Divide and Conquer(1)

The three began running along the river, Loran and Zed making sure to keep pace with the slower Alexx.

"Damn, they're splitting up," Loran said after a few seconds. "Two are headed towards the others."

"Are the others headed this way?" Alexx asked.

"Straight for us."

"Then you guys go deal with the other two. I'll take the rest."

The two nodded, Zed quickly saying "Don't die" before they both dashed off at full speed.

Alexx began running again, quickly closing the distance between him and his opponent. Although his pace was slow compared to Loran and Zed, his 10 AGI gave him speed comparable to an Olympic track runner, easily covering dozens of feet in under a minute. Soon enough he could see his opponents, their black carapaces sparkling in the sunlight as they marched toward him.

'I know I saw the other one's dead body, but seeing them up and moving is weird,' Alexx thought with a grimace. 'Bugs shouldn't be that big.'

Getting a little closer, Alexx stopped and took up a combat stance, his left arm lowered and his right ready to strike out, waiting for the ants to come to him.

The ants continued dashing forward, closing the dozens of feet between them in a matter of seconds.

Twenty feet…

Fifteen feet…

Once the Iron Ants were a little less than ten feet away, one jumped for Alexx's torso, while the other moved in from below.

'Too easy,' he thought with a grin. Alexx jumped to meet the airborne ant, easily clearing the one below while landing a powerful kick on the other.

*CRUNCH*

The attack struck the side of the ant's thorax and sent the insect flying directly into a tree. The ant let out frantic clicks and chirps of pain, writhing for a moment as Alexx saw a large indentation in the insect's carapace.

'Hm, I knew they were tough but they can even survive that?'

Alexx had wanted to make full use of the opening the Iron Ant had given him at the start of the fight and made sure to activate both [SPRINT] and [POWER ATTACK] to guarantee that the attack connected and dealt as much damage as possible. Combined with his [UNNARMED FIGHTER] Skill, Alexx's attack speed was nearly as fast as Loran's base speed, and the enhanced kick dealt nearly 200 points of damage, easily overwhelming the Iron Ant's armor.

Such an attack was enough to instantly kill anything else, but not these ants.

Once Alexx landed, he immediately dashed toward the other ant, still facing the other direction. He threw a punch downwards, but the large insect ran forward. From a dead stop to top speed it was almost ten feet away before he could even blink.

Alexx took in a quick breath. Loran had already explained how the Iron Ants could react quickly on the ground, but his description was nothing compared to seeing it in person.

'I can almost move that fast with Sprint, but that acceleration is insane!'

Turning back to the first ant, Alexx hoped to finish it off with another powerful blow before it could recover. Unfortunately, the Iron Ant quickly flipped itself over and out of the way of Alexx's attack, backing away slowly.

Alexx raised his foot to stomp on it, but the Iron Ant dashed under him, straight for his other leg.

Panicking, Alexx threw his body forward, rolling to a crouched position as the Iron Ant turned to face him.

'It can still move like that? Based on what Loran said that kick should've taken out at least a third of its HP.'

This time the other ant returned. Alexx slammed his fist down along its path, but the insect stopped just short of the attack before moving to Alexx's exposed right side and biting with its mandibles.

Jumping to his left, feeling the jaws of the Iron Ant tug on his clothes as he just barely managed to evade the attack.

The giant bugs persisted in their assault, chasing Alexx as he moved back, avoiding their snapping jaws by a matter of inches with each attack.

'I need to counter, fast!'

Alexx had activated [SPRINT] before his opening attack and kept it active ever since. Even with his boosted speed, the Iron Ants were slightly faster than him, letting them get closer and closer with each attack.

Hoping to create some distance, Alexx attacked with a wide sweeping kick. The ants quickly scampered backward, easily evading the attack before moving back in. Alexx leapt away from another bite, but the ant's mandibles dug into his greaves and ripped away a piece of the armor.

'Kicking isn't fast enough, I'm leaving too many openings,' he thought bitterly. 'But what else can I do?'

The Iron Ants were too low to the ground for Alexx to fight normally. Kicking would leave him on one foot and off-balance, punching just wasn't an option when the opponent was only a foot tall. The Moss Wolves were similar, but they weren't anywhere near as evasive or as durable.

As they continued their assault, it took all of Alexx's concentration to dodge and evade.

Suddenly, one of the ants stopped attacking and started moving around to Alexx's back.

Alexx couldn't let them corner him. With [DANGER SENSE] he noticed a sturdy-looking tree branch above him and decided to jump for it.

'It's a little high, but maybe STR boosts my jumping ability?'

Feeling desperate, Alexx jumped for the tree branch with all his might.

"...Huh?"

Alexx certainly made it to the branch but was quite confused when he kept going and found himself about ten feet above it.

'...Right, 84 STR…that is, so beyond human.'

Grabbing onto a different set of branches, he looked down at the Iron Ants and considered the situation. Although Alexx knew that his STR stat made him stronger than was physically possible, he hadn't fully understood what that meant.

He had years of combat experience from various fighting games, but those were always still within human limits. That experience was now working against him, never thinking of what his new limits were because he was able to operate at what he considered his peak.

Even now after nearly two months in New Eden Online, he saw his increased strength as just more damage and higher lifting capacity.

But if his physical abilities were truly this inhuman…

'...What else can I do,' he wondered. 'Time to start experimenting.'

Alexx let go of the branches, letting himself drop like a stone. The Iron Ants quickly backed away to avoid getting stomped on. He did not brace for the impact, keeping his legs mostly straight as he hit the ground. A fall like that in reality should break both his legs.

'...I guess my knees are a little sore.'

He was fine. He fell from nearly twenty feet in the air with the worst form possible and barely even noticed. The Iron Ants stood back, thrown off by Alexx's sudden display of strength.

'No need to worry about fall damage then,' Alexx leaned forward, digging his feet into the ground. 'Now let's try something else…'

Alexx kicked off the ground with his full strength, launching himself towards the ants.

The ants were unable to react to his sudden burst of speed.

Now right above the injured ant, Alexx swung down with his fist. The punch landed directly on the Iron Ant's head, forcing it to the ground as Alexx landed behind it. Unfortunately, the ant wasn't dead, but it wasn't moving.

Rolling to a stop, Alexx looked for the other ant and saw it turning around to charge at him.

'One more time.'

Alexx launched himself forward again. The Iron Ant tried to turn away but didn't have time as Alexx landed a kick directly at the base of the ant's neck.

Alexx's speed combined with the power of his kick sent the ant flying straight across the river, landing with a loud splash on the opposite side.

*DING*

*DING*

At first, Alexx was worried that the ant would survive, but hearing the notification from the game confirmed that it had been killed by the force of his kick. The second notification made him think that the other one was dead as well, but after checking his menu it turned out that he found a new Skill.

'I'll check that out in a second,' he thought, closing the menu, 'better take this one out first.'

He turned to the unconscious ant, still motionless on the ground. 'Hm, I don't want to break the shell or anything so…'

Alexx moved carefully, not sure if he could accidentally wake it up. He then put both hands on the ant's head and quickly snapped its neck. The whole situation made Alexx uncomfortable, but at least his high STR made the process easier.

*DING*

'Alright, all done here then…'

Alexx looked deeper into the woods. He considered going after Loran and Zed to back them up but decided against it. Picking up the ant body, he made his way to the campsite.

'I can't imagine they would need help, it's two on two anyway,' he thought, 'they shouldn't take too long.'