Ash bent his body downwards and pricked his ears, his heart pounding and blood coursing through his whole body. Apart from human knowledge, his senses are the next best thing.

Ash's gaze darted around, unsure whether to attack or defend. As he stood his ground, he instantly let a stone take flight and go around him. The stone's speed rapidly increased, creating a humming sound.

When he saw how fast the creature that grazed him was moving, he understood that he couldn't outrun it. It was only when he sensed a change in the wind behind him that he managed to dodge it in time.

Identify!

[Narra Tree]

[Bush]

[Boulder]

[Stone]

[Aela Worm]

Ash wasn't sure what kind of animal it was, but it moved too quickly for his senses to keep up with. He caught a quick glimpse of the monster before it vanished into the bushes. It had a little grayish-furry body.

Ash was still analyzing his surroundings as he quietly told himself, This is it, Ash. This is your first live battle. You understand that the most important thing is to be calm.

Rustle.

As he sensed something staring at him, Ash froze in position. He hurriedly shifted his sight to the right, where he discovered a small creature peeking its head out of the bushes.

Long ears, white fur, short whiskers, and large, black-beady eyes distinguish it. It had a cute brown nose that twitched as it tried to sniff at the white dog. It was a rabbit.

Sniff-Sniff.

Hey, you little guy. You must leave as quickly as possible. It's dangerous here!

As the tiny creature sniffed more, Ash attempted to drive it away. He was starting to sweat now that the creature that wounded him had paused its onslaught for a few seconds.

[-1 HP]

I'm bleeding, and I need to get to safety first.

Ash was going to turn back when he saw the small rabbit rush on him and open its mouth wide.

Chomp!

Ack! What!?

Argh! Arf!?

Ash was taken aback when the rabbit tried to bite him, unconsciously deactivated his hold on the stone circling him, and lunged it into the distance. For a brief moment, he believed he had discovered a new buddy, but when he turned his sight to the rabbit, his thoughts were disrupted.

With its entire body revealed, the little rabbit's mouth contained a sharp set of teeth, a tiny quantity of blood, and a mocking smirk. Aside from the head, its entire body was covered in gray fur, with its hind legs being larger than the rest of its body.

What the? You were the one who attacked me!

Arf? Woof!

Although the creature was quick and deceptive, he could sense it coming and dodge it ahead of time, but he couldn't explain how. He knew it wasn't true intuition, but now wasn't the time to think about it.

He maintained his gaze as he lowered his body, ready to jump back again if needed. With Ash having already lost a total of five health points, he couldn't afford to lose more, or else it would be fatal.

It still has more than thrice my remaining health. Can I still do it? Maybe if I kite it a little while throwing stones at it.

Hiss!

Arf!

Ash immediately bolted as the little fellow sprang into action. With its abnormally large hindlegs, it jumped to a branch and up to another tree as it tried to follow the little white dog.

When it parted its lips a second time to reveal its contents, Ash could only run in terror, having lost all feeling of pride. It reminded him of the sandworm from that one movie he couldn't recall. Climbing to higher ground is the best option.

As he was about to try and find a tree he could climb on, he could feel it behind him. He turned around and saw a small white and gray fluffy monster chasing him, red eyes flashing, hopping from one branch to the next, nearly defying gravity.

It was so swift that Ash wondered where this creature was when he and Lucy passed by here yesterday.

What in the world is that!? Identify!

[Level 16 Rabbidt Health 85/85]

Hiss!

It hissed and exposed its sharp set of teeth and licked the remaining blood off of them, and Ash was sure it was his.

Naahh! No way I’m facing that! No, please! I’m only two days old!

*~Chime!~*

_____________________

Emergency Quest: Kill or be killed

Mission Introduction: You have been hunted by a Rabbidt…

_____________________

You think!?

Ash didn't finish reading. He immediately closed the translucent window, or he'd ram himself into something soon. With his pink tongue slightly out, he was trying to lose the creature which was proven to be futile.

What's more, he felt a tiny contraction on the graze he had received from the Rabbidt earlier, but when he looked up for a second, he saw a translucent window appear and then vanish overhead.

[-1 HP]

It must be the bleeding effect.

Ash’s brows were slightly furrowed as he thought that this must not go on. While being chased, he used [Telekinesis] to pick up stones on the way.

He started to float it around him at five equal points, and just like he practiced, they slowly revolved around him with his delicate control.

Hiss!

Arf!

But his concentration was again disturbed as the Rabbidt attempted another bite. He was able to dodge, but he unconsciously deactivated his skill, leading to the stones falling and being left far behind him as he diligently continued to run.

His heart was racing and his head was aching, and even without mana, Ash was beginning to guess where his power was coming from. He had no time to think about it as he was getting more and more exhausted.

He almost crashed into a tree, but he was able to jump to safety as he maneuvered himself to just go straight to town.

He was afraid to include innocent bystanders in his blunder. He continued running, but the Rabbidt behind him released a grin as it pounced over to a tree and used a branch to pivot itself and shoot straight to Ash’s location!

Ash wasn’t able to sense it on time when he glanced behind him, but it was too late.

GO AWAY!

Crack!

[-30 HP]

The Rabbidt was stopped midair as its sharp set of teeth cracked. Its small nose caved in.

Its body was flung far away, with bits of broken teeth and blood showering down as it curved its trajectory and crashed on the grass pad by a Narra tree.

Thud.

[-15 HP]

It landed head first, with its head almost snapping, but with its higher endurance, it was still holding on for a moment.

In the distance, a little white dog was sticking its tongue out as it breathed heavily and collapsed on the ground. A tiny amount of blood dripped out of its nose as it continued to gasp for air.

What did I just do?

Ash wasn’t sure what happened, but he was glad he survived. After failing his attempt to launch five stones for a higher chance of knocking the Rabbidt out, his next plan was to survive long enough to return to where Martha and Lucy were training.

His breathing began to calm down as he continued gazing at the dying creature.

[-3 HP]

[-3 HP]

[-3 HP]

[-3 HP]

Ash already has an inkling as to what happened. He gazed at the Rabbidt around ten meters away from him and used [Telekinesis].

Crack!

[-28 HP]

One of the Rabbidt’s hindlimbs twitched before it stopped moving.

[You killed a Level 16 Rabbidt! +2500xp]

He was a little surprised by the amount of experience points the Rabbidt gave him, but his mind was preoccupied with what just happened.

_____________________

Quest Completed!

Rabbidt killed!

+500 experience points

...

[ Close ]

_____________________

He closed the translucent window in front of him.

He didn't even bother reading it all the way through and just left it for later.

He shut his eyes as he gradually calmed his raging heart.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Phew.

After a few more intervals, his breathing finally stabilized when he thought to himself, You already expected to experience new things when you arrived. Well, this was one of them.

He opened his eyes and observed the Rabbidt's body as he continued to think, The Rabbidt was desperate with the intent to kill. I thought that I didn’t want him getting near me...

Ash lifted his right front paw for a few seconds and gazed at his squishy paws.

He was standing still as he thoughts recalled the recent events. After a moment, he turned his gaze up to a tree branch. His eyes squinted and with a thought...

Crack-Thud!

The branch fell off easily. With a beat, he redirected his gaze to another branch closet to the one before.

Crack-Thud!

The branch broke off and fell like someone had broken it off physically. Ash blinks three times as he gazes at the fallen branches. His eyes bounced in between which eventually settled on the parts the broke off from the tree.

[Bleeding fades.]

Ash released a quiet sigh under his snout, he was glad that it was over. Although he wouldn't like to experience something like that again, he was still satisfied because he got to use his [Telekinesis] more effectively.

Why use other objects to deal damage when you can use the skill directly? It almost eluded him, that's why he blamed his intelligence for another blunder.

Just like I thought. I can use [Telekinesis] like it was an extension of my limbs. With my sight as the aim and my will as the trigger, this skill is comparable to a loaded gun but with more accuracy.

He glanced back up to where the broken part was from, and it reaffirmed his hypothesis. He nodded and released a toothy grin.

With his awakened intelligence returning to that of a normal human, he would surely turn around and head back toward the town.

Yet the little white dog ran deeper into the forest at a steady pace. I must have used [Telekinesis] earlier to push that rabbit away. I didn’t use much of my mental energy, I think. I have zero mana, which is fortunate because all my skills are either mental or physical. I wish I could see it as a bar in my interface as a numerical value. Now I can only guess how far I could push this.

[+1 HP]

He passed by the river that he saw yesterday and would like to take a bath. Without a thought, his body quickly jumped in.

Splash!

The little white dog had a huge smile on his face as his injuries were washed away and he was slowly being healed by his meager endurance.

Ash looked like he could pass off as a normal dog. After a few seconds, his smile froze as he gazed around, but he shook his head and continued forth. He still had more testing to do.

With the town and river far behind him, Ash marched forth to find a training partner.

But this time he was more cautious and remembered to leave after a minute if his search failed.

He found a level nine squirrel, but it looked quiet and peaceful as it observed him pass by. If he had a nut or something, he would’ve already given it. He already learned from the rabid rabbit that most things here don’t appear as they truly were, so he ignored it and continued with his search for a training partner.

With the gaps of the canopies in front of him, he could see the heavy lightning storm behind the mountain. He remembered that before he arrived in Ash's body, a vague memory of his time as a wandering spirit flashed before his mind.

Good thing those dangerous things were too far away from here. I doubt those creatures can cross the vast ocean I passed by.

After a couple of minutes, Ash arrived at an area where there were a lot of bananas. The weirdest thing was that the tree they sprouted from didn’t look like a banana tree, like in his previous life. He was about to comment loudly on it when something was thrown at him and blocked his vision. It released a splat sound as it hit his face. He shook it off.

Ash looked down and saw a banana peel. He gazed up and searched the treetops, finding someone or something.

Oo-oo-Ah-Ah!

Ash found a monkey-looking creature holding its stomach as it pointed at Ash. It was sitting on a branch of the weird banana tree.

It has the same traits as the ones he saw in science channels in his previous life.

A humanoid body but smaller and has dark brown fur. Its feet looked like elongated hands as they gripped the branch below them.

It exposed a mischievous smile as it balanced itself on the tree branch while laughing just above Ash. The peculiar aspect about this monkey is that it has an extra hand at the end of its tail.

Identify!

[Level 11 Five-Handed Monkey Hp: 80/80]