Not optimal encounter

The feeble prisoner shiv made of tin would not be able to pierce the creature's scull like that, back then Viria's best option would be to aim for the eyes or throat ad hope that the blade will hold.

But now...

[Prison shiv (mole-rabbit bone) – low-grade soul artifact – it sometimes breaks but can be remade from any kind of trash in your possession.

Abilities – Bone weapon (The higher the mastery level, the higher the damage dealt by the weapon) - - Rabbit strike (Adds the speed of a male rabbit's jump to the attack)

Mastery – level 0/10

Durability 27/30 –repair– -remake-]

One look at his improved soul artifact told him everything.

With that style of combat that didn't even require him to go inside the first barrier, putting himself at risk of getting swarmed, he could kill at least ten more mole-rabbits before the artifact would break.

With the chances of a monster core spawning in one in ten monsters of that exact type, there was a real chance that he would be able to start proper training, and start climbing the levels of cultivation...!

And even when the durability does reach zero, wouldn't there be plenty of bones to use for the repair?

A rather sinister smile brightened up Viria's face as he experienced the surge of wild unbounded joy.

Cultivating properly was always something that Viria yearned for more than anything and that feeling was only enhanced by memories of Jackie who read, watched, and played all the different media that influenced him to find that kind of development exciting.

"Now then... I just need to wait until more mole-rabbits show up..."

Viria hummed to himself, grabbing his soul artifact and pulling it out of the monster's skull, and pushing the creature's head back through the bars.

Trying to pull the rest of the monster through the bars was not really feasible considering how much bigger it wist was from its head, and the young man wanted to have a clear view – and shot – at the outer within the barrier to see more enemies approaching.

Mole-rabbits weren't known to be solitary creatures so where there was one, more should have been lurking nearby.

Actually, there should be more at the gate right from the beginning...

*crunch* *mlam* *gulp* *crunch*

"Hmm...?"

After waiting for a few minutes with no new monster in sight, a rather recognizable series of sounds ended up getting Viria's attention.

The young man changed his grip on his prison shiv and moved from side to side, trying to get the best range of vision from the small hatch.

"!!!"

And indeed, he managed to localize the source.

There was another monster there, only that instead of trying to get through the bars it was happily munching on its friend's corpse.

"Those things are cannibals?! No book mentioned that!"

Viria gasped in dsgust.

*WHAM*

"HEY! Leave my loot and stick your head out here!"

The young man slammed his fist at the door, hitting the sturdy wood enhanced with metal with the end of his shiv where a pommel would be in most proper bladed weapons.

"Scwee...?! Scwee..."

*crunch* *mlam* *gulp*

Although it sounded like the initial noise startled the mole-rabbit, after nothing else happened, the monster returned to feasting on its kin as if it was nothing.

"Bastard!"

Viria cursed in annoyance, glancing over at his soul artifact and...

[Prison shiv (mole-rabbit bone) – low grade soul artifact – it sometimes breaks but can be remade from any kind of trash in your possession.

Abilities – Bone weapon (The higher the mastery level, the higher the damage dealt by the weapon) - - Rabbit strike (Adds the speed of a male rabbit's jump to the attack)

Mastery – level 0/10

Durability 25/30 –repair– -remake-]

...noticed that the dumb decision to smack the gate with a shiv, which was not known for its durability as a basic crafted weapon, lowered its durability without gaining anything...

"..."

Viria rolled his eyes, grinding his teeth extremely hard in complete annoyance over his own stupidity.

This time he decided to not make any mistakes. He checked through the hatch whether there were more monsters nearby and after confirming that the creature partaking in cannibalism was the only one in the neares parameter, he began to slowly open the gate to not alarm the monster occupied with its familiar meal.

It was a moment when Viria could have a proper look at the creature – mole-rabbit was the size of a turkey and most of its body except for the mole-like snout was covered with short but very thick fur. Where it differentiated from the mole and was more rabbit-like, was that the snout wasn't exactly as thin and had very strong front teeth that could deal serious damage to whatever the beast considered its prey. Mole-rabbit also had strong front paws with short thick claws that were perfect for both digging and grinding up the shells of small crustation creatures that weren't even considered proper monsters and were widely regarded as the feed of the low-low grade monsters. The biggest threat for anyone trying to hunt them was strong hind paws that gave the creature a boost of speed that only cultivators of mid-low levels could match.

In short, it was not an ideal opponent for someone like Viria...

...unless hunted by an ambush...

"..."

The young man tensed up, gripping the prison shiv in his hand.

The shaking behind of the mole-rabbit wasn't the optimal target at all. Targeting it gave a real risk of getting smacked in the face with the monster's most powerful weapon which would definitely result in Viria's neck getting snapped like a twig BUT the young man already confirmed that his soul artifact can break through mole-rabbit bones.

Severing the small monster's spine didn't seem like a farfetched idea, and it was exactly what Viria was about to do.

Therefore focusing on both the martial art that increased his movement speed and the rabbit strike ability of his soul artifact, Viria charged the unsuspecting monster!

"...?"

That wasn't all that unsuspecting at all – the moment that the young man made his first step, the creature's ear raised and turned in his direction and the monster raised its blood-soaked head and turned towards the approaching cultivator...