Quality vs Quantity

While everyone started getting exhausted from all the battles, Nathan was actually chilling near the river. 

"Waaf!" Fenrir let out a bark as a fish suddenly jumped out of the water. He slapped it to the gravel so hard that the fish couldn't flap its body back to the river. 

"Are you done over there? I have dug that trench for you. You're not saying it's not effective, right?" Fenrir asked while glancing at Nathan. 

"I'm almost done," Nathan shouted back. He asked Fenrir to drag two holes. It didn't need to be very deep, but it should be long enough for Nathan to enter. 

After that, Nathan planted some logs on the ground to build a wall that would protect him from the chilling wind. 

On the left side, he used it for a small bed. On the right side, it was an empty hole with some bushes and dry twigs near the river. 

"Are you done?" Fenrir returned, noticing that Nathan was putting down his stuff. 

"Yep. We're going to sleep here. No roof, but the wind won't get to us. The fire should keep us warm." Nathan spread his arms as if he were showing his craft. 

"True. The wind is completely blocked. It'll be warm once we start the fire. I guess I can sleep here to make sure you're safe." Fenrir nodded in approval. "Still, how do you know all this? It's not knowledge that you get from a farmer, right?" 

"Survival novel. I read a lot of bullshit, but this one is working." Nathan shrugged. "Well, it's said that we can burn up some firewood and cover it with dry gravel to create a warm bed. But it's too scary since the description is saying there will be some steam coming out. I don't want to get burned while sleeping, you see."

"I don't really care as long as I can sleep." Fenrir shrugged.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'll gather a bit more firewood to keep the fire up for the whole night. After that, we can hunt some more before having some dinner."

Fenrir nodded in agreement. "I have caught some fi—!"

When he abruptly stopped his words, Nathan's expression turned solemn. "What's wrong?" 

"I notice some presences. Three… no, four of them." Fenrir squinted his eyes.

"Humans?"

"No one is quick enough to reach this place in one day, especially with all the aliens around."

"In that case, we can't let them destroy this place. This will be our shelter for the next seven days."

Fenrir nodded.

They took a peek from the hut, noticing four aliens who seemed to notice living beings near the river.

"I'll take care of two of them. You should do the same… or at least buy me some time until I kill those two," Fenrir explained.

"Why not take care of three of them? You can do it, right?"

"Idiot. I could defeat two of them much faster than three at the same time. That way, I can swiftly help you. Besides, this will be a good time to test your ability and understand the meaning of quantity vs quality."

Nathan contemplated for a moment. "I guess we can do that. It's better to experience it when the enemies are still weak."

"Yeah. I'll take care of the two on the left, you stop those two on the right."

"Let's go!" Nathan nodded. 

Both of them emerged at the same time, immediately going toward their respective enemies. 

Noticing Nathan and Fenrir, the four aliens shifted their senses toward them.

Nathan's foes had different shapes. The first one had a humanoid body but a round head with teeth circling at the tip. It was moving on two feet, but the head kept summoning tentacles from the hole at the top. The second one had a similar appearance as the first alien he encountered, but instead of multiple tails, there was only one robust tail like a baseball bat. 

The two aliens dashed toward Nathan, the one running on four feet arrived much faster. 

Nathan used the Deadly Claw as an opening attack. The alien ducked, but this was Nathan's aim, he was aiming for its tail. 

To his surprise, the alien swung the tail downward and actually broke the Deadly Claw and dispersed the residual Ena.

"What?" Nathan never thought that the Deadly Claw could easily be destroyed just like that.

"You idiot! My ability is much stronger than that. Know where and when to attack!"

"!!!" Nathan's body shook. Despite fighting the same number, Fenrir was still able to teach him.

Nathan clicked his tongue, regaining his composure. The beast-like alien pounced on Nathan, and the latter used to catch it with one hand and punched the alien's face with the other.

He was fortunate to choose that way. If he didn't punch the alien away, the alien would have swung its robust tail toward him. 

Still, there was a second alien coming right after the first. Nathan used the Deadly Claw again, this time not to attack the alien but to stop it. 

The humanoid alien had no choice but to raise its left arm, receiving the Deadly Claw with its muscular body. 

It managed to graze the surface of its skin, but Nathan couldn't cut it any deeper. 

Nathan wanted to use this chance to punch the alien, but this action showed his inexperience in fighting multiple opponents. 

"Hey! Maintain a wide range of vision!" Fenrir shouted. 

"!!!" Nathan was startled as his eyes shifted to the left, finding the beast-like alien was about to pounce on him. 

The beast-like alien swung its tail at full force. 

"Kh!" Nathan gritted his teeth, blocking the tail with the back of his hand. However, the impact was so great that it ended up hitting him on the head, launching Nathan away. His body bounced several times before stopping. 

"Don't focus on only one of them. It's going to be hard to fight multiple enemies at once. Keep calm and find an opening. Focus on taking down the weakest first!" Fenrir kept shouting.

Nathan clenched his hands as he stood back up with only a small scratch on his head.