Chapter 9 Escape_1

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After more than twenty rounds, Ma Lin was consistently on the defensive, the reason being that he had no combat experience and needed to familiarize himself with the fight.

The demonic ape's physical abilities were truly remarkable, and if it wasn't for the fierce dogtooth dagger in his hand, Ma Lin would have long been torn to shreds by his opponent.

When the demonic ape's overconfidence created plenty of openings, Ma Lin leaped forward to close the gap, stabbing it lightly in the ribs. When it stepped back and reached out to scratch at his shoulder, he dodged aside and drew the dagger across its right upper arm, again with minimal force.

Then he jumped back to widen the distance between them.

The dogtooth dagger was extremely sharp, so the two wounds on the demonic ape were already bleeding profusely.

Enraged, it charged at him, but Ma Lin continued to dodge, circling to its rear and stabbing it lightly in the lower back. The ape staggered and its movements became much stiffer.

Ma Lin didn't know where he had hit, but he understood the importance of seizing the opportunity. He moved in again, stabbing the dagger into its back. When he pulled it out, blood spurted forth.

Ma Lin retreated to a distance. The demonic ape stood rigid for a few seconds, then collapsed.

Immediately, another demonic ape leaped in, tossing out the dead one, and then issued a challenging roar at Ma Lin.

This was a battle of attrition, but it was better than facing four at once.

Again, Ma Lin took up a defensive stance, trying to get accustomed to the rhythm of combat. Now the dagger felt even more like an extension of his own body.

After another twenty rounds, he took care of this one.

Then came the next one.

Within twenty rounds, it too was easily taken down.

By the time the last one arrived, he was slightly fatigued, but he encountered no real danger. Whenever his opponent attacked ferociously, he simply focused on careful defense without being reckless.

Finally, he had killed them all.

The system book vibrated, indicating the completion of the task.

A red glow enveloped him, and his muscles felt invigorated – he had earned a slight agility reward.

He felt very good about this. His agility was now truly strong. Although he still couldn't defeat the demonic ape he encountered the previous day, defending a few blows was within his capabilities.

On a nearby rock lay a piece of beastskin, which contained twenty nuts of some sort, and twenty orange-like objects.

Using the "Servant's Book" around his neck, he identified the nuts as "Demon Hand" which, when eaten, increased his strength for an hour, and the "Demon Oranges," which similarly boosted agility for an hour after consumption.

What treasures.

However, the book did not specify where these two fruits could be harvested.

Without hesitation, he ate one of the nuts and indeed, he felt stronger. The fatigue from battle seemed to vanish as well.

The corpses of the four demonic apes were left there.

Now he had nearly two hundred points of contribution. His mood was just great. He could use the points however he wanted, like if he wanted to start a fire outdoors, he could simply use some contribution points to cast a low-level flame spell.

He also gained some insights on how to use the dagger.

He continued making his rounds to the west, still being careful to avoid areas that might harbor dangerous beasts. Now, his ability to flee was top-notch, and he felt much safer in open terrain.

He came upon a reed pond where all the reeds were covered with sharp thorns that attacked passing animals. There were some bones visible in the pond.

A type of black fish swam freely in this thorny reed pond.

He saw many unidentifiable plants and animals and found it difficult to gauge their danger level.

Then he continued heading northwest. His shoes were immune to snow and mud, so he walked with ease.

He felt he must have walked more than ten miles.

It was nearly noon, and he was getting hungry. Suddenly he spotted a plump brown chicken in the snow ahead. He approached it quietly and then shouted, "Servant's escape technique!"

His legs kicked up a breeze as he rushed towards it.

The chicken could actually run very fast and even fly low, but Ma Lin's speed was unexpectedly fast and caught it by surprise.

He caught up to it in an instant, then bent down and stabbed it with his dagger. The chicken tried to fly away, but Ma Lin had already anticipated its movements clearly.

His dagger pierced through the chicken.

First, he used the "Servant's Book" to identify it. By now, he had more or less accepted his role as a servant and no longer resisted it.

This was a common snow chicken from the demon world, free of evil energy, and thus a very safe ingredient. Its tail had two feathers worth collecting.

He plucked the two feathers, wondering whether roasting the chicken meat outside was safe, and whether the aroma might attract predators.

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Best to roast in the open.

He went to gather firewood. It was very simple: find a tree, chop it a few times with the dogtooth dagger, and you'd harvest plenty of firewood.

Next, he plucked the chicken, cut it open, and cleaned it up.

Then he set up a spit and got ready to roast it.

He chanted the spell: "Master, lend me a flame."

Then a burst of flame sprouted from his right hand, lighting the kindling.

Soon, he could smell something fragrant.

He also used a wooden basin to melt some snow water to drink.

He found that his appetite had increased; he could finish a whole chicken in one meal and thought it tasted wonderful.

Reflecting on it, everything he ate here seemed delicious since the day he had arrived.

Then he buried the crushed bones and ashes and walked south.

After about four miles, he felt the system book vibrate and then heard an icy female voice: "Danger alert, predator is approaching. Escape east immediately, advise, run along the main road."

Ma Lin cursed inwardly and started to run with all his might.

His basic running skill allowed him to run like a deer.

He hadn't run far when he heard a loud noise behind him.

Looking back, a black creature with a long neck was hurtling towards him at an arrow-like speed, and it seemed it would catch up to him any moment.

He hurriedly shouted, "Servant's escape technique!"

Immediately, his feet whipped up a breeze and he began to accelerate, quickly gaining distance until after ten seconds, his speed slowed, and he noticed the creature's speed had also decreased.

But it wasn't ready to give up and continued its relentless pursuit.

He had no choice but to keep running ahead. Fortunately, his strength and agility had improved a lot, so this level of running didn't tire him out too much.

After running about a kilometer, the creature finally turned back.

Ma Lin stopped briefly to catch his breath. He thought to himself that he had nearly been caught.

What in the world was that thing?

Thankfully, he wouldn't get lost; he recognized a small hill to the southeast.

Now, all he wanted was to get back to his cave and rest properly.

That was quite a scare.

It took him about an hour, and he was still about five miles from home.

Suddenly, the system book vibrated again, and the cold female voice sounded: "Predator is approaching, please escape."

Then he saw a red arrow in the snow, signaling that he should run in that direction.

This time, with experience on his side, he took off running.

He hadn't run far when three wolves appeared from the left, three more came toward him from the right front, and the sound of wolf howls echoed from behind, but the red arrow provided by the system was the correct escape route.

He yelled loudly, "Servant's escape technique!"

Suddenly, his feet surged with power, and he sprinted like the wind, swiftly breaking out of the encirclement. The wolf pack was a bit stunned but still chased after him relentlessly.

Their trait was their lasting endurance, always trying to chase their prey until it was utterly exhausted.

Ma Lin swore continuously in his mind.

He ran straight for home.

His basic running ability was still quite decent; he gradually widened the gap with the main pack of wolves, until only two remained in hot pursuit.

He didn't dare to be careless and kept his pace up.

Soon, he could see the rocky hill where his home was located.

He quickly arrived at the familiar place and looked back to see only one wolf left from the two.