Catpurr 4: Curiosity killed the Cat

Catpurr 4: Curiosity killed the Cat

Adam woke once more lying in the dirt. Rolling over, he immediately took off, running on all fours before he stood upright and aimed for the trees.

He was on his sixth life, with three lives remaining. The duckysaur having hunted him down thrice already since burning away his clothes.

One life had him running into a tree and getting flattened.

Another had him running into a Goblin creature and being beaten to death before the duckysaur incinerated them both.

And finally, the last one saw him attempting to flee, but before he could gain enough distance the massive duck appeared from above, turning Adam into paste.

However, there was a silver lining to all these deaths, Adam had found the way to complete his objective. He pulled up his Quest menu, eyeing the 1/10 that was now displayed instead of zero.

The answer to complete his quest was unveiled upon the goblinoid being incinerated with Adam.

If he couldn't physically kill or hunt anything because of the giant half duck-Dragonoid chasing him around, then all he had to do was have it kill things for him.

A simple solution.

As long as he was the cause of something else’s death, even indirectly, it counted. Or at least that was the running theory as Adam ran for his life. However, part of the problem was that despite being a forest, there was hardly any life!

"QUACK! QUACK!"

Adam clenched his jaw, his furry ears pricking at the horrendous Ducky war cry. It was coming, and coming fast.

Fortunately, in his last life, Adam had run around frantically to put this theory to the test, searching high and low for lifeforms to have murdered, eventually stumbling across a Goblinoid encampment before he was flattened.

Thankfully this respawn put him in a nearby zone, already spotting the landmarks of destroyed trees, pulverized stone, and burnt logs from one of his earlier lives.

He was on the right track.

Which meant all Adam had to do was keep running for his life and find where the goblinoids were to have them killed.

"QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!"

Despite the duckysaur's cries, Adam kept his head straight, learning from his previous life what would happen if he turned around. Normally he had skills to help him navigate dense trees and forests, but not this time.

This time all he had was his little tiny legs and fleshy arms to part the sea of green foliage. But he could feel it, the creature was close, too close, each step shaking the earth as its obnoxious quacks reverberated through the air.

However Adam's worries didn't last for too long, his eyes picked up light, not in a beam or such but from a torch that was lit nearby.

Despite being day, the goblinoids had lit torches lining their camp, perhaps in a bid to ward off predators, whatever the reason, Adam smiled as he pivoted direction and ran towards their walls. And then he spotted it. The monster ahead of him was some form of cousin to the standard goblin. Green skin, pointy ears, wearing rags with beady yellow eyes adorning it's skull, but unlike regular goblins, these monsters had tusks, and a small bump at the base of their spine where a tail seemed to be growing.

The first Goblinoid to spot him immediately began shouting, picking up what looked to be a makeshift spear and running toward Adam as he raced out toward its encampment.

However the Goblinoid's advance was short lived, as the moment the duckysaur burst from the trees was the moment goblinoid went wide-eyed, squawked, and fled.

Oh no you don't! DO NOT FLEE FROM ME MY SACRIFICIAL LAMB!

The green-skinned humanoid immediately tried to run into its encampment to shut the wooden gate, even going so far as to shoo Adam away. But Adam was quick, and dove into the camp filled with goblins just as the gate shut.

He hit the ground and tucked into a roll, landing on his tiny feet as angry jibberish shouted out all around him.

Adam kept running however, no time to gawk or stare at the goblins as the duckysaur burst through the wooden fortification, kicking up debris and splinters everywhere.

"SCREEE!"

The goblins screamed, fleeing in terror as the duck began spewing hot flames and roasted anything that moved with rapid Quack quacks.

[2/10]

[3/10]

[4/10]

[5/10]

[6/10]

[7/10]

Adam laughed, eyeing his kill counter finally shoot up as he made his way to a cave to seek shelter from the chaos outside.

This was it, he'd finally complete this quest. And if the duckysaur was part of the quest, then he'd finally be free of it as well.

Out of curiosity, Adam turned his head to eye the spectacle, only to suddenly feel a pressure hit his shoulders before a loud boom sounded out and everything went dark.

Eh?

Adam's vision spun, literally, or felt like it. He didn't know what had happened but he suddenly couldn't feel his legs, hell he couldn't even feel his body anymore as he was suddenly rolling on the floor with smooth dirt hitting his cheeks.

He looked around, realizing that he was inside the cave, but everything was dark, almost as if someone had closed a door.

Then it occurred to him! He'd been-

[YOU DIED!]

-Nine Lives [2/9]

[Reconstituting Body…]

Sitting up, with heavy breath and wide eyes, Adam clutched his neck, his eyes twitching as he realized he'd been decapitated!

THIS TESTING AREA IS ABSURD!

"QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!"

With no time to lament or process his sudden death, Adam was once again on the move, the magical angry duck already hot on his tail.