Retracing his steps at a much calmer pace he tried to keep an eye out for more mites, as he walked his mind started to wander. He hadn’t exactly been paying attention when he received [Dash] and [Stab] but Warren was pretty sure he’d gotten [Stab] for the botched stab on the first crab, [Dash] on the other hand could be tied to the fact he had actually been able to outrun the mites at first or simply from his efforts to run faster than the damn things.

He wasn’t really sure it even mattered, he had them and what was important was figuring out how to get more. Grinning, he thought back to the crab that had eaten his old hand, it had used flames to move itself faster than what he had thought the bugs were capable of. His status screen also listed [MP] and that had to mean mana.

The only issue was he had no idea how to use it, or even try to get skills that would let him do so. His first instinct was to meditate but he recognized that would probably have to wait till he had some semblance of safety. He had no illusions the city would be anything except worse than the forest he was already stuck in, sure there would most likely be people but he knew that they could very well turn out worse than any monsters

Warren also needed to find out what being a [Champion select] actually meant as the messages he heard at the start implied it wasn’t a free lunch. All in all there was a lot he needed to do and the first step was right before him.

~~~~~~~~~~

*SHUNK*

Warren pulled the spike from the eye of his latest prey admiring his improved aim. After putting his thoughts in order he had decided his most pressing need was more levels, more stats, and figuring out how to get a class.

Following the trail of crushed foliage left by him and his pursuers had led Warren past a few of the stragglers from his chase. So far they had been smaller dog sized ones and had yet to award him another level, but by now he knew the next one he would find should be much, much bigger.

Warren was by no means an expert on arcane insect biology but he knew some insects were prone to overheating and he imagined the mites were no different from the way the larger ones had fallen still leaking steam. And while he didn't really bet on himself against a normal horse much less a fiery insect the comparative size of one, the mites should still be incapacitated from how hot it was outside

Pressing forward another 2 minutes or so he finally found what he wanted, a weird insect lying motionless on the forest floor steaming the size of a small horse

Seeing that it hadn't noticed him yet he tried to stay quiet as he approached, pausing for a moment, he eyed it trying to see if the creatures had any obvious weaknesses other than the eye. Their bodies, as he had seen before, were a strange mix of turtle and crab although they lacked arms. The body itself was almost entirely covered with mint colored chitin but maintained the usual bare spots on the underside and for the eye.

The legs on the other hand were covered in small plates of the stuff at intervals he couldn't place any meaning or logic to. They were also, he noticed, seemingly much too small to support the things weight, although thinking back to how light the things were and their deceptive strength that wasn't necessarily a weakness and possibly just how they were built.

Overall it looked like the eye was still his best shot at killing the things.

This mite was a little bigger than the one who had used the flames before, if the first one was the size of an average dog that one was closer to a great dane. This one was larger still and he felt that increased the odds of it being stronger.

‘Well, if it works it works’ and with that thought he crouched and began moving forward through the brush towards it. As he stalked towards it there was a flutter of wings overhead as a bird flew through the forest. Glancing up at it he froze as he saw the beast shift out of the corner of his eye.

He stared as the creature's eye lit up with an eerie green light, as the light grew brighter sparks of green light started to hang in the air for a fraction of a second before slamming together to a bright green ball of light that hovered in front of the emerald pupil.

Seeing this he expected it to launch the ball somehow since it had clearly targeted the bird, much to his dismay however the ball simply pulsed then launched a jet of light at the bird narrowly missing. Staying put, he watched the orb dim as it discharged the beam, then more sparks appeared slamming into the orb again restoring its power. The mite fired another laser this time killing the innocent bird

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‘Ooooookay so maybe it doesn't work’ rethinking his plan or rushing the beast and stabbing it before it got up died in its early infancy as he circled around to the beast's back, keeping a good distance as he went. As he reached the creatures back he crouched down into the bushes

Feeling around he picked up a fist sized rock and launched it over the bugs back. His eyes lit up as he watched the ball shoot another laser at the rock as it came into the creatures view then dim once more

This time as the sparks appeared in mid air Warren silently counted until finally, the sparks slammed back into the ball recharging it.

‘5 seconds, it takes 5 seconds to shoot another beam. I won't be able to make it there that fast but if another animal comes through i can probably buy myself enough time’ Thinking such to himself, warren tried his best to sit in a way that was both comfortable and concealed, and there he waited plotting the bugs demise

~~~~~~~~~~~

After about an hour of tense silence in which Warren wondered exactly when he had decided this would be a good idea he nearly screamed as he heard a soft whisper in his ear.

[Congratulations! You have learned a new skill!]

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself he mouthed “Status” and checked his new skill

[Ambush]

Skil Type: General

Activation: Passive

Description: A silent hunter, A quiet scream

Well that was nice, he wasn’t sure how he’d translate that into a kill on the bug but it couldn't hurt.

Letting out a quiet sigh he looked back at the bug, it was slight but the amount of steam was slowly lessening which meant the thing was probably recovering albeit slowly. Warren had no delusions about his chances against a fully operative bug of this size which meant his time was up.

The ball had faded some time after he threw his rock but he had no illusions the mite would summon it once more if it saw him approach. Wishing he didn’t know in his heart this was a somewhat foolish if necessary step in surviving his journey he began moving closer to the things back

Almost immediately he noticed the effects of his new skill, as he approached the mite he would feel pulled slightly to the left or right and upon moving in that direction would find the brush much thinner than before allowing him to move slightly faster and much more quietly as long as he followed the skills guidance.

Taking one last deep breath as he was only about 20 feet from the monster's rear he pitched a rock as hard as he could over the thing and began running for the creatures front. Warren’s view was obscured but he knew the first half of his plan had succeeded once he heard the sparks of energy fizzling into existence

Running as fast as he could, Warren came around the side of the beast just as the laser fizzled out of existence, as he came into view the monster chittered angrily as it tried in vain to stand up. Gaze trained on the eye Warren pumped his legs reaching the things eye just before the ball finished charging.

Gritting his teeth Warren stabbed the spike into the bug's eye before it could fire again and held his breath waiting for the system's voice… only for it never to come. Suddenly he felt his skin crawl on his back and whipping around he saw the ball had indeed recovered and was beginning to discharge another laser, this time toward him.

Sucking in a deep breath and knowing he had no time to dodge to either side, Warren spun his body as fast and hard as he could, narrowly avoiding his shoulder being melted off. His relief at this fact however was quickly banished as he saw that while he had mostly dodged the beam it had been at the cost of his pack of food which he had spun into the laser's path and a nasty burn that made his skin feel like it was boiling.

Flushing with both embarrassment at his own mistakes and anger at the mites audacity to survive four feet of steel stocking out of its eye Warren reared back and kicked the protruding end of the spike as hard as he could eliciting a pained shriek from the mite whose limbs began to twitch erratically

Leaning down, Warren grasped the small piece of handle sticking out and pulled it out, further destroying the creature's eye. As the spike left the mite he collapsed to the ground as he was assaulted by a cacophony of messages from the system and felt a surge of energy tear through his body strengthening and changing it in ways he could feel but failed to comprehend.

[Congratulations! You have slain a Monomite Soldier]

[Congratulations! You have defeated a creature more than 10 times your level!]

[Congratulations! You have achieved a previously unheard of feat on your world: A Title has been granted in recognition]

[Congratulations! You have received a Title]

[Congratulations! You have received a Title]

[Congratulations! You have reached level 3!]

[Congratulations! You have reached level 4!]

[Congratulations! You have reac…

Taken over by the agony he felt inside him and the suddenly deafening voice of the system that had been but a whisper till now Warren's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.