Seeing that all nine of the rats he bashed was trap at the corner, Arthur unsheathe his sword. Without any warning, he activated his movement speed, Flash Steps was activated and it was silent as ever.
Ziing
There was only a sound of sharp blade slicing flesh that can be heard and all the Rats that was about to attack the crops was stopped and their expressions were frozen. Suddenly there was a cut across their necks and they all fall down.
When this happened, the other adventurers were about to attack but they suddenly stopped and look at the scene with shock as they didn't even have the time to kill their first prey when someone already killed 9. The rats were also shocked because their kin was killed without even getting some of the crops they wanted. The rats became angry and they didn't even think of what they came here for but attacked the adventurers in front of them.
An intense battle between the rats and the adventurers were happening in the northern forest area. While all of this was happening, Arthur was collecting the lingering energy in the air from the death of the nine rats he killed. He didn't kill anymore rats as it will cause some unwanted disputes between him and other adventurers.
After collecting 90 units of Tier 1 energy, he took out his Rainbow Realm Storing device to transfer the energy from his Holowatch. The Storing device didn't even reach the first Tier as it only fill up to 90 percent. Arthur didn't mind it as it was only the first day and it only gave him little effort to kill these rats. (See auxiliary chapters to know about energy units)
The nine corpse that he killed was stored in his storage ring as it will be sold to the nearby monster processing shops. Money was not a problem for Arthur as his parents left him with a lot of money coming from a little percentage of what they earn a month.
It was 1 am when he decided that he needed to rest for the day to venture deeper into the forest and scout these rat nests and probably obliterate one of them. A group of rats didn't pose any threat to him so he wanted to challenge himself for a change and to improve faster.
...
The cackle of chickens were already ringing throughout the whole village signifying that it will the start of a new day of their lives.
Under a tree a young man was meditating, when one was to look closely to him, they can see that there are energy surrounding him and rapidly entering his body like a whirlpool.
Arthur was sensing his body as he was near to breaking through the next Tier of his Realm and there was only a thin line between Tier 1 and Tier 2 and what he needed to do is to attack that barrier with great force in one fell swoop.
He needed to achieve a breakthrough this morning so that he will have the strength to attack the Rat nest. Sweat slowly form on his forehead, his brows become knitted and his teeth were clenched as he held to the energy that wanted to escape his grasp. He increased his concentration for the energy he accumulated not to escape. Time moved forward as his concentration was reaching his limit.
When it was hard for him to hold the energy anymore, he created a momentum to attack the barrier.
Bang, bang...
He can hear the banging of energy and the barrier inside his consciousness and cracks can be seen forming around it. The attack lasted for whole 30 minutes until Arthur saw that the barrier began to chip out. This was the signal for Arthur that he needed to attack in full force, so he stopped the attack and readied his momentum until he saw that it was enough to break the barrier. He counted to three as a signal to attack as it will be the last attempt to break the barrier.
3..2..1..
Boom..
The barrier was broken and a refreshing energy wash all over his body as he is undergoing body cleansing and strengthening. His Circuit Device became orange but only 1/3 of it was filled with power as he was only at the early stage of Tier 2. Arthur feels that his body was lighter and stronger than he was a day ago, with his current strength he thinks that he can lift and pulverize big boulder.
Arthur opened his eyes and saw that he was covered with black sticky liquid that smelled so disgusting that can make anyone puke. He went straight to the bath after this as he don't want anyone to see him like this.
....
The wind was blowing the everywhere and the trees keeps swaying with it and the rays of the sun pass through the gaps between the leaves that gives shade to anyone below it.
In a certain area within the forest, Arthur was standing above a cliff looking down a cave 500 meters away from him, the entrance of the cave was filled with unknown dirt around it and no other creature wanted to come near it.
It was the cave of the rats where they placed their nest, it was day so there are no rats found lurking around their nest. The dirt that is placed around their cave was their own waste that releases undesirable odor that irritates the nose of any creature, it was also the reason that Arthur cannot see any monsters nearby.
Arthur took out a mask from his storage to cover him from the odor that can hinder his operation. The mask was specialized to protect the users from suffocating from gasses and scent that the body cannot handle. He bought it this morning when he went to the city market for supplies.
After wearing the mask, he activated his movement skill and disappeared from his position instantly.
"The hunt shall begin" he whirpered