First Blood

A black object with two clawed hands and a head that was flying through the air and about to hit the ground quickly caught his attention.

Raydon had no doubts. This thing did resemble a mole, but the difference was that its claws appeared to have evolved as a weapon to kill its prey rather than just dig up the soil.

Raydon immediately came up with a strategy, knowing at least how this thing would attack again.

In a single motion, he quickly untied the vines he had fastened to his booty. He kicked the wolf off the crocodile, turned the crocodile over onto its back, and landed on its stomach.

When Raydon heard a noise coming from the ground and looked at the wolf he had just tossed aside, he understood that the situation was more dangerous than he had initially thought.

He could clearly see the black object coming at the wolf's body like a torpedo from the ground. But the real issue was that it wasn't just one thing, but several. Raydon had counted at least four of these things in that short period.

'It looks like this will be harder than I thought. ' Raydon murmured.

Raydon took the sharpest sticks in both hands and assumed the attacking position, just like the assassin character he had previously played in one of the games.

He let out every last bit of air in his lungs. Every second, Raydon's heart rate decreased. Raydon now felt as lifeless as the crocodile that was lying beneath him.

The body of the forest wolf now had numerous deep wounds, and blood was flowing continuously to the ground. Nevertheless, all attacks had stopped.

It didn't take long for Raydon to become aware of the sounds and vibrations coming from the ground close to him. He quickly turned his body and aimed the stick in his hand at a specific location.

As soon as the mole leaped, Raydon's stick welcomed it, and it met a silent, sudden demise.

[Lv.1 Soil Mole(F-Rank) has been killed.]

[Your team gained 1 point.]

[You gained 10 experience points.]

Raydon shook the stick and threw the mole that was skewered on it aside before assuming his attacking stance once more.

The moles did not make use of their senses of sight or smell. They were limited to sensing ground vibrations and objects on the ground. Raydon had more defensive space and more time to react because of the wide back of the crocodile he was standing on, which prevented the moles from striking directly beneath him.

He occasionally felt knocks from beneath the crocodile and understood that the moles had to attack from the flanks due to the crocodile's thick skin.

Raydon returned to full focus mode and began observing changes in the soil. A few seconds after the previous attack, another mole jumped up to attack Raydon, and he stabbed the creature with his stick as soon as it emerged from the ground.

Like his earlier hunts, these were also level 1, but due to their larger numbers and favorable terrain, these were more dangerous.

It wasn't too difficult for Raydon to stay in full focus mode, but his body wasn't fast enough, so he had to put extra energy into his reflexes and timing. Although he had no problems with stamina, his lack of strength and agility was having an impact on him.

Raydon's breathing began to lose rhythm after some time, and his heartbeat became faster than before.

Around Raydon, there were already eight moles lying in blood with holes in their heads.

—

Meanwhile, someone was watching Raydon from a tall rock not far from where he was as he struggled to survive with all his might.

'' I expected him to be strong. '' The wingman, who was watching Raydon with his keen, eagle-eyed eyes, had a strange expression on his face.

When he came here to find Raydon, he thought he had a high level, but he was surprised to see 1 written on his hand. On top of that, he was completely naked, wearing only his underwear.

''Now I get it. I believed he left the team because he was strong, but in actuality, the team abandoned him because he was weak. ''

When he learned that Raydon was hunting by himself and scoring points, he hadn't given any thought to the fact that he was a rookie. However, he discovered the reality after seeing it with his own eyes.

''It's difficult to believe that this is his first match. He appears to be a very experienced fighter. '' He was shocked as he observed his battle with the moles. He certainly wouldn't have been able to fight that well if he were in that situation.

He fixed his eagle-like eyes on the panting, exhausted Raydon and muttered icily in his screeching, high-pitched voice. '' No matter how skilled you are in combat, right now you are weak and vulnerable. ''

He spread his wings and dropped himself off the large rock he was standing on. With the momentum of the fall, he flapped his wings and flew at breakneck speed towards Raydon, who had his back turned.

"Silent flaps."

His brown wings gradually turned black, and the noise he had been making as he flew through the air came to an abrupt halt.

As Raydon's worn-out body drew nearer in his eyes, the smile on his beak-like mouth grew wider.

''Metallic Talon. ''

He murmured in a low tone, and the claw-like fingernails on his outstretched hand grew larger and turned into a gray metallic talon.

'This match is over for you. ' He smirked as he aimed his sharp nails at Raydon's neck.

The moment he believed that he had complete control over the situation and that the frail person in front of him would die in a matter of seconds, something horrifying occurred.

He noticed Raydon turn his head towards him as his neck was inches away from his sword-like nails.

Suddenly, the Wingman felt that everything was in slow motion. In that split second, his eagle-like eyes met Raydon's cold, voidy stare.

A senseless chill ran down his spine, followed by a piercing pain in his fear filled eye.

The last thing he saw in the reflection of Raydon's pitch black pupils before he died was,

…a head pierced through the eye by an ordinary stick.

[Lv.9 Winged-man(F-Rank) has been killed.]

[Your team gained 9 point.]

[You gained 90 experience points.]

—

''I guess I'll take care of the dismantling process again.'' With a knife in his hand, Gary said as he approached the lizard, which was about the size of a human and had brown skin with yellow spots.

''I'd like to have the skin again. I believe it would suffice if I find a few more to craft the item I want. '' Leas approached and said cheerfully.

''Are you not a healer? What are you going to do with the skin of this earth-type lizard? '' As he skillfully cut the lizard's skin with the knife in his hand, Gary asked with curiosity.

''I asked my uncle to make me a jacket with defensive skill. He told me to find a tough earth-type skin, and I'm hoping this lizard's skin will do.'' Leas spoke while casting a sidelong glance at Seraher.

This behavior of Leas did not go unnoticed by Falco, and he asked. ''Is your uncle an item expert?''

Leas was startled when she heard the question and had a troubled look on her face.

''Y-y…'' Leas was stuttering when a sudden dinging sound brought everyone's attention to the system message.

*Ding*

[Your team gained 1 point.]

[Since you made no contributions to the battle, you won't gain any shared experience.]