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Argon couldn’t believe it.

Or rather, he refused to believe it.

He hadn’t run for even five minutes and he was already out of his breath. Fatigue was already seeping into his body. Truth to be told, it was actually impressive for a girl with such figure without preparation and prior training to run for more than a minute without slowing down but to the Sword Saint’s standard, it was completely unacceptable.

When he viewed his status in his mind, this was what appeared to him.

[Status: Moderate Exhaustion | Bruised (Right Hand)]

Moderate? More like Dire! I could barely breath right now!

He admonished his own body but that was just a foolish act of futility. Even if he didn’t want to acknowledge it, this was his body, no cursing or outrage could change that.

But his frustration was understandable.

Right behind him, seven Rot-rats were chasing after him. They weren’t as fast as dogs but they were undoubtedly faster than the current Argon. He was never going to outrun the rodent-monsters with his current stats.

One of the Rot-rats gained the upper pace and managed to catch up to the delectable fox girl in its hungering sight. It bared its rotten fangs wide as it lunged at Argon.

You won’t get me that easy!

He shouted his battle spirit inwardly, because he was already out of breath, and swung the branch in his hand at the Rot-rat. Similar to the last Rot-rat, its head was also blown to smithereens as the branch exploded into tiny barks.

It was a wonder that the opposing flow of air blew the splattered blood and guts away from him.

At that moment, he felt refreshed and his fatigue was gone. Even his right hand was healed.

[Experience Gained – Level Progression: 100%] [Erinthea: Level 1 increased to Level 2] [Status has been restored] [Skill Points Gained +2] [Ability Points Gained +2] [Level Progression: 0%]

I leveled up? Yes! Finally!

He cheered in his heart as he continued to run with renewed vigor. His thighs no longer felt like they were on fire.

While Argon wasn’t exactly sure of what Skill Points and Ability Points entailed, he could roughly figure it out by himself from the description he had read just before.

Skill Point goes to Magic Arts, Combat Arts, or Innate Skills. Ability Point goes to the three ability categories, right? In that case, let’s dump all of it into Might at once!

Responding to his will, this message appeared.

[Might: 5 has been increased to 7]

Great! It works!

Although the change was small, he definitely felt that he was a little bit faster and his breath felt lighter as he ran. Even so, the Rot-rats were still the faster ones in the end1.

Argon wanted to use his Skill Points but he didn’t have any opportunity to do so with the six monsters chasing after him. Unlike Ability Points, he still wasn’t sure what his skills do exactly. So, he needed to read the description first but that was impossible right now. He already had his mind full in concentrating on not randomly tripping over due to his imbalance body, caused by these bountiful mounds.

Actually, he didn’t hate them as much as he thought he did. They were soft to touch and they were the dreams of many men. If he was given the choice to reduce the size, he wasn’t too confident that he would accept that choice, despite his verbal complains.

All of a sudden, his ears fluttered and his ears twitched.

Hmm? Presence up ahead? And it’s… humans?

He could tell they were humans from the sound of their footsteps and their scent.

Being the Sword Saint, he had also honed his other senses to best of his ability. In a way, he could also “see” with his ears. But now that he had a pair of more sensitive ears, he could actually “see” with just his hearing. However, to completely replaced it as another pair of eyes will still take some time.

If it’s humans, am I saved?

He had such thoughts.

But such thoughts were immediately crumbled as a pungent odor drifted into his nose. The smell came from the humans up ahead. They were definitely alive but they smelled bad… and he knew the smell wasn’t due to their filthy bodies but something else within their body that was filthy.

His tail stood up at the unpleasant scent but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. If he stopped, he would be lunch for the Rot-rats.

Hmm… maybe I can do that?

With an idea in his mind, Argon kept running until he came to a small clearing, where the three men were. The three were raggedly dress and they all had crooked teeth and rusted swords by their waist. Argon instantly took notice that two of them had steel swords but one of them had an iron sword instead. Their coarsened skin with scars and their unpleasant expression told Argon enough of their profession.

Bandits.

They were most likely on their “hunt” since their eyes were darting around.

Their froze in their tracks and their eyes widened as they took notice of Argon. Their lips instantly curled into sinister grins as licentious notions surfaced onto their expression. One of them even had a bulge on his pants but Argon did his best to ignore that vulgar reaction.

“Well, what do we have here?” One of the bandits sneered. “A fine fox lassie.” He even licked his lips.

“Oh, this is great,” said the other bandit. “She will sell for a good price. Even better if she’s a virgin. And look at their tail.”

“Hah! The price won’t be that good after I’m done playing with her body.” This was the bandit with the hard-on and the iron sword.

“Do you ever stop thinking with your c̲o̲c̲k̲?”

“Ha! I fight for my c̲o̲c̲k̲ and my c̲o̲c̲k̲ drives me to fight.”

The three bandits were all staring at Argon with lecherous gazes as they mouthed off their desire.

Vile scums…

If Argon still had his original body and sword, he would cut this three down with ease and without the slightest hesitation. However, circumstances were different.

Instead of charging straight at these bandits without a weapon in hand, he stepped aside and let the Rot-rats had at them. If he remembered correctly, Rot-rats would always chase after quantity instead of quality.

And his memory served him right. The Rot-rats switched their target from him to the bandits. Of course, this wasn’t to say that the Rot-rats wouldn’t come back for Argon.

“What the f̲u̲c̲k̲!?”

“That f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲ lassie was leading a monster train!?”

“Monster train? That’s too little to be called a monster train though?”

“If you think it’s too little, then you should try stopping them, you level four snob,” the bandit said and kicked his own companion with the iron sword to the group of Rot-rats.

“You f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲— Arrrrgh!!” The iron sword bandit’s sentence was cut short as the Rot-rats began to swarm him. He tried to fight back with his sword. He cut down one but the other six immediately overwhelmed the bandit. His sword went flying away from his hand as the Rot-rats piled up on him on the ground.

“What the f̲u̲c̲k̲ was that?!” the other bandit question his companion’s abrupt decision.

“Saving both of our lives,” said the traitorous bandit as he took off sprinting without even a glance back to his companion.

The remaining bandit wasn’t that much better as he too ran off with his life as the priority above all others.

What a bunch of low-lives.

Argon castigated the bandits silently. He crept quietly but quickly to the iron sword that the mauled bandit dropped. It wasn’t a good sword with all the chips and rust on the blade but it was the only weapon Argon could get his hand on right now.

He picked up the sword and brandished at the feasting Rot-rats. He could run now while they were tearing the bandit apart but he doubted he could outrun these cretins for long. If they lost track of their prey, they would just head back to their nest and gathered more numbers to hunt back down its lost prey. Plus, Argon wasn’t sure he could escape this forest before the Rot-rats came back with reinforcement. It was better to finish them off right now than regretting it later.

Argon picked up some stones from his feet and threw at the Rot-rats.

The rodents stopped their feast and immediately turned to Argon. He knew how much they hated being interrupted during their feasting. It would send them into rage. They would become faster and more ferocious. Although, their movement would also become more predictable.

The Rot-rats came charging at Argon. Their fangs bared and their eyes

Two in the front. Three in the middle. Two in the back. Good, let’s do this.

Argon made mental preparations as he steeled his nerves. His mind was calm but his hands were quivering at the novel experience of confronting such a number of opponents.

He sighed. It was truly a strange feeling. His head was clear but his body was shivering in fear like a s̲h̲i̲t̲t̲i̲n̲g̲ dog. Even wielding a sword felt peculiar with this new and unreliable body.

Even if that’s the case…. so f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲ what?!

As he used Arcane Edge on the rusty iron sword, he shouted his courage in his heart.

Forcing his body to cope with his mind, he slashed at the Rot-rats. He took out the two Rot-rats at the front with a single sweep as the blade left a trail of blue glow. He almost over-swung due to the momentum from his swinging ample bosom but he managed.

[Experience Gained – Level Progression: 80%]

His muscles screamed. He forgot about one other thing.

He forgot to stretch and this was because for his previous body, which had been tempered greatly, it was always in peak condition. He did not need to stretch. He only stretched when he was about to face a real challenge. This new body of his wasn’t even ripe for combat.

Despite this oversight, he persisted with the pain.

He kicked up dusts from the ground to blind the three Rot-rats in the middle. The two at the back hopped over the three stunned Rot-rats and lunged at Argon. He executed the same sweep and bisected them cleanly.

A crack appeared on the blade. His muscles screamed again. And this message appeared once again.

[Experience Gained – Level Progression: 100%] [Erinthea: Level 2 increased to Level 3] [Status has been restored] [Skill Points Gained +2] [Ability Points Gained +2] [Level Progression: 30%]

Argon immediately dumped all of the Ability Points into Might.

[Might: 7 increased to 9]

With the renewal effect from leveling up, Argon quickly moved to dispatched the three remaining Rot-rats which were still struggling with their blinded eyes. Argon wasn’t proud with this tactic but he was in a forest, honor meant nothing, especially against monsters.

Survival of the fittest!

Along with a cute shout that he play deaf to, he stabbed the Rot-rat at the furthest right, tore the sword from that rodent, and continued swinging his blade to carve the remaining two, all the while feeling the pain in straining his unprepared muscles.

[Experience Gained – Level Progression: 90%]

What? Ninety percent? Is this a cruel joke of fate?

He knew arithmetic but he wasn’t the best at it. He was only the taught the basic just so he could keep count of his own money. That said, he didn’t exactly understand how the level and experience was calculated but he chalked it all up to his future self to handle it.

Well, at least I’m saved now, right?

When he saw no other presence in sight, he closed his eyes and strained his ears at his surroundings. Other than the small animals scampering around, there were no threats in the vicinity. But that’s only counting what he could hear. He didn’t rule out the possibility of there being monsters capable of absolute silence and invisibility.

If that happened, Sixth Sense will warn me, right? Also, I have a sword with me now.

As soon as he said that, the sword in his hand snapped into half, leaving sparkles of blue glitters.

Ah… Great…

Erinthea – Forest-kin: Fox-kin

Skills Points: 4

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