PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER
Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Chapter 9 Sometimes even titles have to get serious.

(third-person POV)

“Ok, Desmond, this is not a game, that thing may be on the same level as the aqua rabbit, but it is by no means that harmless; For God’s sake, it has the word predator in its name. It’s time to get serious; no more bad jokes, old references, useless mental monologues, or little girl screams.

You don’t want to die, Desmond; you don’t want to leave cute Claire alone in a world where perverts and rapists have fucking superpowers. So you have to focus 100%.”

Trying to adjust his mood, Desmond did his best to thoughtfully take the situation in front of him. It is worth mentioning that Desmond was not used to being entirely on his own. One way or another, Claire was not only someone who depended on him, but he also depended on her to stay focused.

The notion of not being near her unnerved Desmond, somewhat causing a reckless side of him to surface, but it couldn’t go on like this. Otherwise, Desmond wouldn’t make it out of the woods alive, and that certainly wasn’t something that he wanted.

Ironically, whether by chance or fate, as soon as Desmond finished adjusting his mood, there was a loud sound of a branch snapping as he took a step forward.

The sound reverberated unexpectedly loudly in the silence of the night, causing the dark predatory spider to immediately turn its attention to the young hunter.

.....

“Are you messing with me? damn, this is not going to work; that giant spider heard me, So the element of surprise is dead.” Annoyed at the unexpected accident that ultimately ruined his sneak attack attempt, Desmond couldn’t help but complain out loud to let some of his annoyance out.

After the most epic and stupid miss of a sneak attack, Desmond quickly moves into firing position, with no attempt to hide his intentions as he aims his first arrow at the face of the hideous beast that screams in a fury.

Perhaps due to the effects of the famous spider-sense or just because the attack was too apparent, the dark predatory spider easily blocks the arrow aimed at its eyes. Only to receive a second and third arrow, the constant impact forces the spider to bend down to better protect its face but completely ignores that it has just revealed a weakness to its enemy. . . No, it’s Hunter.

swiiift!

The fourth arrow was not aimed at its eyes like the previous ones. No, its objective was very different. Although Desmond is not an arachnid expert, he still recognizes an anatomical weakness when he sees one. Like spiders on earth, this one has a body whose two main parts are joined by a small and fragile waist, And that’s precisely where Desmond pointed.

Chiaaarrk!

A sharp screech of agony came from the jaws of the dark predatory spider caused by the arrow that pierced through its delicate part and managed to damage several vital organs. The pain fueled its anger, but before it drove to transform that anger into violence, it was greeted by a couple more arrows aimed at its face.

It managed to block the first arrow and then the second; Desmond, having anticipated this, fired both towards the eyes furthest from the center of the spider’s skull, thus forcing the creature to open a defensive breach right in the place where his third arrow was launched.

Chiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaak!

An even louder screech than the previous one was emitted from the dark beast, but there was no more anger to be detected in it. No, There was only fear, the most primordial fear that a living being can have when it feels its death approaching.

Realizing that the roles of prey and predator are not playing in its favor, the spider decides to escape to the only place that offers it a chance to survive.

But how could Desmond not see such obvious action coming? He began shooting arrows at the back of the now exposed spider. Drawing the bow to the maximum with his newly acquired strength enhancement, he began to shoot arrow after arrow using all the power he could muster.

He no longer bothered to target the spider’s exoskeleton joints; why would he? When exposed, an arachnid’s another more obvious weak point: its butt.

After the second arrow, the spider fell to the ground and continued convulse until the fifth arrow. Even though it looked dead, Desmond would not lower his guard against a being that harbors the predator in its name species.

Only after Desmond had fired his fifteenth arrow since the battle began did the spider let out one last low screech before falling into the eternal embrace of death.

It is here that Desmond’s true talents and qualities come to the fore; only when he takes things seriously can one appreciate just how terrifying this young hunter is.

Every move he made was planned from the beginning of the battle; each arrow pointed to a carefully calculated target. Of the first seven arrows that he fired, only two were intended to be a threat to the creature, and it was precisely those two attacks that damaged the spider so severely that it decided to flee, utterly unaware that it had sealed its fate.

Having finished the battle, Desmond breathed a small sigh leaving all seriousness and dominating presence of a hunter in oblivion, while he exclaimed:

¨ Dis filthy scum, you remember how much I hate spiders? At least I send this one with its eight-legged creator. ¨

¨ If I ever tell this story, I will have a hundred spiders killed by just one of my mighty arrows; not like now that my quiver is sadly empty after beating just one of them.¨