Tim was still lying on the ground, dazed. He wasn't sure what happened in that moment, but he knew he had moved fast. Impossibly fast. Switching to a reverse grip and impaling the creature was done in a matter of seconds, before he hit the ground the creature was either dead or dying. It was as if he had moved with the wind, using its natural rhythm to time his strike, to use the very tempo of the the wind to assist him.

Still, the system didn't say anything about it. But he was not going to forget that mystical feeling, the feeling of power was intoxicating and if he could do that again, well then maybe he could survive this death trap.

Seconds later, he got the level up notifications.

[ You have slain the Level 3 Blood Stained Rodent ]

[ Congratulations, you have reached level 2! You have 5 unassigned stat points. Note: Stat points cannot be assigned into luck ]

[ You have received Blood Stained Rodent's Pelt x1 ]

[ You have received x 50 Rank 1 Bronze Coins ]

The same energy he had felt in the air around him entered his body in large amounts, transforming his body in ways he could not understand. He felt the throbbing pain in his leg gradually dim, and soon it was gone.

Confusingly, the level up didn't make him stronger or more robust from what he could tell. Isn't that the point of levelling up? Instead, it felt as if the capacity of the spiritual energy that he could hold had increased significantly like he was some sort of reservoir. He then turned his attention to the unassigned stat points.

From the descriptions he had read earlier, Constitution was suppose to direct the spiritual energy to first strengthen his inner organs, bones and even blood, making the more robust. Then, at later levels it would affect his skin, making his skin strong enough to withstand direct blows from normal weapons made out of iron or steel. Though it was very vague in its wording, there's definitely more to it.

He put 3 points into constitution immediately, the experience of getting bitten down to fucking bone marrow was not a pleasant one. The concentration of spiritual energy in his stomach was rapidly depleted, flowing into his organs with a soothing sensation, as if the world itself was enveloping him in a warm embrace.

He felt different, but it's felt impossible to gauge how much the improvement was by. Unless of course, he wanted to stab himself and try. Intelligence and wisdom were both very interesting choices, but not ones he'd count on to survive his present ordeal. Strength was definitely useful, but he realized that Named weapons were probably the strongest weapons in a power bracket, what the system called the initiate level, considering how it easily sliced that level 3 monster. If his weapon was sharp enough, strength really didn't matter a lot in the short run.

Agility was what he was gunning for. The description explained how it made him faster, increased his reaction speed, reflexes, deftness and hand eye coordination. Man, that sounded OP. He put the remaining 2 points in agility and waited. The same sensation enveloped him, but this time it was more concentrate around his arm and leg muscles, and his eyes.

Once the upgrades were done, first he warily gave his surroundings a careful look. Thankfully, the coast was clear. Then he pulled out the pelt from his inventory and examined it. It was soft to the touch, the material surprisingly fluffy and comfortable. He wouldn't mind using it for a quilt, but currently he was smack dab in the midst of summers, even looking at the thing made him sweat. Unfortunately, there was no crazy loot... no armor or weapon rewards. As for the coins, he really didn't know what do with them, just letting them be in the inventory after a quick look.

He picked up his rapier, looked around to see if it was all clear then started practising. Just simple lunges and boy was he fast. It was not at a superhuman level, far from it. But his deftness allowed him to wield the rapier with much more ease, it felt comfortable in his hands and his movements were synchronised, there was less wasted energy and motion.

He pulled out the lotus root he had almost lost his life for, and started munching on it begrudgingly. The texture was like meat somehow, though in terms of taste it was like a glass of root beer. It went down pretty easily, and soon he felt sated. With a sigh, he continued in the direction the system pointed at, warily walking around the clump of lotus roots.

A few hours later, he was still proceeding cautiously, not approaching any herb unless it was necessary for sustainence.

He heard a grunting sound up ahead in the thicket, and his eyes narrowed. Had he met his second adversary? Considering how his previous encounter went, he didn't make any hasty movements. He calmed down and tried to rationalise. It would hardly be a trial if he could simply run away from his challenges. Even excluding that, if he broke out in a run the amount of noise that would make would alert whatever lurked behind the bushes.

He would not dare underestimate what the system was capable of throwing at him anymore. If he went and confronted the beast he would probably die, if he tried to run from it and it caught up to him, then he would be flaunting his exposed back without anyway to defend himself. It was a matter of initiative and Tim would make the first move.

He crouched down, slowly, steadily, flanking the sound of the noise. It was then that he got a glimpse of the creature.

Tim broke out in a cold sweat, and thanked himself for not panicking and running earlier. That monstrosity.... it was a cross between a wild boar and a mammoth, with sharp tusks that would gore him to death in a fucking brutal manner, especially if he was running in a crazed manner. Face pale, he was trying really hard not to piss himself.

The one thing he was grateful for was the size of the hybrid creature was the same as a regular wild boar back on Earth before the multiverse invaded.

He couldn't stall any longer, the creature could notice him at any minute.

Tim started running towards the creature. One step, left foot first. Two steps. Three steps. The creature turned around and noticed him. He used his increased agility to take a fourth step, but it veered off to the right. The creature did not expect that. On his fifth step, he used his front foot to kick forward and his back leg gave him the velocity to execute a perfect lunge.

It impaled the creature through its thick hide. Tim had managed to land a solid hit on its body. The problem was, it wasn't fatal. The creature didn't die, but it was clearly suffering from its screeching and wailing. Tim quickly retracted his sword and created distance between them.

The creature was now truly infuriated, it's eyes bloodshot. It charged straight towards Tim in a maddened rush. Fast. Extremely fast. It took everything he had to leap to the side. The creature crashed into one of the huge trees, impaling itself in it.

Tim was ecstatic, this was his chance. Bless his luck, the hybrid creature was a buffoon. He slowly got up, and tried to move towards the creature to grant it salvation. After taking a step, he crumbled to the ground. There was something wrong with the situation, but he couldn't exactly put a finger on it. He first looked around him, then looked down at his body trying to see what exactly was going on.

" Oh " Tim muttered at the sight of his intestines hanging out of his body.