him and he immediately caught the falling tree, the force of the tree nearly burying him in the ground but he managed to hold it in place.
Arthur figured that it would be better to hide amongst the fallen trees rather than dodge them, he instead let them pile up on each other, letting others fall beside him. Hiding underneath the fallen trees also meant he would have to keep them held up, so that they don't crush him.
Using his knees and elbows should help in ensuring that he doesn't exhaust himself, at least too much, the hard task would be staying still for the next couple of hours
And so much to his chagrin he did just that, knees and elbows holding up the hard wooden bark of the tree as its weight pressed down against him. Not to mention the fact that there were mostly two more trees on top of the one he was holding.
The hard and prickly bark of the tree stabbed the soft tissue of his elbows and knees, completely bypassing the fabric of his clothes. He regretted failing to adjust his leather arm bracers to cover his elbow, unfortunately, he couldn't move and do that now.
And thus for the next three hours, Arthur lay still, trees weighing down on his elbows prickling his skin, and enduring the minor pain.
He kept his breath steady and mind on other matters. Away from the thoughts of utter failure and the humiliation of having to hide like a rabbit being hunted by a wolf.
An anger settled in his stomach, a potent fury that had him grinding his teeth to a detrimental degree for his dental health.
He hated it, an Explorer was supposed to slay monsters, not hide away in fear of being eaten, yet here he was doing just that. It made his stomach churn with not only disappointment but also bitter humility.
He didn't forget the attitude he came here with, and now he was hiding and trapped, forced into having to reflect. The irony was not lost on him, he came here as a hunter and now he was the hunted.
"Fuck you!! You stupid monster, I'll gut you like a fish and stuff your feathers in my pillow!!"
He did not shout, he wouldn't dare but the frustration was clear as day.
It took another full hour of waiting and simmering anger before Arthur heard a voice shouting his name.
"Arthur!"
At first, he thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him, after all he has been stuck under a tree for almost four hours, holding the same position.
"Arthur!"
However, that thought was dispelled as the voice became clearer and clearer as it continued to get closer to his position.
"Arthur!!"
It also helped that he recognized the voice calling his name, and so with a hasty push he moved the trees above him to the side, and after four hours, he finally saw the bright blue sky.
"I'm here!"
He shouted while he began to sit upright, scratching the back of his head and stretching his arms, his shoulders felt stiff and one of his legs felt a bit numb.
As Arthur loosened his joints with annoyed groans escaping his mouth, a man landed beside him, standing over him and casting a shadow over his form.
"Well would you look at that, you're alive?"
The man had a smirk playing at his lips, one that Arthur couldn't tell what it meant but it annoyed him regardless.
"Did you expect me to die?"
Arthur gave an annoyed response as he stood and looked at his mentor, his steel grey eyes displaying clear frustration
"Not many apprentices face Griffon's and live"
The man had a mop of black shaggy hair, pale almost milk white skin. He was lanky and tall, with barely any visible muscle mass. He had pitch-black eyes, devoid of any spark, and obvious dark circles under his eyes a clear sign of his lack of sleep.
He wore light leather armor and a long sword strapped to his waist, some would say the man didn't look the type to have the strength to wield that kind of blade and they would he wrong.
"If I had died, that would mean your training was useless"
"Meh, somethings just happen like that"
"So you'd be fine if I died?"
Arthur couldn't help but wish to punch his master in the face, a familiar feeling, the man always seemed flippant when it came to life and death.
"You're an Explorer kid, we die all the time, in fact one might say we live so we can be slain by monsters"
His mentor simply gave a shrug as he answered, forcing Arthur to roll his eyes.
The young lad didn't truly subscribe to those kinds of beliefs, his life was his own to live and do what he liked with.
"I'm not interested in arguing with your twisted logic today, anyway, was this a test?"
That seemed to be the most obvious answer to all of this, the lack of details was extremely concerning considering that there was a Griffon, he didn't believe a Spotter wouldn't have reported that, unless it was a deliberate attempt to withhold information from him.
"In a manner of speaking"
He didn't like it, his brows furrowed and an obvious frown graced his lips, he nearly died because of some stupid test that he probably failed. If he had known, he would have prepared better, brought more items he wouldn't have been so…
"Oh no need to get your panties in a twist kid, you passed"
"huh?!"
"Even though I say as Explorers we live to be killed by Monsters, that doesn't mean be an idiot. This was a self-preservation test"
Arthur couldn't help but let out a snort, whether it was one of derision or amusement, one couldn't tell.
"Plus this helps humble you, sometimes we tend to overestimate ourselves. So facing something beyond human, helps bring us down."
Beyond human, Arthur couldn't help but find that description to be incredibly fitting. They lack the innovative power of humans however they outclassed humans in almost every physical category, so yes Monsters are beyond humans.
"So my hiding was the right thing to do?"
"Most likely"
Arthur couldn't help but let out a sigh, although he felt relief he couldn't really say he was pleased, the taste of defeat on his mouth was bitter and unpleasant in every way possible.
"How'd you manage to get the Griffon to stay away from the nearby villages?"
"We got Dracks to do that, he has a skill to tame monsters"
"Dracks? Who the hell is that?"
"Your senior by 4 years, He's a real piece of work, the guild had to pay him a lot just to use his Griffon"
Arthur got the urge to ask where this Dracks person was but chose not to, he wasn't particularly interested, and if he never meets him Arthur will be fine with that.
"Was that Griffon actually going to kill me? because I get the feeling it was"
"Most likely, if you did not hide or run away then, but it didn't so good job, now you're officially an Explorer"
Despite his mentor's words, he couldn't really be happy about them. He didn't really know what kind of organization he thought the Explorer's guild was but he didn't expect it to be so callous with its members.
From what he understood, the guild spent a lot of money and resources, raising future Explorers, teaching them how to fight and survive and even having a three-year mentorship program, yet the guild would so easily throw away such valuable people they spent so much resources to cultivate.
"Whatever, guess I won't be seeing you for a while?"
"Most likely but you survived your first Quest, you don't need me"
And those were the last words he heard from his mentor's mouth. They would occasionally meet every now and then but those instances were few and far between and besides it wasn't like Arthur had any sort of attachments to the man so he didn't really care.
.....