A New Life In The Beast World-Chapter 84: Deer Hunting

She glanced up at the sky peeking through some of the tree tops, trying to get a gauge of the time. It had to be around mid-morning based on the sun’s location in the sky.

If I go now, I could make it before lunch time. Serena mused to herself. They don’t seem to be moving so this is a great chance. Maybe my only one.

Who knew when she’d get another chance to hunt down a deer for that mission of hers. They rarely got so close to the village and she didn’t really want to go so far out. The only risk was the dark area surrounding the herd.

She hadn’t explored that area, so any variables there would stay unknown to her. Still she needed to take the risk. Worse case scenario, if something bad was there, then she could transport herself to her subspace.

And try to figure it out from there. Time wouldn’t change outside when she was in her subspace, so the threat would still linger, but at least she could heal up and rest. She even had some medicinal herbs to help her.

With that in mind, Serena strapped on her basket on her back and headed in the direction of the herd. There were a few rabbit beastmen around thus she didn’t send her basket to her subspace or shift into her beast form until she was halfway.

By then, the herd had moved just a little, making Serena suspect they were grazing. A great time to catch one off guard. She shifted into her beast form after sending her basket to her subspace and ran the rest of the way, careful to keep downwind.

She didn’t want the herd catching wind of her before she got one. So to speak.

When she got about ten meters away from them, Serena slowed down and crouched down, keeping her body low so the herd couldn’t see her instantly.

Serena crawled towards some nearby bushes and peeked out just enough to see the herd grazing on some bushes. A few younger ones were running around and some of the adult ones were lazing around.

There was one with massive antlers on its head on the other side and Serena made a note to keep an eye on that one. The last thing she needed was getting headbutted with those things. They could seriously injure her.

And she did not need that.

Hunting was about being patient and Serena took her time selecting her best option. She spotted a weak one towards the back of the herd that likely wouldn’t give her much trouble compared to the other ones.

Her other option was the young ones running around, but Serena would rather not hunt them. Few would be able to reach adulthood for multiple reasons and Serena didn’t exactly want to add to that number.

So, once she locked on to her target, Serena began slowly moving towards it. She kept her body as low as possible to avoid being spotted and would stop occasionally to check on the herd. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Some of them began moving away, making her stop to watch them while others lifted their heads to watch out for any predators. Not realizing one was lingering about.

Once they were back to grazing, Serena moved again and was soon able to get behind a bush close to where the weak one was. She stopped in front of it, watching as the deer headed closer to where she was.

Her body was tense, itching to pounce on the deer, but she kept still, watching for sudden movements. When it was just a few inches from her, the deer suddenly paused, glancing up to see that its herd was moving on.

Serena bit back her urge to growl, it being so close yet so far. She watched it for a few seconds, realizing this was her only chance as it began moving away. She pounced, catching the deer off guard.

It let out a cry, warning the others as it tried to get away from Serena. But she managed to catch its hind legs and used her claws to drag herself up to get to its neck.

She had tried to go for its neck, but the deer spotted her when she was pouncing on it and managed to move out of the way. The deer cried out in pain and the rest of the herd was alert, running off.

The deer tried bucking her off, but it was losing strength by the minute. Blood seeped from multiple claw wounds as Serena pulled the animal down with her.

Eventually she managed to get her mouth around its neck and within seconds she crushed its windpipe, ending it all. Serena dropped the body and glanced up.

The one with the antlers was lingering about, head down and ready to charge. Serena didn’t have the energy to fight this one and let out a low growl in warning.

Sensing that Serena would take it down, the deer shook its head before heading off with the rest of the herd. Once it was gone, Serena collapsed next to the deer she hunted down and shifted into her human form.

She then retrieved her water skin, rinsing her mouth of the blood. Her body might enjoy it, but personally she hated the taste. It irked her way too much.

Once she was cleaned up and sent her water skin back to her subspace, Serena touched the deer corpse and murmured, "Exchange."

The deer disappeared in an instance and Liz reappeared, having disappeared when Serena shifted into her best form. She was back to wrapping herself around Serena’s upper arm.

"Deer has been received." Liz stated. "Now you just need one more wild bird to complete your mission."

Serena numbly nodded her head before she got up. She then shifted back to her beast form, heading back to the village. She shifted back to her human form halfway, getting her basket and a yellow blossom from her subspace to mask any lingering scent of blood before she returned.

Just in time for lunch.