Alex walked out of the clearing, and headed straight into the dark forest, towards the direction of the noises that might be her salvation, or probably, her demise. Despite the nagging feeling in her head to turn back and curl up back at the clearing, her own experiences and her stubborn nature has already kicked in, she does not intend to cower. Due to the said experiences, she knew that she can’t just stroll brazenly in a forest.

In the modern society she spent almost her whole life in, environmental concerns were being raised, conserving the nature, nature is truly beautiful and all that. But is nature truly beautiful? Alex thinks otherwise, the only thing that they see as beautiful might be their artificial or controlled nature, the real nature is far from being beautiful. A forest that suffered no human influence is really brutal place; one cannot think of it as a place to relax, food might not be even abundant in some cases, just as the poor girl experienced before she got blown away by the bombs that rained from the sky. There it was the so called survival of the fittest, the strong eats the weak, from insects, snakes, and even to larger predators, they all had to follow the circle of life and the stranded girl now had entered that cycle, well, until the blazing inferno wrecked havoc.

While walking on a steady pace, she kept a low profile, whatever those roars came from, they were not ordinary. She had her own share of experience in almost becoming dinner for the creatures of the forest; she can’t blame them either, for she was just a silly trespasser. She watched her surroundings carefully, she can’t afford to trip because of the tree roots sticking out from the ground. After all life has absurd timings, if she trips there might be something hidden waiting for a chance, a text book movie cliché, still it was one of the more realistic ones.

As she moves on, she can still hear the occasional roars from the distance, only getting louder and louder as she gets closer. Alex felt a chill run down her spine after hearing an earth-shaking roar, completely different from the ones she heard earlier. The girl wanted to turn back, but along with the clearly terrifying roars she can also hear the frantic voices of people in the same direction, if she wants to survive, then continuing will be her best bet. A risky gamble, her life depends on it, but way better than sitting in the middle of nowhere.

She hastened her pace towards that direction; she was getting impatient as the forest seems to be endless, bushes, trees, overgrown grass, she thought she’s going to go insane. But as she made her way, she can help but realize how far the noises came from, how in the world did she hear that from back there?

After a while she finally made it, she broke through a bush and found herself in another clearing. The only difference was it was bigger, but it was littered with corpses.  There were dozens of dead bodies of what she assumed were wolves, their furs were black, stained with their own blood. Among these, there were two human corpses, wearing leather armor, they had bite marks, and scratches, and it seems that they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of wolves.

-Then, who killed all these wolves?- Alex shivered, normally her stomach would turn and she might vomit at this sight, but after seeing her own body mutilated by bombs before, she grew some resistance to it, but being used to it was not really a good sign.

Then the bushes opposite from her moved, four figures emerged wearing the same outfit as the two dead humans, one pointing their bow at her, and the others stood in a stance with their daggers and swords. Alex tried to gather her voice, but then she heard a low growl from behind her, to her; it sounds the same as that thundering roar she heard before she arrived, only a lot softer, but closer.

“Bloody hell, get out of there kid!”

One of the figures warned, three of them dashed towards her and the beast behind her, showing no hesitation. Alex turned around and saw a huge boar with the height of two meters, menacingly glaring at her with its red bloodshot eyes. On its back were spiky hairs, as sharp as needles, its hide giving a somewhat metallic sheen, and it has sharp tusks that are about twelve inches long, clearly a strong adversary.

The girl immediately positioned herself to retreat, wielding the black dagger in front of her, she might be an amateur, but at the very least she knows how to defend herself. One of the figures that dashed towards her were impressed at her reaction, but even then it was not enough, even they cannot defeat this giant boar, they can’t even scratch it. The beast itself was not really strong when it comes to attacking but its vitality and bronze-like skin is overwhelming, it can whittle down the strength of its enemies while sustaining no injuries.

Still, their pride won’t allow a young girl die because of it; at the very least they can distract it and escape altogether. The one holding the bow released an arrow, knowing that it will not even make the boar itch, but it will surely annoy it. However the four figures were ignored by the beast, its eyes were locked onto Alex, and then it charged, planning to impale her with its tusks that are as sharp as spears.

-Not good…- This was the thought of everyone in the clearing, including Alex, but instead of trying to dodge, she raised her dagger, trying to deflect the boar’s onslaught. Futile as it may seem, but she knew what she was doing, the dagger and one of the tusks collided producing a loud screech and a lot of sparks, at this moment Alex twisted her body, using the impact that numbed her arms in order to be blown away from the gigantic boar, she rolled on the ground to the side.  She gained some distance but she was not unharmed, but it was not fatal. Then she heard a voice in her mind a gender-neutral voice that was definitely not from a living being.

[New Skill Obtained] <> instead of directly blocking an attack, with a weapon the user can use this to gain momentum to dodge a physical attack, giving the user a chance to gain distance from the opponent in order to avoid direct impacts. Effects can be improved through mastery.

Alex was not surprised of course one of the conditions was directly doing the maneuver , and of course being in actual combat might be one of the conditions as well. In rage the boar once again charged at her, ignoring the attacks of the three figures that slashed at it with their weapons paying them no mind.

-I hope this goes well-

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Once again she readied herself, trying to guess how to activate it, she concentrated. When the boar was near her she raised her dagger in front of her while remembering the feeling of the <>. This time the black dagger was surrounded by faint light, moving in a precise manner according to her will, as if she had practiced it for so long, she stepped lightly to the side, the blade colliding with the left tusk of the boar, but this time she felt only a small impact, the dagger was angled so that it will not affect her too much. Using the rebound, her body moved accordingly, she kicked off the ground jumping away to the side, gaining a distance of five meters away from the boar. She landed unsteadily, but this time, she didn’t receive any damage, then the light around the dagger was gone.

The four figures were gobsmacked, the first movements of the girl were amateurish, but when she used the skill <>, it was done in a refined way, no wasted movements, aside from her landing. They were hunters, they have been in this job for quite a while, and they prided themselves that at the very least they have enough experience, but Alex was truly a mystery. The four hunters retreated away from the boar, moving near Alex.

“Nice moves back there kid, why are you in this creepy place?” Said one of them, the very same one that warned her to run away, up close, Alex saw the hunter’s features, he was middle-aged man with a short stubble on his face, his looks were above average, even though he had scar that goes through his left eye, he gave a comforting feeling, like a dandy uncle.

The one with the bow was a beautiful blond woman with her hair tied up in a ponytail, to Alex’s assumption she barely hit late 20’s. The other two hunters were young men about the same age as the bow lady. The three men were probably six feet tall, while the woman was only a head shorter. They all looked at Alex with interest, while she gave curious looks in return as well.

“Enough chit-chat, that Bronze Mountain Boar is really angry,” the eldest hunter said, whistling in amazement at the angry aura that the boar released. Alex was quite confused when she heard “mountain”, as if reading her mind, the man explained. “Those things live in the mountain at the other edge of the forest, they sometimes wander in here, they are really troublesome, those dead wolves over there, they usually run away as soon as they see one of those huge bloody things. We are extremely unlucky to encounter one in here.”

The Bronze Mountain Boar was truly enraged, it charged once again towards the group, this time with more speed and more power, though it might not even be fatal to them, it will still do some damage, if they will receive this attack over and over again they’re dead meat. The old hunter stepped forward brandishing his shortsword that was twice as long as Alex’s <>. It was surrounded by the same faint light that she saw when she used <>, this confirms that everyone in this place can use it apparently.

Including Alex, everyone else besides the old hunter prepared to dodge. She was a little anxious about the hunter’s actions but the bow lady gave her a reassuring nod, as if saying¸ don’t worry he can handle that. Alex just nodded in return focusing on the approaching boar that seems to get bigger and bigger as it comes closer. When it grew near enough, they all jumped aside as far away as possible, with only the old hunter in front of it, but instead of directly receiving the attack, he quickly stepped to the side, the boar going past him, the shortsword quickly thrusted into the gigantic boar’s left eye. It hit the mark, the boar let out a painful roar, before he could even pull out the sword, and he was blown away by the raging beast.

[New Skill Obtained] <> an attack that ignores a percentage of the defence of the target, it can be used with bladed weapons. When aimed at weak points, the attack completely ignores all defence of the target. Effects can be improved through mastery.

Alex was once again dumbfounded, the old hunter definitely used a skill, but by only watching him do it also let her learn the skill, very unfair, but also immensely useful. But her amazement was soon replaced by concern towards the old man, but it appears he was fine. Now in a rampage the Bronze Mountain Boar now attacked indiscriminately, charging at whatever goes into its line of sight. The group completely scattered, the boar attacked completely different people each time, but they dodged successfully, but then its eyes found Alex.

The boar once again charged forward with great speed and vigor, Alex will not be able to use <> in time as she was inexperienced and still way too slow, her reaction speed may be fast but her body is different. She only had to gamble, quickly she braced herself, activating the skill <>, and prepared for the boar’s almost unstoppable force. Seeing this, the four hunters quickly tried to help her, but it seems they will not make it in time.

“Bloody hell, save the girl, quickly!” the old man shouted his orders, to him the girl’s decision was spot-on, she won’t be able to dodge, or even use that odd skill of hers that lets her move away from an attack. He knew that she’s going to try to attack, it’s her only option. But then again, what can she do to that sturdy monster, the situation was very dire.

Alex stepped aside like what the old hunter did; she used <> at the same left eye that he had injured. It met its mark, the boar raged, but before it can shake her off, she used all her strength to push it deeper, driving towards the boar’s brain. The boar was suddenly on its death throes, but as a last ditch attempt, it managed to blow Alex away, sending her flying towards a nearby tree, her back hit the trunk and all air within her lungs were forced out. She fell down to the ground coughing up blood. The Bronze Mountain Boar was finally dead, the four hunters quickly came to Alex’s aid, with concerned looks and amazed faces, a young girl managed to take down the monster, though she was greatly injured.

[Bronze Mountain Boar] has been slain, experience gained is 100.

[Alexandria Leonhart] is now level 2

[Passive Ability Obtained] <> - increases defence of the individual. As the individual levels up the defence gained will also increase.

[Passive Ability Obtained] <> - allows the individual to see the weak points of an enemy, but the father the gap in strength from the individual the more difficult it is to find the weakpoint. Agaisnt weaker or enemies of equal power weakpoints are immediately revealed.

The voice in Alex’s mind announced, but to her it doesn’t matter at the moment, the excruciating pain has most of her attention, she also has difficulty in breathing, she tried to stand up but she collapsed and finally her consciousness didn’t hold out, and her world went dark.

The bow woman managed to catch her body before she hit the ground again, supporting her, she checked her pulse and her breathing, confirming that Alex is safe; she breathed a sigh of relief.

The old man ordered the other two hunters to collect the materials they can gather, and also to bury the bodies of their two dead comrades. After confirming the young girl’s situation, he then proceeded to the dead Bronze Mountain Boar, he was surprised that he would see a young clearly inexperienced kid take down that beast, even if he managed to injure it’s eye, he cannot drive it any further at all, but she did it, she pushed it all the way to its brain, killing it. The black dagger was still stuck in its eye socket, with the hilt also half buried in its flesh. He pulled it out and was shocked by the weight of the dagger, it was two times heavier than his sword, and he wondered how the kid managed to wield it easily. He tried to skin the boar with the heavy dagger, but to his own surprise it can’t pierce it at all.

“It’s dull?”