Ambush

The next morning, Tyr woke up nice and early to start planning. Thankfully, he didn't freeze to death last night. But he was damn close.

While his teeth still clattered he exclaimed: "I need to get a fire going today... that's the number two priority." He shook his body, forgetting about the cold for now.

"The main goal though is to get to level 10. One of those Earth Wolfs gave me 2 levels, but I know I will need more EXP if I want to continue leveling up. For now, I think about 6 Earth Wolf's should do the job."

Saying this was the easy part, but actually managing to pull it off was an entirely different story.

Tyr began to walk through the forest but made sure to mark the trees he went past to know where he was at all times.

"I got a lucky encounter last time, but I doubt those beasts are too common. I'll have a better chance if I set a trap."

Although Tyr hadn't been exactly what you would call productive on Earth, he was smarter than most people.

He didn't have much to go off of, but he quickly began getting to work on a trap idea he had.

First, he made a slingshot using random materials nearby. It didn't work great since he only had some vine as a propelling instrument, but for wolves made of leaves, he knew it would be enough.

Especially if he used sharp rocks as his ammo.

After this, he decided to use yesterday's Earth Wolf corpse as bait.

"I don't know if these things are cannibals, but I really have no better option than this." 

With this trap set in the middle of a flat patch of grass, he began his wait inside of a big bush.

He waited for what felt like 5 minutes, which slowly turned into 20... and then 60. 

He had barely blinked the entire time, focusing hard on the bait. Right now, he was pissed off.

He had waited patiently for so long, yet nothing was happening.

"You know what... fuck this." He walked out of the bush and stood next to the corpse.

"COME OUT! IM RIGHT HERE! I AM THE BAIT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Although this seemed foolish, there was some reasoning behind it.

Tyr had only come across a beast in this forest once, and the reason behind that one encounter was because he was a prey that seemed good enough to attract the Earth Wolf.

Going off of this information, he knew that this plan had a much higher chance of working.

The reason why he didn't use this option earlier was because he knew it would put him in a lot of danger that could have potentially been avoided.

"COME ON! JUICY RED HUMAN MEAT RIGHT HERE, RIPE FOR THE TAKING!" He screamed again, walking over to a tree branch and breaking off a piece.

"I'm no longer hidden, so a slingshot won't be of very much use since I'll have to be fighting close combat."

It didn't even take 10 minutes before Tyr began to hear rustling in the bushes.

But then, he heard rustling inside of another bush and well. Before he knew it, sounds were coming from multiple different directions.

"Oh shit..." He said under his breath, his eyes darting from one bush to the other as a bead of sweat trickled down his brow.

Finally, a boar-like beast jumped out of one of the bushes. Although boars were omnivores, this thing had sharp, serrated teeth and tusks resembling a woolly mammoth's!

It was big too, way bigger than the Earth Wolf. In fact, it was probably even a little bit bigger than a real wolf.

"Fuck... this thing is no joke."

The boar set off a dominos effect, causing the other animals to begin coming out as well. Another beast revealed itself from the opposite direction. 

"What are you now!?" Tyr abruptly turned to face it.

It was a jelly. A little blue slime creature the size of a basketball.

"Pfft! A bitch ass weak one, nice." He turned again as a pebble hit his back.

It was his old friend, the Earth Wolf. Finally, the last creature lunged out of the bushes and showed itself.

A bit bigger than the Earth Wolf, it was a leopard with a long monkey tail on its back.

Tyr stood still for a few seconds as if it was an old gun down... before abruptly sprinting in the opposite direction.

"No way! I can't beat all of those things!" He exclaimed dramatically as he ran full speed into the forest.

The beasts didn't hesitate to follow him, rapidly approaching.

As Tyr ran, he still marked all the trees he ran past with a sharp stone.

With a smirk on his face, he said: "I can't beat them all at once, but I can still use my greater intelligence to outsmart them."

He furrowed his brows, "The boar will still be a problem though... even if I can get it trapped, will I be able to kill it?" 

He didn't have time to think about that for now. He wasn't used to the forest floor covered with sharp sticks, fallen logs, and rigid stones all across the ground--while the beasts had already conquered such a landscape.

Noticing a low-hanging tree branch a few meters ahead of him, he quickly jumped up and grabbed it.

'I won't be in front of them for long. I have to use this distance advantage while I still have it!' He said in his head, hanging onto the branch with his legs as he shot multiple sharp stones at the quickly encroaching beasts using his sling shot.

His target, however, was purely the Earth Wolf.

Since its skin was so flimsy, a stone eventually made contact--piercing straight through its skull and out the other side.

The wolf flew forward and bounced across the ground before sliding to a stop.

[You have slain an Earth Wolf.]

[You leveled up!]

"Nice. Now for the other three." He got on top of the branch, beginning to climb up as the other beasts arrived at the trunk of the tree.

The boar slammed its head into the tree trunk like a maniac, shaking it slightly.

The slime simply stayed there helplessly, while the Leopard managed to use its claws and monkey tail to quickly ascend up the branches.

Before Tyr knew it, the leopard was at his rear--ready to lunge for his bum.

"Shit! I don't know if this will work, but I have no other choice!" Tyr exclaimed, 'Transfer!' 

As the leopard leaped up with its fangs bared, Tyr's sharp stick moved from his hand to between two of his toes.

He kicked his foot down as hard as he could, impaling the stick into the leopard's open maw.

The stick dealt nasty damage to the leopard's insides, digging all the way down to its organs.

Since it was a near-instant spell, the leopard's reaction time didn't stand a chance.

'Transfer.' Tyr said again, summoning the stick to his hand.

[You have slain a Monkey-Tailed Leopard.]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

'Perfect.' Tyr mused as the leopard's corpse fell down the tree, flopping against some branches before hitting the boar on the head.

This made Tyr a bit hopeful, 'Did that do some damage?' He thought, looking down at the big pig as he held onto the tree with his left hand.

However, this seemed to only make the boar more mad. It agressively shook its head and threw the leopard corpse a dozen feet away.

Grunting loudly, it slammed its head against the tree again.

'As I expected... this thing will be a challenge to deal with.' Tyr was worried about how exactly he would damage the beast but decided to take a small break for now since he was safe.

However, something caught him off guard.

He noticed that the slime was no longer on the ground. Furrowing his eyebrows, he scanned the entire floor around him and still didn't see it.

Just then, however, he felt a slimy feeling cover his left hand--the only hand that was holding onto the tree.

His eyes expanded with realization and shock as his grip loosened and gave up.

He began to fall down the tree just like how the leopard did, looking up to see the slime from before sticking onto the tree.

'The slime! I thought it was useless so I counted it out, but that was a foolish mistake! I'm still new to this world, I shouldn't be taking even small risks like that. While I was busy with the leopard, it must have slowly climbed up the trunk to get to me!'

However, none of that mattered right now. As he faced the ground, he saw two large tusks pointed into the air, ready to impale straight through him!