Jason remained stoic unchanged by the devastating news. He kind of expected such a thing to happen, but their fate was way worse than he imagined.

 

Didn’t expect them to get wiped out, don’t the army have a tactical retreat or something?

 

On the other hand, the soldier saw the unchanging face of Jason as if the news of the defeated Canadian Army didn’t even bother him.

 

“If you trek down in a straight path, you’ll find a road. It won’t take a long time before you reach it,” said Jason as the soldier understood well of what Jason was trying to say.

 

“You’re going to fight?” the soldier asked.

 

Jason simply nodded. The soldier frowned as both of his hands grabbed on to Jason’s shoulders.

 

“Look around you, there's a freaking stampede behind us, you alone can't do anything. You’re just going to throw your own life away,” said the soldier as he tried to convinced his savior.

 

Jason maintained his silence.

 

“Let me go,” he said.

 

Those cold eyes made the soldier took his hands away. Jason was about to leave but the soldier spoke out.

 

“I’m coming along,” the soldier said.

 

Jason turned his head back as he felt this soldier was rather ridiculous. Just a moment ago the soldier was running for his own life but now he was ready to go back into the forest full of monsters.

 

“No, you’re not. I’m not gonna babysit you like that dead dick you told me about,” Jason dismissed the soldier.

 

“But I can’t go, my whole company was wiped out. If I’m the only one who survived, they’ll label me as a deserter,” said the soldier.

 

Even if the soldier survived he would be questioned by the top brass of the army. The crime of deserting was a harsh one and death wasn’t far fetch in some countries.

 

“That’s not my problem,” said Jason as he vanished into thin air.

 

The soldier was gobsmacked seeing the thing happening in front of his very eyes. Jason left like a speeding bullet heading back to the direction of the stampede. Crouching on top of a tree branch he observed the incoming stampede with the night vision goggles. They were slow-moving compared to the kobold and after seeing them closely, he noticed they resembled a variety of bovines. Some were similar to yak while some to a bison. He tried using ‘Scan’ but the distance was too far.

 

There’s no sign of kobold but, how should I deal with these things?

 

He only had twenty-five usable arrows left and considering the herd of monsters, he doubted it would be enough.

 

Let’s just go with it.

 

The bowstring was pulled and the arrow flew between the trees. An arrow struck right at the head of an unfortunate bison. It moaned as it fell to the ground before the others stomped over it quickly turning it into a mesh of flesh.

 

There goes my arrow, I guess there’s no way of recycling those again.

 

The herd of monsters kept on toppling down the trees turning everything that went behind them a vast plain of deforestation. Jason leaped off from the tree branch and sped right at the stampede. As the distance shortened, his eyes scanned the monsters.

 

Bumi Bison A big mammal known to roam the plains of Urungard.Big and bulky, their sizes easily triumphed over five meters in height. Underneath the dark brown fur hides a tough skin similar to iron. No mere weapons can penetrate the skin of the Bumi Bison. Known for its tender meat as well as its leather use for armor making. Species: Bovine Mammals Level : 24 Elemental Weakness : Wind S.Ability : Head Charge

 

Quadhorn Yak A docile heavy built mammal with a huge frame and four sturdy legs. Long shaggy hair with dense wool-like coat covered their entire bodies except for the eyes and lips. The Quadhorn yak is known to sometimes eat their own hair while grazing the grass. The maximum height possible for growth is at four meters. Known for its fur and leather, best materials for making cold season type of armor and clothing. Species: Bovine Mammals Level : 27 Elemental Weakness : - S.Ability : Head Charge

 

Well, that’s a lucky shot. I might have shot through one of its eyes.

 

The arrow that he shot really did go through the Bumi Bison’s eye. If it wasn’t for that, it might have been still stampeding around with the herd. Jason focused on these huge cows as all he could see in his eyes was just free experience. They were lower level than the kobold and judging by their low speed, he foresaw that it won’t be a problem for him.

 

He stashed the compound bow in his bag and wielded one of the jambiyas like daggers. His eyes turned sharp as he rushed at the closest cow monster. The blade of the dagger stabbed right into the neck of the Quadhorn Yak. It moaned in anguish recoiling its head upwards. Jason fought back and pushed down the dagger as the blade sliced right through the flesh of the yak's neck. Blood spurted out gushing over the forest floor. The yak fell and disappeared within the stomping hooves of the stampede.

 

His feet retreated back a few feet away from the unstoppable stampede. His free hand glow in green as he swung it six times. Six wind cutters flew through the air hitting a few yaks and bison. The thick fur and long shaggy hair made the yak unaffected by the wind cutter but all the bison were the unfortunate one. They fell like dominoes as it went right through the iron-like skin. They were still alive but with the stampede stomping over them, it only helped Jason finishing them off. He smiled seeing how easy it turned out to be. The lone man fired off those wind cutters at the stampede while still keeping a safe distance. More and more bison fell to their death. Then the sweet of sound of the notification window emerged in front of him.

 

Wind Cutter level up to level 9

 

The good news only motivated him more as he unleashed a flurry of Wind Cutters at these bovine monsters. They didn’t care about the deaths of their own species as they kept plowing through the forest as if they were commanded by another force.

 

The kill count kept on rising until the bison he had killed reached up to forty-nine. He lost count but that didn’t stop him in targeting his next kill. He turned invisible and rushed at the yak, he leaped and landed on top of a yak. The tip of the dagger stabbed right on top of the crown of its head. He could hear the cracking noise of the skull being pierced by the oversized dagger. As if it was music in his ears, the yak wounded up dead and as Jason leaped in the air. A new blue window appeared which only made him grinned but that wasn’t the end.

 

Jason’s level increased to level 20

 

You have reached the required level

 

Please choose a job

 

He was slack-jawed as this was a big surprise even for him. The empty job in his status was forgotten since he had no idea about it, not until this particular blue window popped out. He landed on his feet and rushed at a distance before slowly turned to a stop. He thought he was at a safe distance but when one's mind was focus on something they lost any sense of time and space. The stampede was long gone inside of his mind. He didn’t pay any attention to it as his eyes were glued at the list of jobs available to him.

 

l Warrior l Swordsman l Assassin l Ninja l Energist l Healer l Archer l Tracker l Scout

 

There’s a lot but which one should I choose?

 

It came out of sudden that Jason never thought about it. The choices themselves were pretty explanatory and some did overlap with one another. He just stood there while deep in thought, and not realizing his invisibility was gone. The mooing of those bovines monsters was becoming louder as the stampede was becoming closer. Yet the man didn’t budge an inch engrossed by the blue window.

 

Then, an ear-piercing crackle ripped apart the forest air. Jason didn’t have the time to even glance at the source of the sound as something just hit him straight through his body.

 

“Argh!” Jason shouted. The sudden pain felt like a bomb that just dropped on him.

 

E.Guard disabled. Time to recover; 50 minutes

 

Energy Guard level up to level 3

 

Jason fell on the ground as his left shoulder was stinging in pain. He even ignored the useless notification of the blue window, as he got up and ran far away from where he was.

 

“Shadow Hide,” he said. He turned invisible but the moment he did so, another ear-piercing crackle went by and a sharp pain made him fell to his knees.

 

“Fuck,” he said. The invisibility was gone and his body was in utter pain. He turned invisible once more and dragged his body behind the back of a tree. His eyes glanced at the spot where he just fell and saw something stuck on the ground. It was cylindrical in shape, bulkier than an arrow but its tail was similar to one. Jason knew what it was, it was a crossbow bolt. He turned his attention to his leg and saw a hideous abrasion at the side of his shin. It was merely a graze and his leg was already banged up like that. Jason glanced at his shoulder and saw a big chunk of his left shoulder was gone. He felt goosebumps ran over his entire body. The thought of this attack hitting him straight at the chest would have spelled out his eternal doom.

 

A  light green glow emitted from his hands as he healed himself. While inside his head, the thought of that kobold who rides a sabertooth tiger came into mind.

 

Unknown to Jason, a couple of meters behind the line of the stampede, a kobold was reloading its crossbow. It was calm and collected, as it made its last check over its crossbow, it grinned as it finally was having fun hunting the people of this world.