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“Why don’t we try smoking them out?” suggested Endless Sea.
“Smoking them out?”
“Yes, I read earlier that bats fear smoke. Not sure if the bats in this game work the same way, though.”
“Hmm… it’s worth a try. Let’s do it!” Zane agreed.

…

They returned to the cave entrance.

Endless Sea held two pieces of dry wood he had picked up along the way.

“Sea, do you know how to start a fire?” Zane suddenly asked.
“Nope.”
“What? Then what do we do now? Go back to town again?”
“This kind of thing just takes following a tutorial. Watch me! You two go gather some leaves and branches in the meantime.” Endless Sea boasted confidently.

Although Zane had his doubts, they had no other choice for now.

“Alright,” he replied.

Zane and Starry split up to gather flammable materials. Meanwhile, Endless Sea stood holding the two pieces of wood, staring at them blankly.

“Starting a fire by rubbing sticks… so you rub a hard wooden stick against another piece of wood, creating friction to ignite a flame… but these sticks aren’t sharp enough,” he muttered.

“No matter! With my twenty-three years of singlehood and hand speed, this should be a piece of cake!” With that, he began furiously rubbing the two pieces of wood together.

Twenty minutes later, Zane and Starry returned with an armful of branches and leaves piled half as high as a person.

“Sea, are you even getting anywhere with that?” Zane asked, looking at the still unlit wood.

“A man never admits defeat! Just give me a bit more time!” Endless Sea replied, drenched in sweat.

Another ten minutes passed.

“…”
“This is strange. Could the tutorial be wrong? I’ve been at this for half an hour, and nothing’s happened.”
“I think using sunlight to focus the light might be more effective,” Zane said, unimpressed.
“Where are you going to find sunlight in this gloomy forest? Just let me—”
“Forget it. I’ve got a solution,” Starry interrupted, holding a lit torch in her hand.
“…” Endless Sea suddenly felt very foolish.

Zane, having anticipated Endless Sea’s failure, had sent Starry to buy fire-starting supplies from town earlier.

…

They piled the dry branches and leaves at the cave entrance, sprinkling them with slime mucus and venomous fangs for added effect. On top of that, they added bits of burlap and rice paper, both of which they had just purchased. Fortunately, these materials were relatively cheap; a single silver coin was enough to buy plenty.

Lighting the pile with the torch, the three of them quickly retreated to the nearby woods to observe from a safe distance.

The fire grew steadily, and the mixture of slime mucus and venomous fangs emitted a noxious, nearly unbearable stench as it burned. The acrid smoke soon overpowered even the lingering smell of blood, spreading thickly into the air.

“That smell is awful!” The three of them covered their noses and mouths.

Before long, there was movement inside the cave. A swarm of dark shadows burst through the smoke and flew out!

The smoke had clearly disoriented the blood bats, which scattered in all directions, their behavior erratic and uncoordinated.

“This is our chance!” Endless Sea spotted a lone blood bat flying close by and thrust his sword forward.

The blood bat’s health dropped significantly.

Hurt, the blood bat screeched and lunged at Endless Sea, baring its fangs to bite.

Starry delivered a devastating blow, dealing over 150 damage. With Zane’s additional attack, the blood bat’s 350 HP dropped to just 79.

“Careful, it’s using Life Drain! Sea, get out of there!” Zane yelled.

It was too late. The bat moved with lightning speed, attaching itself to Endless Sea’s neck and biting down.

The damage was severe, taking away a third of Endless Sea’s health in one attack. The continuous life-drain effect was even worse, ticking every half-second and replenishing the bat’s health.

Starry quickly struck the blood bat.

The blood bat, after draining life from Endless Sea, still had 169 HP remaining. Starry’s attack left it with only a sliver of HP. If it wasn’t killed immediately, Endless Sea was going to be drained dry!

Zane’s main body followed up with another attack.

Luckily, the next life-drain damage didn’t trigger, or Endless Sea definitely wouldn’t have survived the bat’s relentless assault.

The blood bat, having lost all its HP, wobbled weakly before collapsing to the ground.

“My head’s spinning… These blood bats are insane!” Endless Sea exclaimed, trembling as he reviewed the battle log.

“This life-drain ability is deadly. We absolutely can’t let them touch us again, or we’ll risk dropping a level and respawning back in the village,” Zane warned.

“Our combined burst damage isn’t enough to kill one before it attacks. Someone’s going to have to take a hit,” Endless Sea analyzed. Though he considered suggesting Starry to take the lead since she could probably dodge, his pride as a man and a seasoned player wouldn’t let him. “Here’s the plan: I’ll lure one out. Once it attacks, I’ll immediately retreat, and you two finish it off. Sound good?”

“I can do it,” Starry volunteered. “I should be able to dodge their speed.”

“No, no, no! Why use a swordmaster to deal with small fry? Trust me, leave it to me!” Endless Sea declared confidently.

“…Fine. Just be careful,” Starry relented.

“Just watch my performance!” Endless Sea replied with bravado as he stepped forward.

He moved cautiously, testing the blood bats’ aggro range step by step. Pulling more than one bat would surely result in a wipe, so he had to be extra careful.

Suddenly, a bat, blackened from the smoke, locked onto Endless Sea and dived at him aggressively.

“S̲h̲i̲t̲!” Endless Sea cursed. There was no time to attack—he had to run! He bolted back the way he came, only to encounter another blood bat mid-path.

…Wait, their movements are not fixed?

It made sense, given that the bats had been forcibly driven out of their cave. Expecting them to stay in a pattern was unrealistic.

In a moment of desperation, Endless Sea quickened his pace, focusing on the bat in front of him. It was targeting his left neck! He lowered his stance and tilted his body to the right, practically diving forward.

The bat missed, brushing past him!

Endless Sea managed to return to the cover of the trees.

The bat that had been attacked shifted its aggro immediately. Starry fearlessly spun and slashed as she moved past.

She cleanly killed the blood bat without taking a single hit!

“Watch out! There’s another one!” Endless Sea called out.

Starry didn’t have time to adjust her stance, so Zane’s main body stepped in.

The second blood bat, now hit, didn’t rush in to drain blood. Instead, it paused briefly.

Sonic Wave!

Zane felt a wave of dizziness wash over him as he stumbled backward, disoriented.

Seeing Zane about to be attacked, Endless Sea panicked and launched an attack of his own.

The blood bat’s attention shifted to Endless Sea. As the bat prepared to strike, Starry made her move.

A critical hit struck the bat’s head, dealing massive weak point damage and killing it instantly!

“Huff… huff…” Heavy breaths filled the air as the three of them recovered. Just two blood bats had pushed them to their limits, but thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

…

“Their movements aren’t predictable. This is going to be tough. Let’s try a few more rounds. The experience from level 10 mobs is incredible. Once I hit level 9, I’ll be able to equip my Fractured Hammer. With that, I’ll crush these bats one by one!” Endless Sea declared.

“Yeah! While the smoke is still working, let’s finish them off in one go!” Zane said, fired up with determination.

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