8 A New Way to Fight

Having learned this new technique, Isabella was eager to test it out in combat. After a brief jog, she stumbled upon an armored mole about one hundred meters ahead of her. It was much larger than the average mole and had a similar size to the giant rat.

Since the armored mole had extremely large and touch claws, it was difficult to kill alone. Back in the game, its claws would nullify almost any head-on attack. Novice players would need to surround the mole with multiple members to gain access to its soft back and underbelly. For most new players, this was their introduction to team play.

Of course, as players gained more advanced displacement skills, they could easily take care of such trivial enemies, and Isabella was no exception. As she got close to the enemy, she quickly broke into a sprint and launched herself into the air. The mole immediately noticed her and raised its adamantine claws in self-defense.

The impact it had braced for did not arrive. Isabella swiftly raised her dagger above her head and aimed her attack at the mole's abdomen. She didn't invest all her momentum into the upcoming strike, allowing her to freely change directions by kicking off the ground. The mole was thrown off guard as it realized that Isabella had ceased her charge. It attempted to turn its body to protect against the subsequent strike, but it was too late.

Isabella easily slipped stepped past the mole's defense and slashed at the mole's side in a circular motion. Warm blood gushed out of the wound, dying the ground in red. The mole realized it was outmatched. After stumbling backward, it started frantically tunneling into the ground, attempting to escape.

However, Isabella would not let it. She took her dagger and threw it with a strength unbeknownst to a 15-year-old girl. The dagger seamlessly traveled through the air and landed squarely in the middle on the back of the mole's head.

…

Arwin was surprised at how little time it had taken for Isabella to become proficient in the technique. In the game world, one could execute the animation cancel easily just by pressing two hotkeys in sequence. However, he had learned through experience that this world was much less forgiving. He had expected her to take longer to perfect her balance, but it seemed Isabella was a much faster learner than he expected.

Thanks to Isabella, he had now cleared most of his concerns of this world's combat. The class system, along with skills, equipment, and drops were all like that of the game. The new world contained an entirely new economic and hierarchal structure, but he was confident he would be able to adapt to this over time.

His only concern was that of class advancements. Back in the game, a player would need to enter the sanctuary of a guild building corresponding to their class in order to gain a new class. Players that had reached the prerequisites to a specific class would be granted new skills if they passed the evolution exam.

He had already confirmed the existence of guild buildings so his natural next step was to visit a sanctuary. Since the prerequisite to gain the basic warrior class only required that one gain a small number of experience points, he figured that he should have reached the threshold by now.

He quickly dismantled the armored mole that Isabella had just killed and placed its coat and claws into Isabella's bag. It was now filled up and was on the brink of tearing apart.

He had tried to convince Isabella to leave some furs behind many times, but the stubborn girl refused vehemently, even throwing a tantrum at one point. Naturally, Arwin could only back off and let her have her way.