4 The First Battle

"Stop!' Shouted Arwin, but it was too late.

He was about to pull aside the girl and plan their method of attack, but she simply ignored him and ran straight towards the rat instead!

"This girl is crazy!" he complained silently in his head.

He suspected that she had been a reckless person as soon as she had asked him to bring her to the dungeon. He initially didn't want to bring her fearing for her safety but had agreed because he felt indebted to her, and she had repeatedly pushed him until he fell over the edge of reason. Arwin silently cursed his inability to say no. Now, he could only watch as the girl he had just met risked her well being for no apparent reason other than wanting a fight.

The giant rat was a low leveled monster compared with the surrounding demi-humans, but he still didn't want to underestimate it. It was about half the height of a grown man, which gave it a naturally large hitbox. Even though it was a relatively weak, one could still take some damage from its attacks if they were not careful.

Back in the game, the rat's bite attack could inflict a bleed de-buff that would cause damage over time unless gauze was applied. He didn't know how that would work in this world, but since they didn't bring any supplies on this trip, he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He knew that Isabella claimed to be an experienced fighter, but he had a hard time believing that this thin girl was capable of combat.

To his surprise, Isabella wasn't lying about her experience. She charged towards the rat and quickly landed a clear strike on the back of its fur coat. The rat immediately reeled in pain, and jumped a foot backward, gazing at Isabella with angry but observant eyes. Isabella then stepped forward, this time aiming at the rat's neck.

The oversized rodent tried to bite at her shoulder, but she gracefully contorted her body to the side while simultaneously landing a clean circular strike on the rat's soft underbelly, causing a large gash to appear. The rat fell forward, whimpering in pain. It tried to pick itself up, but quickly succumbed to blood loss. Isabella approached the rat from behind and triumphantly stabbed her dagger into its head.

Despite his initial shock at Isabella's skill, Arwin was able to gather a good amount of information through the fight. It seems that Isabella had chosen the warrior class, as she displayed the common beginner warrior skills "charge" and crescent strike. Seeing that these common techniques brought Arwin a great deal of relief, as the class system in the game seemed to be unchanged.

He had originally only planned to test combat on weaker monsters such as the Tunnel Muskrat which would not be able to inflict much damage, but it seemed like he would be able to challenge stronger rodents with Isabella by his side.

"Bringing her wasn't a mistake after all," he thought.

He made his way up to the site of the battle where Isabella simply stood triumphantly over the dead rat with glimmering eyes that seemed to light up the entire dungeon.