I restarted the level in dismay. There was no way I could beat that thing even as maxxed out as I could get. I didn't even see how I could get past that crocodile-thing without hours of grinding.

The Puku-man's Cane was totally useless, broken and unequippable. I needed something else.

I equipped the Gnawed Bone. It was really too heavy to be effective in close-combat, but it still had some heft as far as damage went. I'd have to keep my distance and there would be no room for mistakes, but what else was I supposed to do? Chip away at these scrubs with the broken obsidian knife?

Out of a sense of hopeless resignation I again ventured out into the fields.

I downed the dogs, rolling and sommersaulting all over out of their way, beating them back with their favorite bone until they had each been whittled down.

+ Blood-Drops Gained - 175

Then, I smashed the scarecrows, careful to keep my back covered as I circled around their ambush and smashed out their straw-stuffed insides.

+ Blood-Drops Gained - 185

Again I came up against the armored fox knight. This time I knew that I was facing a formidable opponent with an effective stance.

I approached slowly, watching my enemy rise and charge towards me. I blocked the initial strike of his war-club and continued to strafe around him, my shield drawn, blocking his flurry of blows.

I made only one lash of my quick-attack, just as an experiment, only to be blocked by his shield. I drew up my own shield to stop another barrage of the knight's attacks. I couldn't get behind him or slide quick enough to his side to stab him, I didn't see how I was going to find an opening.

Then I remembered how I had watched Jess play the game...

In a leap of faith, I dropped my shield and relaxed my stance. I began to walk slowly towards my attacker, my unpoised arms drooping to my sides.

I looked at the fox knight. He didn't step back or advance forward, he just stood there with a compromised stance that seemed to betray his sense of uncertainty.

I knew he couldn't resist.

In a split second I watched as he stretched his shoulder back to wind-up a killing blow.

Right at the moment his macehead flew towards my head I batted his arm away with my shield and smashed his ribcage and guts with a riposte attack that dealt 480- damage.

+ Blood-Drops Gained - 200

The fox-knight moaned in anguish and keeled over on his side, but in an instant whatever man, living or dead, had been inside the suit fell away to reveal only hollow insides. The empty armor pieces rolling downhill from one another in a gust of wind.

+ Gained Item - Venator's Wooden War-Club

LVL - 1 MACE WEIGHT - 4.0 DURABILITY - 45 PHS-ATK - 91 MAG ATK - 0 FIR ATK - 0 LIG ATK - 0 STR-BON - B DEX-BON - NA INT-BON - NA FAI-BON - NA PHS-DEF - 45 MAG-DEF - 10 FIR-DEF - 30 LIG-DEF - 30

Okay, now we're talking.

The war-club had an excellent reach and a quick swing. Its stats weren't spectacular, but it packed a fair punch compared to my previous options. Its surface, carved from a dark hardwood, was smooth and shiny, and around the edges of the mace-head were engraved a chain of angled geometric designs of wide-bodied creatures reminiscent of skates or stingrays.

The lore read: 'The war-club is the weapon par excellence for the hunters-of-men of the College of Predators. To wield this weapon is to take up the cause of a knight: eat or be eaten.'

+ Gained Item - Fox-Shield

LVL 1 SHIELD WEIGHT - 2.5 DURABILITY - 40 PHS ATK - 40 MAG ATK - 0 FIR ATK - 0 LIG ATK - 0 STR-BON - D DEX-BON - NA INT-BON - NA FAI-BON - NA PHS-DEF - 80 MAG-DEF - 35 FIR-DEF - 60 LIG-DEF - 60

+ Gained Item - Fox Helm

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 14 STRK-PROT: 13 SLSH-PROT: 16 THRS-PROT: 14 MAG-PROT: 8 FIR-PROT: 9 LIG-PROT: 5 POIS-RES: 8 TOX-RES: 9 BLD-RES: 6 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Fox Cuirass

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 37 STRK-PROT: 35 SLSH-PROT: 43 THRS-PROT: 36 MAG-PROT: 22 FIR-PROT: 25 LIG-PROT: 13 POIS-RES: 20 TOX-RES: 23 BLD-RES: 16 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Fox Gauntlet

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 26.5 STRK-PROT: 25.2 SLSH-PROT: 33.8 THRS-PROT: 12 MAG-PROT: 7 FIR-PROT: 8 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 8 BLD-RES: 5 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Fox Kilt

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 11 STRK-PROT: 11 SLSH-PROT: 13 THRS-PROT: 11 MAG-PROT: 7 FIR-PROT: 7 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 7 BLD-RES: 7 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Fox Boots

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 11 STRK-PROT: 10 SLSH-PROT: 13 THRS-PROT: 11 MAG-PROT: 6 FIR-PROT: 7 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 7 BLD-RES: 7 CUR-RES: 0

The lore for the armor-set read: "A modest set of brass and leather venator's armor. Passed down by the Sejuquelle family of the Charcape estate in Pakatmayu, whose heraldry is the Red Fox. It must have been a great shame for the Foxes of Charcape to lose such a precious heirloom."

Now I looked on towards the thick foliage of the muddy field where I knew the great caiman lurked. Since I was dreading another frustrating setback... I decided to try something new, something more chickenshit.

Slowly and carefully I walked out onto the black silt field until I heard the soft hiss of the soil shifting beneath my boots. Then I mashed a double-tap of the dodge button backward, and rose to my feet, having somersaulted back onto the shoulder of the slope, looking down into the swampy pit that had revealed itself below.

For all its hissing and snapping, I was able to simply strafe around the edge of the reptile's subterranean lair and this time avoid the fatal encounter altogether.

Guess being a coward pays off sometimes...

I emerged on the other end of the muddy field, the save tree now clearly in view past this corridor of sand, where sat another seated and waiting warrior, this time donning a headscarf of mottled feathers, a shimmering copper-mail shirt, and the insignia of a squawking seagull on his circular shield.

The gull knight rose to his feet, striking me, not with a spear, but with some kind of a morningstar. I didn't catch his first strike and ended up taking the spiky stone macehead to the face for -350 damage.

As he wailed at me with his chained wrecking ball, I rolled around with the dodge button. I kept my distance, observing his stance.

His attacks had a long reach, but had a sluggish wind-up that left half his body exposed. These were the opposite tactics of the fox knight. This seagull was vulnerable to speed and mobility, not head-to-head confrontation and careful feints.

So I timed my assault perfectly, so just as he hurled me with the morningstar, I dove to the right of his strike, his unshielded shoulder exposed. With my new war-club I dove in for the kill and hammered the seagull with a hail of blows from my new war-club.

-133, -136, -141 damage!

The weapon was light and fast, but every strike made a deeply satisfying crunch with each impact. Even if the damage output was low, the weapon *felt* perfect.

A black bile sputtered seeped out from the gull knight's mouth as he dropped to his knees and collapsed, the empty armor pieces dissipating into a heap.

+ Gained Item - Star of the Mountain-Wanderer

LVL - 1 MACE WEIGHT - 4.0 DURABILITY - 45 PHS-ATK - 91 MAG ATK - 0 FIR ATK - 0 LIG ATK - 0 STR-BON - B DEX-BON - NA INT-BON - NA FAI-BON - NA PHS-DEF - 45 MAG-DEF - 10 FIR-DEF - 30 LIG-DEF - 30

The lore read: 'This ranged blunt weapon was first used by the Thunder-people in the western mountains, as its reach lends itself well to battles on the slopes. Since its popularity has spread through the Yunka coast, it has been a favorite weapon of the champions of countless Flowery Wars.'

+ Gained Item - Seagull Shield

LVL 1 SHIELD WEIGHT - 2.5 DURABILITY - 40 PHS ATK - 40 MAG ATK - 0 FIR ATK - 0 LIG ATK - 0 STR-BON - D DEX-BON - NA INT-BON - NA FAI-BON - NA PHS-DEF - 80 MAG-DEF - 35 FIR-DEF - 60 LIG-DEF - 60

+ Gained Item - Seagull Headscarf

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 14 STRK-PROT: 13 SLSH-PROT: 16 THRS-PROT: 14 MAG-PROT: 8 FIR-PROT: 9 LIG-PROT: 5 POIS-RES: 8 TOX-RES: 9 BLD-RES: 6 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Seagull Chest-Mail

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 37 STRK-PROT: 35 SLSH-PROT: 43 THRS-PROT: 36 MAG-PROT: 22 FIR-PROT: 25 LIG-PROT: 13 POIS-RES: 20 TOX-RES: 23 BLD-RES: 16 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Seagull Gauntlet

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 26.5 STRK-PROT: 25.2 SLSH-PROT: 33.8 THRS-PROT: 12 MAG-PROT: 7 FIR-PROT: 8 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 8 BLD-RES: 5 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Seagull Leggings

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 11 STRK-PROT: 11 SLSH-PROT: 13 THRS-PROT: 11 MAG-PROT: 7 FIR-PROT: 7 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 7 BLD-RES: 7 CUR-RES: 0

+ Gained Item - Seagull Boots

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 11 STRK-PROT: 10 SLSH-PROT: 13 THRS-PROT: 11 MAG-PROT: 6 FIR-PROT: 7 LIG-PROT: 4 POIS-RES: 6 TOX-RES: 7 BLD-RES: 7 CUR-RES: 0

The lore description read: "A modest set of brass and leather venator's armor. Passed down by the Sizneros family of the Pacanga estate in Chepeng, whose heraldry is the Grey Seagull. It must have been a great shame for the Gulls of Pacanga to lose such a precious heirloom."

So I guess the armor is setting up some kind of delivery quest in the later game?

Finally, I strode up to the tree after a 45 minute struggle.

Something felt off. Whatever I was doing just wasn't fast and hard enough to see me through.