Bamboo Rats

There was a bamboo thicket on the side, that is if he goes up the mountain for a kilometer. 

If it hadn't been right after the volcano's eruption, he wouldn't be traveling this leisurely in the forest. 

By now, many predators would have attacked him, some strong enough to even deform the truck. 

That's the reason not many people go out of the base, and even when going out, they do not go far. 

Now that most animals have fled in the animal tide, the only ones remaining are the stupid and weak ones. 

He must grind them as much as possible for the spirit's energy, and feed to his slimes. 

The bamboo thicket has many holes, indicating there are far too many bamboo rats here. 

He did not care about bamboo rats, but the horned rabbits needed feed. 

Bamboo shoots will do just as well for the feed. 

He summoned the rabbits, and with just a wave of his hands, they understood. 

In only two minutes, the horned rabbits picked a fight with the bamboo rats. 

Thankfully, Rowan carried his spear. 

Horned rabbits are cubs, while the bamboo rat is an adult. 

The bamboo rat is almost two feet in length, its tail just as short as it was before the apocalypse, and its body twice the size. 

It does move slowly, but its soft punch power is not small. 

Rowan is glad he put the points he did in the agility and dexterity. 

The problem with killing bamboo rats is that their skin is too elastic. 

Your weapon needs to be extra sharp, and have a slicing skill or enchantment to pierce the elastic skin of bamboo rats. 

Stabbing a bamboo rat ?! 

Impossible for normal people, and hard even for the awakeners. 

For Rowan who has thirty agility and twenty dexterity, it's a challenge worth trying. 

The bamboo rat rolled itself into a ball, started rolling towards him. 

Its eyes are completely hidden under its stomach, along with its head. 

Rowan dodged its charge. 

The bamboo rat reversed its direction, instead of charging for him, it gave out a loud bark, half way between a chitter, and a croak. 

The next moment three furballs are rolling for him, from three different directions. 

He could not dodge in any direction. 

Rowan did not even try to dodge. 

He assessed the little balls, and in conclusion, the one coming from the east has the highest possibility of dying. 

Rowan ran to the beast, jumped into the air, and swung his spear forward like a harpoon. 

In fact, his spear is also shaped slender like a harpoon, and has similar bending properties. 

It slid through the folds of the ball, and hit the eye of the rat accurately, killing it in a single blow. 

[ You have gained +2 spirit energy ] 

Rowan threw the corpse to his blood slime and flesh eating slime, who were waiting on the periphery. 

"Awoooooooooo..!" the fattest bamboo rat roared. 

Immediately, the bamboo forest is full of fur balls. 

The number is far more than Rowan expected. 

"You Bastards! You think I will be afraid of you measly fat balls ?! If ten come, I kill ten, if a thousand come, I will kill a thousand!" Rowan roared into the air, performing one man show only for himself. 

Unlike his words, his pupils and legs are trembling. 

If he takes more than ten punches from these balls, his internal organs will be reduced to paste and he will die on the spot. 

I must get myself a proper armor next time, Rowan thought, as he charged towards the nearest bamboo rat. 

He could not stand in a single place. 

If he stops once, or if he even stumbles once, it will be his funeral. 

He stabbed another rat, and swung his spear out, the bamboo rat corpse flying beautifully in the air, with just two drops of blood falling on ground, and accurately landing between flesh slime and blood slime. 

Rowan had no time to admire his beautiful swing. 

Ten bamboo rats were coming for him, and he could not dodge in any direction. 

He waited till the last minute!

Just as bamboo rats pounced on him, he kicked off the ground, floating over the pouncing bamboo rats in a beautiful pole vault posture. 

He landed back on the ground behind them, and in that short moment, speared two bamboo rats swiftly, before dodging to the right. 

The flesh ball fell right atop the bamboo rats which unfurled in the center. 

Though they were not as injured as Rowan would have been, it stalled their formation from forming fast. 

To put it in simpler words - ' It cramped their style ' ! 

Thankfully, this short moment gave the much needed breather for Rowan. 

He speared two more bamboo rats, and ran away towards the direction where there are more bamboo rats than less. 

The fat Bamboo rat chief who was watching from the side screeched in anger. 

That empty space is left there as a trap. 

Yes, it's a bamboo rat that knows the art of war. 

It ate Sun Tzu's teachings quite deliciously, thank you very much! 

Unfortunately for the bamboo rat which digested art of war, Rowan is a 'divine gamer' who specialized in grinding crowded mobs. 

He will never fall for a trap of this level. 

In the encirclement, he avoided a flat area where all mobs could pounce immediately, and went to the high ground where no more than four mobs could attack simultaneously.

It was a mound surrounded by thick bamboo trees, and all the trees would have to be broken before rats could roll over him. 

Rowan speared the bamboo rats left and right, his hands only becoming faster with practice. 

On the side, the blood slime and flesh slime are having the time of their life. 

The blood slime slid out, and the flesh slime devoured the corpse. 

Rowan's spirit energy counter kept increasing. 

Only, the bamboo rats shew no sign of stopping. 

It's already been four hours. 

The number of bamboo rats that died must have been in the thousands. 

The high ground he has chosen is becoming flat ground, what with the aggressive rats bulldozing through all the nearby area. 

'Fuck! Are they living in an underground black apartment? Why are there so many in such a small bamboo forest!' he scolded as he speared and threw them away at his slimes. 

At this rate, he can't call this operation hunting mobs, but mining rats. 

There's no end to it. 

His throat is parched, and muscles he did not even know existed in his body are hurting. 

[ Strength + 1 ] 

[ Spirit + 1 ] 

What ?!

He could increase strength through training? 

Tell these things early, damn it. 

Even if Rowan ran away from here he would be drowned in bamboo rats and turned into mince meat. 

He had no choice but to keep up this fight. 

If only he had a giant water slime which could cast a tsunami of water for him ! 

Rowan's spidey senses tingle all of a sudden. 

There's danger. 

From where ?!

No matter which direction he looked at, it felt dangerous. 

Rowan searched around frantically, even as he kept spearing the bamboo rats with his tired arms. 

The Rat chief !!!

He is growing in size. 

He has read about such animals in school. 

They are called Spirit mutant demon beasts. 

Their core is the most valuable, but they are ten times stronger than normal demon beasts, and worse yet, they are as intelligent as humans. 

In other words, this is not a normal boss monster, but a raid boss monster. 

Spirit mutants only happen under extreme circumstances. Massacre of all its tribe might fit those circumstances, Rowan thought tangentially. 

Wait! 

Why is his thinking getting confused? 

Damn! 

He is too tired and dehydrated.

If he remained here, he would become 'Rowan Pancake' under the assault of the rat chief. 

' Location ! ' 

' I must change location fast ' Rowan repeated to himself frantically. 

The small bamboo rats went into a frenzy, and started attacking Rowan from all sides, trying their best to keep him in this flattened thicket.

If he moves again, they will have no choice but to die a lot more to catch him again. 

Rowan picked up the longest bamboo pole he could find, and braved the bombardment of two of the smaller bamboo rats to jump out of the thicket. 

The rat chief ran over the thicket just as he released his bamboo pole arm. 

His slender spear is too small to reach the eyes of the rat chief in his balled up state. 

And even if it reaches, Rowan was not sure the strength will be sufficient to kill the rat chief. 

F**k! Damn !!! 

The swear words flowed in his head like rap as he ran from the speeding rat chief. 

Wind whistled by with a zoom sound as the bamboo chief rolled over the bamboo leaves and branches. 

Rowan could clearly hear the crunch of the leaves from behind him. 

As the sound neared, his fear heightened his senses. 

He grabbed the first bamboo pole he could and jumped up using it as a polearm. 

In the air, instead of propelling himself forward, he propelled himself backward with his legs, and jumped backwards. 

The rat chief boulder whistled by him, hitting the base of his pole arm, and with that, the propelling power hit Rowan with more force than he expected. 

He only increased dexterity with the intent of being able to catch small animals faster, but it helped in an unexpected place like this. 

He corrected himself like a cat in the air, instead of falling flat on the ground, he jumped acrobatically like an circus man on a tarpaulin springboard, and kept jumping forward like that in the flattened tunnel created by the rat chief. 

The rat chief went much too far, but it will come back, he is sure. 

Rowan found his rhythm with his feet on the fifth jump, and started running towards his truck like hellhounds are behind him. 

If not for the adrenaline rush, he is absolutely sure he would faint longsince. 

Crunch! CRunch! CRUNCH! 

It's the Rat Chief, he knew.