Chapter 39: Sleeping in the Open
Chapter 39: Sleeping in the Open
Arthur:
[...]
No answer? Fine.
I went deeper into the new area; nothing interesting—just enormous trees fused together into pillars of branches, and green plants clinging everywhere, from the ground to the trees.
Until I saw a white-furred rabbit with red eyes and a white horn on its forehead. It looked very peaceful as it ate quietly among the grass.
Great, dinner... I drooled, imagining that I would eat a rabbit. I sneaked behind a giant tree, watching the rabbit and getting closer little by little.
Until I was close enough to grab the handle of my sword, ready to dash and strike.
But it seemed my plan failed. The rabbit raised its head, twitching its ears cautiously.
Suddenly, a tendril shaped like a spear shot out from a plant attached to a nearby giant tree, lunging toward the rabbit. But the rabbit noticed and quickly dodged, making the plant’s tendril hit the ground.
Even so, the plant did not give up—it sent another tendril, and then another. The rabbit skillfully dodged the tendrils.
The plant continued sending tendrils one after another, reaching ten attacks at once. The rabbit’s stomach was pierced, and it screamed in pain before dying.
The tendrils wrapped around the rabbit and dragged it toward the giant tree, covering it with several of those tendrils.
Immediately, I backed away—I had been too close to a giant tree that had the same kind of plant.
[Don’t worry, not every plant here moves. Some I simply wanted to be normal plants. That’s why when you asked me before, I didn’t know. But now I’m sure.]
I looked around—everywhere I looked, I saw that cursed plant. Then I raised my head and saw that there were none of those plants above the wooden pillars.
Good, that’s where I can hide from this plant. Now there’s the dinner problem. It’s my second day inside this forest—its surprises never end.
I moved away from the rabbit’s death site and noticed that near that plant were bones of different creatures. That was a new clue to locate their positions.
So I avoided them until I found my prey—another rabbit, but it looked different. It stood on its feet, yellow in color, and almost the size of a human.
Can this be considered a rabbit? It looks more like a kangaroo to me.
I approached stealthily, but what stealth! It instantly noticed me, turned around, and looked at me as if it wasn’t afraid at all.
"Oh... this is interesting. You want to face me? As you wish, today you’ll be my dinner." I stepped forward.
I removed my hand from the sword handle. Apparently, my opponent wanted a fistfight.
The rabbit-kangaroo adjusted its stance and raised its hands, leaping toward me with great force, sending its fist toward me. I raised my hand to block that punch and sent my own toward its stomach, which looked like a pouch.
Is this a kangaroo? Or a rabbit? I can’t tell.
As soon as it saw its attack fail, it jumped back quickly, making my strike miss too. Then it bent its legs and leaped toward me, swinging a kick at me. I dodged the kick by an inch, grabbed one of its legs, and tightened my muscles to lift its weight, aiming to slam it into the ground.
I slammed it down, imprinting its body into the ground. It let out a short scream, spitting out a bit of blood.
Without mercy, I raised my foot to stomp on its stomach. It noticed and rolled aside to dodge. It stood up, leaving some distance between us.
"You won’t run away, will you? I haven’t even warmed up yet. Come on." I raised my hand, signaling with five fingers for it to come.
The rabbit-kangaroo charged at me without fear.
"That’s the spirit I wanted." I dodged its left punch by raising my wrist, and leaned my upper body back to avoid the next punch coming from the right.
A kick came from the right; I lowered my hand to block it.
It kept throwing punches and kicks wildly, until the system symbol appeared.
[System Assistant]
[Your skill level has increased]
[Skill I Street Fighting (Level 1)] —> [Skill I Street Fighting (Level 2)]
"Playtime’s over..." I grabbed its right fist with my left hand and twisted its arm slightly to the left to prevent it from escaping.
"Arrghhh... grghhhh..."
"Don’t worry, I’ll be fast... [Rage]" My body turned red, steam began to rise from it. I raised my right hand and sent my fist toward its face with full force.
Its face shattered into blood and bone as it was sent flying ten meters away.
[System Assistant]
[You have killed an Elite Monster: Kangaroo-Rabbit]
[You gained 300 experience points]
[Level 5 (1600/880)] —> [Level 5 (1600/1180)]
Dinner... dinner... dinner... I went to the corpse of the Kangaroo-Rabbit, drew my sword, and began cutting it apart.
I gathered a bunch of branches and lit a fire, placing slices of meat on wooden sticks to roast over the flames.
After they were cooked, I ate the meat with appetite and satisfaction. Darkness fell upon the forest, and it grew quiet.
I raised my head to climb up to the top of the wooden pillars. Better to sleep here than down below near those dangerous tendrils.
I relaxed on the wood, trying to sleep, not knowing that something was staring at me.
A plant tendril began to creep toward me...
—
[States]
[Character:
– Name and surname: Arthur Field
– Title : Wolf Killer
– Ethnicity: human
– Ability: Learning – Rank S
– Level 5 (1600/1180)
– Statistics Points: 0
]
[Properties:
– Strength: 17 + (81)
– Agility: 8 + (47)
– Defense (Vitality, Resistance): 7 + (22)
– Intelligence (mana): 15
]
[Skills:
– [Skill I I’m not thirsty (Level 1)]
– [Skill II Stacked Damage Resistance (Level 2)]
– [Skill I Sword Art of the Field Family (Level 2)]
– [Skill II Rapid Cell Evolution (Level 2)]
– [Skill I Burning Hand (Level 3)]
– [Skill II Warrior Miner (Level 3)]
– [Skill II Blood Will (Level 2)]
– [Skill II Greater Pain Resistance (Level 4)]
– [Skill II Big Muscles (Level 1)]
– [Skill I Street Fighting (Level 2)]
– [Skill II Beast of Lightning (Level 1)]
– [Skill III Muscle Rage (Level 1)]
– [Skill I Fatigue Resistance (Level 1)]
– [Skill I Thermal Sword (Level 1)]
– [Skill I Poison Resistance (Level 4)]
]
"Special Skills <Passive>:
– [Lightning Move]
"
"Special Skills (positive):
– [Rage :
– Effects: Strength attribute increased by 50%, agility attribute increased by 25%
– Duration: 10 seconds
– Cool down: 5 minutes
]
"