Transmigrate to another world

I reach for my axe and that's when I remember that all my weapons, except Black Razor and most of my armor, are under the lake. I pull out Black Razor and crawl towards the camp to see what is roaring. When I see it, I don't quite know what to call it, it is standing on two legs and has the general shape of a velociraptor, but its body is covered in blue fur.

Its tail is covered in yellow feathers, it has a feline face with a frill of more feathers, but these are red, it has two arms that end in wicked looking claws and everything is soaked. I see it sniffing around where I had been keeping the alligator meat, did it eat what I threw in the river and then follow the trail back here looking for more? Slowly, I reach over and touch the amulet on my chest.

'Ruby, come out please, but stay low and quiet.'

Ruby appears in her human form crouching beside me, follows my gaze and sees the creature.

Ruby whispers "What is that?"

"I don't know, but right now I'm thinking it's dinner. But I only have my knife with me, so I'm going to need your help."

Ruby whispers, "Of course, master! What do you want me to do?"

"Well, besides not calling me master, I want you to lure him here and distract him."

Ruby smiles mischievously at me and moves to the side until she is uncovered. Then she stands up and unsheathes her swords.

Ruby yells "Hey, ugly! What are you looking for?"

The beast turns, leaps across the river and charges Ruby in an instant. I activate the run and charge on an intercept course, just as its claws are about to strike Ruby, I tackle the thing from the side and we both slide ten feet into a mushroom pile. I quickly step aside and jump on my feet, just as I look up I see nothing but the tail and then I'm flying backwards.

"SQUEEZE!"

Chapter Find:

- You've suffered an impact attack! 46 HP damage!

HP: 901/947

I hit the ground hard and am knocked off my feet. Then I see that the thing is in the air and heading straight for me. I don't have time to do anything, but just before it lands on me, a blue shield appears in the air between us.

It hits the shield with a thud and then jumps up with a screech and I can smell the burning fur. I quickly turn back and look around for it. Ruby moves to put her back against mine and looks around as well.

Ruby says "I lost it! How is that thing so fast?"

"I don't know, but I underestimated it terribly, thanks for saving me!"

Ruby says "Hey, you saved me first!"

I take a deep breath and turn around when I sense movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn to face him just as he is about to hit me and I roar as hard as I can in his face.

He stops his attack with a scream and tries to cover his ears with his claws. While he's distracted, I lunge at him and slash his right leg with a black blade. He leaps back about fifteen feet and then staggers as he lands.

"Good, that should slow the damn thing down!"

Ruby turns around and sees him as he's straightening up and throws a bolt of blue fire at him. Surprisingly, he dodges the spell and comes back at us. I crouch down in front of Ruby and wait for him to close the distance. Just as he's almost upon us, I activate dash again and jump straight at him.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩

- Congratulations, Skill Dash has advanced to level 2!

√ Crashing

√ Level 2

- MP cost 10

- Your speed is doubled. Duration: 15 sec.

The thing reacts with blinding speed and meets my attack head on; as I thrust the black razor into its chest, it bites my shoulder and its claws scratch my ribs on both sides.

- You've suffered a bite attack! 52 HP damage!

- You have suffered a claw attack! 33 HP damage!

- You have suffered a claw attack! 47 HP damage!

HP: 769/947

The thing snatches the black knife out of my hand as it jerks back abruptly and then turns and runs toward the river. I take off in pursuit running as fast as I can.

Ruby yells "Where are you going!"

"He's got my knife! I'm not letting him get away!"

He slides into the water at full speed with barely a splash, I'm only a few steps behind him when I jump in and dive into the river behind him.

Ruby yells "You idiot!!!"

I quickly spot the beast swimming downstream, it moves through the water like an alligator. I take off after it, swimming as hard as I can, but surprisingly I start to catch up. It takes me a minute to get within her reach to grab her tail.

When I do, she immediately spins around in the water and tries to bite me. I shove my fist into his mouth with all my might, release his tail and grab the tuft of feathers surrounding his head with my other hand and quickly straddle him and squeeze his torso with my legs.

He goes crazy, circling and flailing around trying to shake himself off, at the same time trying to bite my arm over and over again, but my fist is big enough to stop his jaws from closing.

I let go of his collar with my right hand and reach up to where the black razor is still stuck in his chest, grab it tightly and pull it up with all my might. The water around me suddenly turns pink and the creature flails weakly a few more times before it goes still.

I pull my fist out of its mouth and carefully sheathe the black knife before grabbing it by the tail and starting to swim upstream. It takes me about half an hour to swim back to camp dragging the creature behind me.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Swimming skill has advanced to level 5!

√ Swimming

√ Level 5

- Strength +5 Endurance+5 Cold resistance +5 Hold your breath: Final stats x 2 minutes.

- You are a good swimmer.

With effort, I pull myself out of the river and drag the beast behind me. I see that Ruby has lit the fire and, when I get up, she walks towards me with the purifying stone in her hand. She touches me with it, drags me and pushes me into the fire. Then she hits me on the back of the neck, hard, before hugging me and pouring her warmth over me.

Ruby says, "You reckless idiot! What were you thinking?"

"The black razor is the best knife I've ever seen. I wasn't going to let that bird-cat-dino thing get away with it."

Ruby says, "You risked your life for a knife!"

"Yeah, I like that knife. Besides, if I let it get away, who knows if it won't come back with friends?"

Ruby says, "Well, I guess it's possible, but I still think it was stupid."

"Maybe, but it's not like I've had much time to stop and think about it. Besides, it all worked out fine."

Ruby taps me on the shoulder and says, "Oh, yeah? You're bleeding."

I glance at my shoulder, but the wound is barely bleeding now and is close to closing completely. I pat Ruby's hands before slowly getting to my feet and heading toward the creature. Its chest is cut right down the middle so I can see its core and heart.

I quickly pull both out and set them aside, then set about skinning and quartering the animal. I'm a little nervous as I toss the organs and other debris into the river, but I really have no other way to dispose of it. I really need to get back to that cave and retrieve my weapons and armor in case another one of these things shows up.