16. A: Confrontation

Jumping from tree to tree, I kept moving.

For the sake of creating distance between me and the bald fang, as I can’t stand another fight so soon.

With the state of my arms, it going to be hard to even grip my weapons tightly.

“all because of those bald perverts.

Honestly, who in their right mind would sniff a girl for her scent at their first meeting. That’s weird and creepy.”

But the worst of all, was their stubbornness and determination to kill me.

“that much is already on the level of an SSS-class stalker, you know ?”

“if it wasn’t me but some random girl out there, she would faint.”

After all, having a 2 meter ugly gray giant following you while breathing hard is scary. That type of scary.

“but still this forest is really somethings. I can’t really hear anything except the wind and leaves.”

Finally reaching enough height, I jump on a tree branch. Standing there I am looking around this place.

All I can see are trees everywhere, but can’t hear any sound from the surrounding.

If not for my knowledge about the direction where I have come from, I would have gotten lost.

Rustle. Rustle.

Not to forget that having only the voice of wind around is giving me an eerie feeling.

Rustle. Rustle.

Eerie? that’s wrong. It is abnormal.

Something is not right, for sure, but ...

What is it?

Rustle. Rustle

And the voice of rustling is not stopping. It‘s already distracting as it is, but it’s still growing stronger.

Wait ...

How come it’s becoming stronger?

There is no wind. There shouldn’t be any rustling, to begin with.

“dammit. Something is following me.”

It’s no wonder I felt an anomaly, with the sound of rustling growing stronger in this place where the wind is weak.

Having understood what’s happening, I increase my movement speed.

-Conditions have been met

Skill: Basic Physical Mastery Lv8 has become Lv9.-

And it seems that because of the fact that jumping from branch to another is hard and needs concentration, my skill level is increasing.

“though if I just had more time or a good chance, I would have done it easily.”

Rustle. Rustle.

Even with moving this fast, the sound is becoming higher.

“well, this is bad.”

Somehow, I think I can’t escape.

Is it the difference in the level or is it some type of skill?

The difference in speed is really high.

If it stays like this, I will end u-....

“ghaa ....”

Bam.

Dammit, what happened ? in one second I was running and in the next one, something hit me from my side and I was thrown like a bullet to the ground.

“that hurt. Did I break my left arm ?”

Well, shit. Falling from such height and only breaking an arm is not the worst scenario. It is not, but it is surely still a bad one.

Crack.

“hup. not this time.”

Quickly rolling to the side, I escaped an attack, but still could not figure out the attacker’s identity.

Crack.

Rolling again, I escaped another attack and flipped back to my feet.

Quickly moving to a nearby tree, I put my back on it, and grip my sword with my right hand.

My left arm is broken, while my right is barely working. On the other hand, my spear is broken, and I am tired.

My hand is trembling, and my body is heavy. But even then I am still vigilante and am looking at my surrounding.

Rustle.

To the left.

Rustle.

Right.

Rustle.

Ahead.

Baam.

Gritting my teeth, I successfully parried the surprisingly heavy attack. But still couldn’t get a good glimpse from the attacker.

Rustle. Left. Rustle. Above. Baam.

I parried again. Rustle. Right. Baam.

And again.

With my back on a tree, in a forest covered in silence, only for the weird rustling.

Above is covered by the giant trees, to the sides are more giant trees, and nothing can be seen anywhere.

A mysterious attacker or more like a mysterious shadow moving from one branch to other.

All of this, and I am still surrounded here alone.

“dammit. Can’t I get a rest already ?”

Gritting teeth.

Just how many crazy things did I fight today?

Shit. Another attack. But this time, after finally knowing the attack pattern, I make a move.

“haa.”

Empty air. In the last second, it dodged my attack, and I ended up hitting empty air.

“tsk.”

Rustle. Rustle.

Trying to follow it with my eyes, I look to the tree branches around me.

And .... Baam.

I parried another attack, then quickly following it by another attack of mine. But it escaped at the last moment again.

“exhale. Calm down.”

I need to focus. This thing is clearly faster than me. So my attack is meaningless, on the other hand, parrying it attack is already hard, and one moment of neglect can cause my end.

On the other hand, the attacks are weak for its power, which proves that its main means of fighting is speed. But even so, that doesn’t that the other stat of this thing is low.

Rustle. Rustle.

And the rhythmic rustling sound continues.

Fuush.

Gritting teeth.

Barely avoiding the attack, I try to counterattack but fail.

Rustle. Rustle.

And it continues.

“Shit. This can’t last for more. I won’t last for more.”

Okay. No jokes anymore. Looking down on this situation, this thing is dangerous. My only chance is going all out.

Then be it. One last confrontation, an All or Nothing round.

Inhale. Exhale.

Rustle. Rustle.

Left. Right. Above.

Now.

“gha ..., dammit. this hurt, you know.”

Quickly taking a step forward, I ended up creating a gap and had my left shoulder pierced.

On purpose, yes. But it still hurt.

But thanks to this, I got a hold of my enemy.

Predicting the attack trajectory from the beginning, I had prepared my right hand with the sword. And then the instant this thing pierced my shoulder, I stabbed it to the chest.

“well, for a fast freak, you are sure to slow in your thinking.”

“geeee .”

Looking at the thing stabbed in the chest in front of me, I can see a wooden puppet, the size of a human, and on its white empty face is a dark crack that is taking the form of a crazy smile.

And then by using Analyse, I take a look at its level.

-Wooden Mad Puppet lv5: a wooden puppet monster.-

Its level is only five? so does that mean that its speed’s origin is a skill?

Well, that can wait. For now, it is revenge time.

“as I thought, your speed is higher than mine, but even your other stat is still high because of the level difference. Of course, not all are higher than mine.”

Yes, my attack and defense are higher than this puppet, clearly.

And so, escaping from my sword in its chest is impossible, especially when I am pushing the puppet down. Its speed will end up meaningless.

As such, happily, I take a dagger from my back, that I had hidden before, and smilingly look at the puppet.

“hope you enjoyed it.”

“Geeee. Geeee.”